Z-wave Nodes die for no reason Topic is solved

[Ericv]

As indicated in another thread : I have separated the razberry board from the pi. Connected the two with a jumper cable of about 20 cm.

And now the time-outs have disappeared, at least when i do fast switching. Will continue testing, but i think it is indeed the distance that caused the problem. By separating the boards the transmitter range has improved

[rgvandenbosch]

<t>Hi there, i'm using zwave for a couple of years now. Sometimes it loses the connection to a device. Lately a bit more since i moved the Pi to another location so this is due to the distance i guess. <br/>
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I first started with the extension board (RazBerry) but immediately sent it back because in my opinion it is a piece of crap. Just doesn't work. <br/>
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Then i bought the Aeontec Stick (v2) and that works well. Just include devices en of you go. And the nice part is that you take the stick to the device instead of taking your device to the controller. But......about losing that connection.<br/>
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What works for me, espacially for the devices that do not have a wall switch, is to do the following. <br/>
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Go to the setup page of the Aeontec controller. Write down the ID of the device that has a problem (with the red exclamation sign) and then goto to the zwave control panel. You also can goto http://<domoticz-IP>:<domoticz-PORT>/ozwcp/cp.html<br/>
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In the first dropdownlist (NETWORK) select 'Test and Heal'. Then fill in the fields Node (here you fill in the ID of the non-working zwave device) and the field 'Message count'. I normally take a value between 6 and 10. If you filled the fields with these values and press the button 'RUN' in front of the Node field the controller start healing and when you go back to the setup page you'll notice that the device is alive.<br/>
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Works everytime for me.</t>

[stijn]

Same here by the way, I'm using a Qubino relay in combination with an Aeon stick gen 5 and a Synology NAS. It works fine for quite a while, and then the node dies. The relay is built-in and not connected to external switch, so it is hard to trigger it manually so it initiates a message to the controller to recover.

The trick mentioned above (by rgvandenbosch - Tuesday 14 November 2017) doesn't work for me, nor does any network healing.

I also found this bug report, which is likely the very same issue:
https://github.com/OpenZWave/open-zwave/issues/190

[febalci]

Using several Qubino ZMNHCD1 flush shutter modules for some time now. Every 2-3 weeks one of the modules go "Dead Node" for no reason at all, even tough they are all powered modules. The only way was to exclude and include the node again. And since it is flush shutter, every time i open the wall switch plate, press button and screw the plate back. Too much work. Today, before the exclude/include, i tried cutting power off and on from the mains switch and to my surprise, the node comes back alive!... If it still doesn't, try deleting the node details in zmnchd.xml file and restart Domoticz.

[JerryJerryJerry]

On of my Aeon Labs Smart Switches keeps ending up dead once in a while. Heal node doesn't work, but if I push the on/off button it revives.

Stupid node

[Flopp]

I will try to summaries my situation. I have been changing stuff now and then.

2015: RPi 1, Tellstick DUO and MySensors.

2016: RPi 2, Tellstick DUO, MySensors now I also added a Razberry Z-wave controller, like this https://www.kjell.com/se/sortiment/el-v ... ler-p50771, as devices I had, 1pcs Fibaro wall plug FGWPE and 1pcs Fibaro Dimmer FGD-212, later same year I added 1pcs Fibaro Double Switch FGS222.

2017: RPi3, Tellstic DUO, MySensors and Razberry. Manually installed OpenZWave since it was problem with Bluetooth and Razberry, don't remember exactly.
A few months later I added 2pcs Fibaro Double Switch FGS223.

I have been updating Domoticz very often, even Beta versions.
All above have been working almost perfect, but never had problem with Z-wave.

2018: Moved my Domoticz to laptop running Linux and VirtualBox I also bought a Aeon Labs Z-stick Gen5. I first runned them both and that didn't worked so well, so I deleted all Zwave in Linux and excluded all my devices from Razberry Zwave and included them to Z-stick. New fresh start for Zwave.
Soon I started to noticed dead nodes. And here I am, not so happy about my situation, Zwave has been working so good before I started to use Linux, VirtualBox and Z-stick. I understand it can be lots of problems with Linux or VirtualBox but after I read on forums it seems to be Domoticz and Z-stick.

I also have problem when I shutdown my laptop and then start it again, Z-stick doesn't blink, I need to unplug and plugin Z-stick again, restart Domoticz, then ZWave is working.

I will try to update OpenZWave but I don't think it will help, after I read above posts.

Today I use:
Latest Debian 9 Stretch
Domoticz 3.8795
OpenZWave 1.4-2858-g3b36cfgf-dirty

[ben53252642]

I've seen similar problem RE dead nodes, my solution:

Added 3x Aeotec Gen 5 Range Extenders
Replaced all non Gen 5 devices with new Gen 5 versions (including the in-wall switches)

Since moving to all Gen 5 Z-Wave models I haven't had any problems and notice improved responsiveness in the system.

Also I saw a strange issue with some of my Aeotec Smart Switches (not gen 5's), which is that they would sometimes require a power restart (which I would do at the apartments mains power switch). This furthered my justification to spend the money replacing everything with Gen 5 models. If you read about Z-Wave Gen 5 (also known as Z-Wave plus), it's a pretty big upgrade.

http://www.vesternet.com/what-is-z-wave-plus

I'm running Debian 9 on an Intel Nuc i3 with UZB1 Z-wave controller with 31 Z-Wave nodes. It's a pretty strong mesh, although some devices (I'd estimate about a third rely on other nodes to communicate with the controller).

Capture85.JPG (211.38 KiB) Viewed 4059 times

[Flopp]

Yesterday I did a Heal, lets see how long it will work, hopefully for ever
Before I got dead nodes after a few days

[Flopp]

...and today it stopped. Worked for 35 hours!!!

Restart of Domoticz service helped

[berkens]

Network 1

Screenshot_20180122-203938.jpg (253.9 KiB) Viewed 3963 times

My controller Z-wave.Me USB is node 1, but not connected tot the nodes. Strange is the listing of devices several nodes are dead, but next to it is written the "last seen" date & time and that is recent! Very strange, I can't explain.

See the pics, the blue node is the 1 controller.

[ben53252642]

berkens I'd add a couple of Aeotec Range Extender 6's, to strengthen that mesh or install some more powered Z-Wave plus nodes.

I put a Range Extender 6 high up in a wardrobe within range of the controller so it can act as a very effective repeater to other nodes if needed.

My controller itself is located in a steel server rack so it doesn't get the best reception and uses repeating nodes to communicate about a third of the time.

[olafmarcos]

I have a similar problem with a FGS222. Randomly dead status although it is the closest device.

My tip is to put the Aeotec Gen5 in debug mode from the control panel and it comes online "magically", so the range doesn't seem to be the problem.

Regards,

[ben53252642]

I have a similar problem with a FGS222. Randomly dead status although it is the closest device.

My tip is to put the Aeotec Gen5 in debug mode from the control panel and it comes online "magically", so the range doesn't seem to be the problem.

Regards,

Be careful with debug mode, the logs can get big very quickly and it will significantly shorten the life of an SD card if you are using a Raspberry Pi.

It generates disk activity, pretty much non-stop.

[olafmarcos]

I have a similar problem with a FGS222. Randomly dead status although it is the closest device.

My tip is to put the Aeotec Gen5 in debug mode from the control panel and it comes online "magically", so the range doesn't seem to be the problem.

Regards,

Be careful with debug mode, the logs can get big very quickly and it will significantly shorten the life of an SD card if you are using a Raspberry Pi.

It generates disk activity, pretty much non-stop.

Thanks, I only put it to revive the node and again disable.

[Flopp]

My setup has been working for a long time now. I have not change anything.

Yesterday it stopped but I think that was because I restarted the PC. The solution was to check the box Data Timeout, I set it to 1 minute and it started to work after I checked that box

[olafmarcos]

My apologies. It seems that my problem was the range. Although the FGS222 [Id 3] is probably the closest routing device, may be it is routing the traffic to the other devices and if it fails, the other devices loose the network.

[Id 9] is other routing device but i guess it is loosing the connection directly to the controller randomly, so i sometimes lost the connection only to the FGS222 and other times lost to all devices (less Id 11 that is battery powered and closer to the controller).

In some tests to attach a Weather Station by usb, i moved a little the controller, and that was when my problems started. Now I have two days with the network stable.

I have one question: is there any way to show the range in % or other values to get an idea of the good/bad network range of devices?
I guess the thin/fat lines of connections between devices in the network panel is an idea, but to be more specific, where can i get those values?



Kind regards,