Dumb: can't talk to RZC0P with USB-to-serial cable

[LaurentR]

Am I doing anything dumb?
I tried to use the USB-to-serial cable that Elk sells to talk to the M1G (and works just fine with that), and tried to use it to talk to the RZC0P to use Johnnynine's software. Well, it didn't work. So I tried manually talking to the RZC0P with PUTTY, with no success either (I get nothing back from the RZC0P). The RZC0P works just fine on the Elk/M1XSP.

Unfortunately, I rewired the RZC0P cable to build it into the Elk, so I can't really move it to my desktop, which has real serial ports. BTW, when I did this, I noticed that the RZC0P cable has a totally different wiring that some of the wiring mentioned in the M1XSP doc. I was confused, but I have never looked at RS-232 cabling so...

Any suggestion?

Laurent

 

[johnnynine]

Am I doing anything dumb?
I tried to use the USB-to-serial cable that Elk sells to talk to the M1G (and works just fine with that), and tried to use it to talk to the RZC0P to use Johnnynine's software. Well, it didn't work. So I tried manually talking to the RZC0P with PUTTY, with no success either (I get nothing back from the RZC0P). The RZC0P works just fine on the Elk/M1XSP.

Unfortunately, I rewired the RZC0P cable to build it into the Elk, so I can't really move it to my desktop, which has real serial ports. BTW, when I did this, I noticed that the RZC0P cable has a totally different wiring that some of the wiring mentioned in the M1XSP doc. I was confused, but I have never looked at RS-232 cabling so...

Any suggestion?

Laurent

I've only used the RZC0P with a direct connection to a pc serial port (not a usb port).

Doesn't the usb adapter require a software driver to work?

 

[ctay]

One thing to tell you is that USB to serial cables are hit or miss. I have three. One that works with my UPS that does not work with my Centralite or My Elk. The one that works with the Centralite does not work with the Elk. The one that works with the Elk works with the Centralite but not the UPS. The only thing that works with all three cables is the Extron Crosspoint.

No rhyme or reason. If possible try to use a real com port to eliminate that variable.

 

[LaurentR]

Apparently, it was my issue (as expected).

To have the RZC0P neatly on the wall plugging into a RJ11 that goes to the Elk, I cut the RZC0P cable in two, put a male RJ11 on one side and used a Leviton Quickport RJ11 female wall jack on the Elk side. This all worked fine (so I thought). The Elk was capable of controlling my lights. But apparently, two-way didn't work.

Yesterday, after unsuccessfully trying a very compatible USB-to-serial converter, then pulling the quickport out and also failing on my PC's built-in RS232, I decided to reconnect the RZC0P cable as orignally done (i.e. no RJ11 male/female in the middle) and ... it worked. The Elk USB-to-serial cable worked, Johnnynine's app worked AND the Elk bidirectional connection to my Vizia RF network started working (I mistakenly thought it was a limitation of the beta firmware).

So it's all great now. I just need to figure out how it's possible to go through a 4-conductor RJ11 male/female set and lose some connectivity. I have crimped and wired so many cables and outlets, it's hard to believe this one is particularly hard. And I did try to rewire it (4 conductors!) and failed again. Not sure what's going on.

Laurent

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

I'm betting it is something like you are "mirroring" the connections (crossing them instead of straight thru) (look at the connections when they are side by side next to each other). Again, this is just a guess. If you have a working product, ring it out with a meter to see what is going on.

 

[LaurentR]

Redid the wiring, and now it works like a charm...
Except that now that the Elk has 2-way comm with Zwave, I immediately started suffering from the bounce issue "I change the dim level but it goes back to its original position by itself" (my wife found out before I did) so I had to manually de-associate the RZC0P from all dimmers/switches to get back to the good ol' one-way with the Elk (which works like a charm).

Spanky, any word on a new release of the M1XSP Vizia firmware?

Laurent