Devices go offline after a short time

Everything comes up and functions for a short time and then starts to fail. I’m not sure why or what is going on. I have attached a clean openhab, events log files as well as a hadmin screenshot. I think this is great tech but I need to get it stable before I expand. I’m running 1.8.1 on as raspberry pi 2 with the gen5 z-stick. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

openhab_log.pdf (185.4 KB)

events_log.pdf (92.3 KB)

First thought would be power management kicking in. Your log didn’t give any clues at all, so I suggest running in debug mode.

Thanks! I’ll enable debugging and look for some type of power mgmt settings for the PI.

Also check to see if you’re generating a separate zwave log.

I have debugging on which now has created a separate zwave log. It is too large to upload the whole log as a PDF. Attached is the tail end of it. Also I don’t think there is any sort of power mgmt for the raspberry pi but I’ll keep looking. In it log the devices reply in a few hundred ms when working and the almost 5000ms when they are marked dead.

zwave_debug_log.pdf (387.0 KB)

Hmmmm…

You have problems. How far away are your z-stick and your devices?

Here’s what I’m seeing in your log:

2016-03-19 15:08:46.152 [WARN ] [i.p.s.IsFailedNodeMessageClass:50 ]- NODE 2: Is currently marked as failed by the controller! 2016-03-19 15:08:46.153 [DEBUG] [.z.internal.protocol.ZWaveNode:250 ]- NODE 2: Node is DEAD. 2016-03-19 15:08:46.154 [DEBUG] [b.z.i.protocol.ZWaveController:635 ]- Notifying event listeners: ZWaveNodeStatusEvent 2016-03-19 15:08:46.155 [DEBUG] [.z.internal.ZWaveActiveBinding:433 ]- ZwaveIncomingEvent 2016-03-19 15:08:46.155 [DEBUG] [z.internal.ZWaveNetworkMonitor:706 ]- NODE 2: Node Status event - Node is DEAD 2016-03-19 15:08:46.156 [DEBUG] [i.p.s.IsFailedNodeMessageClass:31 ]- NODE 2: Requesting IsFailedNode status from controller. 2016-03-19 15:08:46.157 [DEBUG] [o.b.z.i.protocol.SerialMessage:109 ]- NODE 255: Creating empty message of class = IsFailedNodeID (0x62), type = Request (0x00)

Now keep in mind that your nodes are being marked dead by the controller (z-stick) itself. Essentially, that z-stick is its own independent computer, and it keeps track of what it can and can’t talk to, and passes messages back and forth to the main computer. That’s why you can take it and completely independent of a computer go and include devices via the button – it is complete all by itself!

The point is that openhab can’t do much about nodes that the controller marks dead itself, except suggest that it try a network heal. (Which I see evidence of in your log.)

What I’d do if I were you is to take your two devices and plop them right next to your z-stick, and run them for a while. If they stay up and happy, then I’d say it’s likely that you’re running into some sort of either distance or interference problem in the 900 MHz band. (Common interference culprit is cheap baby monitors!)

You can get stuff to help you find out what’s causing the interference, but it’s much easier/cheaper/smarter to first plop them all right next to each other and run them solidly for a while to make sure all is well with your hardware outside of signal issues.

Ok. I just moved the devices around and now everything is within 2 ft of the z-stick. I’ll keep and eye on it and let you know. I know Node 3 was only about 15 ft from the z-stick before but Node 2 was upstairs and maybe 50ft from it. :slight_smile: Thanks for all your help so far.

Everything has been working great! No error’s in the z-wave debug log. :smile: So are there any good references for planning a z-wave deployment? I found this but I hoping for something a little better.

TheKorn, Thanks so much for your help!

I’m happy that you’re getting better results, but I wouldn’t go so far as to declare victory just yet. I’d run it at least a day or two before saying yep, I’m solid that this was just an interference (or distance) issue.

What environment are these running in, anyway? Detached house, apartments stacked on top of each other, etc.? (Wondering if distance or interference is your issue here.)

If you want to go down the rabbit hole a bit and own an android phone, you can definitively answer this question for about $35 by buying a software programmable radio dongle and a spectrum analyzer app. Sounds scary, but in truth is easy to run. :wink: