Interaction with LIFX Lamps (with V2.0 Firmware)
Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2015 10:06 am
This post is an update on the situation with using the Autolog LIFX Controller with LIFX lamps running the new V2.0 firmware.
First off, if you have any problems reload the plugin and if you are running LIFX-HTTP in a separate Terminal window, then stop and restart it.
I have been conscious that since upgrading my LIFX lamps to firmware v2.0 that they haven't quite been behaving themselves (thanks to manwithavan for the heads-up ); the status that my plugin shows in Indigo doesn't always fully reflect the status of the lamps, although this may correct itself when the lamps are next polled.
I have now determined that the status being returned to the plugin from LIFX-HTTP reflects the state of the lamp at point in time the status is returned . Previously, if say the lamp was on 100% brightness and I asked LIFX-HTTP to set it to 50% (Say with a dim duration of 5 seconds) then LIFX-HTTP would return 50% as the brightness. Now it returns say 92% which (as far as I can tell after doing a fair bit of testing) reflects the status of the LIFX lamp at the point in time that the status was returned (e.g. start of the dim from 100% to 50%).
Another "feature" is that turning the LIFX lamp off may leave it on 1% - so it will still show 'on' in Indigo and the LIFX iPhone app. I am still trying to understand why this and what the exact circumstances are that cause it.
I am going to have to re-think exactly how to handle this because it is a fairly fundamental difference to how it was previously working.
However, in the longer term, a potential upside is that it may prove a benefit in that I may be able to get Indigo to more accurately reflect the status of a dimming or brightening lamp. This could be especially useful on a long duration dim or brighten (say early morning sunrise simulation).
So the options at the moment are:
I'll keep this thread updated with progress but it will take a little while (no ETA) to sort it out.
Please post any feedback in the Autolog LIFX Discussion thread.
First off, if you have any problems reload the plugin and if you are running LIFX-HTTP in a separate Terminal window, then stop and restart it.
I have been conscious that since upgrading my LIFX lamps to firmware v2.0 that they haven't quite been behaving themselves (thanks to manwithavan for the heads-up ); the status that my plugin shows in Indigo doesn't always fully reflect the status of the lamps, although this may correct itself when the lamps are next polled.
I have now determined that the status being returned to the plugin from LIFX-HTTP reflects the state of the lamp at point in time the status is returned . Previously, if say the lamp was on 100% brightness and I asked LIFX-HTTP to set it to 50% (Say with a dim duration of 5 seconds) then LIFX-HTTP would return 50% as the brightness. Now it returns say 92% which (as far as I can tell after doing a fair bit of testing) reflects the status of the LIFX lamp at the point in time that the status was returned (e.g. start of the dim from 100% to 50%).
Another "feature" is that turning the LIFX lamp off may leave it on 1% - so it will still show 'on' in Indigo and the LIFX iPhone app. I am still trying to understand why this and what the exact circumstances are that cause it.
I am going to have to re-think exactly how to handle this because it is a fairly fundamental difference to how it was previously working.
However, in the longer term, a potential upside is that it may prove a benefit in that I may be able to get Indigo to more accurately reflect the status of a dimming or brightening lamp. This could be especially useful on a long duration dim or brighten (say early morning sunrise simulation).
So the options at the moment are:
- to not upgrade the LIFX Lamps (probably unrealistic - I know I wanted mine updated)
- set durations to 0.1 (not ideal) [NOTE: I discovered a bug in that it won't allow 0.0 ]
- Be aware of the situation and use the LIFX iPhone app to correct any anomalies that don't get sorted on the next plugin polling of the LIFX lamps
I'll keep this thread updated with progress but it will take a little while (no ETA) to sort it out.
Please post any feedback in the Autolog LIFX Discussion thread.