ISY failure?

[maui4marko]

I've been running an ISY 2.4 installation without issue for about a month now but yesterday encountered a major problem. It appears to have stopped working and I am unable to remotely log on to my device. At first thought it might be a network issue, as the installation is in my 2nd home 3,000 miles away.

 

However, upon further investigation I am still able to remotely access my router and network cameras so have ruled out network as the problem. I checked my network camera logs and discovered that yesterday the scheduled turn-off at 11pm didn't occur and the ISY device appears to have stopped functioning and all the lights remain on.

 

I plan to call my neighbor later today and have him recycle the power, but outside of that I have no other means of local troubleshooting. Has anyone else experienced a failure like this? Are there any other things I can try to pinpoint the problem or am I just screwed?

 

This is a real show-stopper as I need 100% reliability given the distance between me and the installation, as well as the criticality of having everything run properly and reliably.

 

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

 

Marko

[Michel Kohanim]

Marko,

 

I am so very sorry and I do apologize for this unfortunate "disaster". I totally agree with you that this is a show stopper especially given the distance between your installation and your physical location.

 

Given your feedback, the device is no longer functioning and thus uncommunicable and therefore it would be very difficult to troubleshoot. From your logs, could you ascertain whether or not there has been a power failure?

 

With sincere apologies,

With kind regards,

Michel

 

I've been running an ISY 2.4 installation without issue for about a month now but yesterday encountered a major problem. It appears to have stopped working and I am unable to remotely log on to my device. At first thought it might be a network issue, as the installation is in my 2nd home 3,000 miles away.

 

However, upon further investigation I am still able to remotely access my router and network cameras so have ruled out network as the problem. I checked my network camera logs and discovered that yesterday the scheduled turn-off at 11pm didn't occur and the ISY device appears to have stopped functioning and all the lights remain on.

 

I plan to call my neighbor later today and have him recycle the power, but outside of that I have no other means of local troubleshooting. Has anyone else experienced a failure like this? Are there any other things I can try to pinpoint the problem or am I just screwed?

 

This is a real show-stopper as I need 100% reliability given the distance between me and the installation, as well as the criticality of having everything run properly and reliably.

 

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

 

Marko

[Mark Sanctuary]

Back many firmware versions ago I had my ISY stop responding a couple of times but I did not think much of it and just power cycled it. The lockups seemed to stop after one of the upgrades. I think that Michel and the guys are slowly finding each trap condition that locks things up. Plus the darn Insteon PLM also has its lockup issues too.

[maui4marko]

Thank you for your responses. I have been able to have a neighbor recycle the power, which enabled me to once again log in to the system and verify its operation.

 

Unfortunately, I am not able to view the log. I assume the distance/network delays are causing this problem. The error message I get is:

 

Microsoft Visual Basic

Run-time error '1004':

'DevintiXReport.rtf' could not be found. Check the spelling of the file name, and verify that the file location is correct.

If you are trying to open the file from your list of most recently used files on the File menu, make sure that the file has not been renamed, moved, or deleted.

[End] [Debug] [Help]

 

Due to the distance involved, I am not able to easily power cycle the device. It can take up to a week to contact a neighbor and inconvenience him to go do it on my behalf. Thus, the importance of having 100% reliability.

 

Michel has contacted me and we are working toward resolution of this problem. Thank you again for your responses.

 

Marko[/img]

[Sub-Routine]

My ISY locked up yesterday when I quickly changed the outlet it was plugged into. I had to unplug it for about 10 seconds to get it to reboot.

 

Thank you,

Rand

[Michel Kohanim]

Marko,

 

Thanks so very much for the quick update.

 

As far as the logs, there's a know issue with our application on Vista: Vista security paradigm does not allow for download of files (through Java applets) and then viewing by untrusted applications such as Visual Basic (Excel Macro). We are trying very hard to get this resolved in our next release. Do you have access to a non-Vista computer?

 

I have started a root cause analysis to make sure we can pinpoint what caused the hang.

 

With sincere apologies and thanks so very much for your patience,

With regards,

Michel

Thank you for your responses. I have been able to have a neighbor recycle the power, which enabled me to once again log in to the system and verify its operation.

 

Unfortunately, I am not able to view the log. I assume the distance/network delays are causing this problem. The error message I get is:

 

Microsoft Visual Basic

Run-time error '1004':

'DevintiXReport.rtf' could not be found. Check the spelling of the file name, and verify that the file location is correct.

If you are trying to open the file from your list of most recently used files on the File menu, make sure that the file has not been renamed, moved, or deleted.

[End] [Debug] [Help]

 

Due to the distance involved, I am not able to easily power cycle the device. It can take up to a week to contact a neighbor and inconvenience him to go do it on my behalf. Thus, the importance of having 100% reliability.

 

Michel has contacted me and we are working toward resolution of this problem. Thank you again for your responses.

 

Marko[/img]

[Michel Kohanim]

Rand,

 

Hello ... long time no see!

 

If I understand your correctly, you unplugged ISY from the AC outlet and when you plugged it back in, it locked up (all LEDS fainly on), right? Did you happen to unplug the PLM as well?

 

May I humbly suggest upgrading to PLM v 5.2 (on us)?

 

With kind regards,

Michel

 

My ISY locked up yesterday when I quickly changed the outlet it was plugged into. I had to unplug it for about 10 seconds to get it to reboot.

 

Thank you,

Rand

[Sub-Routine]

Hello Michel,

 

I am sure that you rest better now that my storm of suggestions has subsided

 

No news is good news

 

For wall warts I use a lot of those short two prong extension cords with the three outlets cubed on the end. The ISY power supply was plugged into one side and I unplugged it, flipped the cord over and plugged it right back in. I never unplugged the PLM. I saw the four faint LEDs, pulled the wart again, but I guess not for long enough. I pulled the cord from the ISY and waited for quite a while (I was scared, I didn't want it to give up now!). Then when I plugged it back it it went through the whole startup (whew).

 

I was surprised that the ISY didn't go through the small power interruption. Maybe that's just mine because it is a Beta unit.

 

I mentioned this here because it might be relevant to this topic.

 

We made it through all the storms last week here in Chicagoland and never lost power, though we had some glitches, none that affected the ISY.

 

This morning, at 4 AM, for no apparent reason, our power went out. Not the whole neighborhood, only the five homes on the one transformer. Of course it will be days until they fix it, there are still over 30,000 other homes without power in the area. I'll let you know what happens when power is restored. I just came home with a new generator to run the 'fridge and a few other essentials (modem, router, my PC) at least for the evening. Darn thing is too noisy to run all night, but I didn't have, no one had, any choice.

 

 

And sure, as long as you are buying, I'm up for an improved PLM!

 

Thank you,

Rand

[Michel Kohanim]

Rand,

 

No power, no INSTEON, no ISY! I do hope that you get your power back as soon as possible.

 

I will send you a new PLM by no later than Wednesday.

 

I am rather confident that when your power is back, ISY will not start simply because PLM firm 46 starts immediately, connects 12 volts to one of the pins on ISY (while initializing) and thus makes ISY hang on boot up. In 52, PLM waits a few seconds before connecting the power to ISY.

 

Of course, when you replace your PLM, you would have to do a File->Replace Modem which might take a few hours!

 

Thanks so very much for your feedback and continued support,

With kind regards,

Michel

 

Hello Michel,

 

I am sure that you rest better now that my storm of suggestions has subsided

 

No news is good news

 

For wall warts I use a lot of those short two prong extension cords with the three outlets cubed on the end. The ISY power supply was plugged into one side and I unplugged it, flipped the cord over and plugged it right back in. I never unplugged the PLM. I saw the four faint LEDs, pulled the wart again, but I guess not for long enough. I pulled the cord from the ISY and waited for quite a while (I was scared, I didn't want it to give up now!). Then when I plugged it back it it went through the whole startup (whew).

 

I was surprised that the ISY didn't go through the small power interruption. Maybe that's just mine because it is a Beta unit.

 

I mentioned this here because it might be relevant to this topic.

 

We made it through all the storms last week here in Chicagoland and never lost power, though we had some glitches, none that affected the ISY.

 

This morning, at 4 AM, for no apparent reason, our power went out. Not the whole neighborhood, only the five homes on the one transformer. Of course it will be days until they fix it, there are still over 30,000 other homes without power in the area. I'll let you know what happens when power is restored. I just came home with a new generator to run the 'fridge and a few other essentials (modem, router, my PC) at least for the evening. Darn thing is too noisy to run all night, but I didn't have, no one had, any choice.

 

 

And sure, as long as you are buying, I'm up for an improved PLM!

 

Thank you,

Rand

[Sub-Routine]

Power was restored Tuesday morning. I cheated and had unplugged the ISY because it was on a strip I wanted to power from the generator. The PLM was still plugged in the wall. As I switched back to service power the ISY restarted quite nicely, except the time was off about six hours. The PLM had been powered for at least half an hour. I didn't take note of exact time difference, sorry, we were just glad to have lights again and I had to go to my real job

 

The ISY has been running flawlessly before and after

 

In the previous occurrence of a short power loss on the ISY the PLM never lost power. The PLM and AccessPoint are plugged into a different circuit than the ISY power supply. I thought the ISY would either carry on or reset.

 

Thank you,

Rand

[Michel Kohanim]

Rand,

 

Ah, finally ... it actually took 3 days to get your power back? That must've been quite annoying! Nonetheless, I am so glad that you got your power back.

 

Thanks so very much for the update. I think you'll be quite busy this weekend because your new PLM is due to arrive on Friday. Please do let me know if you I can be of assistance in replacing your PLM. Here are some points to consider:

1. Backup your ISY before replacing your PLM

2. Unplug ISY and PLM

3. Replace your PLM with the new PLM

4. Plug both ISY and the PLM back in

5. Login to Admin console and choose File->Restore Modem (PLM)

6. Have a short nap (max 30 minutes)

7. Check and see if everything works!

 

Also, I must stand corrected. After I sent the last post vis-a-vis the amount of time it takes to replace a PLM, Mr. Chris Jahn (or CTO) informed me that I was totally wrong: it should not take more than 30 minutes.

 

Thanks again and with kind regards,

Michel

Power was restored Tuesday morning. I cheated and had unplugged the ISY because it was on a strip I wanted to power from the generator. The PLM was still plugged in the wall. As I switched back to service power the ISY restarted quite nicely, except the time was off about six hours. The PLM had been powered for at least half an hour. I didn't take note of exact time difference, sorry, we were just glad to have lights again and I had to go to my real job

 

The ISY has been running flawlessly before and after

 

In the previous occurrence of a short power loss on the ISY the PLM never lost power. The PLM and AccessPoint are plugged into a different circuit than the ISY power supply. I thought the ISY would either carry on or reset.

 

Thank you,

Rand

[Sub-Routine]

The power was out here for about 48 hours. Some homes in Chicagoland were out for five days. But it angered me because our power stayed on through all the storms and went out for no apparent reason. This happened about six weeks ago as well, so it is something with our local service. That time it was fixed within three hours.

 

Knowing there were over 130,000 homes without power because of heavy storms in our area I knew we were at the bottom of the pole. I went out to buy ice and came home with a generator. I realized it could be several days until power was restored.

 

Anyway, now I have a new generator and enough extension cords and three-ways to provide all the power we need, but not all we want. This unit is pretty noisy but it can power about half the house. I was lucky to find any generator at that time.

 

Of course, as long as I have the generator we will never need it again. The day after I sell it...

 

No PLM today. If it's USPS I will probably get it tomorrow. 30 minutes, that's okay, I have plenty of other chores to fill my time

 

Thank you,

Rand

[Michel Kohanim]

Rand,

 

I am so glad you got your power back. I don't know what I would've done without power!

 

I just checked UPS, they have rescheduled your delivery to 9/5. It's amazing ... I truly apologize.

 

Thanks so very much and with kind regards,

Michel

 

The power was out here for about 48 hours. Some homes in Chicagoland were out for five days. But it angered me because our power stayed on through all the storms and went out for no apparent reason. This happened about six weeks ago as well, so it is something with our local service. That time it was fixed within three hours.

 

Knowing there were over 130,000 homes without power because of heavy storms in our area I knew we were at the bottom of the pole. I went out to buy ice and came home with a generator. I realized it could be several days until power was restored.

 

Anyway, now I have a new generator and enough extension cords and three-ways to provide all the power we need, but not all we want. This unit is pretty noisy but it can power about half the house. I was lucky to find any generator at that time.

 

Of course, as long as I have the generator we will never need it again. The day after I sell it...

 

No PLM today. If it's USPS I will probably get it tomorrow. 30 minutes, that's okay, I have plenty of other chores to fill my time

 

Thank you,

Rand