What are the steps to swaping out an old PLM?

[Mark Sanctuary]

I got my old 4a PLM replacement from Smarthome for a new 5.2 PLM; what are the steps to swapping out the old one for the new one? Here is my guess:

 

1. [*:v2pfhk0r]Login to the ISY and do a "Remove Modem (PLM)" on the old 4a PLM.
   [*:v2pfhk0r]Physically unplug all old PLM connections and just ISY power.
   [*:v2pfhk0r]Plug-in all connections to the new PLM and wait for it to stop flashing.
   [*:v2pfhk0r]Plug-in the ISY power and wait for lights to stop flashing.
   [*:v2pfhk0r]Login to the ISY and do a "Restore Modem (PLM)" on the new 5.2 PLM.

If these are the correct steps what should someone do if they skipped step 1 "Remove Modem (PLM)" and just started at step two instead?

[Chris Jahn]

Do NOT do 'Remove Modem' as this will remove PLM links from all your devices, and you can't get them back unless you have an ISY backup file you can use to restore the ISY.

 

1. Unplug ISY

2. Unplug the old PLM

3. Unplug the cable from the old PLM

4. Plug the cable into the new PLM

5. Plug in the new PLM

6. Plug in ISY

7. Login to the ISY and do a "Restore Modem (PLM)"

[Mark Sanctuary]

Ok good I started out correctly then. I did not use the "Remove Modem (PLM)" thank goodness.

 

I can't seem to get the darn "Restore Modem (PLM)" to complete without getting the "Request Failed" error. What is this error mean again?

[Mark Sanctuary]

Ok I did the "Restore Modem" over and over again (about 7 time’s total) and finally it finished without error. I thought you guys worked on a error message that listed failed devices instead of the generic "Request Failed" error?

[Chris Jahn]

Good to see you are up and running again. We have not updated the infamous generic 'Request Failed' message, but it is clear that we need to do this at some point in the future.

[Mark Sanctuary]

Thanks, I don't like having the house lighting halfway working.

 

Well the new PLM lets one X10 message thru then it does not seem to send any more messages for X10 to the ISY. Darn I was hoping the new PLM would fix this for me.

[MikeB]

Comment and a question...

 

Comment:

I just replaced my PLM, and had a problem where the ISY kept coming back with an 'Request Failed' error. I didn't realize it was also trying to link my RemoteLincs to the PLM. If you have any RemoteLincs, be sure to put them into Linking Mode before restoring the PLM.

 

Question:

 

Do NOT do 'Remove Modem' as this will remove PLM links from all your devices, and you can't get them back unless you have an ISY backup file you can use to restore the ISY.

 

Just curious - if you're doing a 'restore PLM' anyway, what's the harm in removing links to your old PLM? What am I missing?

 

Thanks

[sloop]

it removes the links in the devices to the plm - not just the links in the plm

[MikeB]

I understand, but wouldn't you want that? Your new PLM will undoubtedly have a new address, so why would you want to keep links from the devices to your old PLM?

[Chris Jahn]

Restore PLM

 

ISY keeps track of the PLMs you have used, so for example, if you started using a new PLM without doing a restore PLM, you would have some devices linked to the old PLM and some to the new.

 

When you do restore PLM, it goes through all the devices looking for PLM links (either old PLM links, or new ones). If its a link to an old PLM, it replaces it with the address of the new PLM. It also adds the corresponding link to the new PLM.

 

Heres a tip:

You should never replace your PLM while ISY is running because it assumes the PLM that it started with is still connected. The ISY will appear to work, but it will be writing the address of the old PLM into the device links, thus you will not see devices updates etc.

 

Its easy to recover if you have done this;

- restart ISY (leaving the new PLM plugged into ISY - Important!)

- Do a "Restore Modem"

 

Whenever you restart ISY, it gets the address of the attached PLM, and that is the only time it ever does that.

 

Remove PLM

 

Use this with care because the only way to get this back is to restore a backup, and then do restore devices.

 

This removes all links to the PLM from all of your devices.

[MikeB]

Thanks for the clarification Chris. So, if I'm understanding this right:

 

When you do restore PLM, it goes through all the devices looking for PLM links (either old PLM links, or new ones). If its a link to an old PLM, it replaces it with the address of the new PLM. It also adds the corresponding link to the new PLM.

 

..my understanding is that if you do a REMOVE PLM, and all your old PLM links are gone, and then you try to do a RESTORE PLM, it will not see the old PLM links in the devices, so it will not add the new PLM links in the devices.

 

Correct?

[Chris Jahn]

You are correct. The only way to get those links back is if you have an ISY backup, in which case you would restore it, and then run restore devices.

[Sub-Routine]

Chris indicated when this function (Remove PLM) was introduced it would allow installers to configure all the devices in a home using the ISY, make a backup, and then remove the ISY and PLM and use the hardware in the next install.

 

Removing all the links in the devices to the PLM negates the retries that would otherwise occur.

 

I am guessing here, I think that when the installer returns to make changes to the switches he can use Restore Modem and Restore ISY and be in all the devices again.

 

Rand

[MikeB]

You are correct. The only way to get those links back is if you have an ISY backup, in which case you would restore it, and then run restore devices.

 

Thanks Chris.

 

Just curious - any reason why the RESTORE PLM doesn't simply create PLM links in the devices for the new PLM, even if they don't have any existing PLM links?

[yardman 49]

Hello guys:

 

On my post regarding 'Pessimistic "Restore Devices" Progress Bar' the way that I corrupted my network and had to resort to "Restore Devices" was to use the "Remove PLM" command

 

I didn't explain that previously, so in light of the current thread, I figured that I should explain the reason

 

Best wishes,

[GPG]

Now that 2.5 is almost complete, could we get an update to the Docs for these important features?

 

Currently under Help/User Guide in the GUI there is no mention of "Remove PLM".

 

The UDI Wiki seems more current, but can be confusing the first time you are trying to go through the procedure.

 

Restore Modem (PLM) states:

"This operation is most useful in case of a defective PLM and when ISY is rebooted with a new PLM."

 

Remove Modem (PLM) states:

"This function is useful when you need to remove or replace a PLM modem".

 

I understand that it is normal for the documentation to lag the program changes, and in most instances that is not a problem, but for this topic, I think it would very helpful to have current, clear and consistent procedures outlined in the user help docs for all backup, restore and update functions.

 

Thanks,

George

[Michel Kohanim]

GPG,

 

Yes, you are 100% correct. We are working on it and it shall be completed by the time 2.5 is released.

 

Thanks and with kind regards,

Michel

 

Now that 2.5 is almost complete, could we get an update to the Docs for these important features?

 

Currently under Help/User Guide in the GUI there is no mention of "Remove PLM".

 

The UDI Wiki seems more current, but can be confusing the first time you are trying to go through the procedure.

 

Restore Modem (PLM) states:

"This operation is most useful in case of a defective PLM and when ISY is rebooted with a new PLM."

 

Remove Modem (PLM) states:

"This function is useful when you need to remove or replace a PLM modem".

 

I understand that it is normal for the documentation to lag the program changes, and in most instances that is not a problem, but for this topic, I think it would very helpful to have current, clear and consistent procedures outlined in the user help docs for all backup, restore and update functions.

 

Thanks,

George