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    Valve Failure

    Attached Files
    Regards, Bob

    #2
    MCSSprinklers 2.18.1.2 All Valves Failures & constant Valve Off cmds

    I am chasing this issue also. The MCSSprinklers PI v2.18.1.2 has suddenly become very chatty, logging "Valve OFF" commands every second. And all 16 RAIN8NET valves are displayed in RED as being failed, even though watering seems to be getting scheduled and individual can be enabled manually.

    Glad to see I am not alone! But I am a bit surprised no response has been posted by MCS.

    Thank you - Dan the LAN Man

    Comment


      #3
      No response because I did not see it. If no response then best to ping.

      The quickest way to understand is with the general debug log that is enabled from the Other page. I recently setup an Odroid HC1 with Rain8Net and had good result.

      Comment


        #4
        For several years, I've had mcsSprinklersP controlling Rain8 Net (a Master unit and one Expansion unit; sixteen valve controls; fourteen in use). For maybe two months now, I am seeing constant valve failure across all 16 channels - all RED. I can auto or manually run a given zone and it will go GREEN on the Touch Zone page during the run, but each reverts to RED (failed) when it should be going BLUE (idle).

        There seems to be an unusual but steady stream of serial I/O commands listing individual valves and "Valve Command Acknowledge" logged in the mcsSprinklersP Serial IO log - not just the normal heartbeat poll I recall seeing previously.

        Also, there's a steady stream of mcsSprinklersP Rain8 Unit 1 & 2 valves "OFF" entries in the main HS3 Pro system log. The HS3 log entries occur for a given valve in a random order about every 3 seconds, and there's about a 30 second pause between the last valve's OFF command and the first valve's next OFF command.

        I have enabled "Produce Debug DATA Files" at the mcsSprinklersP OTHER page as requested. Attempts to view it using the supplied link on OTHER page fails with "404 Bad Request: /mcsSprinklers/Data/mcsSprinklers_GeneralDebug9_6_2018_12_01_26_PM.txt." I can navigate to where I think is the proper debug file location, but there's no txt file named as suggested in the broken link..

        In August I disabled and removed / renamed all mcsSprinklers folders and file references from my HomeSeer 3 installation and reinstalled latest mcsSprinklersP PlugIn from scratch. It was a lot of work, and it did not resolve this valve failure issue or others I have related to weather and ET settings.

        I will appreciate your advice, MCS. The last trick I have to try is reverting to a July or earlier version of the mcsSprinklers software which was working for many months until something big and bad happened here.

        Dan the LAN Man

        Comment


          #5
          I have much the same hw config that you have. I'm confused about the serial I/O commands. Mine just ran a couple of zones and the log looks as follows.
          My setup uses a virtual com port emulator (port 6) to an IP2SL device in my pool shed which then connects to the master.
          Rain8 Net(0) opened on 6
          9/6/2018 12:00:01 AM | 97312953 | New Day
          9/6/2018 1:26:01 PM | 45672265 | NET(0) OUT | 40, 01, 35
          9/6/2018 1:26:01 PM | 45672328 | NET IN | 40, 01, 35 Valve Command Acknowledge
          9/6/2018 1:26:03 PM | 45674921 | NET(0) OUT | 40, 01, F0
          9/6/2018 1:26:03 PM | 45674968 | NET IN | 40, 01, 10 Status Response
          9/6/2018 1:41:01 PM | 46572515 | NET(0) OUT | 40, 01, 45
          9/6/2018 1:41:01 PM | 46572578 | NET IN | 40, 01, 45 Valve Command Acknowledge
          9/6/2018 1:41:04 PM | 46575171 | NET(0) OUT | 40, 01, F0
          9/6/2018 1:41:04 PM | 46575234 | NET IN | 40, 01, 00 Status Response
          9/6/2018 1:51:01 PM | 47172171 | NET(0) OUT | 40, 01, 38
          9/6/2018 1:51:01 PM | 47172234 | NET IN | 40, 01, 38 Valve Command Acknowledge
          9/6/2018 1:51:03 PM | 47174812 | NET(0) OUT | 40, 01, F0
          9/6/2018 1:51:03 PM | 47174875 | NET IN | 40, 01, 80 Status Response
          9/6/2018 2:19:01 PM | 48852109 | NET(0) OUT | 40, 01, 48
          9/6/2018 2:19:01 PM | 48852171 | NET IN | 40, 01, 48 Valve Command Acknowledge
          9/6/2018 2:19:03 PM | 48854765 | NET(0) OUT | 40, 01, F0
          9/6/2018 2:19:03 PM | 48854843 | NET IN | 40, 01, 00 Status Response
          Is this what you're referring to? The steady stream of Rain8 Unit 1 & 2 valves "OFF" entries confuses me as well. If you disabled unit1 and 2 valve zones, do you still have issues?

          I'm running 2.18.5.1. Just saw 2.18.6.1 out but have yet to update.

          Robert
          HS3PRO 3.0.0.500 as a Fire Daemon service, Windows 2016 Server Std Intel Core i5 PC HTPC Slim SFF 4GB, 120GB SSD drive, WLG800, RFXCom, TI103,NetCam, UltraNetcam3, BLBackup, CurrentCost 3P Rain8Net, MCsSprinker, HSTouch, Ademco Security plugin/AD2USB, JowiHue, various Oregon Scientific temp/humidity sensors, Z-Net, Zsmoke, Aeron Labs micro switches, Amazon Echo Dots, WS+, WD+ ... on and on.

          Comment


            #6
            Dan, there is a tremendous number of setups that mcsSprinklers supports so for a problem like you are seeing very specific information is needed. Your onfig/mcsSprinklers.ini) provides context. The debug file where described behavior occurred provides the evidence. Debug files are cached until explicitly written by user action on Other page or a restart. The file date will identify the desired one.

            The out of memory exception is not a good sign as it does not point to a specific problem, but at first level indicates the platform cannot handle all the software that is loaded.

            Comment


              #7
              langenet, we do have system similarities. My HomeSeer 3 Pro runs on a Windows 10 Pro Hyper-V Virtual Machine. This requires a Serial over IP solution (KernelPro's Advanced Virtual COM Port), which seems to provide stable serial linkage between HomeSeer and its PlugIns. I have no reason to suspect serial communications issues here.

              I am currently running mcsSprinklersP's Version 2.18.8.1 per the HS3 Manage PlugIns page) in its STANDARD VERSION mode of operation.

              If I set mcsSprinklersP's INTERFACE SETUP page's Rain8 Net Communications to "NO STATUS REQUEST", the serial I/O log reveals a constant steady outputs at an interval of about once per second. Each appears to get Acknowledged by the Rain8 Net unit. STRANGELY, the sequence of valve numbers is a bit random and sometimes skips a valve number. Since I have 16 outputs with 14 good valves attached, I expected to see a 14 or 16 step pattern, but don't. I suppose it could just be a timing thing and of no significance. i am assuming the responding valves by number should be interpreted my mcsSprinklers as "good" and not "failed"

              A snippet from my 9/13/2018 12:17:18 A | 08085078 | NET(0) OUT | 40, 02, 41
              9/13/2018 12:17:18 A | 08085109 | NET IN | 40, 02, 41 Valve Command Acknowledge
              9/13/2018 12:17:21 A | 08087656 | NET(0) OUT | 40, 02, 42
              9/13/2018 12:17:21 A | 08087687 | NET IN | 40, 02, 42 Valve Command Acknowledge
              9/13/2018 12:17:23 A | 08090234 | NET(0) OUT | 40, 02, 43
              9/13/2018 12:17:23 A | 08090265 | NET IN | 40, 02, 43 Valve Command Acknowledge
              9/13/2018 12:17:26 A | 08092859 | NET(0) OUT | 40, 02, 44
              9/13/2018 12:17:26 A | 08092890 | NET IN | 40, 02, 44 Valve Command Acknowledge
              9/13/2018 12:17:28 A | 08095421 | NET(0) OUT | 40, 02, 46
              9/13/2018 12:17:28 A | 08095453 | NET IN | 40, 02, 46 Valve Command Acknowledge
              9/13/2018 12:17:31 A | 08098000 | NET(0) OUT | 40, 02, 47
              9/13/2018 12:17:31 A | 08098031 | NET IN | 40, 02, 47 Valve Command Acknowledge
              9/13/2018 12:17:33 A | 08100562 | NET(0) OUT | 40, 02, 48
              9/13/2018 12:17:34 A | 08100578 | NET IN | 40, 02, 48 Valve Command Acknowledge
              9/13/2018 12:18:00 A | 08126937 | NET(0) OUT | 40, 01, 41
              9/13/2018 12:18:00 A | 08126968 | NET IN | 40, 01, 41 Valve Command Acknowledge
              9/13/2018 12:18:02 A | 08129515 | NET(0) OUT | 40, 01, 42
              9/13/2018 12:18:02 A | 08129546 | NET IN | 40, 01, 42 Valve Command Acknowledge
              9/13/2018 12:18:05 A | 08132125 | NET(0) OUT | 40, 01, 43
              9/13/2018 12:18:05 A | 08132156 | NET IN | 40, 01, 43 Valve Command Acknowledge
              9/13/2018 12:18:08 A | 08134718 | NET(0) OUT | 40, 01, 44
              9/13/2018 12:18:08 A | 08134750 | NET IN | 40, 01, 44 Valve Command Acknowledge
              9/13/2018 12:18:10 A | 08137281 | NET(0) OUT | 40, 01, 45
              9/13/2018 12:18:10 A | 08137312 | NET IN | 40, 01, 45 Valve Command Acknowledge
              9/13/2018 12:18:13 A | 08139859 | NET(0) OUT | 40, 01, 46
              9/13/2018 12:18:13 A | 08139890 | NET IN | 40, 01, 46 Valve Command Acknowledge
              9/13/2018 12:18:15 A | 08142453 | NET(0) OUT | 40, 01, 48
              9/13/2018 12:18:15 A | 08142484 | NET IN | 40, 01, 48 Valve Command Acknowledge
              9/13/2018 12:18:18 A | 08145015 | NET(0) OUT | 40, 02, 41

              Like your screen shot of the Master Controls above, the mcsSPrinklers Zones Status page and Touch Zones page wants me to believe I have total valve failure. Yet the predicted sprinkler zones watered correctly and on time today... No longer are they blue. It's bizarre.

              Comment


                #8
                Sorry for my delays in responding, Michael -

                1) I agree I likely do have mcsSprinklers entries and values misunderstood or placed incorrectly. Does it help if I run in Basic Version or Standard Version to eliminate some of that possibility, or does that just mask my view of the program’s more detailed features? The Valve Failure indications exist across all versions.

                2) I didn't report an "out of memory exception", did I? I do get an HTTP 404 Bad Request error when I click the blue Debug File link on the OTHER page. I have the "Produce Debug Data Files" box ticked. The Current Debug Size is (reported to be) 67.507 Megabytes. On the HS3 platform, I was able to manually search for and locate the debug.txt file here: E:\Program Files (x86)\HomeSeer HS3\html\mcsSprinklers\data. A 67 Megabytes debug file (whose name implies it was created at midnight) is timestamped 9/13/2018 at 08:56. NOTE: The General Debug txt file I would have guessed I manually invoked is name-stamped with 08:56 but its size is 0 Bytes. I found this discrepancy confusing, but when I look into it later, the list of debug files has grown. OK – its cached and dynamic!

                3) I tried to attach the latest Debug.txt and the mcsSprinklers.ini files. both were rejected for being too big or in a forbidden file type

                Thank you for your continued assistance.

                Dan the LAN Man – IT’s always something!

                Comment


                  #9
                  I'd zip them up before attaching. Not sure if the new Forum accepts .zip extensions, if not just rename to .txt.
                  HS3PRO 3.0.0.500 as a Fire Daemon service, Windows 2016 Server Std Intel Core i5 PC HTPC Slim SFF 4GB, 120GB SSD drive, WLG800, RFXCom, TI103,NetCam, UltraNetcam3, BLBackup, CurrentCost 3P Rain8Net, MCsSprinker, HSTouch, Ademco Security plugin/AD2USB, JowiHue, various Oregon Scientific temp/humidity sensors, Z-Net, Zsmoke, Aeron Labs micro switches, Amazon Echo Dots, WS+, WD+ ... on and on.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    The Current Debug Size is (reported to be) 67.507 Megabytes.
                    I do not think I have seen a debug file this big. I agree to zip them. The new board does take .zip extension. You also have the options of either trimming it so it is a more reasonale size, yet still contains info of interest or use the Write Debug option on the Other Page to start a new debug and either include the prior one or collect some data and Write again.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Today's General Debug file is 25 Megabytes... I have zipped it together with today's mcsSprinklers.ini file and successfully uploaded the bundle as mcsSprinklers.zip 1.7 Megabytes in size.

                      I hope this is helpful. Michael. I am grateful for your attention to this strange situation of valves all being constantly marked as failed.

                      Dan the LAN Man - IT's always something!
                      Attached Files

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Thank you for the files. I see the .ini setup looks reasonable, but no status request is being done. This should be fine as you seem to have good communications with Rain8. The debug shows a continue stream of turning every valve off every minute. I need to look into why this is happening.

                        I suspect that if you select the Rain 8 to provide status after command then you problem will disappear. Likely I am expect the status response as the way to know what state the value is.
                        Last edited by Michael McSharry; September 14, 2018, 07:19 PM.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Updated plugin to update status when an command acknowledge is received for the case where no status is requested. 2.18.7.1 submitted to Updater and at http://mcsSprinklers.com/mcsSprinklers_2_18_7_1_HS3.zip. This (or changing setting to request status on command) should fix the failure issue.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            I have mine configured to Request status after command btw... Michael, are you saying this isn't required anymore with 2.18.7.1?

                            Robert
                            HS3PRO 3.0.0.500 as a Fire Daemon service, Windows 2016 Server Std Intel Core i5 PC HTPC Slim SFF 4GB, 120GB SSD drive, WLG800, RFXCom, TI103,NetCam, UltraNetcam3, BLBackup, CurrentCost 3P Rain8Net, MCsSprinker, HSTouch, Ademco Security plugin/AD2USB, JowiHue, various Oregon Scientific temp/humidity sensors, Z-Net, Zsmoke, Aeron Labs micro switches, Amazon Echo Dots, WS+, WD+ ... on and on.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Correct. 2.18.7.1 will use a successful Acknowledge to assume commanded state is actual state if no status response is being used. It is a pretty reasonable assumption.

                              Comment

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