the ElkM1 "RP access code": a sham?

A most excellent question. The answer is, it is not a sham. It is functional. It protects some other party from connecting to the M1 so long as they don't know the RP Code. If you were to go to a different computer - one that had never been used to connect to the panel, and enter some random code, it would not connect. Why does yours? Good question. Here's how it works:

ElkRP remembers the last RP Access code used to connect to the control. If you change the code in ElkRP, then connect to the control, ElkRP tries the new code which gets rejected. It then tries the last known good code, which will likely work. If it works, ElkRP programs the new code into the panel and saves it to the database.

If someone else tries to connect to the control, but they don't have a copy of your database or the account in the database, they'll have one million codes to try!

I hope this clears it up.

Leo wrote:

Since you are knowledgeable on the subject, I?ll ask you a related question on the ?local programming code?: During my testing I noticed a strange behavior: I can (apparently) change the ?local programming code? remotely with the RP tool. However, it doesn?t ?stick?; when I go to the local keyboard, it does not recognize the code just entered via the RP tool; and it doesn?t? recognize the old (factory default) code either. But if I go again ?remote? with the RP tool and change it back to the factory default, then the local keypad recognizes again the old default code. Very strange ... What?s going on?

TIA. Leo

Did you enter a 6-digit code? The M1 requires a 6-digit programming code. Dit it start with or end with 0's? I don't know that that would be a problem, but it's worth checking.