"Cannot determine Insteon engine" - incorrect address label

[eataft]

I have four old RemoteLinc 2s (2444A2), three of which the ISY994i programmed successfully but one refused to program. The symptom was "Cannot determine Insteon engine". This device worked fine for manual linking, but the ISY994i could not communicate with it.

 

Eventually, I determined that the address label on the back of the device was incorrect. It said 1C.1F.0E, but the correct address was 1C.1E.0E. Once I entered the correct address, everything worked fine.

 

(There was another post in the UDI forums with a similar finding. Incorrect address labels on Insteon devices may be a more common problem than people realize. Perhaps this should be added as a troubleshooting tip.)

 

I have two questions:

 

1. What is the easiest way to find out a device's actual address? The way I did it was to manually link it to another device, then to read out the other device's link table using the ISY Admin's diagnostic tool. Is there a better way?

 

2. The message "Cannot determine Insteon engine" has got to be the most obscure way of saying that the ISY simply can't communicate with the device. There is even a YouTube video by a UDI engineer acknowledging this. Can the message be changed? As it stands now, the message seems to indicate some obscure compatibility issue, rather than outright inability to communicate.

 

[Brian H]

1) I have used your method of finding a six digit ID myself. On things like original 2440 RemoteLinc and Controllinc. That the Start Linking method does not work.

 

I have also used the Start Linking method with other type modules and then it found the ID when added.

Edited October 5, 2016 by Brian H

[Teken]

I have four old RemoteLinc 2s (2444A2), three of which the ISY994i programmed successfully but one refused to program. The symptom was "Cannot determine Insteon engine". This device worked fine for manual linking, but the ISY994i could not communicate with it.

 

Eventually, I determined that the address label on the back of the device was incorrect. It said 1C.1F.0E, but the correct address was 1C.1E.0E. Once I entered the correct address, everything worked fine.

 

(There was another post in the UDI forums with a similar finding. Incorrect address labels on Insteon devices may be a more common problem than people realize. Perhaps this should be added as a troubleshooting tip.)

 

I have two questions:

 

1. What is the easiest way to find out a device's actual address? The way I did it was to manually link it to another device, then to read out the other device's link table using the ISY Admin's diagnostic tool. Is there a better way?

 

2. The message "Cannot determine Insteon engine" has got to be the most obscure way of saying that the ISY simply can't communicate with the device. There is even a YouTube video by a UDI engineer acknowledging this. Can the message be changed? As it stands now, the message seems to indicate some obscure compatibility issue, rather than outright inability to communicate.

 

Can you offer a image capture of the sticker on the back of the remote? If you read my signature profile you'll realize why I am asking. Many in the past have mistaken a 8 vs B, 0 vs O, etc. But I have never seen a picture of a piece of hardware with a Insteon ID mislabeled from the internal hardware address.

 

If true I guess those turtles are going to start eating my house . . . 

[eataft]

Here is a photo, showing the incorrect label and my hand-scribbled correction.

 

[Teken]

Can you bring up the Insteon ID in the Admin Console?

[eataft]

Here is a screen shot. If this is not what you want to see, please tell me what to do.

 

[eataft]

Sorry about that -- I'm still learning how to include attachments.

 

[Teken]

Sorry about that -- I'm still learning how to include attachments.

 

That's perfect - now you really need to go purchase a lotto ticket! I can literally count on two fingers when I have seen this ever happening.

[larryllix]

That's perfect - now you really need to go purchase a lotto ticket! I can literally count on two fingers when I have seen this ever happening.

I am sure of one finger you are holding up.

[Teken]

I am sure of one finger you are holding up.

 

LOL . . .