The only thing is, to change any of the settings we may have to disconnect HA.
Oh thx @Crumpy10, gonna try to backup my panel settings in the weekend. A routine backup is not necessary since i almost never change any panel settings, so only one backup will be enough for me for a disaster scenario; thatās why i am gonna try it from the voice board port.
Btw, the picture was an old one taken before the pre-ip module installation; that one edge connector is for the Freewave2 module for wireless sensors. Now the empty port there is also filled up with the ip-module.
Additionally i am planning to write to AAP NZ guys; for an additional IP Module command to set the Alarm Panel Clock and Date. So that every XX minutes/days/weeks etc. HA may set the current time/date of the panel from the computer date/time. Even though i set the time and date every month, it still goes fast or slow by some hours for whatever reason. I really get sick of setting P2086 etc etc to set date and timeā¦
Ahh that would be most excellent if I can use the upload/download software to backup or restore alarm panel settings via network connection!! I had tried and tried using the D-link connection to no avail, so Iād definitely like to try out this ribbon cable to see if it works over network. Is it fairly straight forward to get it working? That upload/download software seemed pretty archaic and not the most user friendly. Any tips we should know about on how to get it work over network?
Ok, Sorry for the delay in response. Life stuff getting in the way this weekend.
Right, So I have just used the ULD16 Upload/Download software to backup the alarm config to my PC.
- Stop home assistant (not sure if required but thought more than one login might not be liked)
- Start ULD16 Software.
- In Communications tab, select source and then TCP/IP (Winsock), Done.
- Insert your local IP number for your alarm panel and Port 5001.
- Hit Connect, you should get a panel Version and Data version number in the top right corner. You should also see RX/TX flickering green.
- Hit PW>>PC to download config from panel to your PC.
- Now this is important. Press disconnect once.
- At this point you can either change things or save the config as a backup. If your just backing up, save the config somewhere safe and your done. Exit the ULD software and reboot HA.
- If you changed things in the last step then you now need to connect again.
- Now press PC>>PW to upload your changes to the alarm panel.
- Your done, press disconnect, exit the ULD software and restart HA.
I am assuming you all have the ULD software, if you dont PM me and I can always email to you.
Cheers
Simon
Thanks a lot @Crumpy10. Some reminders for other friends:
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Runner8 Up/down software from Crow Group: This does not have TCP/IP connection. It is version 1.4 back from 2008s. It only connects with COM port (DLINK Cable) and Modem. You have to get the ULD16 version 2.0 from AAP group. Look for the one which is for ELITE S. That one has TCP/IP connection.
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I managed to backup all my config using DLINK cable both for 1.4 and 2.0 versions. The PW>>PC gets some configurations but LCD>>PC gets almost all configurations. For example Zone names etc were missing in PW but with LCD i managed to get them.
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I bought a 10 pin ribbon cable with connectors locally for 1 USD. It s not a crow or IP loom cable. You can look for it as ā2x5 ribbon cableā or ā10pin ribbon cableā. However, the connector direction of mine might be flawed since it didnāt worked.
In the picture above both their notch sides are up and red line is on left. It doesnāt match with the picture of red cable line shown below:
@Crumpy10, i want to make sure yours is like the aap document shown, if so, i will to take apart and correct one of the connectors. That means, the red line is on pin1 on one connector and last pin on the other side connector.
Hi, Thats good to know about backing up from the LCD as well you would make a good security installer @febalci 
Yes mine is like the diagram above and also notice the small crossover in the cable near the left hand connection.
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Wow @Cfrumpy10 thanks for that picture, exactly what i was looking for. The crossover is also interesting; thatās a completely custom cable it seems. Turns out my ribbon cable is reverse and no crossover 
I need to correct it. Will get a 2x5 IDC connector and do it. In order to punch an IDC connector to ribbon cable all you need is a small viseā¦
Prior to HA, i was spending a lot of money to the security installer guy; even for a small change he was requesting lots of money. Now that i start using HA, i do everything on the alarm panel by myself; no need to spend money anymore 
Thanks @Crumpy10 and @febalci for the info. I only have the upload/download software, not the UL16 software. Iāll PM you @Crumpy10 
Wow that crossover in the ribbon cable is either nasty (so that people need to buy their special cable) or itās to fix an error in their circuit boards (easier and cheaper to change the cable than re-layout the PCB)ā¦Iām thinking probably the latter 
Once I get the software and make that ribbon cable Iāll give it a go 
No problem, send me a pm with your email and I will search out the CD that its on.
Compared LCD and PW backups from ULD16. The difference is, PW backup gets everything in english. So in my setup, zone names, output and area names are like zone1,zone2 ā¦ In LCD backup, these items exist in my own language, as set up from the LCD panel. So not zone1 but āGirisā. Basically if your setup is english, you can use PW backup only.
The crossover cable is most likely the TX-RX pins. In order to make TX to RX and RX to TX they made a crossover cable in my understanding.
Ah yes, I was thinking this was the IP loom cable, but itās the serial interface cable. Makes sense they need to crossover TX and RX. Since I have the Runner 8/16 does that mean I need to use the IP Loom Cable and not the 10 Way serial cable?
Honestly be careful with that cable; since because of idiocy i made the cable backwards and burned some resistors on the alarm panel. It is still working but i am almost sure that the data upload/download will never work anymore 
Hi Jock,
Is this the software youāre after? ULD16.
Please let us know how you get on because I also have a crow runner 8/16 and would be keen to use this trick to access the alarm panel settings via the IP-module card.
@marchino I emailed @Crumpy10 and he sent me a copy but it looks like itās exactly the same as that link. I havenāt tried it out yet, but Iāll keep everyone posted on here.
@febalci and @Crumpy10 I just wanna make sure I understand correctly - I have the Crow Runner 8/16 panel. Should I be using the IP loom cable or the 10 way serial crossover cable between IP module and alarm panel for this upload/download software to work?
As far as I know both stay connected, I have always fitted both and itās worked fine, I seem to remember seeing a note somewhere that you need both for the uld software to work but this is using the elite s boards.
@Crumpy10 Iām actually not even sure where I would connect the other cable. There is the red circled female connector on the IP module - I donāt see any other matching connector. Is the blue circled connector on the panel the D-Link serial that would go to the green circled connector? Do you know where the other two connectors connect to?
Guess the connection should be btw blue and green:
Since blue has 2x7 pins, the connection should be like D-link (Leave 2 sides 2x1 empty):
IP loom cable looks like it has more pins. So i believe 2x5 cable is still the way to go.
Yet; i burned my resistors; it is your bravery call
Looking at the installation manual for your alarm, I would say its the Blue and yellow connectors. But again its your call, I personally have not worked on these boards.
By elimination, Iām pretty confident that itās the Green connector on the IP-Module card. The Red female one is used to hold the 3G daughterboard:
Product R4816-3G: R4816-4G IP Module > Crow
As for the Crow alarm panel, I agree with @Crumpy10 and @febalci that itās the Blue one, even if itās a 2x7 on the board. Only the middle 2x5 pins are relevant, as used by the Crow USB D-Link and EEPROM products.
I would like to know what the pink connector in your picture is used for. Could be some undocumented debug connector.
Can I ask is this still under active development / working with the latest versions of Home Assistant? Would be great if so, but donāt want to do a load of testing with a custom component if its not workable. Thanks.