zwave network lockups/delays

[mikeybs]

I've added a bunch of leviton zwave switches and sometimes when commands are sent, one of the switches does not respond immediatly.  There is a delay from anywhere between a couple seconds to a couple minutes.  During this time the rest of the zwave switches are unresponsive.  When the unresponsive switch eventually responds , the rest of the zwave commands that had been issues that weren't getting through all happen in rapid succession.

Anyone have experiences like this?  Any solutions?

[huh]

I've had this when one of my nodes (plug-in dimmer) was unplugged.  I made up the scenario that the system was trying to "talk" to the missing node for a while, would give up and then catch-up with the string of commands.

I have no documentation to support this hypothesis.

[sambuca]

ZWave is designed to route messages between the devices, so if one device is unplugged or there is a temporary radio communication problem, you will get a failed transmission. By default, a failed transmission will cause the ZWave driver to delay, to allow the network time to re-route the message. If the message is still failed, it will try to re-send it, and once again cause a delay if it fails. This delay can be tuned up or down, but experience has shown that some USB sticks require a high delay(30-40s) or they will lock up and need to be unplugged and replugged.

The best way to avoid this is to make sure your devices all know about their neighbour devices, so that they are well connected. (The messages are routed through a device's known neighbours). If you use LMCE 1204, there is the new Advanced ZWave page (in the Automation menu) that will display this clearly and provide commands to fix such problems (Heal Node / Heal Network).

Adding more devices between the usb controller and the problematic device can also help better routing to that device.

regards,
sambuca

[B34N]

Anyone have experiences like this?  Any solutions?

How did you add the devices to your network? I used to have the same problem until I went out and got an inclusion remote.

I don't really understand all of the details but when I used only my Aeon stick, the devices got added but the z-wave devices were not able to reliably communicate. I think it has something to do with how an inclusion remote adds devices to the network and builds "routes." Since I used the stick, the devices seem to have a much better mapping and my z-wave is nearly 100%.

B34N

[mikeybs]

I am using an inclusion remote. 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007J26PIS/ref=wms_ohs_product?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Everything seemed to be going fine at first.  But the more lights I add and the further I get away from the usb zwave controller the more issues I am having. 

I now have one light that stopped responding completely.  I tried to manually remove it and readd it to the network, but it didn't work with the inclusion remote.  I then just deleted the device from the tree and then tried to readd it, still not working...  The switch functions as expected, but all the zwave functionality does not work anymore.

I kind of want to start from scratch with a fresh linuxmce install and see if I could have some better luck.  What is the best way of doing that?  Do I need to go through with the inclusion remote and remove all the devices?  Should I reset the zwave controller first?  Can anyone help me with the order of operations for tearing down and rebuilding my zwave network?

[Marie.O]

You did not say whether you are on 1004 or 1204, or I did not find it. If you are on 1204, check the advanced web page for zwave. Might give you a hint or two.

[mikeybs]

I am on 1004, but if I do a fresh install I will be using 1204.

The only way I could get the unresponsive light to do anything was to kill power to it.  After I restored power I was able to use the inclusion remote to remove it and readd it.  The light appeared to be readded just fine.  A new light appeared in my device tree.  However, it still is not responding to commands...  All the other lights in the room, respond as expected, but that one does not.  I've tried using both scenarios to operate the light as well as using the "Send Command to Device" pop up on the web interface.  Neither produces any response from the light.

Another question, when adding in a multipole light, should I only include the master switch using the inclusion remote, or should the include also be done on the remote switches as well?

I think of I've done it both ways and both ways seemed to have worked, but now I am having issues and wondering if maybe I did something wrong...

[mikeybs]

I'm running 12.04 now using the latest install dvd.  I also added some zwave range extenders to my network to try to reduce delays/lockups.  Things are working better now, but still not perfect.  I still get instances where commands get delayed several seconds, sometimes up to a minute.  When this occurs it blocks all subsequent commands until that one makes it through.

I have been playing around in the advanced zwave section, but haven't been able to make much sense of things.  When I open the page most of the controls are blocked.  I am attaching an screenshot.  I was able to get to the blocked controls by removing the blocking elements using "inspect element" in chrome.  After that I tried to do a "heal network".  Doing this made the ZWave process start using close to 100% CPU and it has been doing that for over a day.  Is this to be expected?  How long should the 'heal network' take to complete?  Should I just router reload or server reboot at this point?

[sambuca]

The delay are usually caused by two things - network problems or a device that does not respond to a command (firmware bug or incomplete OpenZWave configuration for that device).

Heal network will run for a long time if you have many devices, which it looks like you have, so that would be expected. I don't know how long, as I have never tried, and I don't have the same number of devices either. If it does not stop, I would reboot.

I would recommend using heal node instead, as this runs much faster, on just the nodes that are having problems.

br,
sambuca

[mikeybs]

any advice on making the web interface for "advanced zwave" more usable?  The way the page loads for me now I can't even see most of the nodes unless I remove the blocking elements using "inspect element" in chrome.  This is quite a chore as there are many elements (one for each node) and I have to get rid of them 1 by 1.

[sambuca]

It is probably some HTML/CSS problem that appears in chrome. You could try to use a different browser.

[coley]

It is probably some HTML/CSS problem that appears in chrome. You could try to use a different browser.

I find firefox to be the best for viewing the advanced zwave page, I found it unworkable with chrome.

-Coley.

[mikeybs]

thank you, much nicer with firefox