to_lighter Posted March 12, 2020 Posted March 12, 2020 Hi everyone, I noticed that my ISY programs were no longer running. When I log into the ISY, all of my lights have a red exclamation mark beside their name. I've done trouble shooting for individual lights and panels in the past, but where do I start for all of them failing communication? On reboot of the ISY, the error is a modal pop-up that has the title "Failed Communication With", and the error is Cannot Communicate With (light name and address). Please check connections. This pop up error occurs sequentially for all of my lights. Thoughts? Cheers!
Brian H Posted March 12, 2020 Posted March 12, 2020 (edited) When you reboot. Is there any message indicating the system is in safe mode? That can be it can't communicate with the 2413S PLM. If you go into Tools, Diagnostics, PLM Info/Status. Does it show connected and the PLM's six digit ID? Have you tried. Powering down the 2413S PLM and the ISY994i and then power up the 2413S before powering the ISY994i up? Is the LED on the side of the 2413S on at about its normal brightness? If the 2413S PLM is over 2 years one. One possibility it has failed. They have a reputation of failing after a few years. The latest ones V2.5 have some updates and should have a better service record. Edited March 12, 2020 by Brian H 1
theedudenator Posted March 13, 2020 Posted March 13, 2020 Exactly what happened to me multiple times.I have a new never used PLM I want to sell...Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk
to_lighter Posted March 13, 2020 Author Posted March 13, 2020 Hi Brian! Thanks for responding. My PLM is likely more than two years old. According to the back, it is model 24135, although I suppose the 5 could be an S. Revision 2.3. The LED looks normal to me. It does show up properly when I run the suggested diagnostic. Cheers!
to_lighter Posted March 13, 2020 Author Posted March 13, 2020 Is it possible to reset/reprogram the PLM? Cheers!
Teken Posted March 13, 2020 Posted March 13, 2020 1 minute ago, to_lighter said: Is it possible to reset/reprogram the PLM? Cheers! If you're dead set in going this route you need only select *Restore PLM*. If you have a 994 Series (Pro) controller select the battery icon to disable writes. Doing so will allow the system to complete all writes to hardwired devices first without you having to go running around placing a battery operated device into linking mode.
to_lighter Posted March 13, 2020 Author Posted March 13, 2020 Hehe. Thanks Teken. I'm a bit intimidated by your wording! Is there a downside to reseting the PLM? I'm guessing that there is ... Cheers!
Teken Posted March 13, 2020 Posted March 13, 2020 6 minutes ago, to_lighter said: Hehe. Thanks Teken. I'm a bit intimidated by your wording! Is there a downside to reseting the PLM? I'm guessing that there is ... Cheers! Hi, I suppose my view is to first identify the root cause before going full on. Unless the 994 Series Controller is on a UPS a possible cause is a loss of power. Upon reboot the system normally query's the entire Insteon network. If the 2413S PLM doesn't come back on line as the 994 Series Controller at the same time that would reflect on the red exclamation marks. If we simply assume this was a power blip it costs you nothing to do a quick test. Unplug the 994 Series Controller and let sit for 30 seconds. Restore power and confirm the system is fine and connects correctly to the 2413S PLM. If it doesn't as Brian noted it's possible the PLM may be failing so you can do a PLM Restore to see if that offers a *Break Fix*.
Teken Posted March 13, 2020 Posted March 13, 2020 Sorry I noticed your question wasn't answered as it pertains to the PLM Restore. There is no downside besides investment in time but if the problem continues you literally wasted *Your Time*.
Brian H Posted March 13, 2020 Posted March 13, 2020 Restore Modem (PLM). Sends a factory reset command to the PLM and then restores the Link Database in the PLM. With all the links the ISY994i knows that should be in it. It also will remove links marked as unused or corrupt in the PLM Link Database. So there are no unused links in the middle of the ones that should be in the PLM.
kclenden Posted March 14, 2020 Posted March 14, 2020 (edited) 11 hours ago, to_lighter said: Is there a downside to reseting the PLM? Before restoring the PLM, I generally like to look at its Link Table. Goto Tools->Diagnostics->Show PLM Links Table. When the "PLM Links Table" window appears, click "Start". Generally speaking, you should expect to see at least twice as many rows in the table as Insteon devices you have. If you have a lot of scenes or Keypads, it could be quite a bit more than twice as many. Once the process of listing the rows is done, you can click "Save" to save a copy for later diagnosis if need be. If the table that is displayed is empty, or has a lot fewer rows than twice as many, then you are definitely a candidate for restoring your PLM. Losing links in the PLM can be caused by a one-time incident, or could be a sign that your PLM is dying. Edited March 14, 2020 by kclenden
to_lighter Posted March 14, 2020 Author Posted March 14, 2020 Well, now I'm really stumped. I got a new PLM. Replaced the ethernet cable as well. Plugged it in to wall so that it turned on. Rebooted the ISY. Once the ISY was fully booted up and done clearing all the errors I ran the Restore PLM function, which seemed to complete. However, I'm still seeing only red exclamation marks for all devices. The PLM table seems complete (I think). There are over 800 entries. What should I do next? Cheers!
Teken Posted March 14, 2020 Posted March 14, 2020 Well, now I'm really stumped. I got a new PLM. Replaced the ethernet cable as well. Plugged it in to wall so that it turned on. Rebooted the ISY. Once the ISY was fully booted up and done clearing all the errors I ran the Restore PLM function, which seemed to complete. However, I'm still seeing only red exclamation marks for all devices. The PLM table seems complete (I think). There are over 800 entries. What should I do next? Cheers! Right mouse click on any device in the left hand side of the device tree. Select query and let us know what happens with images and pop up messages. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
to_lighter Posted March 14, 2020 Author Posted March 14, 2020 For all devices I get a communication error. Example below Cheers!
Teken Posted March 14, 2020 Posted March 14, 2020 For all devices I get a communication error. Example below Cheers! When you select tools and scroll down to see the PLM Status. Show me what it says from the Admin Console.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Teken Posted March 14, 2020 Posted March 14, 2020 Thanks Teken for your attention! Alright let’s go for broke. I want you to delete a single device and than add it back.Once there, activate that device physically and confirm the status is correct. If so, control the same via the Admin Console.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
DennisC Posted March 15, 2020 Posted March 15, 2020 I would suggest making sure your firmware and UI versions match. If that's ok then right click one device and selector restore device.
to_lighter Posted March 19, 2020 Author Posted March 19, 2020 Hi! Thanks for the responses. I was able to bring my system back to life. Ended up that there must have been a power surge that zapped a lot of my Insteon stuff. My process was: 1). Replace PLM and ethernet cable 2). Restore PLM 3). Restore Devices 4). Restore PLM again 5). Air gapped and factory reset one device. This seemed to kick off a successful cascade of "Write Update to Device" I did have to physically replace one 8 button pad as even after reseting it multiple times I couldn't get it back as part of the system. Thanks for all who offered their help! Cheers!
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