Premise WIFI IR/Serial/Relay Contacts natively supported in Premise?!?

[etc6849]

I'm thinking about getting a wifi capable iTach unit from Global Cache, see specs here:
http://www.globalcache.com/products/itach/specs/

The iTach units come in several varieties
Serial, IR or relay contact versions. If the model number starts with WF, the iTach is wifi enabled. The iTach models are also very small: 6“x3“x2†and would fit on the back of any TV or cabinet.

The protocol document for the iTach line makes me think the devices are compatible with the native GC-100 driver within Premise!?!
http://www.globalcache.com/files/docs/API-iTach.pdf

"Note: In iTach units containing infrared (IR) and relay contact closure (CC) modules, those modules are
always physically located in module 1 (1:*). However, modules 1 through 3 will be accepted in commands
to the IR, and 1 through 5 will be accepted by the CC. This is deliberate and allows drivers developed for
the GC-100 Network Adapter series of products to function without change."

If you look around, you can find the iTach models for under $118 shipped so they are relatively affordable.

 

[etc6849]

My iTach WIFI2IR arrived. Get devices from the Premise add-in is not supported. This isn't a big deal since you can manually add a GCMultiIO object for the IR ports.

However, the IR port's send property quits working after a given time period and it seems you have to hit continuous send several times to get the ports to work again. The issue then repeats after 45 seconds or so...

I thought about calling Global Cache in hopes that they developed the Premise Global Cache add-in and would be willing to fix the issue or provide the source code.

 

[etc6849]

Since port spy can view tcp socket communications for the global cache products, I have been able to find the sources of my issues with the iTach and they appear to be firmware issues:

Normally, getversion is sent every minute to the GC100 by the Premise add-in. This occurs even if poll inputs is set on or off and I believe this is used as a watch dog.

GC100 normal response:
sent: getversion,1
reply: version,1,3.2-12

The format of the reply is very specific according to the GC100 protocol: version, module address, textversionstring

However, the iTach responds to getversion differently!?!
Why in the world would global cache do this and then call the iTach backwards compatible? This confuses the drivers watchdog function and it keeps asking for the version over and over again in hopes of a satisfactory resonse.

In one minute there should only be one getversion request; however, there are six evenly spaced requests every 10 seconds:
getversion,1
700-1001-11
getversion,1
700-1001-11
getversion,1
700-1001-11
getversion,1
700-1001-11
getversion,1
700-1001-11
getversion,1
700-1001-11

Had the response been in the same format as the GC100 resonse, I believe the iTach would work in Premise just fine! Could this be a firmware glitch?

Another issue is that stopir is not yet supported in the iTach; however, the protocol document promises this is coming in the next firmware update. This is used for the continuous send property in Premise.

iTach response underlined:
sendir,5:2,1,33000,0,1,89,27,16,13,16,13,16,27,16,27,45,27,16,13,16,13,16,13,16,
13,16,13,16,13,16,13,16,13,16,13,16,13,30,13,16,13,16,13,16,13,16,27,16,13,16,13
,
16,13,30,28,16,13,16,13,16,13,16,13,16,13,30,13,16,27,30,1146
stopir,1:3
stopir,1:3
ERR_0:0,001
ERR_0:0,001 (error... uh oh)

GX100 response underlined:
sendir,5:2,1,33000,0,1,89,27,16,13,16,13,16,27,16,27,45,27,16,13,16,13,16,13,16,
13,16,13,16,13,16,13,16,13,16,13,16,13,30,13,16,13,16,13,16,13,16,27,16,13,16,13
,
16,13,30,28,16,13,16,13,16,13,16,13,16,13,30,13,16,27,30,1146
stopir,5:2
stopir,5:2 (no error)

 

[etc6849]

I called Global Cache and they were kind enough to make the iTach fully backwards compatible!

Just use the firmware update found here for each type of iTach device:

http://www.globalcache.com/support/itachfirmwareupdates/

Everything works great within Premise after the update. GetDevices automatically detects the IR ports now too!

PS: the new firmware version is 700-1001-12 for the WIFI2IR model. If your iTach came with this version (or later), you don't have to update for Premise functionality.

 

[chucklyons]

Awesome! Not only is it great news you have found and passed on, but its great that Global Cache has made a change for the Premise crowd...

They have been very responsive to my requests to get my GC-100s firmware updated....

Great company!