MEM and ERROR flashing briefly at startup - Normal?

[eataft]

When I turn on my ISY-99i/IR Pro, I see the following sequence of lights on the ISY status panel:

 

For 30 seconds or so, TX, RX, and MEM are on almost continuously. I assume that this is while the ISY is querying the status of all of the Insteon devices.

 

After that, MEM and ERROR flash slowly (about every 2 seconds), along with slight flickering of TX and RX. This repeats maybe 20 times. This is not a regular blinking; it is irregular, as if it is accompanying some communication activity. After this, the light show ceases.

 

The Quick Start Guide at the Wiki states that MEM and ERROR blinking means that there is no network connectivity. But, in fact, I can connect to the ISY from my PC, and the ISY can access the Internet just fine for things like NTP and MobiLinc Connect. (I have incoming Internet access disabled.)

 

The Log shows Start followed by a flurry of Insteon Queries. The Error Log shows "-5 Start" followed by "-100 No network connection" 4 seconds later. No other error messages. I don't know what to make of this, since there clearly is a network connection and it is working. (By the way, codes -5 and -100 don't seem to be documented.)

 

Just wondering what this all means and whether there is anything to be concerned about.

[Michel Kohanim]

eataft,

 

No notwork connection means that ISY does not sense the link to the router. If you have ISY connected through a switch, try connecting directly to the router. You might also want to try a different network cable.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

[eataft]

If I simply unplug the network cable, the MEM and ERROR lights blink steadily. That is not the behavior I was observing previously, where the flashing of the lights seemed to be traffic-dependent.

 

Anyway, I tried replacing the cable, not really expecting it to make any difference. But ... it did! No more flashing of ERROR during startup, and the Error Log reports "-170001 [Network] Established" instead of "-100 No network connection".

 

I switched between good and bad cables several times and the problem definitely followed the cable. I then noticed that with the bad cable, one of the green lights at the connector does not turn on, although the other light still flashes when there is network traffic. With the good cable, the former light is on solidly. Not sure exactly what this means.

 

It's curious that my PC can still communicate with the ISY, even with the bad cable. Perhaps the data link operates in some degraded mode. I checked the continuity of the cable and it is OK; perhaps a connector is flaky or something. Anyway, it is going right into the trash.

 

Thank you for your help. I learn something new every day.

[Michel Kohanim]

Hello eataft,

 

Thanks so very much for the update. If this is the cable that came with ISY, then please do be kind enough to send an email to sales@universal-devices.com and request for new cables (free of charge). We had this problem just once before with one of the gray cables (not the blue ones) and it turned out to be an intermittent solder joint on the connector.

 

Sincere apologies for all the trouble you had to go through to figure this out.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

[eataft]

Thank you for the offer, but it wasn't your cable. It was a bright yellow cable that I think came with a router.