I am using the Aeon Z-stick & inControl Pro. I only have a handful of devices so far.
I am finding that the displayed state of devices is often wrong. For example, a dimmer is on, but shown as off in the display. The device can be controlled, however.
Anyone else seen this?
Inconsistent States
- 52 Views
- Last Post 29 August 2014
jr@tabbysplace.org
posted this
21 August 2014
Ryan-Scott
posted this
21 August 2014
I am using the Aeon Z-stick & inControl Pro. I only have a handful of devices so far.
I am finding that the displayed state of devices is often wrong. For example, a dimmer is on, but shown as off in the display. The device can be controlled, however.
Anyone else seen this?
Which version are you on?
There are potential a couple of reasons for this:
1) Someone turns the switch on from the wall and InControl isn't notified of the physical change. To resolve, tell InControl to poll the device or use associations to associate the USB stick with the device.
2) InControl sends a command to the device but the device either ignores it or doesn't respond. For example, you use your phone to turn a light on. InControl will show the light as being on, but if the target device ignores the command or is too far away to "hear" it consistently, you'll end up with this scenario until InControl polls the device to update the actual state.
For #2, InControl takes an optimistic view on things and assumes that when it sends a command, your device will behave correctly. If your z-wave network is unhealthy though, it'll cause the problems you are seeing. If you suspect this is happening, you may need to boost your network strength by adding new devices. You may even have some good luck by performing a network heal.
Lastly, there's an experimental version of InControl that no longer takes an optimistic view and will only change the state of the light after confirmation. You are welcome to try it out. Version 3.143
jr@tabbysplace.org
posted this
21 August 2014
Thanks for the prompt reply.
> 2) InControl sends a command to the device but the device either ignores it or doesn't respond. For example,
> you use your phone to turn a light on. InControl will show the light as being on, but if the target device
> ignores the command or is too far away to "hear" it consistently, you'll end up with this scenario until
> InControl polls the device to update the actual state.
inControl polls this device every 30 seconds and the states remain inconsistent for hours. And if I vfroce a poll, the state does not change.
I understand the "optimistic" heuristic, but shouldn't polling fix this?
Ryan-Scott
posted this
21 August 2014
Thanks for the prompt reply.
> 2) InControl sends a command to the device but the device either ignores it or doesn't respond. For example,
> you use your phone to turn a light on. InControl will show the light as being on, but if the target device
> ignores the command or is too far away to "hear" it consistently, you'll end up with this scenario until
> InControl polls the device to update the actual state.
inControl polls this device every 30 seconds and the states remain inconsistent for hours. And if I vfroce a poll, the state does not change.
I understand the "optimistic" heuristic, but shouldn't polling fix this?
Can you put an audit on that device and make sure it's responding properly to the poll requests? You can find audit logs in logfile.txt (be sure to restart InControl after setting the audit)
jr@tabbysplace.org
posted this
21 August 2014
Will do. More info tomorrow, I hope.
jr@tabbysplace.org
posted this
22 August 2014
Here's the results of my experiment:
1) Turned on audit logging for one device.
2) Restarted inControlHa. Took controller offline, then back online.
3) Checked last night & this morning. Device in inconsistent state last night after light was turned on by a scene.
I'm not sure which logs to look for, but I checked:
- device log associated with the device: empty
- looked in Log. s dir associated with inControl. I find
debug.log
err.log
info.log
perf.log
All are empty or have a line like thius:
2014-08-22 08:31:10,320 [9] INFO SuperWebSocket - The server instance SuperWebSocket has been started!
What does this tell us?
Ryan-Scott
posted this
22 August 2014
Here's the results of my experiment:
1) Turned on audit logging for one device.
2) Restarted inControlHa. Took controller offline, then back online.
3) Checked last night & this morning. Device in inconsistent state last night after light was turned on by a scene.
I'm not sure which logs to look for, but I checked:
- device log associated with the device: empty
- looked in Log. s dir associated with inControl. I find
debug.log
err.log
info.log
perf.log
All are empty or have a line like thius:
2014-08-22 08:31:10,320 [9] INFO SuperWebSocket - The server instance SuperWebSocket has been started!
What does this tell us?
The logs are in the root InControl in a file called 'logfile.txt.'
Can you provide further clarification on #3? Last night the scene turned the light on... was the actual light on but InControl showed it as off?
jr@tabbysplace.org
posted this
22 August 2014
Can you provide further clarification on #3? Last night the scene turned the light on... was the actual
> light on but InControl showed it as off?
Yes.
> The logs are in the root InControl in a file called 'logfile.txt.'
Ahhh ... I'm looking through the log since last night & don't see anything that5 looks like an error. There are lots of entries like this (node 3 is the correct device):
8/21/2014 11:26:04 PM: Node Audit:
Node: 3
Command: COMMANDCLASSBASIC.BASIC_GET
Sent: 8/21/2014 11:26:04 PM
This shows up a few tumes:
8/22/2014 8:13:08 AM: Service base running
8/22/2014 8:13:12 AM: Original FolderC:\Windows\system32
8/22/2014 8:13:12 AM: Changed to:C:\Program Files (x86)\Moonlit Software, LLC\InControl HA
8/22/2014 8:13:12 AM: Starting Service
8/22/2014 8:13:12 AM: Preparing service base
8/22/2014 8:13:12 AM: Original FolderC:\Program Files (x86)\Moonlit Software, LLC\InControl HA
8/22/2014 8:13:12 AM: Changed to:C:\Program Files (x86)\Moonlit Software, LLC\InControl HA
8/22/2014 8:13:12 AM: Running service base
8/22/2014 8:13:12 AM: Starting version 3.126.5305.30729
ZenLib: True
StickType:OpenZWave
ComPort:3
Service:True
I do see this entry earlier in the log:
8/20/2014 8:15:22 PM: Cloud: Attempting to connect to cloud server over chanId: b066f...
8/20/2014 8:15:22 PM: socket: Opened!
8/20/2014 8:15:22 PM: Cloud: Cloud connected!
8/20/2014 8:15:23 PM: Plugin: Processing C:\Program Files (x86)\Moonlit Software, LLC\InControl HA\plugins\EnhancedSecurity.dll
8/20/2014 8:15:23 PM: Plugin: Processing C:\Program Files (x86)\Moonlit Software, LLC\InControl HA\plugins\FoscamController.dll
8/20/2014 8:15:23 PM: Loaded Controller Plugin HaFoscamController
8/20/2014 8:15:23 PM: Plugin: Processing C:\Program Files (x86)\Moonlit Software, LLC\InControl HA\plugins\VirtualHaController.dll
8/20/2014 8:15:23 PM: Loaded Controller Plugin VirtualHaController
8/20/2014 8:15:23 PM: Plugin: Processing C:\Program Files (x86)\Moonlit Software, LLC\InControl HA\plugins\WeatherDevice.dll
8/20/2014 8:15:23 PM: Loaded Controller Plugin WeatherDevicePlugin
8/20/2014 8:15:23 PM: Unable to get associated devices. - System.NullReferenceException
Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
at MLS.ZWave.WCFService.ZWaveSVC.getAssociatedDevices(String password, Byte groupId, Guid deviceId) in z:\work\mls\MLS.ZWave.Controller\MLS.ZWave.WCFService\ZWaveSVC.cs:line 2545
I should also point out that I can't get parameters for any device. Not sure if this is related.
jr@tabbysplace.org
posted this
27 August 2014
Bump ... any thoughts on this problem. I have added 3 more devices and I am having the same difficulty with all of them.
jr@tabbysplace.org
posted this
29 August 2014
Hello???? Is this still the Support forum?
Ryan-Scott
posted this
29 August 2014
So I'd recommend you turn on auditing for the node in question and watch to see if you have any failed messages. If you get 10 or so failures, InControl will assume the node is dead/unplugged and show it as offline.
The other possibility is that InControl is polling the device and the device is reporting it's state as off, and therefore turn it off inside the program. I'm not sure why this would happen -- if it did, it would likely be a flaw the switches hardware (less likely). What type of hardware is it?
A few recommendations, just in general:
1- Make sure you have optimal communication range between all your devices
2- Run a few network heals to help with any comm issues
3- If your switches support it, make sure they are associated with your USB stick by doing this:
-- click switch
-- click associations button
-- make sure USB stick is checked
Also, it's usually a bit easier to keep track of open support tickets when they are in our support system, so feel free to go that route if you'd like (http://incontrolha.uservoice.com)
