Replaced PLM-lost programs

[Michaelv]

My PLM went dead. Nothing was working, Even LED on the side was not on. Replaced modem Following the instructions found in the forum by ChrisJahn.

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)

Now, none of my programs are working. 

Double taps, timed events, nothing and I am getting missed heartbeats from all my Leak Detectors. 

 

its a brand new PLM I bought last week. 

Using ISY 994i/IR Pro (1110)

firmware V.4.7.3

PLM Info/Status

v9E/connected.

 

Any Help?

 

thanks 

[MWareman]

Have you written the new PLM to all your devices yet? They may still be trying to communicate to your old (dead) PLM.

Try a ‘Restore Device’ On one affected device - and if that solves it you will need to go around each individual device and restore it.

[Michaelv]

I did not. I thought a restore to the PLM would do that. I'll try it.

 

 

[apostolakisl]

Restore PLM does go out and write changes to all your devices.  I just did it a month or two ago on 5.0.15 with a new plm.

When you did the restore plm, did it go through and write to all of your devices?  You would have seen the little green 01010 next to all of your devices and then it would have gone through and, one by one, said "writing" in green, then it would have gone back to normal.  And if indeed it did that and cleared all the green boxes next to your devices, then all the layers are working.  Your ISY to PLM and PLM to devices has to working to write a change to a device.

Also, you don't have to have the correct PLM on your ISY to directly control devices from ISY.  So even if the links got written wrong (or not at all), you can click on a device in the left hand tree and control it.  If you can't then either the new plm is bad or there is some sort of comm issue.  You only need the PLM/devices to have the correct links for ISY to see the device changing status.  The deal is, your PLM has a one-on-one scene with each and every device in your house, so when you change the status of the device, the PLM (and by extension ISY) also is part of that change, just like when you link two light switches, when you change the one, the other changes.

Also note: If ISY does not have a PLM connected, it will tell you and go into safe mode.  So if you are not getting that warning, then ISY sees the PLM,  Furthermore, the PLM has a working serial port and you have a working serial wire between it and ISY.

[Techman]

Attached is the procedure for replacing a PLM. 
NEVER do a delete PLM.

Replace ISY PLM.pdf

[Michaelv]

Thanks nothing has worked. But I’ll next try techmans procedure. 

[apostolakisl]

4 hours ago, Michaelv said:

Thanks nothing has worked. But I’ll next try techmans procedure. 

If you answer the questions I posted, your current situation would be more clear.  

[Michaelv]

ok,

 

Here is What I know:

Quote

Quote

 

 

When you did the restore plm, did it go through and write to all of your devices?

 

So even if the links got written wrong (or not at all), you can click on a device in the left hand tree and control it.  If you can't then either the new plm is bad or there is some sort of comm issue.  

 

 

 

 

 

From What I could see it was, After the progress bar disappeared, I still had the green icon next to some of the nodes. There were quite a bit. I have over 150 devices on my system. I tried restoring each device individually but when I tried to run programs with those devices in it, they would not run. 

I am able to left hand tree control devices on the ISY.

[Techman]

Hopefully you DIDN'T do a delete modem prior to adding the new PLM. If you did let me know.

[Michaelv]

I am quite certain I did not delete, but did a replace. This morning, I did a factory reset on the Brand new PLM and tried to do another restore modem and let it run while I was at Work. I am able to remote desk top in to see the progress and when I had the Green10111 next to the nodes, I'd right click the and choose " write update to device". I am home now and still programs do not run, timed, double tapped or motion triggered and when I do a scene test, the scene doesn't work and there is nothing, black screen, in the event viewer. I have an older version Back up PLM that I forgot I had and I am going to try to do a restore PLM on that modem.

[Michaelv]

So I restored the ISY and just before it was complete, I got this. Network Configuration Mismatch

I clicked ok as the values were the same.

See attached.

 

[Techman]

Is your ISY firmware and UI the same version?

 

[Michaelv]

• They are the same.

 

[Michaelv]

Well, that didn’t work. If I factory reset the New PLM ( unplug for 30 seconds, hold down set button while plugging it in for 10 seconds) can’t I just do a restore PLM and shouldn’t the ISY just overwrite the new PLM with all the links that will run my programs and scenes before I started having problems?

i have an ISY back from two weeks ago, just when things started to get funky, or should I restore the ISY with the next newest back up. 

Systems been down for over two weeks and you don’t how much you depend on the system until it doesn’t work. 

Wife is extremely irritated at me, again!

[Techman]

Yes, you should be able to do a restore PLM

After the restore take a look at your device tree to see if their are any device with a red !, if do then do a restore device for each one that has the red !

After the restore do a plm link count to verify that links have been written to the PLM. Let me know what the link count shows. 

If you have battery operated devices, each device will need to be put into the linking mode before you do a restore device. Only one battery operated device should be in the linking mode at any one time.

The links for Scenes are contained in the devices. You can disconnect the ISY and a scene should still function.

If all else fails I can probably find you a good marriage counselor.

 

 

[lilyoyo1]

With you having a couple hundred devices, your Restore should take a couple of hours. Generally I do a restore plm>restore devices. Either way, manually triggering a scene/device from the isy should still turn them on. I would try plugging the plm into a different outlet or location to see if that helps things

[MWareman]

It sounds like you may have started a second restore PLM before completing the first restore PLM operation. It’s important to follow the process completely and ensure all devices are updated! (No 101010 icons) after the restore was started.

Well, that didn’t work. If I factory reset the New PLM ( unplug for 30 seconds, hold down set button while plugging it in for 10 seconds) can’t I just do a restore PLM and shouldn’t the ISY just overwrite the new PLM with all the links that will run my programs and scenes before I started having problems?

Yes, but that will write half of each link - and not likely fix the underlying issue.

There are two records of each link. One in the PLM per device it’s linked to (letting the PLM know the address of each device it’s linked to) and one in every other device on your Insteon network (letting it know the address of the PLM).

If you changed your PLM - you can write your PLM config many times and it won’t change that your devices still don’t know the new PLM address - so the links will stay broken until all devices have a record of the new PLM address. Your devices are probably still sending their updates to the old PLM address - causing all your programs to fail (no triggering events are being received).

Restoring all devices other than the PLM should restore the other side of the link to those devices.

[Michaelv]

Thanks for that. Can you explain what you mean when you say "Restoring all devices other than the PLM". What do you mean by  other than the PLM. How do I restore the all Devices other than the PLM?

[MWareman]

13 minutes ago, Michaelv said:

Thanks for that. Can you explain what you mean when you say "Restoring all devices other than the PLM". What do you mean by  other than the PLM. How do I restore the all Devices other than the PLM?

Right-click each switch, sensor, light, device (etc) and select 'Restore'.

If it's a battery device - it will have to be put into linking mode first.

[Michaelv]

Got it. Rather than the restore devices in the File/restore devices in the main menu.

 

Can you do a restore to more than one device at a time?

 

 

[MWareman]

40 minutes ago, Michaelv said:

Got it. Rather than the restore devices in the File/restore devices in the main menu.

 

Can you do a restore to more than one device at a time?

 

 

I've never performed "File/restore devices" myself - and handled this device-by-device the one time I had to do it. This allowed me to handle the many battery devices more gracefully.

As I said - you have to put each battery device into linking mode first. This requires a visit to each battery device and hitting it's button - then the restore must be initiated before linking mode times out. You cannot go around the place putting all devices into linking mode before the first devices timeout so a global restore is never going to work in this scenario.

[Michaelv]

The weekend is here and I have time to work with this, As Techman suggested, I did a link count and it was 956, I have attached the file. I would say that 90% of my programs are working. I have about 3 Red Exclamation Marks that I can't clear by restoring and about 15 green 11010 next to my nodes that wont go away. Techman, what can you tell me by the link count table?

PLM Links Table.v4.7.3__Sat 2019.09.07 10.43.19 AM.xmlPLM Links Table.v4.7.3__Sat 2019.09.07 10.43.19 AM.xmlPLM Links Table.v4.7.3__Sat 2019.09.07 10.43.19 AM.xmlPLM Links Table.v4.7.3__Sat 2019.09.07 10.43.19 AM.xmlPLM Links Table.v4.7.3__Sat 2019.09.07 10.43.19 AM.xmlPLM Links Table.v4.7.3__Sat 2019.09.07 10.43.19 AM.xmlPLM Links Table.v4.7.3__Sat 2019.09.07 10.43.19 AM.xmlPLM Links Table.v4.7.3__Sat 2019.09.07 10.43.19 AM.xml

[lilyoyo1]

You're pushing against the Mac that the plm holds

[Michaelv]

Interesting. When I started the count, it did not start at one. I think it started at 44. Maybe I have too many links? 

Is there a way to increase capacity in my plm or can I purchase a higher capacity plm? Could I reduce the amount of link by replacing scenes with programs or do programs generate links as well?

[lilyoyo1]

You can increase links by decreasing scenes and using programs instead. One thing that I do is create scenes with all responders then have the controller activate that scene via a program. This allows me to initiate double taps as well as save a few links. 

I also create a single scene for each room. This allows me to use that one scene for multiple things such as all on/off,y away scenes, and good night. 

I also don't have every insteon device in my isy. All my outlets are smart outlets. In regards to my insteon outlets, only the ones actively used are added to my isy. The rest are simply there until needed.

I know some people don't manage every device such as 3way Hall lights. They'll link them outside of the isy since they don't have any use in the isy for them. I'm not one of them as any device I use the isy does something with it. 

I've also invested in other technologies as well which takes some burden off the plm. For example, all lamps use hue bulbs. Those are controlled with network resources. I also use zwave outlets and sensors which saves additional plm space since those do not use the plm either.