Prepping for eisy upgrade

[woodchip]

I’m trying to prep for an eisy migration with a backup from my 994 and the console keeps dropping connection requesting a login and popping up errors “XML Parse Error” and “I/O Error: ProxyDevice” than crashes. ISY is on v5.3.4 and Z-Wave v6.82.01. Anyone having similar issues or thoughts on how to address issue?

[woodchip]

Running on both Windows 10 and 11 systems.

[Geddy]

4 hours ago, woodchip said:

the console keeps dropping connection requesting a login and popping up errors “XML Parse Error” and “I/O Error: ProxyDevice” than crashes.

Are you running firewall or anti-virus software (other than default Windows security)?

Is your network a complicated setup (i.e. v-lans)?

Or are you using Mesh type router(s)?  (if so try hard wire connection if possible)

If no to the above UNPLUG ISY994 remove the micro SD card and reseat it. If that doesn't work, try again and GENTLY rub a SOFT eraser over the contacts. Your SD card could be corrupt or could just be misaligned if you have moved the ISY994 recently. 

Please review the wiki if you go so far as having to replace the microSD card.

https://wiki.universal-devices.com/ISY-99i/ISY-26_INSTEON:Replacing/Formatting_an_SD_Card

Before you go too far with replacing the SD card also try a different power supply. The specs can be found in the wiki as well.

 

[woodchip]

I am running Norton 360 have never had problems in the past but already disabled both firewall and antivirus to confirm they were not the cause.

No complicated “v-Lan” setup, no mesh routers on ISY network (one Wi-Fi extender else ware), just a port switch which both 994 and a Win10 PC having the same issue (with 994) are connected to.

Already removed and reseated the SD card but have not tried cleaning contacts on card.

I repair electronics so I always have spare power supplies… that was a GREAT thought but to no avail… Duh, first thing to check when troubleshooting electronics is the power supply…STUPID of me!

I’ll try cleaning SD card contacts prior to replacement. I don’t have an SD card below 64Gb so if this doesn’t work, I may try reformatting existing SD before I run out and purchase a =< 32Gb.

Thanks for your response Geddy, I'll keep trying and report back if I find a solution.

Anyone with any other thoughts?

[hart2hart]

Do you get errors doing a backup?

[woodchip]

Yes, requesting a login and popping up errors “XML Parse Error” and “I/O Error: ProxyDevice” if I remember correctly.

I have now re-formatted the original SD, reinstalled v5.3.4 and tried several different restores. I have a dozen or so backups dating back to January '24. I get an error while restoring "Upgrade Failed :Failed uploading file (reported written size is invalid)" for several of the backup files. Found one which appears to have restored without error but I am yet getting a request to login after several minutes (guessing 10-15 mins. on average).

Now I seam to be getting disconnected without an error showing until I mouse click on an item. Tried to attach a pix of error but forum not accepting .jpg or .png formats for me.

I'm going to run out and see if I can find a 16Gb micro-SD

[Geddy]

1 hour ago, woodchip said:

Tried to attach a pix of error but forum not accepting .jpg or .png formats for me.

Seems to be a board/hosting issue. UDI has been made aware. Not sure of a fix, but hope it can be fixed soon. Pictures/screen shots are worth 1k words! 

1 hour ago, woodchip said:

I have now re-formatted the original SD, reinstalled v5.3.4 and tried several different restores. I have a dozen or so backups dating back to January '24. I get an error while restoring "Upgrade Failed :Failed uploading file (reported written size is invalid)" for several of the backup files. Found one which appears to have restored without error

Seems like the SD card might have been corrupt for a while and not allowing backups to complete successfully. 

The question I have now is how are you accessing admin console? You're on Windows so what version Java do you have? Make sure you're running "Version 8 Update 401" (downloaded from java.com). 

Are you using the IoX Launcher to access? When you have the option for "LAN" or "Cloud" which option are you selecting? Try always using LAN (when local). 

 

4 hours ago, woodchip said:

I am running Norton 360 have never had problems in the past but already disabled both firewall and antivirus to confirm they were not the cause.

I know you've not had problems "in the past", but they could have been causing issues and you just didn't realize it (causing the corrupt backups for instance?). Make sure they programs are completely shut down/stopped. Not just "disabled".  If it's possible to completely stop them. 

 

There are a lot of reports of these issues (in the past). If you use Google Site Search (type in the search bar: site: https://forum.universal-devices.com/) and the type your errors you'll see a lot of OLD posts and some kind of recent posts. The really old ones aren't as helpful since it used the old Browser Java Plug-in to access the Admin Console. Since 2018 the IoX Launcher has been the suggested method to access the admin console. 

Some of the more recent issues have been indicating a corrupt SD card or Firewall and network connection issues. 

Since this is on an ISY994 there's no current support available. Since you've wiped the existing SD card and unsure if you have a "good" backup it might be easier just to setup the eisy and restart everything from scratch. Unless you had tons and tons of devices, scenes, and programs. The thought is you might not be able to get a good restore on the ISY994 so it isn't worth the time and money to try to recover there rather than just starting fresh with the eisy. 

Hopefully, if you do get a new microSD card, and can get a valid backup to restore you can then move forward.

Good luck! Please post back how it goes.

[Geddy]

3 hours ago, woodchip said:

Tried to attach a pix of error but forum not accepting .jpg or .png formats for me.

FYI - This has been fixed - pics & files can again be uploaded/added to messages. Thanks @Michel Kohanim!

 

[woodchip]

Let me see if I can address your questions and comments as directly as possibly. Here it goes…

Seems like the SD card might have been corrupt for a while and not allowing backups to complete successfully.  RESPONSE: Of the dozen or so backup I have not all experienced errors prior to completing.

The question I have now is how are you accessing admin console? You're on Windows so what version Java do you have? Make sure you're running "Version 8 Update 401" (downloaded from java.com).  RESPONSE: Yes, Java Version 8, Update 401 on 4 boxes. 3 running current updates of Win 11 Pro and 1 using current Win 10 Pro.

Are you using the IoX Launcher to access? When you have the option for "LAN" or "Cloud" which option are you selecting? Try always using LAN (when local). RESPONSE: Using most resent download of “start.jnlp” but I also tried the older “admin.jnlp” in the event it would resolve issue. It did not.

I know you've not had problems "in the past", but they could have been causing issues and you just didn't realize it (causing the corrupt backups for instance?). Make sure they programs are completely shut down/stopped. Not just "disabled".  If it's possible to completely stop them. RESPONSE: I’ve been using Norton firewall and antivirus before I ever got a 994. Neither has ever been an issue. I have written a rule in Norton firewall to allow 994 IP and placed it at the top of the rules list. The only way to totally “turn off” Norton is to uninstall it. If you really think this is the issue I'll do that but I’m willing to place money that is not the cause.  

There are a lot of reports of these issues (in the past). If you use Google Site Search (type in the search bar: site: https://forum.universal-devices.com/) and the type your errors you'll see a lot of OLD posts and some kind of recent posts. The really old ones aren't as helpful since it used the old Browser Java Plug-in to access the Admin Console. Since 2018 the IoX Launcher has been the suggested method to access the admin console. RESPONSE: Prior to this post I did due diligence and researched many existing posts. I’ll go back and review the newer posts for help but I've tried everything I've read before posting this plea for help.

Some of the more recent issues have been indicating a corrupt SD card or Firewall and network connection issues. RESPONSE: The corrupt SD may be the most reasonable but after reformatting and  setting up the original SD, and being able to restore a backup without errors I.m not convinced, I did purchase a new 32Gb SD today and will try that tomorrow if I have time. Originally the documentation for my 994 stated the max SD card was 16Gb but I see on Wiki where it now states 32Gb is the max. 32Gb was the smallest I could find locally today.

Since this is on an ISY994 there's no current support available. Since you've wiped the existing SD card and unsure if you have a "good" backup it might be easier just to setup the eisy and restart everything from scratch. Unless you had tons and tons of devices, scenes, and programs. The thought is you might not be able to get a good restore on the ISY994 so it isn't worth the time and money to try to recover there rather than just starting fresh with the eisy. RESPONSE: My intent was to clean up the 994 to provide eisy a reasonable backup to restore. Currently there are roughly a half-dozen x10 devices, 20 Insteon, 25 Z-Wave and 40 scenes. Depends on ones definition of “tons and tons” I have around 8Tb of SSD and HDD storage. That is tons. I still do not want to “start from scratch” with programming the new eisy. I’ve been refining this programming over the past 12 years. I do have a .txt file of my programs and that file is 390Kb. Not something I look forward to re-creating.

Hopefully, if you do get a new microSD card, and can get a valid backup to restore you can then move forward. RESPONSE: At this point only time will tell. If this issue shows its ugly head when I receive my $+$400 eisy (this Wednesday) I’m going to be very disappointed.

Good luck! Please post back how it goes. RESPONSE: Rest assured, I will be in touch!

[Geddy]

@woodchip you trust Norton a lot more than I do to be a continuous user for so long. I guess I was jaded "back in the day" running it on systems with marginal hardware, but swore it always bogged machines down. To this day my boss runs it on his personal computers and whenever I have to try to support his PCs I have to fight Norton too much to "help quickly". I'll take your word that you've got it setup right so I don't think uninstalling would be ideal. However, as with many things in life...what always "worked well in the past" could actually be causing issues now. Just a variable I would make sure is "disabled" during the backup/restore process (for either ISY994 and eisy). 

 

16 hours ago, woodchip said:

Depends on ones definition of “tons and tons”

Some around here claim 100s of devices and 500+ programs. That's "tons and tons" to most. I'd say you're probably on the tons side in that it would take longer than most would like to start fresh. Programming is the hardest part, but having that hard copy makes things 1000x more efficient if you do have to start over. 

 

16 hours ago, woodchip said:

If this issue shows its ugly head when I receive my $+$400 eisy (this Wednesday) I’m going to be very disappointed.

At least you'd have support directly with UD at that point. I think the first suggestion I would have is to make sure the eisy is updated to the current firmware and current PG3 versions before trying to restore ISY994 and Z-Wave devices. Are you getting the ZMatter dongle also?

Read...read...and maybe make notes on the migration process. If you have network resources make sure you see the note about saving each once after the migration! 

And since you have X10, Insteon and Z-Wave devices the odds are probably good that some programs will be messed up because of device addresses. This is where that hard copy of programs will come in very handy. I don't have any personal experience with x10 or migrating Z-wave from ISY994, but recall comments about the Z-wave being a stumbling block going from zw to zy or something like that. 

16 hours ago, woodchip said:

I will be in touch!

👍

[woodchip]

4 hours ago, Geddy said:

Are you getting the ZMatter dongle also?

Yes, I ordered the "ZMatter USB: Z-Wave+, Zigbee, and Matter Module ".

[woodchip]

Well, this has been an adventure, and an adventure is nothing more than “A poorly planned vacation”. Here is an adventure update. I’ll attempt to summarize in the interest of brevity. Please keep in mind I believe in “due diligence” so I always try to research and think through my actions before I take them. I only started this post after I had exhausted “most” all research and carefully thought through my remaining options.

 

1.      This morning I installed a new SanDisk 32Gb A1 SD card. I have the following observation before I continue… in this wiki link I was provided: https://wiki.universal-devices.com/ISY-99i/ISY-26_INSTEON:Replacing/Formatting_an_SD_Card the first line states “[NOTE: The ISY994i takes a MicroSD card. The max size is 32GB.” Then under step one titled “Remove the old SD Card and replace with the new card”, and in part 2 of the directions there is a bullet point which states, “Please note: ISY supports up to a 16GB SD card with 4.2.18 firmware and above, any firmware before this only supports a 512MB SD card”

2.    Remember “due diligence”… researching and thinking prior to taking action. Now continuing with the installation of a new 32Gb SD card and following the wiki directions I moved on. Step 2 is titled “SKIP if a new SD Card”, so moving on to step 3 “Install the latest firmware”. Now this is where things get interesting.

3.    I started by clearing all Java cache here                          and here

4.    I than ran a current download of “start.jnlp” and low and behold LoX found my ISY…. things were looking promising… but wait there’s more. While going to my “insteon_5.3.4.zip” firmware file these pop ups appeared    and the program crashed.

5.    I’ve noticed a number of forum members posting issues with LoX not finding there eisy… well my LoX could no longer find my 994. So out of desperation I tried the old “admin.jnlp” finder and (low and behold) it found my isy. The downside was it would not start the “Console”. I’ve also seen members stating that LoX would not start the ‘Console”. This was the same for the LoX finder.

6.    Without much to lose I decided to perform a factory reset on the 994. That worked and allowed me to access the “Console” using the old finder, install the v5.3.4 firmware. and do some minor config like time and location.

7.    After the firm wear reboot, I was able to restore a backup which appeared a little wonky. Unfortunately, that was all the time I had for the adventure today.

I’m on clients’ time tomorrow and Thursday. My eisy is scheduled to arrive Thursday so it will be Friday before I can do any more with either controller. I have a strong feeling there will be more to this adventure and additional assistance to seek. Thanks and I'll be back soon.

[woodchip]

On 3/5/2024 at 12:13 PM, Geddy said:

However, as with many things in life...what always "worked well in the past" could actually be causing issues now.

I'm in full agreement with you on this statement. I've used Norton back in the days of DOS (pre Windows) when Peter Norton was the owner/founder. I'm not fond of it any longer but have not found a comparable or better replacement as yet. I am open to suggestions.

[woodchip]

Update... Well, the migration did not progress as smoothly as I had hoped but it was not as painful as it could have been.

Because I had a dozen or so backups, I attempted several restores and found 1 which provided the most data with the least errors. It appears I did not lose any Insteon nodes, although there may be some wonky responses going on. Looks like I lost maybe a half dozen Z-Wave nodes but given all the documentation I saved prior to migrating this fix should be easy if somewhat time consuming.

Program wise I stated earlier I had a full text backup of 390Kb. I’ve done a rough count and that’s about 300 programs (give or take). It appears the programs migrated without any major errors. The missing Z-Wave nodes and some wonky node responses are the exceptions… so far. I have received a  a few times and more disturbing “XML Parse Error” or “I/O ProxyDevice” error which I did not capture (my Bad!) which crashed the AC.

Concerning me also is the fact I have been unable to log into PG3x. I continually receive this  error notification.

Any and all thoughts would be appreciated prior to my contacting Support and opening a ticket.

[woodchip]

One additional post script to the last update... I am unable to send or receive x10 commands. The option still exists in the drop down list in programming and I'm wondering if a server exists in PG3x to address this issue?

[paulbates]

X10 is a core feature of the eisy.. There isn't a pg3x for it as it shouldn't; be needed.

Given the difficulties with this upgrade, I suggest submitting a ticket

[woodchip]

Thanks, paulbates!

[Geddy]

6 hours ago, woodchip said:

I'm not fond of it any longer but have not found a comparable or better replacement as yet. I am open to suggestions.

My suggestion - don't run anything! Windows has gotten a little better (IMO) with their own security defender or whatever they call it and their firewall has been improved greatly. I haven't run any 3rd party virus software since Win10 came out. I also try to make sure not to visit unhealthy sites and don't randomly click on email links...so that might help some.  If all you want/need is anti-virus I like ESET (not a big drain on resources). I run that on my son's computer and it doesn't impact anything he does (lots of gaming). 

Since you're still getting some java errors and other device issues after setting up the eisy I still think it's either computer system or network related issues you're experiencing. Those are hard to diagnose through forum posts so do think @paulbates suggestion to open a ticket would be beneficial to your issue(s). 

As for the PG3x access make sure you're using the same user/pass as you use to access admin console. Those the same and only changed via the admin console side. Your picture was very low quality so couldn't tell the exact error. It appears to be a 503 error. This usually meant UDX is not running. If there aren't any updates pending or installing then a full power cycle of the device might be needed. Have you updated the eisy to the current IoX and PG3x? Current release versions can be found here: https://forum.universal-devices.com/forum/339-current-release-announcements/  (click the "Follow" link in the top right of that page to get alerts when new releases are announced.)

Glad it went mostly okay. I expect a support ticket will help you greatly. Please post back what ends up helping/resolving the situation. 

[woodchip]

14 hours ago, Geddy said:

My suggestion - don't run anything! Windows has gotten a little better (IMO) with their own security defender or whatever they call it and their firewall has been improved greatly. I haven't run any 3rd party virus software since Win10 came out.

I'll stay with Norton 360 for now, I really do not like how Norton is trying to "nickle-and-dime" its users for each additional service and I refuse to pay full price for ant of their products. Thankfully I do not pay full price and I do not allow the "auto subscription" they try to require.

[woodchip]

14 hours ago, Geddy said:

Since you're still getting some java errors and other device issues after setting up the eisy I still think it's either computer system or network related issues you're experiencing. Those are hard to diagnose through forum posts so do think @paulbates suggestion to open a ticket would be beneficial to your issue(s). 

As for the PG3x access make sure you're using the same user/pass as you use to access admin console. Those the same and only changed via the admin console side. Your picture was very low quality so couldn't tell the exact error. It appears to be a 503 error. This usually meant UDX is not running. If there aren't any updates pending or installing then a full power cycle of the device might be needed. Have you updated the eisy to the current IoX and PG3x? Current release versions can be found here: https://forum.universal-devices.com/forum/339-current-release-announcements/  (click the "Follow" link in the top right of that page to get alerts when new releases are announced.)

I've resolved most all of my current issues. The x10 problem was just having the eisy and peripherals plugged into a heavily conditioned and filtered power supply.

All updates were performed prior to restoring the 994's backups. After moving the eisy to its permanent (the old 994's) location (and off the conditioned power source) the power cycle must have resolved my issue with accessing PG3x. For the near future I'm golden!

Thanks for your comments and suggestions they were of substantial assistance in my troubleshooting. Be well!  

[woodchip]

I'm experiencing numerous issues with my migration from 994i to eisy (IoX v5.8.0. w/ZMatter USB dongle and an Insteon serial PLM 2413s v2.2) It appears all nodes and scenes are functional but programs are funky. Most are running but some appear to be intermittent or not running correctly. I don't think I'm seeing all of what should be showing in the Diagnostics/Event Viewer/#3 window.

At this point I am considering 3 options, 1) a factory reset of the eisy, 2) purchasing a USB PLM and/or 3) deleting most all migrated programs and rewriting what would be some 200+ programs to eliminate the bugs I'm experiencing.

I currently have a ticket open with UD to see if they may be able to address an anomaly which I'm hopeing might be at the bottom of my problems.

Edited March 23 by woodchip
Spelling

[DennisC]

7 hours ago, woodchip said:

I'm experiencing numerous issues with my migration from 994i to eisy (IoX v5.8.0. w/ZMatter USB dongle and an Insteon serial PLM 2413s v2.2) It appears all nodes and scenes are functional but programs are funky. Most are running but some appear to be intermittent or not running correctly. I don't think I'm seeing all of what should be showing in the Diagnostics/Event Viewer/#3 window.

At this point I am considering 3 options, 1) a factory reset of the eisy, 2) purchasing a USB PLM and/or 3) deleting most all migrated programs and rewriting what would be some 200+ programs to eliminate the bugs I'm experiencing.

I currently have a ticket open with UD to see if they may be able to address an anomaly which I'm hopeing might be at the bottom of my problems.

Did you try going to each program and resave the program? After migration this step sometimes clears up issues,

[woodchip]

7 hours ago, DennisC said:

Did you try going to each program and resave the program? After migration this step sometimes clears up issues,

I've gone well beyond that... tried renaming programs and deleting and rebuilding them.

[larryllix]

14 hours ago, woodchip said:

I've gone well beyond that... tried renaming programs and deleting and rebuilding them.

Be very careful and aware that links inside ISY are based on the numeric location of items such as programs, variables, and networking module elements, etc..., and not their names. If you have deleted a program and reinstalled it the reference number will likely be different and things like ISY Portal/ Alexa/GH connections will not work anymore. They do not work by names.

[woodchip]

11 hours ago, larryllix said:

Be very careful and aware that links inside ISY are based on the numeric location of items such as programs, variables, and networking module elements, etc..., and not their names. If you have deleted a program and reinstalled it the reference number will likely be different and things like ISY Portal/ Alexa/GH connections will not work anymore. They do not work by names.

I don't use Alexa or GH and pretty much use the IoX "locally" no PG servers other than the "Notification Controller". Where I'm seeing the anomalies is in programs but I'm currently unable to better identify where or what may be causing the issues. It's possible the isy backups (I tried 3 different ones) could have been corrupt. 

I've was battling and to a lessor extent errors crashing my 994 prior to the migration and (I believe) after the release of the IoX finder. After the migration to the eisy I'm still getting these errors but at a much lower frequency. To date I've been unsuccessful at identifying what may be causing them and it appears I have (maybe) eliminated this problem.

But wait, there's more. I've opened a ticket with UDI regarding another anomaly in the program area with the "Find/Replace" function and apparently I'm not the only one experiencing this. If you're interested please check out the forum link below.

 Unable to "Find/Replace" many programs after migrating from 994i to eisy with Matters+ dongle

Really like your profile image! My nickname is "Duckie"