Jump to content

Communication failing - PLM?


Recommended Posts

Posted

I have an ISY994i and I replaced my PLM 16 months ago (Dec 2016).

 

Several of my programs recently stopped functioning.  I got a couple to work by doing a restore on the insteon device (a dimmer switch) that was triggering the program to run.  In the course of troubleshooting, I restarted by ISY and PLM and also upgraded both ISY and console to v4.5.4

 

I still have several programs not working but I noticed that the admin console is not correctly showing any state changes on my devices - light on/off, fan on/off, etc.  It just says everything is off, even if the device is on.  I can still control a device on/off through console and then it will reflect the correct state, but if i'm using the devices themselves, nothing is updated.  This explains why some of my programs are still not running - they depend on the "on" state being detected to trigger.

 

Is it possible I have another bad PLM or is there something else going on?

 

Thanks,

- Jay

Posted

I have an ISY994i and I replaced my PLM 16 months ago (Dec 2016).

 

Several of my programs recently stopped functioning.  I got a couple to work by doing a restore on the insteon device (a dimmer switch) that was triggering the program to run.  In the course of troubleshooting, I restarted by ISY and PLM and also upgraded both ISY and console to v4.5.4

 

I still have several programs not working but I noticed that the admin console is not correctly showing any state changes on my devices - light on/off, fan on/off, etc.  It just says everything is off, even if the device is on.  I can still control a device on/off through console and then it will reflect the correct state, but if i'm using the devices themselves, nothing is updated.  This explains why some of my programs are still not running - they depend on the "on" state being detected to trigger.

 

Is it possible I have another bad PLM or is there something else going on?

 

Thanks,

- Jay

 

It's certainly possible that the PLM is failing. Is the green LED on the PLM on steady?

What's the 4 digit date code and version number of your PLM

 

Try removing power from both the ISY an PLM. Then power up the PLM, wait about 10 seconds, then power up the ISY

 

Do a PLM link count, if the count is unusually low then you most likely have a PLM problem.

 

You can also try doing a restore PLM which will rewrite all the ISY's link records back into the PLM, If you have battery operated device then after the restore you'll need to restore each battery operated device, only one at a time should be put into the linking mode.

Posted

It's V2.2 and date code is 1546.

 

It looks like the links in the PLM table got erased because it's almost empty except for the couple of devices i did a manual restore on.  How could that happen?  I'm also getting the infamous "system busy" dialog after i try to do just about anything and sometimes the update progress on it moves very slowly.

 

Should i just do the restore PLM?

Posted

Unless a delete modem was done in error. An almost empty Link Database is one of the indications the power supply in the PLM is starting to go bad.

 

With the Link Database almost empty. A Restore PLM may help to put back all the missing links.

 

Week 46 of 2015. Not two years.

 

If you had it less than two years. Request a warranty replacement.

The latest hardware I have seen is 2.3 and Smarthome has indicated they found a problem component and 2.3 has the new part in it.

Posted

I restored the PLM and got 144 links.  I was still having problems (eg- a program on my motion sensor to control the dim level wasn't running correctly) so I completely deleted the motion sensor from my system and did a factory reset.  When I tried to re-add the motion senor I got an insteon query engine failure and a cannot determine device table link address error.  I called Smarthome support and they had me do a factory reset on the PLM and then restore the modem again.

 

Now I have 514 links in my PLM table...... so I guess the first question is, how many links should I have relative to the number of my devices (which is about 300 if I count the nodes in the right screen when I select the ISY in the admin module)?

Posted

I restored the PLM and got 144 links.  I was still having problems (eg- a program on my motion sensor to control the dim level wasn't running correctly) so I completely deleted the motion sensor from my system and did a factory reset.  When I tried to re-add the motion senor I got an insteon query engine failure and a cannot determine device table link address error.  I called Smarthome support and they had me do a factory reset on the PLM and then restore the modem again.

 

Now I have 514 links in my PLM table...... so I guess the first question is, how many links should I have relative to the number of my devices (which is about 300 if I count the nodes in the right screen when I select the ISY in the admin module)?

 

When you do a PLM restore you need to manually add back each battery operated device. Only one battery operate device can be in the linking mode at any one time.  If you have an ISY pro then you should disable the write to battery operated devices option before doing a modem restore.

 

The PLM link count can vary depending on what the ISY is doing at the time you run the count. It's best to run the link count when you know the ISY isn't performing any functions.

Posted

I know I still need to do a restore on the battery devices, but first I want to make sure my PLM links are good.  I read a forum post that said you should have at least two times the number of links as nodes in your system.  Is that correct?  What counts as a node - does an 8 button panel count as 1 or 8?  Does a motion sensor count as 1 or 3 (sensor, low battery, dusk-dawn)?

 

I did two more counts this morning right after each other and got 126 links and then 514 again.

Posted

Hmm... more mysteries.  With some time over the holiday weekend I'm digging more into my system.  Even though I did a PLM restore, I decided to double check the device links to isy links comparison.  I would expect device links to match isy links coming off the restore, but they are not.  In looking at 6 devices, I've found three that don't match.  For almost all of the mismatched records, there is an "EA" pairing in the address that should be an "E2".  When I do a restore on the device then the tables match but why didn't the PLM restore fix this?  I have a screenshot of the examples but can't figure out how to attach a file to the post.

 

Anyone have insight here?

Posted
When I do a restore on the device then the tables match but why didn't the PLM restore fix this?

 

I have always understood that a PLM restoration would only update the PLM to match the ISY records and would do nothing to fix individual insteon device records. 

 

To perform a global update on all your devices, from the file menu choose "restore devices".

 

Hopefully this fixes whatever problems you are having.  Good luck.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...