tas99 Posted October 3, 2023 Posted October 3, 2023 I've been having trouble with intermittent operation of my devices. I have an ISY994i that was working flawlessly for a number of years until a few weeks ago when I started seeing intermittent operation with a few of my devices. The problem was random and occurred with a number of random controllers; usually an unable to communicate message. Before replacing the 994 with the newer EISY I replaced the Serial PLM with a new one. Now nothing works but if I use the old PLM I get the intermittent operation. Is there anything I need to do with a new PLM before installing it? Any help would be appreciated. Tom
Geddy Posted October 3, 2023 Posted October 3, 2023 Are you using the new PLM with the old ISY994 setup? Did you follow the "replace modem" method in the wiki? https://wiki.universal-devices.com/index.php?title=ISY-99i/ISY-26_INSTEON:File_Menu#Replace_Modem_(PLM) It's not just a plug and play. You have to perform the replace modem process to put the link tables into the new PLM. It's possible something started introducing noise into your system (could be new or even old devices so don't just think "I didn't add anything to the system"). You should try troubleshooting for noise with the working PLM first before blindly replacing it. This wiki area can help troubleshoot for noise: https://wiki.universal-devices.com/index.php?title=INSTEON:_Troubleshooting_Communications_Errors Also, @MrBill had a good post on tracking down noise a couple of years ago that might help. https://forum.universal-devices.com/topic/35216-programs-not-working/#comment-330289 1
tas99 Posted October 4, 2023 Author Posted October 4, 2023 I took your advice and moved the ISY and the PLM to a new location to see if it had any impact on the intermittent problem. It's too early to tell if the move has any impact but what I did notice is that after rebooting the ISY I now have a green arrow next to each of the devices. It been that way for a while and even after closing and restarting the application. I understand it to be the device needs to be updated or something like that. I tried restoring the device and after a long while and many "Can not communicate" errors the green arrows are still there. It looks like the error was there for every device but I can't be sure. If I try to turn a light on or off with a command for the device I have about a 50% rate and sometimes it takes a second or third try. If there are no suggestions I'll try the new PLM. Any idea what the problem is or action needed? Tom
Techman Posted October 4, 2023 Posted October 4, 2023 The green arrow means that there are pending writes to that device. Right click on the device, then click on write updates.
tlightne Posted October 4, 2023 Posted October 4, 2023 When you moved to the new location did you plug in the PLM first wait about 10 seconds or so and then boot up your ISY???
tas99 Posted October 4, 2023 Author Posted October 4, 2023 I did "Write Updates" to a device and the green arrow turned to "Writing" and I get a progress bar going from 0 to 100%. Then I get a second progress bar and at about 50% I got a message "Cannot Communicate with the Device" and the green arrow remains. The interesting thing is that I can turn the device on and off through the app so it must be communicating. Yes, it was about 30 seconds after plugging in the PLM before I rebooted the ISY. A frustrated user. Tom
Techman Posted October 4, 2023 Posted October 4, 2023 If the problem is only happening with one specific device, then factory reset the device and then do a restore device. If the problem is with numerous devices then the PLM is having difficulty communicating with the devices. Take a look at the link below for troubleshooting. INSTEON: Troubleshooting Communications Errors - Universal Devices, Inc. Wiki (universal-devices.com) 1
tas99 Posted October 5, 2023 Author Posted October 5, 2023 Not sure what to do now. The communication errors happen to random devices and I don't see a pattern. Replaced the PLM, no difference. Followed all the suggestions on the noise troubleshooting link with no change. I moved the ISY and PLM to the other side of the house. Again, no difference. Tried restoring devices and had many communication errors. Tried restoring the iSY to an older saved backup, no difference. Not sure what to do now. Tom
Techman Posted October 5, 2023 Posted October 5, 2023 @tas99 Have you added any new electronics or electrical devices in the last few weeks? Being that the problem recently cropped up and is intermittent, there's a good possibility that you have noise on your powerline. How many dual band insteon devices do you have in your system, and about how old are they? Are both legs of your powerline bridged using dual band devices? On rare occasions, a defective insteon device can create noise on the powerline.
tas99 Posted October 5, 2023 Author Posted October 5, 2023 Nothing new has been added and the system has worked very well for 6 years. I have about 20+ devices on the system but I don't know how many are dual band but many are. Most of the devices are 6+ years old and the dual band devices are on both legs of powerline. With dual band devices shouldn't the wireless RF work even if there is noise on the powerline? Maybe it's all the messing around I've been doing but now nothing works and when I open the app I can see a communications error with what looks like all the devices. Completely dead in the water now. Could the ISY be bad?
Techman Posted October 5, 2023 Posted October 5, 2023 What's your ISY firmware and UI version? Some things to try: If you click on TOOLS | DIAGNOSTICS | PLM INFO / STATUS what does it show? Click on TOOLS | DIAGNOSTICS | SHOW PLM LINKS TABLE. What is the links count?
tas99 Posted October 5, 2023 Author Posted October 5, 2023 The attached files should answer the questions in the last post.
Techman Posted October 5, 2023 Posted October 5, 2023 (edited) Your PLM Links table looks on the lite side. It's also missing the A2 links. You should have more than 21 links unless you only have a small number of Insteon devices. Try doing a restore PLM, then another PLM link count. Edited October 5, 2023 by Techman 1
tas99 Posted October 5, 2023 Author Posted October 5, 2023 PLM Restore failed at 5% with an error. See attached.
Techman Posted October 5, 2023 Posted October 5, 2023 Ether the PLM is defective or The ISY link tables are defective or The cable between the PLM and the ISY is defective or The SD card is defective or failing If you have another ISY to PLM cable, the one that shipped with the serial PLM, try swapping it out. You can also try removing power from the ISY, then remove the SD card and clean its contacts with a soft eraser and reinsert it. 1
Techman Posted October 5, 2023 Posted October 5, 2023 @tas99 Another thing you can try is installing a new Insteon device if you have one laying around. If you don't have a spare then delete a device that's installed, factory reset it, then try to install it. This process will eliminate some of the possibilities.
tas99 Posted October 5, 2023 Author Posted October 5, 2023 I'll make the suggested changes a bit later and let you know. The ISY to PLM is a standard RJ45 Ethernet cable, isn't it?
tlightne Posted October 5, 2023 Posted October 5, 2023 @tas99 Yes For the 994 the PLM cable is a standard Ethernet cable...
Techman Posted October 5, 2023 Posted October 5, 2023 3 minutes ago, tas99 said: I'll make the suggested changes a bit later and let you know. The ISY to PLM is a standard RJ45 Ethernet cable, isn't it? Yes, the cable that came with the PLM is ethernet to DB9 which is used with the Polisy not the ISY.
DennisC Posted October 6, 2023 Posted October 6, 2023 Make sure the PLM is not plugged in to a UPS or surge protector, as these can cause communication issues. 1
Brian H Posted October 6, 2023 Posted October 6, 2023 Rare instances. Power line noise may fool the PLM into thinking there is a valid message in progress. It will then wait on both power line and RF messages until it thinks the massage in through. I agree your Link Database is too small for almost any system. 1
tas99 Posted October 6, 2023 Author Posted October 6, 2023 What have I done to get the tech Gods to hate me? Replaced the PLM, cable and micro SD card, moved the PLM and ISY to a different location and in an outlet with no UPS or surge protector, rebooted the ISY, launched the IoX launcher, got the screen displaying the ISY, selected Admin Console (LAN) as I always do but the app wont launch. I checked the network cabling and it looks ok with 2 green lights on at the rear of the ISY. What now? Tom
DennisC Posted October 6, 2023 Posted October 6, 2023 55 minutes ago, tas99 said: What have I done to get the tech Gods to hate me? Replaced the PLM, cable and micro SD card, moved the PLM and ISY to a different location and in an outlet with no UPS or surge protector, rebooted the ISY, launched the IoX launcher, got the screen displaying the ISY, selected Admin Console (LAN) as I always do but the app wont launch. I checked the network cabling and it looks ok with 2 green lights on at the rear of the ISY. What now? Tom Try deleting state files: https://wiki.universal-devices.com/index.php?title=Main_Page#Admin_Console_Minimized/Invisible_and_Cannot_be_Restored Also, check Java memory: Admin Console is very slow or hangs If the admin console is slow to respond, it is likely you need to increase the amount of memory allocated to the Java runtime (JRE). Open the Java Control Panel, select Java tab, press View button, then add or modify the Runtime Parameter -Xmx to the following: -Xmx512m Press Ok to close the window, then Press Apply to save the changes
Techman Posted October 6, 2023 Posted October 6, 2023 2 hours ago, tas99 said: What have I done to get the tech Gods to hate me? Replaced the PLM, cable and micro SD card, moved the PLM and ISY to a different location and in an outlet with no UPS or surge protector, rebooted the ISY, launched the IoX launcher, got the screen displaying the ISY, selected Admin Console (LAN) as I always do but the app wont launch. I checked the network cabling and it looks ok with 2 green lights on at the rear of the ISY. What now? Tom Clear your java cache, including checking the box "installed applications" then download the (revised) IoX Launcher from here: https://isy.universal-devices.com/start.jnlp
tas99 Posted October 6, 2023 Author Posted October 6, 2023 I deleted the files as shown in the wiki page but got a message that one file couldn't be deleted because it was in use (see attachment). That was strange because the app or launch console were not open at the time. Could not find the referenced item in the Java Control Panel and not sure how to add what's required. Need help here (see attached). Also cleared Java cache and installed the latest IoX launcher. Still won't load the app. The launcher seems to work but when selecting load console nothing happens other than the background of the URL field turns red (see attached).
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