Device Group - Virtual Device disabled

Trial version (not sure if that's the issue). I want to turn on/off a group of z-wave devices and set dim level. I don't see scenes in Indigo, so I assume I need a device group.
Saw virtual devices in documentation , Try to add a device but cannot select virtual

[jay (support)]

There are a lot of ways to do “scenes” . A more thorough description of exactly what you want to do would help us steer you to the right solution.

Thanks! Here are what I've done in Vera (I hope to switch over to Indigo)
1. Lighting scene - e.g. Mood in kitchen. Turn a bunch of lights off, some on and to a certain dim level.
2. Leak detection - when water detected turn on pump for a few minutes or until no water
3. Thermostat scheduling - at a particular time, set to cool or heat and temperature.
4. Turn every light off
5. Motion - when motion occurs turn on light. Turn off in 15 min if no motion

[jay (support)]

1. Lighting scene - e.g. Mood in kitchen. Turn a bunch of lights off, some on and to a certain dim level.

It depends on how you trigger it. But in any event you can define it as an Action Group then call that action group from any triggers/schedules.

2. Leak detection - when water detected turn on pump for a few minutes or until no water

That's definitely a trigger with an action to turn on the pump with either an auto off after some time or another trigger that turns it off when the leak sensor goes off.

3. Thermostat scheduling - at a particular time, set to cool or heat and temperature.

The simplest way is with schedules that run at your particular times which just have an action to set the thermostat. There are other ways of making a much more sophisticated thermostat schedule but you may not need it.

4. Turn every light off

Same as #1. I think everyone here has an action group that turns everything off. You could make a Virtual Device, but if the only real use is to turn them all off then an Action Group is fine.

5. Motion - when motion occurs turn on light. Turn off in 15 min if no motion

Trigger on the motion sensor going on, turn on the light. If your motion sensor has a setting to set a timeout, then just set the timeout to 15 and add a trigger on the motion sensor going off, turn off the light. If you can't adjust that in the motion sensor itself, then create a trigger with an action to turn it off delayed by 15 minutes.

The lesson here is that the generic concept of "scenes", IMO, is too ill defined (and means different things to different people and different products). What you have to do is think about these things in terms of "scenarios" (or use-cases if you're a developer). Clearly define the scenario, and then the solution is much easier to discover.

I am making great progress.
- Got the Leviton 4 button Zone Controller working with plugin. impressive
- Got Action Groups working
- Got triggers with motion working
- Got 2Gig thermostats working

Last check is my Aeotec leak sensors and I am ready to buy

Question:
I have been testing with the Aoetec z-stick v2. I just purchased a v5. Does everything need to be excluded and re-included?

[jay (support)]

I have been testing with the Aoetec z-stick v2. I just purchased a v5. Does everything need to be excluded and re-included?

Easy answer: yes. You don't need to recreate the Indigo devices, only what they point to. So, just switch to the new Z-Stick, exclude a device (you can exclude using any stick), then edit the existing Indigo device and just redo the inclusion like you did originally. This will leave all your current logic in place since you're not deleting the Indigo device, just editing which Z-Wave device it points to.

Difficult answer: if you have a Windows machine, you might be able to backup the old stick and restore it to the new stick using Aeotec's windows software (they don't provide Mac software).