Another PLM Restore Fail

[jgcharlotte]

NO!!!   lol

 

 

[Techman]

Yes, did that on the first replacement, not this one.  Going to put the PLM on a long extension to a different outlet as Michel and others have suggested.

Unfortunately, my original PLM is on its way back to SmartHome, probably just as well since it was almost 2 years old, but now I HAVE to restore a new one, even if it is just noise.

 

At this stage moving the PLM will serve no benefit. The problem is between the ISY and the PLM.  The restore PLM is not writing the ISY's links to the PLM. This is where you need to focus.

[apostolakisl]

I would suggest creating a backup of you current ISY, then loading a backup from when everything was working.  Then restore PLM.  If the PLM now has links, then somehow "delete plm" happened in all of this and you'll need to rebuild from that point.  Just a point to consider, as with any memory device, backups are a really really really good idea.  As for myself, I pretty much put on all the beta (and even alphas) and do a backup with each of those, so I have lots of backups only a few months apart.

 

Frankly, I'm not certain how the PLM restore write process proceeds.  If it tries to write to devices first then the PLM and it is failing to write to devices and hanging, then I suppose you could have 0 links on the plm and still have the links in the ISY record.  However, I don't think this is the case.  Michel would be able to say more accurately.

 

But again, backup your current status, restore a backup, then restore plm. . . .just to see what happens.  You can always restore this latest backup and get back to where you are now.

 

The restore PLM process really does work, I have done it (sadly) 3 times, or maybe 4, I forget now.

[johnjces]

I was an IT director at a casino for 11 years. I can count a number of short and long run Cat5 and 6 network cables that just sit. Don't move... they are just there and plugged in. They would fail! I could never quite figure out why a cable that just sits there might open a wire or two for no reason or a plug end loosen its crimp.

 

Try a new Cat 5 straight through cable between your PLM and ISY... who knows... you've tried everything else!
 

[jgcharlotte]

Tried new cat 5 cable, same thing.  I'm going to move the PLM to a different circuit today and try again.

 

One thing I don't think was addressed is why my radio devices are getting through to the ISY.  All of them.  O/C sensors, motion sensors, mini-remotes, leak detectors.  That signal gets picked up by an access point and/or dual band device, but to show up in the ISY, doesn't it have to go through the PLM?  Those signals are getting through to the ISY just fine.

[Teken]

You're getting to the point where the hair on your head is becoming a lot thinner.

 

Hard resetting and starting from scratch is getting closer. ☝️

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jgcharlotte]

You're getting to the point where the hair on your head is becoming a lot thinner.

 

Hard resetting and starting from scratch is getting closer. ☝️

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Not there yet LOL.  It is closer though

[Teken]

You can always just try a single device to see. It doesn't work now so you have nothing to lose!

[apostolakisl]

Tried new cat 5 cable, same thing.  I'm going to move the PLM to a different circuit today and try again.

 

One thing I don't think was addressed is why my radio devices are getting through to the ISY.  All of them.  O/C sensors, motion sensors, mini-remotes, leak detectors.  That signal gets picked up by an access point and/or dual band device, but to show up in the ISY, doesn't it have to go through the PLM?  Those signals are getting through to the ISY just fine.

 

Yes, they do go through the PLM.  Your plm would be dual band, so it could be working off of RF where the PL signal is getting sucked or interfered with.

[Techman]

jgcharlotte,

 

If you're still showing a 0 PLM link count then you need to correct that problem first. 

 

About how many devices do you have installed?

[jgcharlotte]

jgcharlotte,

 

If you're still showing a 0 PLM link count then you need to correct that problem first. 

 

About how many devices do you have installed?

 

Around 40, not including the Z-Wave of course.

[Brian H]

40 maybe low.

It may depend on how many devices you have.

[jgcharlotte]

40 is approximately the number of physical devices I have installed.

[Brian H]

Sorry I misread your last answer.

 

If the PLM Link Count is still 0. That is definitely a problem.

 

Have you tried a support message to UDI. They are fantastic with their customer support.

 

http://www.universal-devices.com/contact-support/

[jgcharlotte]

Yes, Michel answered right away.  He suggested moving the PLM to a different circuit also.  I'm going to do that today.

This is not my original PLM, it is a replacement.

[jgcharlotte]

So plugged the PLM into an extension to an outlet 30 feet away and also plugged in a dimmer module to see if I could configure it.  It did configure and was controllable from the console.

Now I'm trying a PLM restore and it appears that most of the devices are starting to come in ie, 1010 changing to 'writing' changing to normal icon.

And the progress is MUCH slower with many more messages.  So obviously something is working correctly.  I don't know if is the different circuit or something else, when it is finished I'll move it back and see how everything works.  If it doesn't, I guess I go looking.

 

Update:  It did not work in the original circuit.

 

 

Update:  No, next step was to go back to the remote circuit and make sure it still works there, which it does.  Yay. Link count is now 204, but I don't know if it's done yet.  It went to 100% then started over.

 

Of the devices that did not recover, I'm wondering what to do.  Another PLM restore?  Device restore won't work if the didn't come back in the PLM restore, would it?

[apostolakisl]

So plugged the PLM into an extension to an outlet 30 feet away and also plugged in a dimmer module to see if I could configure it.  It did configure and was controllable from the console.

Now I'm trying a PLM restore and it appears that most of the devices are starting to come in ie, 1010 changing to 'writing' changing to normal icon.

And the progress is MUCH slower with many more messages.  So obviously something is working correctly.  I don't know if is the different circuit or something else, when it is finished I'll move it back and see how everything works.  If it doesn't, I guess I go looking.

 

Update:  It did not work in the original circuit.

 

 

 

Update:  No, next step was to go back to the remote circuit and make sure it still works there, which it does.  Yay. Link count is now 204, but I don't know if it's done yet.  It went to 100% then started over.

 

Of the devices that did not recover, I'm wondering what to do.  Another PLM restore?  Device restore won't work if the didn't come back in the PLM restore, would it?

Your troublesome devices might be ones that are also affected by the same power line noise/sucking that was "blinding" your PLM.  

 

At this point, I would suggest you figure out what is in your house that is so horribly disruptive to your communications.  If you installed anything new in your house (I don't mean Insteon, I mean anything that plugs in), start with that.  Otherwise, you may have something in your house that is on the fritz.  A wall wart that is in the process of burning out, or who knows.  Odds are, it is something on the same circuit that your PLM was on.

[jgcharlotte]

Your troublesome devices might be ones that are also affected by the same power line noise/sucking that was "blinding" your PLM.  

 

At this point, I would suggest you figure out what is in your house that is so horribly disruptive to your communications.  If you installed anything new in your house (I don't mean Insteon, I mean anything that plugs in), start with that.  Otherwise, you may have something in your house that is on the fritz.  A wall wart that is in the process of burning out, or who knows.  Odds are, it is something on the same circuit that your PLM was on.

 

Yes, I agree.  I was going to try and get the whole system back up this way, then go back to the original circuit to figure out the problem, but I would just be beating my head against the wall if that problem is affecting devices now.

I already eliminated a couple of new things, just need to keep trying. . . . 

[mwester]

As a hint, two of the worst interference-creators that I've found over the past few years were physically very small, and both were apparently working just fine.

 

One was a 25-watt-equivalent LED bulb (Feit) -- when illuminated, it looked exactly like it's neighbor on the other side of the garage door, but it created so much electrical racket that the 2477 SwitchLinc that controlled it went deaf on both powerline and RF.  Replacing that single bulb solved the problem entirely (to be safe, I hunted down all the bulbs of that same type I'd installed, tossed them, and replaced with Philips equivalents).

 

The other was a no-name cell-phone charger from eBay -- physically looked exactly like the Samsung chargers for their cell phones.  It created so much racket on the powerline in the kitchen that not only did the nearby KeypadLinc stop working, the KeypadLinc locked up and started emitting a long, never-ending beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!  I replaced the KeypadLinc, thinking it had failed - the replacement was also deaf as a post (despite working on my workbench 10 minutes earlier).  That led to a massive hunt in the kitchen and adjacent living areas, annoying the entire family as I unplugged every bit of entertainment gear, floor and table lamps, etc, etc, ending when in desperation I finally unplugged the "too-little-to-possibly-cause-trouble" things including the cell phone charger.  Now i have nothing but name-brand chargers, and everything - and I mean everything - in that area is plugged into those oh-so-attractive Insteon Filterlincs.

 

Best of luck.  Some on this forum maintain that the powerline comms with Insteon is great, and works fine -- others of us have experienced similar things to that you've just dealt with.  Welcome to the club.  Investigate z-wave, save your sanity.  And money.

[jgcharlotte]

Yeah my z-wave stuff actually works quite well.  It's not as well supported in the ISY, however.

I've tried to consolidate as many potential noise generators as possibly behind a number of filterlinc's but I know some are not.  I'll probably start with those.