Z-wave long delays / not responding - where do I start?

[jnpoyser]

I'm experiencing an intermittent problem with zwave devices.

A few times a day, all of my devices stop responding - be it via the HS interface, Alexa, Imperihome, etc. Then, normally around 15m later, they spring back in to life and execute the commands I'd previously given.

I don't know if it's related or not, but also once my Fibaro motion detectors sense motion, they often stay stuck as detected motion in HS - as if the no motion update hasn't made it to HS.

Any pointers on where to start troubleshooting?

[cerjzc]

We need more details including which versions of HS and zwave you are using. There are several versions of HS that had issues with event processing which caused delays similar to this so we need to rule those out.

Jeff

[jnpoyser]

Current Date/Time: 2/15/2018 11:52:03 AM
HomeSeer Version: HS3 Standard Edition 3.0.0.368
Linux version: Linux homeseer 4.13.0-21-generic #24-Ubuntu SMP Mon Dec 18 17:29:16 UTC 2017 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux System Uptime: 1 Day 17 Hours 17 Minutes 25 Seconds
IP Address: 192.168.1.201
Number of Devices: 113
Number of Events: 15
Available Threads: 189

Enabled Plug-Ins
2.0.22.0: BLOccupied
3.0.0.43: EasyTrigger
3.0.0.25: ImperiHome
2.0.1.6: JowiHue
3.0.0.0: mcsMQTT
0.0.0.38: Pushover 3P
3.0.1.190: Z-Wave

[jnpoyser]

Log extract - could it be a problem with the interface:

Feb-15 9:45:15 PM Z-Wave Error UZB: Error, the Z-Wave API Transmit Queue is not empty after waiting 20 seconds - the interface may be disconnected or not operational (UZB).
Feb-15 9:43:50 PM Z-Wave UZB: Controller firmware version: 5.5
Feb-15 9:43:50 PM Z-Wave UZB: Controller Manufacturer: UNKNOWN, ID=0xE7, Type=0x0
Feb-15 9:43:33 PM Z-Wave UZB is the SIS for the network.
Feb-15 9:43:33 PM Z-Wave UZB There is a SUC/SIS in the network.
Feb-15 9:43:33 PM Z-Wave UZB Controller is static lib.
Feb-15 9:43:33 PM Z-Wave UZB Controller chip type is ZW050x.
Feb-15 9:43:14 PM Z-Wave UZB: Getting node information from controller...
Feb-15 9:43:14 PM Z-Wave Warning In Z-Wave init(A), no response getting initialization information.
Feb-15 9:43:02 PM Z-Wave The interface's security support has been set.
Feb-15 9:42:55 PM Z-Wave UZB: Getting node information from controller...
Feb-15 9:42:55 PM Z-Wave Note: Only one system may connect to an Ethernet interface at one time. If 2 systems are connecting to your Z-Wave interface, HomeSeer will not connect.
Feb-15 9:42:55 PM Z-Wave ************************************************************ *******************
Feb-15 9:42:55 PM Z-Wave STARTUP COMPLETE: All configured interfaces were successfully initialized.
Feb-15 9:42:55 PM Z-Wave ************************************************************ *******************

[mwolter]

Troubleshooting Z-Wave Delays

This is a difficult issue to diagnose but here's what I've done in the past.

First thing I would check is that you have polling disabled for everything except battery devices or devices that do not support instant status updates. Most newer devices and, I believe, anything Z-Wave Plus support instant status updates, so you shouldn't need to worry about turning polling off on those, but you should go device by device and verify with the manufacturer if polling is necessary. It's a tedious but very rewarding process. I had a few motion sensors that had polling enabled on the child devices and it was bringing my Z-Wave network to its knees.

To verify polling is disabled, go to Plug-Ins > Z-Wave > Node Information and inspect each parent and child device. Anything that has polling enabled unnecessarily will have a negative impact on your network and batteries should only be polled every 12+ hours.

To disable polling click the device name, click the Z-Wave tab then change the polling interval to 0 Hours, 0 Minutes, 0 Seconds.

If this doesn't resolve the problem, you could have a bad device or something that is transmitting or interfering with Z-Wave. Make sure your Z-Wave controller is at least five feet from anything wireless, this includes anything WiFi, cordless phones and microwaves (yes the box you cook food in

Finally, and this is the most difficult, if you notice that the issue started around the time you added a certain device, try removing it. I've had bad Z-Wave devices cause issues with the network. You will need to exclude the device from the Z-Wave network and remove power (unplug or remove batteries). You might need to go device by device and start removing them to isolate the issue.

Hope this helps and good luck!

[jnpoyser]

Thanks for the suggestions.

There's no polling in the network, apart from the battery status of three motion sensors, at 12h intervals.

Controller is some distance from any wifi devices and is on a long USB cable to get away from interference from PC.

So it could be a duff device, that's a PITA as I've done the whole house - from zero to hero - in pretty much one go, so have no clues to which device it could be.

On that point - are there any tell-tail signs that could help me identify a faulty device, rather than taking them offline one by one? Half the problem is that this is an intermittent fault, and I'll only spot it when I try to change a device value and nothing happens - so there's no easy way that I know of to check the health of the device / network in real time (akin to running ping whilst replacing network cables).

Even then, is it really a faulty device? Consider this log:


Feb-16 5:39:38 AM Z-Wave Device: Landing Lights Landing light Set to ON
(I get up, turn on landing lights manually, correctly reports status to HS)

Feb-16 5:39:57 AM Device Control Device: Kitchen Lights Lights to Up (99) by/from: CAPI Control Handler
(19s later, I use Alexa to turn on the kitchen lights, request rev'd by HS, but lights don't turn on)

Feb-16 5:40:08 AM Z-Wave Device: Kitchen Lights Lights Set to 20%
(...so I turn them on manually, correctly reported back to HS, so zwave network / interface is up)

Feb-16 5:40:26 AM Z-Wave Device: Kitchen Lights Lights Set to OFF
Feb-16 5:40:40 AM Z-Wave Device: Landing Lights Landing light Set to OFF
(I manually turn off the kitchen lights, then the landing lights, again, updating HS status instantly)

THEN:
Feb-16 5:40:57 AM Z-Wave Error Failed sending Z-Wave command to device: Kitchen Lights Lights
(Exactly 60s later, it reports failure to send my previous Alexa command to the lights)

THEN:
Feb-16 5:44:10 AM Z-Wave Device: Kitchen Lights Lights Set to ON
(Over 3m later, it finally sends the command to the lights, and turns them on. After I've left the kitchen and turn them off!)

Would a faulty device really scupper communications in one direction, from controller to device, whilst device to controller comms working fine?

[mwolter]

[jnpoyser]

Thanks for the suggestions - really appreciated.

They're all zwave plus, modules from Qubino, motion sensors from Fibaro. So new I can still smell the plastic packaging.

Controller is zwave.me USB stick.

Repeating devices are no more than 10-15ft from each other.

CPU, memory, swap, ethernet all low, nothing odd in syslog.

Will optimise now.

I'm loathed to swap anything out / return devices until I'm sure it's faulty.

[IanIreland]

ReceneltyI've also been experiencing some delays - I also use a zwave.me.
I'll keep an eye on this thread!

[theendisnye]

I have also been experiencing an issue with another plugin which seemed to be linked to adding zwave devices causing delays; it comes and goes. I also use Zwave.me it may not be associated but I will also keep an eye on this thread and its recommendations.

Steve

[jnpoyser]

I've just ordered an Aeotec Z stick to confirm if it's the zwave.me. Both from Amazon so easy to return as either faulty or not needed... Will let you know what happens.

[macromark]

If you experience a delay, some troubleshooting is in order. Check to the log to see if there are any errors or if there is a lot of Z-Wave traffic occurring at the same time. If you have errors, you should try to fix those first. If there's a lot of traffic, can you reduce that?

A couple things to try:

• if you have polling enabled on any devices, make sure your polling interval is not less than 60 seconds. Very short polling intervals on a number of devices will flood the network with traffic and really slow things down.
  
• If you have energy aware devices, be sure to configure the parameters so they don't report energy usage continuously. Again, this can flood the network with traffic and really slow things down.
  
• Do a node connectivity test on the whole network. Make sure all nodes are responding properly. If any nodes can't be reached, this can also introduce delays, especially if those nodes are part of the master routing table. Unplugging modules or cutting power to smart bulbs are very common mistakes that can affect network performance.

[randy]

You have gotten some very good advice, but this log error:

Feb-15 9:45:15 PM Z-Wave Error UZB: Error, the Z-Wave API Transmit Queue is not empty after waiting 20 seconds - the interface may be disconnected or not operational (UZB).

This is one I have only seen when there is a communication problem between the Z-Wave plug-in and the controller. This would point to (as you suspect) a dodgy controller. It also could be a hardware connectivity issue. Since you said you had a long USB cable to move it away from the computer, I might suggest connecting the controller directly to a different USB port temporarily and see if the error goes away.

[jnpoyser]

[The Profit]