Insteon PLM 2413U not recognized

[AlaskaSteve]

I just purchased a new Homeseer PRO running HS4 as a replacement for my earlier Homeseer S6 that was running HS3 - now retired to use as a standby if I need it. I have backed up the HS3 installation from the S6 machine and restored it to the new HS4 on the PRO machine.

Some things have gone smoothly, but I'm having problems with the Insteon devices in the new installation. I've added the MNS Insteon Plugin, but have not been able to connect it with my Powerlinc USB 2413u PLM. I have followed the instructions in the MNS Insteon for HS4 forum's sticky "READ THIS FIRST Getting started with the MNS Insteon Plugin" page. The failure happens when I get to Step 3, where I am instructed "If you are using a PLM on a Windows system, enter COM1, COM2, etc." in the Interface Port Field. I can't seem to find a COM port that works.

When I initially connected the PLM to one of the Homeseer PRO's USB ports, nothing seemed to happen. In Device Manager I did see a new USB Serial Device that wasn't functioning. A Google search found a driver for this device, but it still didn't solve my problem. Now I have a new USB Serial Port (COM3) appearing in Device Manager (which is, I assume, the result of the driver installation for the USB Serial Device) but if I enter COM3 in the Interface Port Field of the MNS Insteon set page, the PLM is still not recognized. Help would be greatly appreciated!

[mnsandler]

what platform are you running hs4 on? have you restarted the pc?

[AlaskaSteve]

I'm running it on Homeseer's HomeTroller PRO. It is brand new with HS4 pre-installed on it. I have an older Homeseer S6 running HS3 that I've used for a number of years that worked perfectly with my Insteon products using the Insteon plugin that came with HS3. I backed up that installation and restored it to the new HomeTroller PRO HS4, then added the MNS Insteon Plugin.
I've restarted the PC (HomeTroller PRO) numerous times to no avail. I've also removed the MNS plugin and added it again, rebooting between attempts.
It just occurred to me that I've never done a cold restart and maybe I should do that. I've encountered weird behavior over the years with USB ports on other computers that behave differently depending on whether or not they got a cold or warm reboot. I will try that while waiting for any other suggestions.

[mnsandler]

neither of my Insteon plugins (v3 or v4) are compatible with the HS Insteon plugin. ie there is no import or migration from one to the other

So you will need to register all your insteon devices in the MNS insteon plugin on hs4

[mnsandler]

have you installed the FTDI drivers onto the HT+?

https://ftdichip.com/drivers/vcp-drivers/

[AlaskaSteve]

I'm already aware of the absence of any migration ability in going from my old to my new system and am prepared to register all the Insteon devices on HS4 (ugh!) once I get the plugin running.

I tried rebooting the HomeTroller by completely shutting it down and removing power for a minute or so before re-powering it and starting Win10 and HS4. No joy though, and it still doesn't recognize the PLM.

Yes, I did already load the driver for the FT232R USB UART (FTDI) version 2.12.36.4 and it now shows up on the Device Manager as USB Serial Port (COM3). When I enter COM3 in the Interface Port Field, the Plugin still doesn't recognize it.

Out of deep paranoia, now that Insteon has gone out of business, I was concerned that perhaps my 2413u PLM had died, so I reconnected it to my old Homeseer S6 to verify it worked there. It showed up as COM7 on that computer and HS3 recognized it normally, so I eliminated that problem. For some reason though, even though when I connect it to the new HomeTroller PRO and the COM3 appears in the Device Manager, the MNS Plugin won't recognize it. I am running the MNS Insteon Plugin version 4.0.3.0, unregistered until I get this mess figured out.

[mnsandler]

Can you enable detailed login on the plugin setting page then restart the plugin. And post the hs log

To post an HS log if you have issues or get errors (Do not copy and post the log, its unreadable)
- Goto to the hs tools/log menu, Export the log of the transactions, download it and attach it to your post

[AlaskaSteve]

Attached is a copy of the detailed HS log as you requested. log.txt

[JohnWilley]

for what it's worth, I did not have to install any special drivers on my Win10 machine -- I connected the device and Device Manager, under "Ports (COM & LPT)", showed two entries: something from Intel and one that said "USB Serial Port (COM6)" -- I put COM6 (all upper case; mixed case did not work) into the Interface Port field of the plugin Settings page and it worked! Note that unlike with a hub, there is no "connected" message on the Settings or Interface pages but the Interface page working will indicate all is well (and you can, of course, check the log file).

[AlaskaSteve]

Thank you John! I had used lower case com3 instead of upper case COM3. When I read your post, I changed it to upper case and it worked! Most excellent sir, and thanks to to Mark for his help too. Dumb on me and I'll try not to bother any of you anymore.

[JohnWilley]

Glad that helped -- a few weeks ago I was a fat, dumb, and happy Insteon app user...now I'm climbing the HomeSeer learning curve with a lot of other folks (and I like it a LOT better). But even with an easy-to-use tool and adequate documentation, it's important to share everything we learn...

[mnsandler]

well that was easy. good catch.

[Burrington]

Edit: Clarified the procedure...

If you are using Windows and have a USB PLM, or a Serial PLM with a USB to Serial adapter:…

Do yourself one more favor to avoid failures: go into Device Manager for your USB port > Properties > Power Management and un-check the option “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power”. Otherwise if there is a long period of inactivity, windows shuts the USB port down and kills comm to the PLM. HS and the Insteon Plugin do not seem to recover from this without a restart.

[AlaskaSteve]

Thank you John, for that tip. Sounds like a good idea and tomorrow morning I'll do just that as I have the USB PLM.

[JohnWilley]

re: turning off power management -- that sounds like a great idea -- unfortunately, my port properties do include a 'Power Management' tab or button...possibly is a function of the driver or something...?