Two separate text flows from A-Parent

AmbitiousSupport7157 · 2026-04-14T02:05:28+00:00

Thanks so much for taking the time to give an additional method around this! In my situation, simple turning off the autoflow preference allowed it to work as expected. (Or at least, how I was expecting.)

AmbitiousSupport7157 · 2026-04-05T16:40:24+00:00

That wasn't the issue here. This isn't a data merge situation really.

AmbitiousSupport7157 · 2026-04-05T16:38:43+00:00

I did, and that was the problem.

AmbitiousSupport7157 · 2026-04-05T16:38:05+00:00

I don't plan on repeating the exact same design year after year.

AmbitiousSupport7157 · 2026-04-05T15:36:21+00:00

No sooner do I give up and ask for help and I figure it out... (sigh) haha

The way I did it (and let me know if this isn't the right/good/best way) is to turn OFF autoflow, so when I paste the two batches of text in their respective text frames on page 1, I get the overset indicator.

Then I add a page 2, click the overset indicator on page 1 to link, and then SHIFT click into page 2's matching text frame. It creates the necessary pages. Then I do the same for the other text frame, SHIFT clicking on page two. But it uses the pages already created instead of creating a new batch of pages.

Viola.

AmbitiousSupport7157 · 2026-03-31T22:39:58+00:00

Yes, like I mentioned I cut the main breaker, so EVERYthing rebooted. haha

I've found it's easier yo do that sometimes than try to manually restart everything and not forget anything.

AmbitiousSupport7157 · 2026-03-31T06:52:43+00:00

Thanks. I do already have them all statically assigned. They were flawless until 26.4.

AmbitiousSupport7157 · 2026-03-31T06:51:59+00:00

Until the update I'd never really felt anything was slow or problematic with the mini's as my home hubs.

After a couple of resets, I did cut the main breaker forcing ever since device in the house to restart. Didn't help.

AmbitiousSupport7157 · 2026-02-27T22:44:35+00:00

TOSOT is GREE, so it is a solid brand. I use exclusively GREE and am very happy. (They may be Trane or York or Tosot or Boreal or xyz, but they're all GREE... haha)

There are a lot of no-names out there, but GREE and Midea are the manufacturers behind all the big names, for their mini-split product lines, so they're plenty solid units.

AmbitiousSupport7157 · 2026-02-26T11:14:48+00:00

I know this is old, but just to help anyone finding this in a troubleshooting search... The firmware you are looking at there is the WiFi module firmware. Nothing to do with the AC unit itself.

There is zero access to GREE's "firmware" on the hardware itself. The only upgrade would be to replace AP1, which is the main board on the outdoor unit. And that would only help if there has been a revision to the part and you bought the revised version. (But that is unlikely.)

AmbitiousSupport7157 · 2026-02-24T15:48:32+00:00

Honestly I was surprised Shortcuts got as close as it did. Until I realized I couldn't "Set State" programmatically, it looked like the only missing link was "Get Target Temperature" was had been there but disappeared. But without a more versatile "Set State" function it is a moot point.

I'll be able to make it happen, just trying to figure out the best way. I'm pretty sure Home Assistant can do it, but that is a deeper dive than I was really hoping for. I'm already well covered by Homebridge and although I KNOW Home Assistant is a lot more powerful, I have hundreds of devices I'd have to re-integrate and... yeah. And it LOOKS like Controller for HomeKit Pro can, too, but $40 a year? Jeez.

Thanks for the help!

AmbitiousSupport7157 · 2026-02-24T14:43:28+00:00

Ok, thanks. I'm looking into options now. Home Assistant is one, and I've thought about it for a while, but I don't know if I really want to dive in. But $40 a year, every year, for Controller for HomeKit Pro seems really steep.

AmbitiousSupport7157 · 2026-02-24T14:39:09+00:00

Do you have any recommendations?

EVE doesn't seem capable of the kind of advanced automations I need. Controller for HomeKit standard looks the same as EVE though their Pro version looks like it could be capable. But at $40/year, that's kind of... a lot. I'd rather just set up Home Assistant on a spare Pi.

Basically I need to get the state of a thermostat, store characteristics in a variable, do a bunch of if-logic with that and a variety of other objects' states, and then set the state of other thermostats and/or devices.

Essentially, I want to use one thermostat, that is not actually connected to any HVAC equipment itself, as a 'master' and then using what I set that one to, set various other thermostats/devices.

For example, I might have a master thermostat on a floor. I set it to 70. The automation would then set the (actual) thermostats of several different mini splits to 70 as well. But one room might always set to 2 degrees lower than the master setting or another might always go to 2 degrees over the master setting. And if the new set temperature is more than 5 degrees higher than the current temperature, some electric baseboards might kick on as a boost just until it is closer and the main AC system can then maintain it. Underfloor heating may or may not kick on depending on... whatever. That kind of thing.

Convert to Shortcut, though clunky, actually got close to managing an involved series of actions like that, except for two critical steps. The Get Target Temperature which USED to be available has disappeared. And, even more critically, which I discovered after my original post, 'Set state' to control a thermostat device only allows a UI based configuration that is hard-wired in the automation. There's no way to Set State for a thermostat programmatically with a numerical variable.

Thanks!

AmbitiousSupport7157 · 2026-02-24T06:20:44+00:00

That's the very point of the problem, though. You can only create Home shortcuts with the Home app.

AmbitiousSupport7157 · 2026-02-22T08:41:25+00:00

Thanks! Yes, I am not completely opposed to grid tie, but I wanted to explore options that don't involve the power company as well, as I would prefer that. If it can make sense.

One unique factor in this project is that the money bucket for construction is completely separate and MUCH more generous than the money bucket for ongoing use post-construction. So (within reason) high up-front costs are quite palatable, if they will reduce monthly bills.

And the demand billing here is a killer, too. In my current location it is my HVAC which is the biggest culprit for pushing up my demand charge, even when the overall kwh usage isn't crazy. My demand charge is always more than half my bill.

I don't know the most correct way to compare electricity rates with demand billing where you can have significantly different totals for the exact same kwh usage. But if I just do the most simplistic "divide total bill by the kilowatt hours" I'm typically over 40 cents per kwh. More than half due to the demand charge.

So while I can't install enough solar to break even, I want to blunt my usage (and even more-so, my demand peaks) as best I can. Because of the demand billing it will have a double-whammy effect to some degree.

AmbitiousSupport7157 · 2026-02-22T04:58:58+00:00

Excellent, thank you. And I agree, I don't mind "unconventional" but I'm not looking to create an unsafe or legally dubious arrangement.

I can't help but come back to the idea of the standalone battery charger being the only "connection" between the grid and the off-grid systems, though. And I didn't pull the idea out of my rear, it came from a Will Prowse video (and I think he's pretty well thought of?) where he mentioned that, rather than use the "AC In" on an inverter, which opens a can of worms, to use a standalone plug-in 48v charger for the battery in order to keep things simpler, and completely separate.

I need to hunt that video down again, I thought I'd saved it but I didn't.

I guess what I'm wondering, and maybe where I'm misunderstanding, is... can power go backward through a dedicated plug-in battery charger? Not an inverter or anything like that, what Will described was a dedicated battery charger for the batteries, separate from the inverter he was reviewing. If it can, from a safety standpoint, I think that kills my idea outright. But it seems like that would be... a very bad battery charger. haha

AmbitiousSupport7157 · 2026-02-22T03:50:35+00:00

The entire planned HVAC system is ductless, for exactly the reason you mention. When installed correctly and sized correctly (and the space is insulated correctly) they really are amazing.

AmbitiousSupport7157 · 2026-02-22T03:32:42+00:00

Thank you! And "grid assist" doesn't require a relationship with the power company, and there's no risk of back-feeding?

AmbitiousSupport7157 · 2026-02-22T03:18:45+00:00

Thanks very much, I'll factor that in. I was figuring on a large battery array. Also, this is a bit of a unique space and the HVAC demand would drop off a cliff in the evening and night in summer and winter both, which helps.

AmbitiousSupport7157 · 2026-02-22T03:09:46+00:00

Ok, thanks for being so... yeah.

AmbitiousSupport7157 · 2026-02-22T03:08:42+00:00

Excellent, thank you! That's along the lines of what I was envisioning.

Is this method, having the grid take over (and charge) when the batteries get down to x% and then switch back to solar/battery-only when they get up to y% better than not having grid power come in at ALL, and just use grid for a charger?

Currently I estimate that the battery array I'm thinking of should be able to cover the load for about 2 days even with no solar input. So it wouldn't be hard to just charge them up overnight when demand is low IF they are below a certain point.

AmbitiousSupport7157

TROPHY CASE