On a couple occasions i have checked in on my house to find all simulated lights in off state. Is anybody else seeing this happen? I am running Eric’s version with settings configured to maintain 2 active lights.
I have not seen this. ST platform had some issues last week, so it is possible the platform issues stopped things.
If you have IDE logs, post them as a private message.
I have setup my vacation light director to turn on and off lights when away till 11PM. But I see that all lights are turned off by 10PM. I am in the UK. Is this a bug?
If you are using the version I posted, please check your timezone information (location) are set correctly in SmartThings mobile app.
If you still have the issue send me some IDE logs via a private message.
I have checked my location information and seems accurate as below. I am in the UK.
Below are the logs. I just scheduled it to run from 2:30PM till 3:35 PM. It started at 2:30PM as expected, but stopped at 2:35PM instead of 3:35PM.
03a9333c-8754-4c99-ac1c-5843d5e9a4ab 14:36:07: trace All OFF
03a9333c-8754-4c99-ac1c-5843d5e9a4ab 14:36:06: debug wrong time - Stopping Vacation Lights
03a9333c-8754-4c99-ac1c-5843d5e9a4ab 14:32:01: trace turned on Landing 1
03a9333c-8754-4c99-ac1c-5843d5e9a4ab 14:32:01: trace turned on Dining Room
03a9333c-8754-4c99-ac1c-5843d5e9a4ab 14:32:00: trace inactive switches: 4 numlight: 2
03a9333c-8754-4c99-ac1c-5843d5e9a4ab 14:32:00: debug Running
hmm does your area have daylight savings time?
Did you recently switch, or are you soon to switch?
I wonder if ST has incorrect data for this…
You may want to check with ST support.
I’ll look at the code, but I don’t think I have control over this.
Our DST switched recently about a month ago.
Daylight saving time 2017 in United Kingdom began at 01:00 on
Sunday, 26 March
and ends at 02:00 on
Sunday, 29 October
I will raise with ST Support.
I looked at the code and it seems correct. Please ensure you are running the latest code, I cleaned up a couple of things, but did not find a smoking gun.
If you continue to have problems we can turn on more debug statements
Thanks for the update. I have raised a ticket with samsung and also updated to the latest code. Will check if this resolved the issue.
Thanks for providing this app which works nicely. I’m having a problem with the 3 lights I have it controlling turning on after my hub loses then regains the internet connection. Both times it’s happened in the morning when Vacation Director isn’t active and I have confirmed that all 3 were off the night before at the appropriate time based on the app settings.
Has anyone else seen this? Is there some routine I need to run when the hub regains the connection?
I have not see this behavior (from vacation light director).
This could be the lights themselves (i.e. not vacation light director)
They are all Cree Connected bulbs. Maybe I’ll add a light controlled by a GE Smart Switch to see if it turns on too,
thx
Another thing to keep in mind is if vacation light director is running/operating, and you come home, it does not turn off the lights that are on (under the theory you don’t want to walk in the house and have the lights go off).
If it is running, and its end time/mode happens, it will turn off the lights it has on.
I don’t see a simple way to turn this on or off. Let’s say we have it on using two presence sensors, but we have family staying with us for a few days. They do not have presence sensors and the two of us that do leave. I wouldn’t want lights randomly turning on and off on them. Is there an easy way to turn on/off the automation?
Also…If I install Eric’s version from IDE and it gets updated, how would l know to update mine, and would I just have to copy and paste the new code over?
Also, reading the comments above, when you add a Smart App, it says you have to hit publish after you copy and paste the code. Is that the same for device handlers? I have installed two device handlers, but I only hit save and not publish. Am I supposed to hit publish on device handlers too?
My device handlers appear to work just fine showing “unpublished”. Should I go in and publish them to me?
What I do is have a ST mode for Visitor. Then a bunch of my automations halt, this being one of them, and some activate in their place.
Now that I’m back home I’ve been unable to replicate the problem after several tries. I removed the setting for “If these people are home do not change light status” and forced Away mode to trigger VLD, The next morning I unplugged the Ethernet cable for 5 minutes or so then plugged it back in - nothing happened (which is good!).
I do have a few other questions:
- If I wanted a VLD-type behavior to also run in the morning between 7AM and 9AM, would I just take your VLD code, give it a different name and publish that for AM use?
- Regarding the “If these people are home do not change light status” setting - how might that be used? I have VLD trigger on Away mode which is set when both of our presence sensors are gone so it appears that there’s no need for me to use this setting.
- How is “Lights to be on during active times” used? I have 3 lights in the pool and specified that 2 be active, but I don’t know how to use this setting.
Thank you.
I expect you should be able to install multiple instances now. (go to marketplace and install again).
You should ensure each instance has a different name to avoid confusion. Go into the existing VLD instance
and “assign a name”.
on people - these are presence sensors that VLD checks. If these arrive, it will not turn off the lights that are on. The “goal” of this is to not come home and have VLD turn off all the lights as it exists (leaving you in the dark).
On lights active - this has VLD turn on (and leave on for duration of active time lights). This could be garage, driveway or holiday season lights. These lights won’t cycle but will go on when VLD “becomes active” and go off when it becomes inactive. Example. If you had a ST Mode “Away Evening” and another “Away Asleep”, you could have the garage light stay on the entire time of Away Evening in VLD was only active during Away Evening. It is an option to have something on , but not cycle.
Hi Eric!
Thanks for updating the app! 
Quickie for you;
The ‘How often to cycle the lights’ option, is this a set value or does the app randomise the time up to that value? Would it be possible to update the app to have a ‘From’ > ‘To’ value and the app then randomises between those times?
If it is not a random time, would it please be possible to add that?
Thanks!
Mark.
This is a great App to assist in home security! I was wondering if it would be possible to add an option to turn lights (On) at a Dimmer percentage other than 100%?
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Greetings all,
Having some trouble with setting up VLD. Looking to use one instance in the morning and one in the evening. I can’t seem to get it to run. Ever. Here is a log of my most recent test.
8fda7e2a-fe3a-4300-99d6-11de808bb3e7 12:21:00 PM: debug mode OK. Running again
8fda7e2a-fe3a-4300-99d6-11de808bb3e7 12:21:00 PM: trace modeOk = true
8fda7e2a-fe3a-4300-99d6-11de808bb3e7 12:21:00 PM: trace timeOk = false
8fda7e2a-fe3a-4300-99d6-11de808bb3e7 12:21:00 PM: trace timeWindowStop = Sat Oct 21 19:44:00 UTC 2017
8fda7e2a-fe3a-4300-99d6-11de808bb3e7 12:21:00 PM: trace timeWindowStart = Sat Oct 21 17:20:00 UTC 2017
8fda7e2a-fe3a-4300-99d6-11de808bb3e7 12:21:00 PM: trace daysOk = true
8fda7e2a-fe3a-4300-99d6-11de808bb3e7 12:21:00 PM: trace modeOk = true
8fda7e2a-fe3a-4300-99d6-11de808bb3e7 12:18:34 PM: debug Installed with settings: [startTimeType:time, falseAlarmThreshold:1, people:[A, S], switches:[Kitchen Light, Dining Room Light], endTimeType:time, ending:2017-10-21T14:44:00.000-0400, starting:2017-10-21T12:20:00.000-0400, frequency_minutes:2, newMode:[Away], days:[Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday], number_of_active_lights:1]
It seems like timeOk = false is the problem, but I don’t see why. Log time is 12:21, which is the turn on time for the app… 12:21 + 5 hours to UTC = 1721. Can anyone see what I’m missing?
Thanks for the help.
Allen