Proper Z-Wave Setup

Hardware Home Automation
1

I’m not finding my Z-Wave setup anywhere close to what I’d expect. I have a R-Pi with a Aeon Gen 5 z-Stick in the basement. If seems to talk OK to a Aeon Smart Switch 6 in the living room although errors are logged pretty frequently like these…

2015-12-22 20:34:13.536 [ERROR] [b.z.i.p.s.SendDataMessageClass] - NODE 2: Got an error while sending data. Resending message.
2015-12-22 20:34:14.732 [ERROR] [b.z.i.p.s.SendDataMessageClass] - NODE 2: Got an error while sending data. Resending message.
2015-12-22 20:50:13.831 [ERROR] [WaveController$ZWaveSendThread] - NODE 2: Timeout while sending message. Requeueing - 2 attempts left!

Still - I get voltage reports and whatnot and I can control the light so it’s not too bad. Distance is maybe 40’ with a floor and some walls between.

About 15’ from that device is another smart switch 6. I had to take it to a different part of the house to get it to pair with the z-stick and when I returned it to its proper position it lost contact. It’s only 15’ from the other smart switch - isn’t it supposed to relay or do I have to do something else? A few feet above it there’s an Aeon multisensor 6 that thinks the temperature is about 3 deg C higher than it really is and loses contact with R-Pi quite frequently.

I also have a leviton switch that has never joined the network. It’s about 50’ from the R-pi, certainly well within wi-fi range, but I’ve had no luck pairing it. From where I sit, the range claims for z-wave seem at least an order of magnitude higher than reality.

I also have an Aeon key fob that paired using the published procedure that has now been declared dead by openhab.

Habmin frequently reports no devices attached even though the few that do work on my network keep on working and habmin believes it is still connected to openhab. What a mess!

Am I missing something? Is there a “guide to pairing” that I need? I’ve got to think that with all the people on this forum working on esoteric scripts they must have the basics working. Unfortunately I’ve got no idea what to do except keep googling and trying stuff at random.

People also seem to know about various Aeon Labs device descriptions (habmin product explorer) that I don’t have, like for the smartsensor 6. I have the standard distributions as far as I can tell. Where can I find these? Is there an openhab for dummies book I can get? I’m frustrated that I have all this hardware and all I can do is turn one light on and off.

Thanks for listening.
Chris

2

I’d suggest you put an active node (ie powered node) somewhere between your basement OH installation Pi and the nearest powered node on 1F. Aeon makes a range extender which plugs into any standard power socket and serves this purpose. I use one to reduce wall/floor count between my main Pi and many of the 1F nodes by placing in the hallway on 2F (where Pi is) and with relative line-of-sight down the stairwell to 1F. Works like a charm.

3

Thanks Bob. I’ll give that a try. I have another Smartsensor that I can put on the ground floor but within 10 feet or so of the z-stick. Wish me luck.

4

it just needs to be a relay-capable node. In essence that means powered off mains, not battery

5

It is. The multisensor is on USB power rather than batteries. I’m not sure how much good it’s doing, though. I know there are commands openhab doesn’t understand, but there seems to be a lot of them, and the protocols errors don’t give me a warm feeling. The new device is node 9.

2015-12-23 12:40:22.071 [WARN ] [.o.b.z.i.p.c.ZWaveCommandClass] - NODE 9: Unsupported command class ZWAVE_PLUS_INFO
2015-12-23 12:40:22.074 [WARN ] [.o.b.z.i.p.c.ZWaveCommandClass] - NODE 9: Unsupported command class ASSOCIATION_GROUP_INFO
2015-12-23 12:40:22.077 [WARN ] [.o.b.z.i.p.c.ZWaveCommandClass] - NODE 9: Unsupported command class POWERLEVEL
2015-12-23 12:40:22.084 [WARN ] [.o.b.z.i.p.c.ZWaveCommandClass] - NODE 9: Unsupported command class FIRMWARE_UPDATE_MD
2015-12-23 12:40:22.139 [WARN ] [.o.b.z.i.p.c.ZWaveCommandClass] - NODE 9: Unsupported command class ZWAVE_PLUS_INFO
2015-12-23 12:40:22.142 [WARN ] [.o.b.z.i.p.c.ZWaveCommandClass] - NODE 9: Unsupported command class ASSOCIATION_GROUP_INFO
2015-12-23 12:40:22.145 [WARN ] [.o.b.z.i.p.c.ZWaveCommandClass] - NODE 9: Unsupported command class POWERLEVEL
2015-12-23 12:40:22.151 [WARN ] [.o.b.z.i.p.c.ZWaveCommandClass] - NODE 9: Unsupported command class FIRMWARE_UPDATE_MD
2015-12-23 12:40:22.350 [WARN ] [.o.b.z.i.p.c.ZWaveCommandClass] - NODE 9: Unsupported command class ZWAVE_PLUS_INFO
2015-12-23 12:40:22.353 [WARN ] [.o.b.z.i.p.c.ZWaveCommandClass] - NODE 9: Unsupported command class ASSOCIATION_GROUP_INFO
2015-12-23 12:40:22.356 [WARN ] [.o.b.z.i.p.c.ZWaveCommandClass] - NODE 9: Unsupported command class POWERLEVEL
2015-12-23 12:40:22.361 [WARN ] [.o.b.z.i.p.c.ZWaveCommandClass] - NODE 9: Unsupported command class FIRMWARE_UPDATE_MD
2015-12-23 12:40:24.367 [WARN ] [.z.internal.ZWaveActiveBinding] - NODE 9: No item bound for event, endpoint = 0, command class = CONFIGURATION, value = org.openhab.binding.zwave.internal.protocol.ConfigurationParameter@18bbd38, ignoring.
2015-12-23 12:40:26.253 [ERROR] [eController$ZWaveReceiveThread] - Protocol error (CAN), resending
2015-12-23 12:40:29.184 [ERROR] [eController$ZWaveReceiveThread] - Protocol error (CAN), resending
2015-12-23 12:40:30.798 [WARN ] [z.i.p.i.ZWaveNodeStageAdvancer] - NODE 9: Node advancer: SET_ASSOCIATION - Unknown device: 86:102:64
2015-12-23 12:40:31.561 [WARN ] [z.i.p.i.ZWaveNodeStageAdvancer] - NODE 9: Node advancer: GET_CONFIGURATION - Unknown device: 86:102:64
6

None of these classes will prevent the device functioning and being used. If you want to load new firmware, or set the output power to a lower level than it is (etc), then it will be an issue, but for all normal use, it’s fine :smile:

Based on this message, I would suspect that you’re running an old version of the binding and I would highly recommend upgrading to the most recent version of the binding.

7

Just a question - have you ever run this on batteries? Was it included into the network while USB powered?

Maybe you can attach the XML file for this device?

8

It’s on USB power since I took it out of the box today. Never on batteries. It appears to work though and I’m getting reliable readings from it, although also the occasional error in the log. It hasn’t appeared to have affected the nodes that weren’t working before.

However, I just moved one of my Smart Switches that wasn’t communicating and now it does. It was about 15’ from another switch that was working fine, but perhaps the metal in the fireplace was blocking the signal. I just have to buy more stuff, I guess.

So now it’s down to the key fob and the light switch. The light switch works as a switch but doesn’t appear to communicate. It’s the furthest away (30’ and a couple of wood frame/drywall walls). I’ve managed to pair the key fob finally and I hope it stays that way. Device Explorer in habmin shows Aeon Labs KeyfobG5 as a device but it not associating itself with the zwave device for some reason as the device is listed as ID 58 type 101 in habmin. The Smart Switch and Smart Sensor aren’t listed at all although some have expressed the opinion that the Smart Sensor should be there. So I can’t really attach the XML for the device - I don’t think it’s there.

I’ve never seen a peep in the log about the light switch, although with a metal front plate and mounted in a metal box, one would think that the RF would have trouble getting out.

Progress is being made, though. Thanks for your suggestions.

9

I’m going to try the latest 1.8.0 snapshot instead of production 1.7.1. From what I’ve read there’s some more device support.

Wish me luck…

10

Yes - new devices are only added to the newer releases, so it’s always a good starting point to grab the latest…

Good luck :smile:

11

Same problem here with my z-wave.me KFOB - Secure Key Chain Remote.
Are there some news on this?
Would be great to get an instruction on how to make it work.

Edit: Tried with the new 1.8 version, but without success.