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Status of Insteon Switchlink Dimmers is not updating

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Background: I had to replace a PLM recently, and I've had to rebuild several scenes, and 'scnCooking was one of them. The two switchlink dimmers in the "If" stanza of this program are also in a scene that creates a three way for the track lights. I've restored these devices, factory reset them, updated the scenes several times and updated this program several times.

For reasons I'm not understanding, this program will not work, as the "Fast Off" for either of these switchlink devices is not captured by the ISY software. I can run the "Then" stanza from the AC and the "scnCooking" is turned off correctly. A fast off does indeed turn off the track lights appropriately, but the program doesn't run.

The status of the switchlinks will not update in the AC unless a query is run, then the status is updates.

I'm a bit baffled by this. I'd appreciate any insights here.

Thanks!

CookingFastOff - [ID 0008][Parent 000A]

If

'Devices / dirKitchen / sldTrackLightNorth' is switched Fast Off

Or 'Devices / dirKitchen / sldTrackLightSouth' is switched Fast Off

Then

Set 'Scenes / scnCooking' Off

Else

- No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action')

What controller and its firmware are you using

Try removing power from your plm and your controller, then power up the PLM, wait 15 seconds, then power up your controller

Let me know if that resolved your issue

Was the controller powered off when you replaced the PLM. It's important that you do that. If you didn't, then reboot it, and then do a restore device on those two switches.

  • Author
12 hours ago, Techman said:

What controller and its firmware are you using

Try removing power from your plm and your controller, then power up the PLM, wait 15 seconds, then power up your controller

Let me know if that resolved your issue

eISY running ISY software 6.0.5_10. I did power cycle the eISY a couple of times, but not the PLM as well. I'll give it a try a little later today.

  • Author
11 hours ago, Guy Lavoie said:

Was the controller powered off when you replaced the PLM. It's important that you do that. If you didn't, then reboot it, and then do a restore device on those two switches.

I initially did power cycle both the eISY and the PLM. The device restore doesn't resolve the problem. I'll give both devices another power cycle. My old PLM was actually over 10 years old before it failed completely. The system has been stable for years, but the new PLM has way fewer links than I expected, so I'm thinking that the old PLM has been somehow dropping links for some time before it failed (I don't know if that's even possible).

On 7/24/2026 at 8:43 AM, Bumbershoot said:

I initially did power cycle both the eISY and the PLM. The device restore doesn't resolve the problem. I'll give both devices another power cycle. My old PLM was actually over 10 years old before it failed completely. The system has been stable for years, but the new PLM has way fewer links than I expected, so I'm thinking that the old PLM has been somehow dropping links for some time before it failed (I don't know if that's even possible).

Hey @Bumbershoot ,

The fact that your device restores didn't work and your PLM record count is low is rather foreboding. This normally (not always) means that the ISY configuration itself is incorrect.

Could you perform a "Device Link Table Read/Compare" of one of your switchlincs and post it? Also, please provide your current PLM address. From this we can try to figure out the least painful path forward.

image.png

  • Author
2 hours ago, IndyMike said:

Hey @Bumbershoot ,

The fact that your device restores didn't work and your PLM record count is low is rather foreboding. This normally (not always) means that the ISY configuration itself is incorrect.

Could you perform a "Device Link Table Read/Compare" of one of your switchlincs and post it? Also, please provide your current PLM address. From this we can try to figure out the least painful path forward.

image.png

No change in behavior after performing the PLM restore procedure to the letter. It looks like the switch sees the new PLM, and I can control it from the AC. I don't understand why the program doesn't work at all.

In the screenshot below, the links are the same from both the ISY and switchlink dimmer, and the dimmer appears to see the new PLM.

Screenshot 2026-07-25 at 10.15.36 AM.png

@Bumbershoot , your Switchlink is missing the Link that tells it to be a controller to the PLM. From my SWL table below, the E2 entry @0FC8 tells the unit that it is a controller of the device @53.BC.3A (my PLM).

Your device doesn't have this link. Without it, the SWL will not communicate to the PLM when it is activated.

Unfortunately, the ISY believes the table is correct. That means the ISY data is also corrupt. You could delete/re-add this device but you seem to have quite a number of scenes that it is involved with - that sound painful. You also mentioned that your PLM seemed to have surprisingly few Links - could you quantify that (number of links vs number of installed devices)?

Given the above, I'm leaning toward asking you to install from a previous backup (Restore ISY).

image.png

  • Author

@IndyMike, if I'm understanding you correctly, I could restore an ISY backup that was working prior to the PLM dying, and after that's complete, perform a restore on the PLM? I have plenty of good backups, as I've been scrupulous about backing up whenever I've made a change. I've rebuilt a few scenes, and yes, it's painful to do that, and I've got probably 80 Insteon devices, and roughly 40 scenes. A restore sounds like a good solution, if I understand correctly. Right now, the PLM shows 0 links (after restarting both the PLM and the eISY).

Edited by Bumbershoot

43 minutes ago, Bumbershoot said:

@IndyMike, if I'm understanding you correctly, I could restore an ISY backup that was working prior to the PLM dying, and after that's complete, perform a restore on the PLM? I have plenty of good backups, as I've been scrupulous about backing up whenever I've made a change. I've rebuilt a few scenes, and yes, it's painful to do that, and I've got probably 80 Insteon devices, and roughly 40 scenes. A restore sounds like a good solution, if I understand correctly. Right now, the PLM shows 0 links (after restarting both the PLM and the eISY).

You do understand correctly. It's great that you have good backups - this should be far easier than deleting/re-adding devices and re-creating scenes and programs.

I believe the ISY will restore the backup and the write PLM in one fell swoop. It may also ask if you want to restore devices (you do). Keep an eye on the messages from the ISY. The process should be:

  1. Restore ISY (backup file)

  2. Restore PLM (ISY should recognize that you have a new PLM)

  3. Restore Devices

Very odd for the PLM to have 0 links. Had you checked it before? I ask because we had another forum member experience PLM resets due to serial communication errors.

Edited by IndyMike

  • Author
30 minutes ago, IndyMike said:

You do understand correctly. It's great that you have good backups - this should be far easier than deleting/re-adding devices and re-creating scenes and programs.

I believe the ISY will restore the backup and the write PLM in one fell swoop. It may also ask if you want to restore devices (you do). Keep an eye on the messages from the ISY. The process should be:

  1. Restore ISY (backup file)

  2. Restore PLM (ISY should recognize that you have a new PLM)

  3. Restore Devices

Very odd for the PLM to have 0 links. Had you checked it before? I ask because we had another forum member experience PLM resets due to serial communication errors.

My mistake. I forgot to hit the "Count" button... I currently have 98 links, and I used to have many hundreds. I'll restore the ISY and PLM and see how it goes.

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