Archive for November, 2009
AppleTV one-way IP driver available for purchase, 2-way control coming soon
Last Updated on Tuesday, 27 April 2010 12:24 Written by Cody Sunday, 29 November 2009 11:58
Extra Vegetables is offering up a tasty solution to AppleTV control. From their website:
The Apple TV is a great product to use in a Control4 installation especially when the client has a collection of iTunes purchased music. It’s movie and TV show on demand feature is incredibly popular too.
Up to now you have only been able to control the Apple TV via IR with a bug stuck to the front of the device. Given that the Apple TV is designed to run hot these tend to fall off. That’s bad news all round.
We want to deliver fully integrated systems – which means choosing the music from the Apple TV from the Control4 touchscreens and TV display. Again that’s not been possible – but we are working on it.
Apple TV – IR Bug Control4 Driverworks Driver - contact your dealer for pricing
Now released a simple driver that allows you to control the Apple TV over an IP network connection. It provides the same level of control as the standard Apple TV remote but with a couple of extras
- The ‘Context Menu’ is available on the Info button
- You can skip chapters and fast forward and rewind in movie content
- With the standard IR driver when a second room selects the Apple TV the Play/Pause key is sent which causes whatever is playing to pause – this does not happen with the IP version.
Please note no feedback from the Apple TV is provided with this driver.
It saves the cost of the IR bug, frees up an IR port on the controller and prevents call backs when the IR bug falls off the front.
Apple TV – Full Two Way Control Control4 Driverworks Driver
In development is the full two-way driver for the Apple TV. This will allow you to choose music from your Apple TV from any of the Control4 interfaces.
The release candidate for this product is in final testing. It is expected to be launched on 1 December. We will be offering a special introductory price on this driver and you will also be able to upgrade the 1 way driver too!
Posted under Third Party Hardware | No Comments
RIP – V2 10.5″ touchpanels, HC-500, and Contact/Relay extender
Last Updated on Thursday, 29 April 2010 04:32 Written by Cody Wednesday, 18 November 2009 11:28
This past week, Control4 has announced End of Life status for its V2 10.5″ touchpanels, HC-500 controller, and the contact/relay extender. This means that no new orders are being accepted for these items, but the two year warranty is still in effect and honored should you buy one of these items from a dealer or already have one in service. If you bought from eBay, well you don’t get a warranty anyway. The transitions are to use the new 7″ panels, offered in Wireless, Tabletop, and In-wall varieties; the HC-200, 300, or 1000v3 controllers depending on your needs, and the new I/O extender if you need to bump up available serial connections, IR outputs, or contacts/relays in your project.
Tags: contact/relay extender, controllers, HC-500, touchpanels | Posted under Control4 Gear | No Comments
Control4 firmware version 1.8.2 maintenance release is available – add multiple Zigbee servers, improved FLAC performance and more.
Last Updated on Thursday, 29 April 2010 04:29 Written by Cody Monday, 16 November 2009 11:28
New features in 1.8.2:
Multiple ZigBee Server support
The primary change in Release 1.8.2 is support for configuring multiple ZigBee Servers. This is
needed for those project installations where, due to construction materials or physical distance, it is
not possible to have a contiguous ZigBee mesh network. The ZigBee Pro architecture used by
Control4 allows for multiple ZigBee Access Points (ZAPs). Each ZAP must be able to join the mesh.
ZAPs join the mesh using their ZigBee radio, just like any of the ZigBee-only devices. If the Controller
running ZAP is out of radio range of the other nodes on the ZigBee mesh, then an additional ZigBee
Server can be created. Each ZigBee Server has a ZAP Coordinator and manages a separate mesh.
In the large majority of installs, a single ZigBee Server with multiple ZAPs (as needed) is preferable.
This allows devices, such as System Remote Controls, to move freely from location to location and
still be able to access the mesh. However, in locations where a single mesh is not possible, you can
now create one or more separate meshes to support these islands of ZigBee nodes.
Other New Features and Products
• IO Extender. This new hardware product was announced at CEDIA.
• Battery Level programming. These are implemented events on the SR-150/SR-250 System
Remote Control drivers such that they generate an event on wakeup when the battery levels
are low. This event can be used in Composer programming.
• Single Tap programming. Added a new event for single tap in the Keypad and
Dimmer/Switch drivers. This allows users using tap-count programming to avoid having to
use Press/Release events.
Defects Resolved and Other Changes in
Release 1.8.2
• Navigator -
Fixed focus issues with On-Screen Navigator, of various causes, including:
• IP Camera navigation
• Editing a playlist and removing the last track
• Deleting an album from My Library
• Saving a modified playlist
• iPod – Added an output parameter to the iPod proxy commands so that it can be used in
multi-proxy drivers (for example, a multi-zone receiver).
• Rhapsody -
Fixed a problem when a Rhapsody song ends/begins in one (1) session, and other
Rhapsody streams are briefly interrupted.
• Changed the timeout of Rhapsody searches to two (2) minutes to prevent locking up and
disconnecting Rhapsody search on Composers with a lot of content (e.g., Mozart,
Beethoven, etc.).
• System Remote Control- Fixed an issue where analog sources, including Dock for iPod,
were removed from the Zones page when the 4 button was pressed on the System Remote
Control.
• Zones. Fixed the Zones page to show the analog source when playing.
• Audio
• Resolved a problem where the audio server sends out a short packet that causes an
‘ASP Wrong version’ error. This would cause flac audio files not to play.
• Resolved a problem where the input streaming from Home Controller HC-200, HC-300,
and HC-500 inputs to a 7” Touch Screen audio output had ~200 milliseconds of delay.
• Resolved problems with audio playback where audio skips/drops when playing certain
flac files.
• Resolved a problem where the HC-200, HC-300, and HC-500 Primary Controllers could
not stream flac files due to insufficient CPU capacity.
• Improved network throughput and process prioritization on the HC-200, HC-300, and HC-
500 Controllers to improve audio streaming performance.
• Resolved a problem where the Audio Client process on the HC-200, HC-300, or HC-500
Controller was not correctly shutting down when directed to do so.
• Corrected the stereo audio output on the HC-200 Controller so that the left channel and
right channel aren’t switched.
• Keypads.
• Corrected a problem where a Keypad LED, if set to On, lost its color after a reboot.
• Enhanced the Keypad drivers to ensure that out of control ramping cannot occur from
missed Release events.
• Pools.
Resolved reported problems with the Jandy pool driver.
• Modified the Jandy Pool lighting controls to use discrete on/off to match the functionality
of the pool Controller more closely.
• Resolved a problem where the Jandy Pool Auxiliary buttons text weren’t being linked up
with the correct text.
• Jandy Pool Controller heat cannot be turned on/off. Heat control is not available through
the control protocol. To enable or disable heat, you must change the heat setpoint. The
Jandy Controller will then turn on/off the heat as needed.
• Thermostat
• Enhanced Thermostat firmware for better maintainability and future expansion.
• Corrected the initial value of the Heat/Cool set points which were reported as “0″ after
Director was restarted.
• Changed the Control4 Thermostat driver so that CURRENT_TEMPERATURE variable is
read/write.
• Upgrading the Thermostat from a prior ZigBee Pro firmware version may cause the fan to
be set to the “Fan On” state.
Zigbee
• Updated ZigBee Pro firmware now supports the Load Profile functionality on standard
Dimmers.
• GE Concord Driver
• Resolved a problem with the GE Concord Security panel driver which resulted from
incomplete serial communications being incorrectly discarded. This caused the panel not
to work correctly in the Control4 system.
• Modified the ‘Arm to Home’ and ‘Arm to Away’ capabilities presented through the
interface not to use the ‘Quick Arm’ capability. This ensures that the individual changing
the system arming state has the necessary security code for access.
• Touch Screens.
Fixed a problem where the 7″ Portable Touch Screen would lock up if the
Suspend button was pressed before the device had fully powered up on a restore. The
device will not allow itself to suspend until it has been sufficiently restored to safely suspend.
• Battery-Powered Devices. Resolved the problem of messaging deadlock occurring on
polling end node (battery powered) devices which prevents firmware updates.
• Controllers.
• Fixed a problem where the I2C bus would lock up, causing the Component outputs not to
work on the HC-200, HC-300, and HC-500 Controllers.
• Other
• Fixed a display bug where Composer’s Watch and Listen Behavior ‘No Action’ reverts to
Show Device. The proper setting was stored but not correctly displayed.
• Added new and improved MechoShade drivers.
• Corrected the 1.8.x outlet module drivers to use multi-cast Lighting Scenes.
• Ensured that the relay state isn’t inverted if toggled before being changed to pulse type.
• Fixed issue where you couldn’t create more than three (3) email notifications.
Tags: 1.8 | Posted under Control4 Software | No Comments