Question 1

What preparation do I need to do before installing the driver?

Accepted Answer

It is recommended that you save a configuration or golden configuration before installing any driver.

Question 2

Why do I need an RS232-to-RS485 adapter?

Accepted Answer

Currently this is needed for a couple reasons. The most obvious is that this will allow you to use any COM port available on any CH processor. The primary reason is that although the hardware support RS485, the CH driver framework currently does not support utilizing it.

Question 3

Is there a recommended RS232-to-RS485 adapter to use?

Accepted Answer

Currently, we were able to successfully test using this DTECH adapter from Amazon. On a CP4R, we noticed that if you want to use COM 1, you will first need to select another COM port (such as COM 2) during install and then switch to COM 1. If you use any COM port other then 1, than you don’t need to do this. If you encounter any other adapters that work, you may let us know at drivers@digitalautomation.us. We’ll update this post as we encounter other adapters that have been reported with success.

Question 4

How do you add the shade controls to a keypad?

Accepted Answer

You can add shade controls to your Keypads by creating quick actions. You can add these quick actions to any room. Then chose to have them shown or not on the UIs by selecting and editing the property using the eye symbol next to the quick action.

Then you can reference the quick action on any keypad as shown in the next snapshot.

Then you can reference the quick action on any keypad as shown in the next snapshot.

Question 5

How can I control all the shades at once?

Accepted Answer

In order to control all or a group of shades at once, you will need to define a group in the SDN software and assign it a group address. If for some reason it’s not possible to define this group address, than an alternative is to define a quick action and add the shades you want to control to the quick action. The disadvantage with this option is that the shades will move in a staggered manner.

Question 6

How do I wire the RS232-to-RS485 adapter between the Crestron processor and the Somfy transmitter?

Accepted Answer

On the RS232 side, from the processor, you connect tx from the processor to the rx on the adapter and rx on the processor side to tx on the adapter. Ground from the processor goes to ground on the adapter. On the RS485 side, you would wire the TX/RX+ from the adapter side, to the + on the Somfy transmitter and the TX/RX- from the adapter to the - on the Somfy transmitter. Although wiring RS485 ground is optional, it is recommended to connect ground from the adapter to ground on the device. The example image below shows how the wiring should look like between the adapter and the Somfy transmitter.