Power Outage...

[strahan001]

I recently had a power outage at my home and when the power did come on, various lights came on as well, is there a reason that various lights would come on after a reboot/power outage?

Sean

[Guest]

I recently had a power outage at my home and when the power did come on, various lights came on as well, is there a reason that various lights would come on after a reboot/power outage?

Sean

 

Most likely that is the switches and not the ISY as many people have seen this on Insteon installs that have no ISY.

[Brian H]

I also have seen many messages on the Smarthome and other Automation Forums on Insteon modules going full on after a power failure.

One module that is known to is the now MIA SocketLinc Dimmer. It didn't even match the Full Users manuals saying it remembered its state after a power loss. I pointed it out to them and they gave a workaround that was not what I could use. So the fix was a new manual that didn't say it rememberd the last state and gave the workaround in print.

[Sub-Routine]

Insteon dimmers are supposed to resume their previous state when power is restored.

 

If you view the Program Summary from the Administrative Console you will see that some scheduled programs are run upon a reboot. That is what the Run at Reboot option should eventually control, AFAIK.

 

Rand

[d_l]

The older version ToggleLinc and In-LineLinc Relays will re-power up with the lights on.

 

I've written a little Run at Reboot program to turn off the one old ToggleLinc that I have after a power outage. Hopefully that will take care of it.

[AD8BC]

For some reason, on an ISY reboot it seems that some of my programs run. Doesn't look like they are supposed to but I haven't done enough troubleshooting to ask Michel yet.

[maui4marko]

Recently at my remote installation a severe storm came through and the power was up and down (mostly down) for a period of 2 days. I could tell from my security cam logs that there were multiple on/off periods.

 

Following this, ISY was dead in the water. Couldn't communicate with it via HTML or HyperTerminal. Normally, after a power outage ISY will properly reboot itself and everything runs fine. This time though, it seems like the rapid on & off (probably accompanied by spikes/brown-outs/etc) did a number on it (I'm surge protected on two different levels).

 

I was finally able to get my neighbor over to power cycle it in a more orderly fashion. I was able to login using both methods, but response time was very slow and the entire system was quite sluggish. Probably due to network delays (3K miles away!) but no way to tell what has happened to ISY.

 

The lights did come up with the initial schedule running (v2.4) but subsequent dim & off schedules did not run. Via the HTML interface it looked like the schedules may have been corrupted/deleted. I should have known better but attempted to reload my last backup version to see if that would help.

 

Unfortunately, I could not get a clean reload due to continually erroring out. As a last-ditch effort, I logged in via HT and told it to reboot. Following that, ISY stopped talking to me and I can no longer access via either method.

 

I'm trying to arrange to have my neighbor return for some troubleshooting, but unfortunately he is limited to only powering on & off. He does not have ability to do any local work on the system.

 

So now to get to my point (sorry for the long-winded story) I'm wondering if there are any methods or techniques I could use to help me out of this situation in the future. I am already planning to install a UPS/battery backup, as well as a remote power control device that will allow power on/off cycling via the web.

 

Thanks in advance for any thoughts on this topic.

 

PS ISY has been remarkably resilient through many of these power outages, outlasting several other pieces of network and control equipment...but I'm always on the hunt for ways to improve it!

[Michel Kohanim]

Hello maui4marko,

 

I wished you had taken our advice (about 2 months ago) and upgraded your ISY to 2.6 which has a lot of work arounds for PLM spikes due to power outages (and especially those lasting more than 10 seconds). If we can get your system up and running again, the first thing we should do is the upgrade to 2.6.

 

Secondly, please note that when there's a power outage your cable/dsl router is also impacted therefore it's always very important to make your ISY use static IP addresses and thus when it comes back on, it doesn't have to go and reconfigure your router.

 

If your subsequent dim/bright do not work (you keep getting the system busy dialog) then, in all likelihood, your PLM is gone. To troubleshoot, unfortunately so, we have to have your neighbor power on/off and let us know the status of the RX/TX/MEM/ERR lights on ISY. If RX is blinking every 4 seconds, rest assured that your PLM is probably defective.

 

Please do keep my posted.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

 

 

 

Recently at my remote installation a severe storm came through and the power was up and down (mostly down) for a period of 2 days. I could tell from my security cam logs that there were multiple on/off periods.

 

Following this, ISY was dead in the water. Couldn't communicate with it via HTML or HyperTerminal. Normally, after a power outage ISY will properly reboot itself and everything runs fine. This time though, it seems like the rapid on & off (probably accompanied by spikes/brown-outs/etc) did a number on it (I'm surge protected on two different levels).

 

I was finally able to get my neighbor over to power cycle it in a more orderly fashion. I was able to login using both methods, but response time was very slow and the entire system was quite sluggish. Probably due to network delays (3K miles away!) but no way to tell what has happened to ISY.

 

The lights did come up with the initial schedule running (v2.4) but subsequent dim & off schedules did not run. Via the HTML interface it looked like the schedules may have been corrupted/deleted. I should have known better but attempted to reload my last backup version to see if that would help.

 

Unfortunately, I could not get a clean reload due to continually erroring out. As a last-ditch effort, I logged in via HT and told it to reboot. Following that, ISY stopped talking to me and I can no longer access via either method.

 

I'm trying to arrange to have my neighbor return for some troubleshooting, but unfortunately he is limited to only powering on & off. He does not have ability to do any local work on the system.

 

So now to get to my point (sorry for the long-winded story) I'm wondering if there are any methods or techniques I could use to help me out of this situation in the future. I am already planning to install a UPS/battery backup, as well as a remote power control device that will allow power on/off cycling via the web.

 

Thanks in advance for any thoughts on this topic.

 

PS ISY has been remarkably resilient through many of these power outages, outlasting several other pieces of network and control equipment...but I'm always on the hunt for ways to improve it!

[maui4marko]

Hello again Michel, thanks for your reply.

 

Actually, I did try to upgrade previously on more than one occasion, but due to (presumably) network delays I have never been able to complete a remote upgrade successfully.

 

I quickly learned doing things remotely is very difficult with ISY because for one reason or another, errors occur that halt the process. Therefore, it seems remote upgrades are not an option for me. I am physically unable to travel to the site more than once or twice a year, and thus am stuck without being able to upgrade until I am on site. Believe me, having upgraded to 2.6 on my other (local) installation I would much prefer having it in this install as well.

 

The ISY is set to use static addresses already, so that is not the issue. Because of the environment the ISY is installed in, it is not easily accessible by my neighbor. On site help from him is strictly limited to power on/off via the breaker panel. Therefore, my only option is do whatever I can remotely.

 

As a follow-up, I was able to get my neighbor to power cycle the ISY for me today. Following that, I was able to log in via HyperTerminal (but could not via the web interface). The menu showed up but the command prompt was 0.0.0.0:16590 rather than the usual address. Not sure what that means, but guessing its not good.

 

Anyway, I tried one command "VE" to display the version and ISY then went away and never came back. At this point I'm guessing it will just have to wait until I can visit the site in person to bring it back to life and perform upgrades/reprogramming/etc in person.

 

Thank you, Mark

[Michel Kohanim]

Mark,

 

Thanks so very much for the clarifications.

 

If you see 0.0.0.0 on the console then it means any of the following:

1. ISY was on DHCP (which it is not) and it couldn't get an IP from the router

2. ISY is defective ... the network interface is damaged

 

Although you've already stated that your neighbor cannot access ISY, I have no choice but to ask: if your neighbor can replace ISY, you can send me your backup file, I can upload it into a new ISY, assign your static IP address, and send it to your neighbor. All he has to do is to replace the cables on ISY.

 

Please do let me know if this is a viable option.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

 

With kind regards,

 

Hello again Michel, thanks for your reply.

 

Actually, I did try to upgrade previously on more than one occasion, but due to (presumably) network delays I have never been able to complete a remote upgrade successfully.

 

I quickly learned doing things remotely is very difficult with ISY because for one reason or another, errors occur that halt the process. Therefore, it seems remote upgrades are not an option for me. I am physically unable to travel to the site more than once or twice a year, and thus am stuck without being able to upgrade until I am on site. Believe me, having upgraded to 2.6 on my other (local) installation I would much prefer having it in this install as well.

 

The ISY is set to use static addresses already, so that is not the issue. Because of the environment the ISY is installed in, it is not easily accessible by my neighbor. On site help from him is strictly limited to power on/off via the breaker panel. Therefore, my only option is do whatever I can remotely.

 

As a follow-up, I was able to get my neighbor to power cycle the ISY for me today. Following that, I was able to log in via HyperTerminal (but could not via the web interface). The menu showed up but the command prompt was 0.0.0.0:16590 rather than the usual address. Not sure what that means, but guessing its not good.

 

Anyway, I tried one command "VE" to display the version and ISY then went away and never came back. At this point I'm guessing it will just have to wait until I can visit the site in person to bring it back to life and perform upgrades/reprogramming/etc in person.

 

Thank you, Mark

[aLf]

Is it wise to invest in a battery backup for ISY and the router?

 

aLf

[Michel Kohanim]

aLf et Al,

 

We found a bug: http://forum.universal-devices.com/view ... =4697#4697 .

 

With respect to your question, I really do not think it would be necessary: the most vulnerable piece is the PLM and not ISY or the router.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

 

Is it wise to invest in a battery backup for ISY and the router?

 

aLf

[Sub-Routine]

Is it wise to invest in a battery backup for ISY and the router?

 

aLf

 

We have had our modem and router on a UPS for a few years. Very useful for short outages.

 

I don't see a need for a UPS for the PLM and ISY because without power there can be no communication with any devices.

 

Rand