johnmsch

Ok, I'm missing something obvious here. How do we check this???? Edit: Oops. Nevermind. Just went to Admin Console -> Help -> About. Edit #2: How do those (firmware & GUI) get out of sync? My GUI was newer than the firmware. Just upgraded the firmware and now they are both at 4.6.2.

There was a time when I would indeed do just that. Always been into electronics and electricity in general. Nowadays, its just not high on my list of to-do items.

Done. As I suspected, I get the same result. That sucker has gone to the dark side. Just wondering if Smarthome does autopsies on these? I'd be happy to send it back to them, although given its age and version, it probably wouldn't be relevant.

Oh wow, they're up to v6.6? That means my v5.05 really IS old. My order from Smarthome came in today, so I'll be doing some installs this weekend. I will definitely report back here how it went.

Yes, per Teken's request, when I put the new one in, I'm going to use an old head-less extension cord and wire it to the same outlet the PLM is in. 99.9% sure it still won't work, but I gotta know!!!!

Fortunately, this switch is within arm's reach of the breaker box. That's the one thing I haven't tried (turning the breaker back on while holding down the button). Its worth a try! BTW, I do have a small flat-blade screwdriver that I use exclusively for these switches. Makes it easy to pop the button out and hold it in.

Sorry, I should have been more clear. What I meant to say was: When I push & hold the button (after air-gapping it for 10 seconds), it makes one beep. Still have the same result no matter what I've tried. Within a second of pushing the button in (after air-gapping it for 10 seconds), it makes one beep. No matter how long I hold it in after that (I've tried anywhere from 10 seconds up to about 20), it never makes the long beep. When I finally release it, I hear the two beeps. I still can't add the device back and get the below error every time. New Device Errors The following devices could not be added: xx.yy.zz Cannot determine Insteon Engine

Been there, done that, twice. The second time, I had the breaker off for about an hour.

Yes, sorry for not updating this thread with that info. When I push & hold the button, it makes one beep. Then, no matter how long I hold it in, when I release it, it makes the double beep. I never get the long beep while holding it in.

Understood. The problem is that I've purchased about two dozen of these switches over the years from them. I don't see how to trace this particular switch back to a specific order. Am I missing something here?

Will do Teken. At this point, I'd be very surprised (and flummoxed) it the switch is then recognized by the ISY994i. Not sure how to check the warranty though. With all the Insteon switches I have, I don't know how to trace back when I purchased this particular one.

I removed the bulbs and started the console. Still get the error. I tried a query and see the progress bar, but nothing else happens. Then tried to restore the device, but again, nothing appears to happen. Then removed the device and tried to re-add it. That gave the error: New Device Errors The following devices could not be added: xx.yy.zz Cannot determine Insteon Engine Oh well, I have an order coming tomorrow in fact, with 6 new switches and another 8 button keypad. I'll replace this switch with one of the new ones. Thanks, as always, for all the quick replies!!!!

Hope I'm not being dense here, but isn't the device restore done from the Admin Console, which still can't communicate with the switch? There are actually 4 bulbs on this switch. I'll unscrew them and try again. BTW, just took off the coverplate for that switch, and the switch itself is pretty hot. I know these switches run a little warm, but don't remember ever feeling one that was as hot as this one.

For the reset, I pulled out the set button and waited about 15 seconds. Then pushed it in all the way and held it. Within a second or two, it beeped twice. I kept holding it in for about 10 seconds, but it didn't make any more beeps. I then released it and it still works the same (manually works fine, but ISY994i still has the error). By "removing the load", I assume you mean to disconnect the red wire?

I have an older Insteon 2466SW On/Off switch v5.05 that the ISY Admin console can no longer communicate with. When I start the console, it throws the error "Cannot Communicate With ... Please check connections." This has been working fine for a few years and I haven't made any changes to my electrical wiring/switches in at least 6-7 months. The switch itself looks fine and works manually. When its off, the LED is on, and when its on, the LED is off and all the lights it controls come on. I tried the factory reset procedure and also turned off the breaker that switch is on for about a minute. Can't think of anything else to try. Has this switch just gone bad?

Ok, looks like going to 5.x is the easiest way. Is v5 still in Beta? I usually keep fairly current with the firmware, but it looks like 4.5.4 is the most recent release. BTW apostolakisl, very impressive code in your programs. Having spent 40+ years in development, I do appreciate all the effort you put into that!

I'm looking for a way to save the boot time of the ISY to a variable. I have a couple of push/email notifications that when sent, I'd like to add a line with the timestamp of the last time the ISY booted. I'm running v4.5.4. Thanks for any tips/ideas.

Thanks guys. Looks like I'm getting a new toy.

Very cool. Thanks for the info. I've been wanting to play with a RPi, so now I have a good excuse. Would you be so kind as to explain what a "wc8" is?

Actually found some posts that got me started down the right path. Will update everyone once this is done.

Ouch. Sounds like there's not going to be some straightforward way to do this.

Got a new wrinkle to this issue. Last night we had some brief heavy storms/winds that rolled through and knocked down a bunch of trees, which took some power/cable/phone lines with them. The power is not a problem, as I have a backup generator that restores full power within a few seconds. However, it took hours for the cable (Comcast) to be restored. That prevented me from getting the ISY reboot notification, as my internet connectivity was down. Is there some way to get the ISY to check to see if it has an internet connection before attempting to send the message? The only thing I can think of right now would be some way to ping a site, such as Google and check to see if it got a response. This would have to be in a loop, or something that would execute every minute or two until successful, then send the notification. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Got this all setup and ran a test. Works like a charm. Just one nitpick. The message should say "The following is the uptime hours the ISY had been operating before ${sys.time} reboot: ${var.1.330} Hours." Technically, when the ISY reboots, its been operating 0 hours since the reboot. The variable will hold the number of hours before (i.e. previous to) the reboot. Also, how the heck do you have at least 330 variables? Wow!!!

Thanks again Teken. That's just the info I needed. larryllix - That gives me something to look forward to whenever I decide to upgrade to a 5.x release.

Got it. Thanks. Couple more questions please. For the Time Check program, how does sending that notification confirm the NTP sync was successful? I'm assuming your "GMX" notification is an email? Would you mind sharing the contents of your 'ISY - Clock Check' and 'ISY - Uptime Counter' notifications? Just wondering how they were setup. Always love learning new things about the ISY and the tips/tricks I learn here.