"M2 Gold" or "M1 Platinum" in the works?

This morning I experienced a 'soft' failure on my M1G system.  I have voice announcements turned off between 11:00PM and 8:00AM,  Well this morning (prior to 8:00AM) the disarm message was incorrectly produced.  I have yet to investigate how/why it 'forgot' this setting.  The time displayed on the keypad was correct....
 
Anyway, it got be thinking more about a spare controller board for the M1G.  Which got me thinking more about the next-gen M1G from Elk.
 
Having worked in various 'regulated' product development environments, I fully appreciate the costs of getting such a device as the M1G UL certified.  This cost motivates a long product lifespan.  The M1G is getting a bit old.....
 
But I also appreciate component obsolescence.  At some point in time, the components on the M1G controller will no longer be available....
 
 
Does anyone have any insight, insider information, premonitions, etc,  as to the M1G product follow-on???   I ask this now as I'm thinking about procuring a spare M1G controller card as it may go EOL soon.  And it would provide a needed backup...   I even thought about a 'hot-spare' concept.  I could use a second M1G controller to do a bit a automation and lighting control.  And keep the primary controller doing security.  My 'regulated, safety-critical' system experience has always motivated keeping protection separate from control.  In other words, keep the security panel separate from the control panel so that I don't accidentally screw-up the security functionality.
 
And thoughts/opinions/etc are welcome.
 
 

HAI/Leviton have the same issue with a potential Omni3.  Rumors was that one was being developed, but that was several years ago.
 
I haven't heard anything on either front for some time.

Elk is still developing new products over the years, but no new controller....
 
I'd be happy to keep my I/O, keypads, etc.  A new controller that talks to the 'bus' would be nice.
 
Just looked at the M1G event log.  I got a "1367 - SYSTEM START UP" in the early morning.  That screwed-up my rules.  I need to investigate, but that event doesn't look good.

The system start up / reboot seems to be a bug in the latest firmware (maybe even the recent few versions). I suspect as you do that screwed up your rules.

I have the M1 send me an email on restart. It happens on occasion randomly. Fortunately the armed state remains known after restart. But I believe it defaults to voice announcements ON. Wondering if you could use a phantom output in your rule (would need another program triggered by this output) and if that would run at restart? Not sure, just a thought. I’m not an installer so I only have experience with my own.


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Today I updated the panel firmware. I was on 5.3.8; and 5.3.10 is the latest. Also added a rule to send me an email upon reboot.

I still wonder about product updates.... Maybe since the m1g is primarily a security platform, the age really doesn’t matter. It sill performs the function.. still wonder about component obsolescence.

ecborgoyn said:

Today I updated the panel firmware. I was on 5.3.8; and 5.3.10 is the latest. Also added a rule to send me an email upon reboot.

I still wonder about product updates.... Maybe since the m1g is primarily a security platform, the age really doesn’t matter. It sill performs the function.. still wonder about component obsolescence.

Click to expand...

 
Manufacturers have ways to deal with component obsolescence.   Component suppliers will provide advance warning of a part that is going end-of-life, along with the opportunity to do last time buys.  A company like Elk probably has a pretty good idea about how many parts they need per year and how many more years worth of parts they want to stockpile.
 
Beyond that, there are almost always substitutes that can be used.  It may not be an identical part, but something that can be made to work with modest effort, and a minor revision to the printed circuit board.