johnjces

Several years back, I purchased an ISY994i ZW+ as a backup system "just in case" with a version 5.X.X firmware. I can't remember what version. I have a lot of current backups from my 4.9.0 system with most likely a failing SD-Card, an easy fix. I posted about it below somewhere in this forum. Without attaching the new never before programmed ISY with Z-Wave to a PLM, can I set it up? By this I mean, can I restore my backup, fix the programs that need changes and get the latest firmware? Then attach it to the current PLM? I want to keep my current ISY running along before I swap it out with the new ZWave version and latest firmware. Just simplifies my fears of screwing something up knowing that I have a working PLM and ISY. Again, thanks in advance! John

It has been years since I have been on this forum as my old 4.9.0 ISY has been plugging along great! But to the crux of my post... The wiki shows great instructions on replacing the SD-Card but I have been happily using firmware version 4.9.0 for many years being quite happy. Obviously my ISY does pretty simple tasks. My SD-Card appears to have some corruption as I cannot open or clear log files, empty but shows several thousand blank lines and have quite a few failure to open certain files in the Tools > Log and Tools > Error Log. I have no error light lit and System Status shows plenty of memory available and 0 bad bytes. If I try to open the log file or error log file, and then try to go to my programs, I am out of luck. All my programs simply do not appear. From researching the forums, it would appear I have a corrupted SD-Card. My questions are: 1). Is there any way to do a chkdsk or an fsck and fix a corrupted SD-Card, (what file system is in use?)? 2). In reformatting the SD-Card it states to install the firmware and my question is, I like my old version as I am apprehensive about upgrading and going through my programs and fear of failure. Can I reinstall version 4.9.0 or must I go to the latest 5.X.X version? Thanks in advance for any help and thoughts. John

Stupid question, but I do not have the climate module, at least I never ordered it or installed it or paid for it. Do I still need to do this update? My system is 4.7.3. I always fear firmware updates should something go awry. Thank-you!

Several weeks ago I replaced a failing PLM on firmware 4.7.3. All worked well and as I recall I did reboot the ISY after all worked as expected as a "good measure" Last night I had to enable my Christmas programs and when I clicked on Programs, none of my programs showed up! All of my programs have been and were working/running as they should but nothing appeared. I rebooted my ISY and checked again and all my programs reappeared and I was able to enable and modify my seasonal programs. Is something possibly failing in my ISY? I have not had this behavior before and I do not recall reading about such a thing in the forums and could not find a topic after an STF. But something about this reminds of reading about a memory card issue and something not appearing as usual. Thanks again for any thoughts. John

My PLM, Version 2.2 became very flaky after about 2.5 to 3 years. Sometimes things would work and sometime things wouldn't. A new PLM, V2.5, fixed all my issues. The 2.2 PLM didn't fail due to a power supply issue but it was heading there, at least getting pretty darn flaky, even though the caps on the 2.2 version were beefed up a bit from what I can tell. Not to the recommended values in the threads, but they were getting a bit more robust. In pouring over the threads on replacing the capacitors in the PLM, I could find no mention of replacing C2 which is a 100mfd 6.3 volt cap on the serial daughter board. I am going to replace all the main board caps but I am not sure what C2's purpose is. However, is this something that should be replaced? Figured I might as well, but sometimes it might be best to leave well enough alone if it is truly doubtful that a replacement would help. And I am seeking the experts thoughts on this one. Thanks

Cable was fine. New PLM cured my problems. PLM version 2.5. Maybe it will last more than a couple years. I have one more still working elsewhere a bad now just a matter of time.

Well, I do have my Portal login issue resolved but still have issues. I still do not know what my issue it with the random, maybe I'll work, maybe I won't Alexa command. Sometimes the log shows no issues other times it states error system log or similar. I forgot to add that even from the local Admin Console, I can turn a light on and off and sometimes I will get an 'error; communications failed' or similar type error/message. (Not a direct quote of the error). Using Agave with port forwarding it will sometimes just fail showing the previous state. It's just so random. As I write this it appears to be working very well! I somehow feel that my PLM is failing but not exactly sure how to check it other than what I have done/tried in my original post above. I do have a spare PLM. Knowing that a cable can fail just sitting there, I will swap cables, serial anyway, and see what happens before I restore a new PLM. Any thoughts before I restore a new PLM would be wonderful and thank-you in advance! John

I have two ISY's and both are still on 4.7.3. One is located in Tucson, AZ and the other in Show Low, AZ. Both have active portal accounts for Alexa access and both state they are connected when you go into that portion of the ISY admin and check the status. Each has a separate login for the ISY Portal. In Tucson, Alexa will act like it is working but no action happens. As an example, no light will turn on or turn off but Alexa will signal the OK ding. Sometimes after a minute or so, the action will happen, the light will turn off for instance. Tonight I tried logging into my Tucson Portal account and every time it stated that "Access Denied". I have not changed my portal account password or user name and somehow I am thinking that this might be a problem with Alexa being slow in sending the commands or sending the commands and getting an OK response but nothing happens. I feel that this is more an issue for the main guys at UDI, (Michael), but I am not certain. I need to get my Tucson Portal checked. There really isn't anything in the the error logs. Main logs show nothing. I checked and compared some devices between the ISY and the PLM and they all looked good. I have also been thinking that my PLM might be fading as it at that 2 year mark, maybe 2.5 years. Alexa states that " 'device' IS Not Responding" . Yet I might be able to turn it on via Alexa but when I tell her turn the device off she'll tell me it's not responding. I have rebooted my firewall and ISY and the PLM in the proper order. I just don't know where to turn but feel that my inability to access my portal account, that being access denied, has something to do with my problems when it comes to Alexa in Tucson. Thanks for any thoughts or where I might look. Oh I am 99.9% sure I haven't forgotten my Portal password. John

Figured it out and pretty easily once I dug around. I am always so worried about breaking something. Anyway, my DNS died as well so a reconfigure reboot and all is good.

While out of town, one of my locations had a major power failure which depleted my UPS batteries and everything went down including Internet connectivity. I came back today and brought everything back up and all is well except good ol' Alexa stated "the Hub is not responding please check, yada yada..." I then checked connectivity to my ISY locally and had no issues, then checked via my Cellular Internet and again no problems. Agave works just fine, logging in and out of the ISY and turning things on and off locally or from "outside" the network, via the Internet, all is working as it should. I log into my Portal account and it shows my ISY offline and going to Portals on my ISY also shows offline. But I am online but somehow disconnected from the UDI Portal. I don't think it is time to renew as I have had no indications that such is due as my other ISY is online and functioning fine and the service was purchased at the same time. Please forgive me if this is something easy to find but I can't find anywhere to reattach my ISY to the Portal. What can I do to get things working again? Thanks so much for any advice and help! John

I have an Insteon micro on-off and micro dimmer that fits a bit better in my fan's ceiling cup than the fanlinc, which IMHO is not top shelf. I found that with the fan I have set to high, as it should be, and the fanlinc on low, I barely get any breeze. On Medium it blows too hard and high seems just under high speed without the fanlinc. Since I rarely change fan speeds, the on off controls the fan and of course the dimmer for the lights. Works better and seems to fit the space better. John

https://www.rainmachine.com/ forums: https://support.rainmachine.com/hc/en-us/community/topics

+1 on the RainMachine! Nice controller!!

@ronvond I too have three IOLinc 2450 v41 in use as garage door sensors and openers. Two in a hot climate and one in a cooler climate. All have been in use three+ years with the 'cooler' one in use about 3 1/2+ years. The 'cooler' one, about 4 months into it's life, began to randomly open the garage door which is pretty disconcerting. However, the problem in that instance was the PLM. I was new to all this and purchased an alleged refurbished PLM. Once I replaced that PLM with a brand new one, I have had no issues with any of them... yet. I know it's a matter of time with those in the desert heat of a garage ceiling failing first. I "think" one thing I did at both places which 'may' help, is that I added whole house surge protection at the breaker box. Not certain if that has saved any of my devices, but have never had much fail since I installed them. The one in the mountains has been in place 8+ years. I hope this tidbit helps. John

@johnnyt Please report back and let us know how it goes! Like you, and maybe many others, I have been hesitant to upgrade due to possible issues. Thanks! John

It really isn't that difficult to set up Alexa with the ISY to control your Insteon stuff. Just follow the Wiki on how to set up the portal and set up Alexa/Echo. I found a couple "gotchas" and reported them and I am pretty sure that the suggestions I made were added. One of the nice things is the ability to use multiple words or "Spokens" to control any given device. I resisted for a long time moving from the Hub to the ISY and Portal because I am cheap and didn't want to spend the money on a recurring cost for Alexa but found it worth it. Give it a try. If you have problems there are a lot of people who can help you through it.

Somewhere I read that one can delete the PLM once all switches and other stuff are linked and of course no programs controlling that stuff. Is this true?

I have seen some of these pop up on eBay from time to time so you might save a search so eBay can notify you when they come up.

Just a followup for whatever it might be worth, but In updating to V3 of the Smart Home Skill for Alexa, all plurals and/or possessives work just fine. Bettys Bed works great!

Did you do a Java update?

You could use an Insteon Micro Dimmer or Micro On/Off module as it will probably fit inside the box behind or in your case, underneath the outlet. They are in fact quite small. Just watch your wattage as the on/off will do up to 100 watts as I recall and the dimmer only 200 watts. John

Not yet anyway! But I think some day. Wonder when that will happen; when AI becomes self aware...

One would think that "betty sped" would work. It doesn;t... Anything with betty and an 'S' just fails... Interesting.

For what it's worth, I too was using both an ISY and an Insteon Hub, using the Hub only for Alexa integration. I started having issues trying to keep things working together nicely and getting more and more red LED 'blinkys' on various switches. One reason I didn't switch from the Hub to the ISY is I am cheap and didn't want to spend $50 for 2 years of such service with the ISY Portal. I just recently pried the money from my wallet, bought the ISY Portal and went through the trouble of ridding myself of the Hub and I am most pleased! With the ISY Portal, you can add multiple "spokens" for a device, scenes and/or programs and I have to admit responses or wait times to lights on/off is much quicker. I was able to get rid of several ISY programs as well! I was worried about messing stuff up during the move from the Hub to the ISY but I didn't mess anything up. Learned a bunch too. It did take some time though. I, (my wife as well, I think), like Alexa enabled stuff and I would recommend that you reconsider keeping both and move over to the ISY. Using just the ISY is simply easier. I use on my Android smartphone the ISY Java dashboard via the web browser which is free dollars! It's kind of rough to view and use on a phone so I may pry some more money out of my pocket for one of the better Android apps to remotely control my stuff. But I have learned that some things are worth the money! My apologies for hijacking your thread and my long winded post. Lastly, all my "links" are done with scenes whereby you can easily link devices to control each other etc, if that is the kind of link you were speaking of. John

LOL! That is a good one! I will try it later today and let you know!