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Strange Entries in Log - System Stability Issues - Fixed!

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    Strange Entries in Log - System Stability Issues - Fixed!

    I have a 5+ year old HS system that up until recently has been very stable. Mostly X10 but some Z-Wave. Since moving to a new Vista computer, I have had several bouts of strange behavior - occasionally the system seems to just stop working with no signals showing up on my X10 signal monitor.. rebooting, restarting CPU, running as a service (or not) seems to have no effect on the system when in this mode, then, magically, it will start working some time later, again with no obvious changes in the system or network, like new loads plugged in or unplugged, etc.. HS seems to be oblivious to the lack of lighting command results, and thinks that the system is working properly - i.e. it issues the appropriate commands in the log and the status shows what it thinks is the current status.. just the actual status (lights on or off) is unchanged and inconsistent with the "reported" status. I have been unable to isolate the cause/effect for this behavior.

    Also, I am occasionally seeing foreign entries in the log like those shown below, though these don't seem to occur/correlate to when the problems above are noted. These reference X10 codes (J, P, F, etc., along with (?) symbols in the commands which seem odd, relative to normal operation) that are not used in my system.. and occur at times when no events should be running and no one is home - they are not there every day, but seem to come and go in spasms, again with no correlation to anything (as far as I can determine). Has anyone else seen this behavior? I am running HS 2.3.0.84 on an XPS Dell quad core machine. have an ACT bridge between phases and filters on the known devices that cause noise. Again, this is behavior that has started on what was once a rock solid (as far as it goes with X10) system.

    I have run out of ideas, short of trashing all the X10 and moving completely to Zwave...or...? Would appreciate any ideas on what to do next..

    Here is a short sample of the "foreign" codes:


    1/8/2010 1:23:10 PM X10 Received J7 (?) J Status Request
    1/8/2010 1:23:17 PM X10 Received J Status Request
    1/8/2010 1:24:04 PM X10 Received F16 (?) F Hail Ack
    1/8/2010 1:25:53 PM X10 Received J11 (?) J11 (?) J15 (?) J2 (?) J15 (?) J13 (?) J15 (?) J Status Request
    1/8/2010 1:26:00 PM X10 Received J Status Request
    1/8/2010 1:26:07 PM X10 Received P16 (?) P Off
    1/8/2010 1:26:21 PM X10 Received J Status Request
    1/8/2010 1:26:24 PM X10 Received J Preset Dim2 25
    1/8/2010 1:26:26 PM X10 Received J Status Request
    1/8/2010 1:28:33 PM X10 Received J13 (?) J Status Request
    1/8/2010 1:28:37 PM X10 Received J Status Request
    1/8/2010 1:28:45 PM X10 Received J Status Request
    1/8/2010 1:28:54 PM X10 Received J16 (?) J Status Request
    1/8/2010 1:29:20 PM X10 Received J13 (?) J15 (?) J Status Request
    1/8/2010 1:29:49 PM X10 Received J Status Request
    1/8/2010 1:30:10 PM X10 Received J16 (?) J2 (?) J Status Request
    1/8/2010 1:30:16 PM X10 Received J Status Request
    1/8/2010 1:31:26 PM X10 Received P Off
    1/8/2010 1:31:26 PM X10 Received B All Lights On
    1/8/2010 1:31:32 PM X10 Received B10 (?) B All Lights On
    1/8/2010 1:32:03 PM X10 Received J16 (?) J16 (?) J14 (?) J2 (?) J16 (?) J Status Request
    1/8/2010 1:32:03 PM X10 Received J Status Request
    1/8/2010 1:32:11 PM X10 Received J Status Request

    #2
    You almost certainly have an intermittent noise source somewhere on your system. I doubt that the computer is the problem, but ??? I think it's more likely a malfunctioning X10 device, like a switch. Almost anything that can put an X10 signal on the line or corrupt a signal is a candidate.

    There have been numerous discussion on the forum about similar problems. Try searching for 'noise' or do an advanced Google search restricted to the homeseer.com site.

    To get started, the classic advice is to start turning off circuit breakers when the problem arises to see if you can isolate the source to a single circuit.
    Mike____________________________________________________________ __________________
    HS3 Pro Edition 3.0.0.548, NUC i3

    HW: Stargate | NX8e | CAV6.6 | Squeezebox | PCS | WGL 800RF | RFXCOM | Vantage Pro | Green-Eye | Edgeport/8 | Way2Call | Ecobee3 | EtherRain | Ubiquiti

    Comment


      #3
      Thanks for the quick reply.. I will follow your advice. I had been thinking that there was some device that was intermittently "consuming" or filtering/dampening the X10 signal during those periods when an issued command was not showing up on my X10 meter, but was uncertain if the "foreign" commands in the log were legitimate (maybe from a neighbor) or in fact spurious noise that the system was trying to decode into an X10 command.. your response indicates probably the latter.. Oddly though, the system "seems" to recover on its own without any known loads being changed, unplugged for example...

      Someone on another thread had complained about Vista OS and HS, but I didn't want to introduce another variable with an upgrade to W7 until I solved this issue.. Thanks again.

      Comment


        #4
        Those log issues are classic signs of noise on the power line. When you see these signals is a good time to start flipping breakers. Also keep and eye on when these odd log entries are being recorded and maybe you can find that something is running that is generating the noise. IE refrigerator, TV, central air/heat
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        Comment


          #5
          Thanks Rupp,

          I am currently running HS as a Service and I noticed that the window that opens when you start the service, and which normally displays the log file of events happening on the system, stopped updating after about 12 hours, though the log in the HTML HS menu is staying current (just have to refresh it each time). I normally close the service window, but I had kept it open while I was looking for the noise issues.. shouldn't it continue to update in real-time as the events fire off?

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by pogle View Post
            Thanks Rupp,

            I am currently running HS as a Service and I noticed that the window that opens when you start the service, and which normally displays the log file of events happening on the system, stopped updating after about 12 hours, though the log in the HTML HS menu is staying current (just have to refresh it each time). I normally close the service window, but I had kept it open while I was looking for the noise issues.. shouldn't it continue to update in real-time as the events fire off?
            Yes, it should. This may be a symptom of your previously described stability issue. Try disabling the service and see if this helps.
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            Comment


              #7
              Another thing that could cause strange behavior is when the batteries start getting low on X10 remotes or motion detectors. they seem to get confused with what address to transmit.

              Comment


                #8
                I'd guess that it's the new computer.

                I remember when i switched computers, the newer computer's power supply put noise in the line, whereas my old computer's power supply did not.

                do you have the computer on a filter?

                Ian
                Plugins:
                BLLogMonitor, BLGarbage, BLBackup, BLOutGoingCalls, BLUps, BLRfid, JvEss, DooMotion, Applied Digital Ocelot, AC RF Processor, UltraMon, PJC AVR 430, UPB, Rain8net, DSC Panel, JRiver Media center, Windows Media Player, SageMediaCenter, SnevlCID, MCSTemperature.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Maybe, but it seems odd that it comes and goes - I would think that the computer would be consistently noisy.. I thought I had isolated it tonight to an electric heater in the basement.. seemed to correlate to the problem with soaking up signal.. but after putting a filter on it and turning off the heater, the system went into comotose again later, with no signals being received by the lights on the "turn off" schedule... argggghhh

                  Comment


                    #10
                    does the new computer have a new monitor? maybe the interference comes and goes with the monitor powering on and off when it does so automatically? or perhaps the new computer's power supply adjusts itself to meet demand, and only puts noise on the line when the pc has a certain level of demand on it?

                    I know, I am stuck on the new computer being the cause, but hey, can't blame a guy for trying.

                    you never did say whether or not it is filtered though.
                    Plugins:
                    BLLogMonitor, BLGarbage, BLBackup, BLOutGoingCalls, BLUps, BLRfid, JvEss, DooMotion, Applied Digital Ocelot, AC RF Processor, UltraMon, PJC AVR 430, UPB, Rain8net, DSC Panel, JRiver Media center, Windows Media Player, SageMediaCenter, SnevlCID, MCSTemperature.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Completelyhis..

                      Thanks for the reply.. the new computer does have a new monitor (a Dell SP2309W Digital), and neither are currently filtered, though I can't correlate the noise issues with the monitor cycling or the computer load, for that matter.. about the most intensive thing the computer is doing is running HS and a Virtual Weather Station for my Vantage2 Pro.. The computer is powered through a fairly high end Belkin UPS, so I think that would provide some isolation (?)..

                      Had another episode last night with the event schedule.. all the lights came on at the appropriate times and dimness, yet by bedtime, the schedules to turn things off ran as configured, but no signal was available on the powerline apparently as I could not turn lights off either in HS or with an X10 remote. The lights stayed on all night (at least the ones i didnt manually turn off, and this morning, the system seemed back to normal - I could use the remote to cycle any light..


                      I suppose the serial interface X10 CM11A could be suspect, or maybe the ACT A10 Powerline Coupler/Repeater (I occasionally see the "error" LED on this come on briefly - not sure why unless a collision, etc) - otherwise it seems fine - been installed for years without a problem..

                      Other possibilities.. fluorescent lights.. ballast going out?? other??

                      Other errors in log (only saw once at startup of service):

                      1/8/2010 12:19:31 AM - Error - ASP.Net page: Could not load file or assembly 'HS2Util, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by pogle View Post
                        1/8/2010 12:19:31 AM - Error - ASP.Net page: Could not load file or assembly 'HS2Util, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.
                        This is error is caused by running HS as a service and trying to use the HS updater. The service doesn't have the permissions to run the ASP objects.
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                        Comment


                          #13
                          You do have a good X10 filter on the UPS, right?

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by buvens View Post
                            You do have a good X10 filter on the UPS, right?
                            uh, actually no.. but the same UPS has been running in this spot for a couple of years with none of the spurious noise issues I/m seeing now..

                            Comment


                              #15
                              I would puy my money on the "new" device added. I have found this to be the case a number of times..... It happened to me once when I added a 6 foot extension cord. It didn't even have anything plugged into it - it was the cord itself! Replaced the cord (and threw the old culprit out).

                              I would suggest putting a filter on the computer and monitor and see if it helps before looking for "odd" problems.

                              Comment

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