"hops left = 3" plus lot's of "unexpected response"

[johnnyt]

Am on firmware 4.2.16 and for the first time ever seeing "hops left = 3". Is this new in .16? I thought the best one could hope for was "hops left = 2"

 

Despite the better than best comms am getting lots of "unexpected response". There's a ~10 sec delay after each unexpected response resulting in a pretty slow "show device links" process, etc. See first screenshot.

 

At some points I sometimes get a flood of "unexpected response". See second screenshot. When I've seen it happen it does eventually recover/move on but adds further delay. The process also fails sometimes, requiring a restart and turning a bit of maintenance or quick troubleshoot into a full morning/afternoon/evening event.

 

What do these two things mean? How can the delays be reduced?

 

[LeeG]

I'll go through that trace.

 

The Hops Left=3 is not a general situation at 4.2.16 as I am seeing the expected Hops Left=2. Do you have the special PLM with the All On change?

 

What is the type of device where the link database is being read?

[LeeG]

The 02 51 ..... Extended message containing the actual link record does not have the correct address for the link record being read, thus the (i.e. DB range) part of the explanation message. Nor is the actual link record being returned. On the third request the link record is correct. With the I2CS "check digit" of 0xDA on all three Extended messages, which would be incorrect on the first two messages, either the device is sending a bad message or the PLM is scrambling part of the message.

 

Is this device the only one having the problem? What is the type of device? Is this the special PLM?

[johnnyt]

yes, this is the special PLM that is supposed to prevent the all on issue. I just installed it yesterday so that  explains the hops left =3.

 

This post is about a v.36 KPL but it's not the only one showing both issues. The db range message has been an on-going issue when I check device links for other v.36 single band KPL's too. I haven't seen it on my DB KPL's (one v.41 and one v.43). Not sure if it's because they are dual band or for other reasons.

 

Some of the KPL's are in comms challenged areas of the house (2nd floor whereas ISY is in basement) and while the comms is good enough for everyday use, it's tough for "show device links table" purposes and often needs one or more redos before I get to the end of the link table. The DB range error messages are usually if not always part of the equation when those are read.

 

After doing a few more device link table reads, including of a KPL that has always struggled, the "hops left" are always 3 so I'm suspicious that no longer means anything with the newer special firmware. Unfortunate as this is only going to make finding problems harder given the lack of other tools to do that.

 

 

[johnnyt]

looking back in my saved event viewer log I see there was a device that showed "hops left = 2". It's a double band v.41 KPL. The ones with hops left =3 are v.36 KPL's

 

I've attached the event viewer file showing some of my travels over the last hour around a few KPL's - not all at level 3 but I did make sure to turn it to level 3 when I was doing device table reads. All but two (of 7) KPLs needed a restore because of the PLM change. Yes, I did do a "Restore Modem" yesterday but clearly some links didn't get updated properly (the records showed the previous PLM's address)

 

 

 

ISY-Events-Log.v4.2.16__Fri 2014.10.17 03.05.26 PM.txt

[LeeG]

The only device in this trace with the (i.e. DB range) message is 16.77.E5. If this is powerline only

it suggests a comm issue with powerline only device but Hops Left count does not help with that

conclusion. See if 16.77.E5 is on the opposite 120v leg to the PLM. The Hops Left=3 may be related

to messages that were moved cross phase by RF or received directly by PLM RF over RF crosslink.

 

Device 2B.A9.0E is showing Hops Left=3 but no (i.e. DB range) messages.

 

Hops Left= count is sure a challenge as it has always been a good indication of comm. Good thing this PLM is not generally available.

 

From the comments I assume there have been comm issues before changing PLMs. The Hops Left counts will make comm evaluation difficult.