Is there a possibility to view the node red UI on a GX touch display (Venus OS 3.5x) connected to a GX device??
Is is kind of cumbersome to always have to use a cell phone / desktop PC. It would be convienient to have it on the GX display instead…
thanks
Unfortunately it is not possible.
Yes, in fact it is cumbersome. From my perspective it’s even worse…. There one buys an expensive (and indeed good display from Victron) for the GX, and when utilizing node-red this display becomes useless? I mean, node-red will give advanced features for the Victron system, and the Dashboard makes it accessible.
So what does Victron expect? Have a tablet hanging right next to their (very good) display for advanced control? Drives me nuts - can’t see any good reason for such limitation.
Its an automation stack. If you used home assistant it wouldn’t be on the display either.
In the new (beta) code we can integrate some nodered capabilities like switches into the new ui.
Dear community, and Victron developers:
While node-red seems to be an interesting and important feature for cases where the GX devices and their graphical interface reach their limits: Why do You (Victron) not allow us users (or installers) to have the note-red dashboard right on the (high quality) display you sell for the GX devices?
I mean your display is totally encapsulated (perfect), good for harsh environments, best fail-safe due to hardwired connection to the GX device (where node-red lives). Why force us to have a less reliable tablet with so many additional potential ponts for failure (an app running on Android) and wifi/ethernet? All these potential points of failure make it a no-go from my perspective. Yes, having the option to ALSO have a tablet over Wifi anywhere within the network (or over VRM) is a great ADDITION, but the basic system must me much more failsafe. If configured correctly, your console becomes less important (maybe even not necessary to use at all), and node-red dashboard takes over. Another reason, why this MUST be on the display connected to the GX device.
I imagine an installer, selling the customer a GX device, but no display, because the node-red will only be on the tablet anyways. The day will come where the local network (router) fails, and then there is no control possible, while the GX is still running fine, and the HDMI display would work perfectly in such scenario.
I also imagine an installer selling a customer a GX device with a (enpensive and good) display, and putting a wifi Android tablet next to it to control by node-red what can’t be controlled on the other one. Can’t imagine any customer will find this attractive.
This really is an important topic for me, especially since I don’t see the major issue here: At least Code an additional panel on the Victron console which pulls the data from node-red (trough http/localhost node-red port)? I bet there are other alternatives (I am not a professional programmer), but this approach can’t be too difficult, or is it?
I get it: VenusOS is OpenSource, so experienced coders could do their own thing, but I don’t wish to have a system setup which might fail with an update, so from my perspective it’s a must that this is provided by Victron. Would be great to hear from others who are experienced in coding, and hear what they say.
I have merged this topic with an existing thread. Just a reminder, as per our guidelines, the community is not an “ask victron” channel. This needs to be addressed via support c/o your distribution partner.
Thank you for the reminder, I have to admit that I was ignorant to this guideline.
I need to address something, however: If Victron does not wish to be addresses in it’s own Forum, I can’t relate to that.
If I/we customers/users/installers have an issue, we need to communicate that. I know that the issue with Node-Red dashboard is an issue many installer have for all the reasons stated, seen that at the node-red workshop month ago. Back then it was not relatable for many (and me) why NR-Dashboard should not work on the main screen, and we (and I explicitly) were addressing this shortcoming more than once. Back then, all this was relatively new, and since there have been more than me addressing this issue, I was hoping it would be resolved soon. If memory serves right, I did even write constructive feedback after the workshop, but no feedback either.
Contacting support? Only trough distributor, and distributor told me to better address the Forum based on (most likely) experience, and left me with the impression that Victron is active here. Would make sense, since direct contact is hardly possible due to the “only trough distributor” policy, and a forum is very direct, but has a certain distance…
I mean, I would like to hear from Victron in regards to the issue (but I can’t address Victron here here directly, so please see this as a general “wish” being expressed too the public). I would prefer to talk to them directly. I have no issue selling a relatively expensive touchscreen for the Cerbo for all it’s advantages stated in the initial post, but I have a massive issue selling also a Tabled right next to it, so the user can control from a node-red programmed dashboard what (sadly) could not be realized with Venus Dashboard itself. I know that my request must be reasonable, since I did hear others having similar issues. The distributor (which I really like overall) is pretty much at the end for the setups I am mainly interested in, and I have to say if the information would have been more clear before, I most likely would have a few less Multiplus products at hand right now, but the distributor was relatively sure what I want can be realized, and a direct contact to Victron was not possible. The constellation for me is sub-optimal, especially since I overall have been a fanboy for Victron since quite a while, but ever since I try to realize some more specialized things, I sadly discover limitations. And even more sadly, from my perspective these limitation could relatively easy be resolved and give Victon a nice edge. If Victron would be more open for contact, they would have heard the following (one of those relative simple requests) a while back, and with not too much work in the own firmware could have made the products so much more usable for many:
Boat/RV setup function (non-grid code setups, no feeding to the grid):
So many setups have plenty PV, so it makes no sense to use expensive shore power (often much more expensive at campgrounds per kWh), but depending on the weather and travel plans, and energy needs, it might make sense to fill up batteries before departure (to 100, or maybe just to 70%, because during the drive the PV panels will most likely push it to 100). I mean there are so many reasons users would like such flexibility, and I assume it would be a relative simple implementation, if one could discuss that with Victron, and maybe in certain cases get contact to development. Sure such functionality might be possible with node-red (although I did not yet find the a way to manipulate the chargers set voltage/soc limits with node-red), but even if I can realize this functionality, I am forced to tell the user to use another screen besides the perfectly fine and hardwired GX screen..?
I might have been a bit off-topic a bit, but felt the need to draw a more clear picture for the demand of NR-Dash in the GX screen. I hope my thouoghts are OK for the forum and are not in violation of a guideline. It criticizing certain thins for sure, but it’s mean to be constructive, would love to continue tworking with Victron for many reasons, but currently it’s harder than it should be, and for Victron it could be beneficial, because other manufacturers don’t sleep either…
I get what you are saying and to a point I can relate.
The reason my perspective is a bit different is the following: Based on the fact that Venus and the Victron dashboard lacks flexibility, from my perspective it was a must to implement something (like node-red) to make sure not to loose too much market to others for such lack of flexibility. I assume Venus itself can not deliverif a certain market required more than a simple standard, and for that reason node-red was put “on top” to broaden possibilities. I find that a very reasonable approach, but it must be with the hard-wired (and with that as fails safe as possible) GX screen…
This is an important feature, but with all the vies expressed before, I am more shockt that it’s only switches (and very basic stuff, and only beta). In general I doubt that this is sufficient, except for the more basic use-cases. If there is something more complex realized in node-red (very likely), the user needs to see graphics, visuals, has sliders, can change values, etc, etc…
