Z-wave acting up

[srogala]

Hi folks,

I have 994 with the z-wave board.  I have a pretty extensive z-wave network.  I had upgraded to 5 a few months ago and things were working fairly well.  I had been running 5.0.13 at the start of the current issue but upgraded to 5.0.14 as part of troubleshooting.

The problem is that I cannot add a z-wave device, nor can I seem to heal my network or repair links.  I can remove devices.   When I try to add a device I don't get the expected window showing that it's listening, and the event viewer doesn't reflect that it's trying to add devices.  The event viewer also doesn't show anything when trying to heal or repair links, which I'm used to watching previously.  As I said, removing devices works fine.  I did notice that when I try to add a device I do see one line in the event viewer "Z-wave device detected, retrieving info 7" but nothing ever comes of it.  Telling it to stop adding or removing a z-wave device brings no joy either.   I have rebooted the ISY several times and left it off for a few minutes.

Please let me know if there's any more info I can provide.

Thanks,
Scott

[dbuss]

1 hour ago, srogala said:

Hi folks,

I have 994 with the z-wave board.  I have a pretty extensive z-wave network.  I had upgraded to 5 a few months ago and things were working fairly well.  I had been running 5.0.13 at the start of the current issue but upgraded to 5.0.14 as part of troubleshooting.

The problem is that I cannot add a z-wave device, nor can I seem to heal my network or repair links.  I can remove devices.   When I try to add a device I don't get the expected window showing that it's listening, and the event viewer doesn't reflect that it's trying to add devices.  The event viewer also doesn't show anything when trying to heal or repair links, which I'm used to watching previously.  As I said, removing devices works fine.  I did notice that when I try to add a device I do see one line in the event viewer "Z-wave device detected, retrieving info 7" but nothing ever comes of it.  Telling it to stop adding or removing a z-wave device brings no joy either.   I have rebooted the ISY several times and left it off for a few minutes.

Please let me know if there's any more info I can provide.

Thanks,
Scott

I had the same issue and re-started the ISY and that solved the problem.

[srogala]

Thanks, unfortunately I've rebooted several times but it hasn't helped.

[dbuss]

3 hours ago, srogala said:

Thanks, unfortunately I've rebooted several times but it hasn't helped.

I would download the update again and install it again.

[srogala]

I can try that but the problem was occurring prior to updating.  I only updated to try to solve the problem.  Installing the update did not change the behavior.

[Michel Kohanim]

@srogala,

These symptoms point to ISY not being the primary controller anymore. I suspect you added another controller as primary. It's the role of the primary controller to do the heal and allow addition of devices to the network. More information on shifting primary controller can be found here.

With kind regards,
Michel

[srogala]

Thanks Michael,

I did have another controller (usb stick) but that device is no longer around and I never made it the primary.

The weird thing is that my Z-wave menu doesn't match any of the pictures in that link.  I don't see any option in the menu to switch control. 

Here's what my menu looks like

[Michel Kohanim]

Hi srogala,

The reason is that the USB stick is no longer there. Can you plug it back in?

With kind regards,
Michel

[srogala]

Yes, the laptop it was in died so I set the stick aside.  I just plugged it into this laptop to see if that helps but I'm assuming that I'll have to find whatever software it was that I had on the other laptop.  Or, what would be the procedure?  Wow Z-wave is weird. 

[Michel Kohanim]

@srogala,

When it's plugged in, it should become the primary controller (as long as you have not factory reset it) and then ISY will let you shift primary control back to ISY. Alternatively, if you have a good backup of your Z-Wave network before any of this happening, you can do Z-Wave | Tools | Restore followed by Z-Wave | Tools | Synchronize.

With kind regards,
Michel

[srogala]

Ok, making a little progress.  The USB stick is plugged back in and I can now add devices, heal, etc from the ISY. However, I still don' t have any menu options to shift control back to the ISY.   I'm pretty sure I don't have a good backup of my Z-wave network (though I will now!)

-Scott

[gviliunas]

On 12/10/2018 at 8:48 PM, srogala said:

Wow Z-wave is weird.

I agree with SRogala!!

Previously, I followed some forum direction to use zensys-tools to put a Gen 5 Z-Stick into "learn" mode in order to connect it to my system as a Secondary Controller. Okay, a little knowledge is dangerous and now the thing is now connected to my system.  Everything seems to be working but I can't yet figure out how to update AEON firmware via this new secondary controller (or is it a primary controller? Who can know such things?)

I have the same available Z-wave drop-down menu items as SRogala (There is no selection to make another controller Primary. I can only put ISY into "Learn" mode.) but my Heal Networks seems to work and I can unplug my Z-stick and everything appears to continue working. Where am I?  Wow Z-Wave is not intuitive.

Which controller is Primary? I don't know. How do I switch Primary and Secondary with this Generation 5 Z-Stick? I don't know. Am I going to break this thing playing with it? Probably.....

Time to read-up more on Z-wave before doing real damage.

[Michel Kohanim]

@srogala,

Does this stick show up as a node in ISY?

What you might want to try is Z-Wave | Tools | Synchronize | All.

With kind regards,
Michel

[srogala]

Hi Michael,

Yes, the stick shows up as a node in the ISY "PC Controller". 

I tried a Synchronize All but it didn't change anything. 

[Michel Kohanim]

Hi @srogala,

Please try Z-Wave / Exclude and exclude the stick from ISY.

With kind regards,

Michel

[srogala]

Ok, am I looking in the right spot?  I don't seem to have that option.

 

[rccoleman]

From the Z-Wave menu at the top:

[srogala]

Ok, I've been banging my head against the wall.  I'm trying to exclude it like you would any other device but I can't make it exclude.  There instructions for the z-stick explain how to exclude devices from the z-stick, but not how to exclude the z-stick from a z-wave network.  I did find references for including it into an existing z-wave network (with the Domoticz  software), but I cannot get that software to work properly, I suspect because my z-stick was already part of a network.  I almost feel like I have to nuke my z-wave network if I want to get this fixed.

[AndyHat]

I’m in the same boat trying to get my z-wave network back on track.  I’m very much an amateur.  I’ve had the ISY for a little over four years.  I have a very small z-wave network (six devices) that began acting weird a couple of weeks ago. 

My current UI and firmware are 4.7.3.  I’ve tried to review everything in the wiki, cookbook, user manuals and forum that might give me some insight on what is wrong and how to fix it. 

I finally decided to wipe out the z-wave network and start over by resetting the dongle, excluding all the devices, resetting all the devices (except the Schlage deadbolt if I can avoid that), then adding back all the devices. 

In lieu of taking the ISY around the house, I decided to try using an Aeotec z-stick and Domoticz.  I cannot figure out how to do this.  The z-stick is showing up in Domoticz and I think I may have transferred primary control to it since that option is no longer showing up in the Administrative Console, but it’s hard to tell.  There are no z-wave devices (including the z-stick) appearing in the AC. 

I would really like a step-by-step primer on how to use Domoticz to shift primary control back and forth between the ISY and the z-stick. It’s not clear to me how to do this and when the z-stick should be plugged in to my computer and when it should not be.  All very confusing.  I think I might be able to use the z-stick to add my devices back to ISY once I understand that process.

[RRoyceus]

I am in the same boat as the others.  I originally started my Z Wave network in SmartThings.  At some point instead of adding things in ST, I added them in the ISY and for the most part, quit using ST, but it was still plugged in and a part of my home network  I added Z Wave locks, but was having trouble controlling via the ISY.  I added numerous repeaters, healed the network, repaired links,  and synchronized all of the nodes numerous times, but if anything, the problems just got worse and devices that once communicated now don’t.  I opened SmartThings, none of the devices added in the last year showed up.

As a test, I deleted a device in SmartThings that was working in the ISY.  When I did a synchronize nodes, it disappeared in the ISY.

any suggestions on how to fix my  Z Wave network?

 

[lilyoyo1]

14 hours ago, RRoyceus said:

I am in the same boat as the others.  I originally started my Z Wave network in SmartThings.  At some point instead of adding things in ST, I added them in the ISY and for the most part, quit using ST, but it was still plugged in and a part of my home network  I added Z Wave locks, but was having trouble controlling via the ISY.  I added numerous repeaters, healed the network, repaired links,  and synchronized all of the nodes numerous times, but if anything, the problems just got worse and devices that once communicated now don’t.  I opened SmartThings, none of the devices added in the last year showed up.

As a test, I deleted a device in SmartThings that was working in the ISY.  When I did a synchronize nodes, it disappeared in the ISY.

any suggestions on how to fix my  Z Wave network?

 

I would suggest factory resetting your zwave dongle and rebuilding your zwave network. Take pictures of your programs and scenes that contain zwave devices so you know how to rebuild them. 

Once done, I would stay away from the smartthings and avoid primary/secondary controllers uses. While it works well when done right, unless you have extensive zwave knowledge it'll be a bigger headache than it's worth. 

[RRoyceus]

On 4/6/2020 at 5:00 AM, lilyoyo1 said:

I would suggest factory resetting your zwave dongle and rebuilding your zwave network. Take pictures of your programs and scenes that contain zwave devices so you know how to rebuild them. 

Once done, I would stay away from the smartthings and avoid primary/secondary controllers uses. While it works well when done right, unless you have extensive zwave knowledge it'll be a bigger headache than it's worth. 

Is there a way to delete SmartThings from the ISY or vise versa?

[lilyoyo1]

20 minutes ago, RRoyceus said:

Is there a way to delete SmartThings from the ISY or vise versa?

The best thing to do is factory reset and start with a clean slate. Deleting a device can still potentially leave information behind that can potentially cause issues. While factory resetting can be work, it ensures you the best results 

[RRoyceus]

40 minutes ago, lilyoyo1 said:

The best thing to do is factory reset and start with a clean slate. Deleting a device can still potentially leave information behind that can potentially cause issues. While factory resetting can be work, it ensures you the best results 

Thanks, I was afraid that was what you would say.  It appears that I will have a long weekend ahead of me.

[lilyoyo1]

Just now, RRoyceus said:

Thanks, I was afraid that was what you would say.  It appears that I will have a long weekend ahead of me.

You're welcome. I definitely don't envy you. At least it's just the zwave module and not the whole isy.