all devices and PLM flashing red

[rxjock]

Please help! I came home from work and all my Insteon switches are flashing RED. I checked the PLM and it's flashing red also. I have not made any changes to my ISY994 in a long time.

[Techman]

@rxjock

It sounds like your PLM has failed.

Try removing power from the PLM and the ISY. Wait a few minutes, then power up the PLM, wait about 30 seconds then power up the ISY.  

Are you then able to access the ISY from the admin console, if so, click on TOOLS | DIAGNOSTICS | PLM INFO / STATUS.  Does the PLM show as connected?

[rxjock]

I am able to log into the ISY admin console and control all the switches (at least the ones I tested). Tools/Diagnostics/PLM shows "39.2.3F v9E / Connected".

[Techman]

@rxjock

So, is everything working now? Do you still have red leds?  If you query one of your devices do you get any errors?

 

Edited May 26, 2023 by Techman

[rxjock]

Everything works but all switches and PLM flashes red. I have a backup PLM and plugging into an outlet also flashes red without connecting to ISY. Is there a defective Insteon device that can cause this to happen?!

[Techman]

The red leds usually indicate a communications problem. Run a diagnostics | show link tables on one of the switches that is flashing red. After the link table populates, click on compare (on the bottom of the link table display. Do you have any mismatched links?

Do you have any error indicators on the left side of you links in the device tree, either red exclamation points or green symbols?

[rxjock]

I'm not very tech savvy with this...what's strange is ALL my switches (>50) are ALL flashing red.  There are none with exclamation points (the few that had exclamation points were disabled). Can this "link table" be rebuild without manually resetting each switch?

Edited May 26, 2023 by rxjock

[Techman]

You can rebuild the link table in the device by right clicking on the device then click on "restore device."

SwitchLinc LED will blink red to indicate noise on the powerline. Have you added any new electronics lately. Is your PLM isolated from other electronics?  Here's some trouble shooting tips

INSTEON: Troubleshooting Communications Errors - Universal Devices, Inc. Wiki (universal-devices.com)

 

 

[Brian H]

All flashing RED.

Does sound like power line noise.

As pointed out. I too would recommend you check for new or moved electronics. Unplugging devices you suspect are the problem. As Off on modern devices keeps the standby power running and the AC input to the device active. Existing devices that didn't cause issues. Can deteriorate and suddenly start making problems. In my X10 use days. I saw a cheap phone charger. Putting a very strong noise on the power lines. At the X10 line frequency of 120KHz. Killing a system completely.

[DennisC]

13 hours ago, rxjock said:

Everything works but all switches and PLM flashes red. I have a backup PLM and plugging into an outlet also flashes red without connecting to ISY. Is there a defective Insteon device that can cause this to happen?!

If you change the PLM you need to do a restore PLM. From the wiki:

To replace a PLM:

 

Unplug ISY from the power outlet

Unplug the PLM from ISY and power outlet

Connect ISY’s port A to the new PLM

Plug the new PLM into a power outlet

Plug ISY into a power outlet

Go to Admin Console and wait for system initialization to complete

If you have PRO Series, click on the Battery icon at the top. This will prevent ISY from trying to update programming on your RF devices which are probably in sleep mode

Click on the Restore Modem (PLM) menu option

In case ISY cannot communicate (or decides not to if an RF device/PRO Series) during the process, you will have a series of nodes with green 1011 icons in the device tree. For each one of those nodes:

If an RF device, ensure that the device is in Programming mode

Right mouse click | Write pending updates ...

If the above procedure fails on many of your devices, it's highly recommended that you follow the instructions for Restore Devices.

Restore Devices

Selecting this menu option starts the ISY to use the current configurations settings stored within ISY, and reprograms all the INSTEON devices based on them. Upon completion, this operation reboots ISY and closes Admin Console. This operation is most useful when a PLM is replaced or if INSTEON devices and their logical representations on ISY are out of synch. This scenario might happen if INSTEON devices are manually linked without using ISY’s GUI. Please follow the instructions below:

1. If you are replacing a PLM:
   1. Please make sure you reboot ISY with the new PLM before doing anything else
   2. Click on File | Restore ISY and restore a good backup. If you are replacing a defective PLM, choose a backup from right before the PLM died. This is a very important step
   3. Once ISY reboots, wait for the query to complete
2. If you have PRO series, click on the Battery icon on the top right corner of the tool bar. This prevents ISY from trying to restore battery operated devices since they are sleeping and will not respond
3. Please make sure ISY is in Ready state
4. Click on File | Restore Devices - this will take a long while
5. In case ISY cannot communicate (or decides not to if an RF device/PRO Series) during the process, you will have a series of nodes with green 1011 icons in the device tree. For each one of those nodes:
   1. If an RF device, ensure that the device is in Programming mode
   2. Right mouse click | Write pending updates or Write updates to device...
   3. For some newer INSTEON devices, you might have to repeat this step a couple of times since some devices may not go into linking mode
6. If you have PRO series, click on the battery icon on the toolbar so that ISY goes back to normal mode.

 

 

If you can still access admin console, I would suggest you make a back up from the File menu.

 

[Techman]

@rxjock

Were you able to resolve your issues, if so how?