Z-Net not reconnecting after disconnect - Solved!

[Edvins]

Something is not right...I think it's been going on ever since I bought my z-net. If it disconnects for some reason - for example a router reboot, I can no longer control my z-wave devices until I restart either the z-net or homeseer itself. Is anyone else having such an issue, or does your reconnect after a router reboot automatically?

if it matters, I am on
Z-NET Configuration - Version 1.0.17

thanks for any thoughts on how I might address this one. It's impacting the reliability of the system and the WAF.

thanks.

Ed

[rmasonjr]

Is your z-net using a static IP or dhcp? I use my router to always hand out a static IP based on the z-net's Mac address.

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk

[Edvins]

Static IP

Thanks for your response. Yes - I too was assigning a static address via DHCP. I just switched it to actually a hard-coded static on the z-net itself, but it seems to be behaving the same way...

To give a bit more detail:

• I had it running over a wireless connection with a dhcp-assigned static address.
  I have switched that to a hard-coded static on the device itself. no improvement.
  I have added a hard-wired ethernet connection. No improvement, however, it seems that the wifi connection is the "main" interface. I am not sure how to make the wired connection is the main one. Maybe that might help?

Thanks for any suggestions.

Ed

[randy]

Thanks for your response. Yes - I too was assigning a static address via DHCP. I just switched it to actually a hard-coded static on the z-net itself, but it seems to be behaving the same way...

To give a bit more detail:

• I had it running over a wireless connection with a dhcp-assigned static address.
  I have switched that to a hard-coded static on the device itself. no improvement.
  I have added a hard-wired ethernet connection. No improvement, however, it seems that the wifi connection is the "main" interface. I am not sure how to make the wired connection is the main one. Maybe that might help?

Thanks for any suggestions.

Ed

If you remove the WiFi dongle, your Ethernet will be the only interface. If you have them both active, it will depend on the way you have the Z-Wave plug-in configured for your controller. If by IP address, it will go to whatever interface is at that address. If if you connect by name, I don't know how it picks the interface. I found that using "Ethernet Interface" and an IP address to be much more reliable than using "HomeSeer Z-Net" and the device name.

[mikee123]

I have similar problems, and looking in the logs I found this for times when my Z-net did not respond:

Jul-07 05:52:01 Z-Wave Warning Trying to re-connect to Ethernet interface at IP 192.168.0.25... Jul-07 05:52:00 Z-Wave Error New Interface: The New Interface interface did not respond to the request for the HomeID and Node - it may be disconnected or malfunctioning (2). Jul-07 05:52:00 Z-Wave Error New Interface: The New Interface interface did not respond to the request for the HomeID and Node - it may be disconnected or malfunctioning (2). Jul-07 05:51:52 Z-Wave New Interface: Getting node information from controller... Jul-07 05:51:52 Z-Wave New Interface: Processing data buffered by the interface while it was disconnected. Jul-07 05:51:51 Z-Wave New Interface: Z-Wave Ethernet at IP 192.168.0.25, connected to interface ok. Jul-07 05:51:51 Z-Wave Warning Trying to re-connect to Ethernet interface at IP 192.168.0.25... I have emailed tech support, they suggested Jul-07 05:51:50 Z-Wave Error New Interface: The New Interface interface did not respond to the request for the HomeID and Node - it may be disconnected or malfunctioning (2).




I have emailed tech support about it, they suggested disabling and re enabling the zwave plugin, if that doesn't cure the problem the Z-net might be faulty. I had a few days without any problems, and it started again last night. I will be returning my Z-net for a replacement.
I am not sure I want to do this as I do not want to loose all my devices, but I think there will probably a way to save and restore all my devices. I have backed them up from the zwave plugin, and I have seen a transfer to new controller or something similar

[Bob_Linux_User]

I have similar problems, and looking in the logs I found this for times when my Z-net did not respond:

Jul-07 05:52:01 Z-Wave Warning Trying to re-connect to Ethernet interface at IP 192.168.0.25... Jul-07 05:52:00 Z-Wave Error New Interface: The New Interface interface did not respond to the request for the HomeID and Node - it may be disconnected or malfunctioning (2). Jul-07 05:52:00 Z-Wave Error New Interface: The New Interface interface did not respond to the request for the HomeID and Node - it may be disconnected or malfunctioning (2). Jul-07 05:51:52 Z-Wave New Interface: Getting node information from controller... Jul-07 05:51:52 Z-Wave New Interface: Processing data buffered by the interface while it was disconnected. Jul-07 05:51:51 Z-Wave New Interface: Z-Wave Ethernet at IP 192.168.0.25, connected to interface ok. Jul-07 05:51:51 Z-Wave Warning Trying to re-connect to Ethernet interface at IP 192.168.0.25... I have emailed tech support, they suggested Jul-07 05:51:50 Z-Wave Error New Interface: The New Interface interface did not respond to the request for the HomeID and Node - it may be disconnected or malfunctioning (2).

This problem has been around for awhile. It is even more apparent when you have multiple Z-Nets. I have five (5) Z-Nets connected by microwave links to the HomeSeer computer and if any of the links drop, the Z-Net has a real hard time reconnecting. If I leave it alone for long enough, it will eventually connect, but this could take hours. I can still ssh into the Z-Net so if I log into the Z-Net and reboot, it will recover. I have not put in a bugzilla report on this issue but I did provide Rich with detailed information awhile back.

Bob

[sooty]

I ran a European Z-Net here for a couple of months and experienced the same failed to reconnect issue.

What appears to happen is that the Z-Wave plug in correctly detects that the Z-Net is not there and keeps trying to reconnect, however the Z-Net does not realise that it's no longer connected to the plug in and refuses a further connection.

I reported this directly to Rich some time ago but in true HST fashion, I didn't get a response.
Paul..

[mikee123]

So replacing my Z-net wont help ?
Is there maybe an option to reboot the Z-net when that error occurs by an event ?

If I could trigger an event with this error, then I could put the Z-Net on a LightwaveRF On/Off module, and reboot it that way as Lightwave still works via the RFXcom when zwave is down...

[sooty]

So replacing my Z-net wont help ?
Is there maybe an option to reboot the Z-net when that error occurs by an event ?

IMO, the fact that there appears to be no effective connection failure detection within the Z-Net implies that a replacement unit is unlikely to fix the problem.

What I would be more concerned about is why it's disconnecting in the first place.

Paul..

[mikee123]

IMO, the fact that there appears to be no effective connection failure detection within the Z-Net implies that a replacement unit is unlikely to fix the problem.

What I would be more concerned about is why it's disconnecting in the first place.

Paul..

Indeed. Reading through the thread here its more likely to be a general problem with the Z-net, and it seems tech support should know about it...
So rather than trying to transfer all my devices, I have bought a LightwaveRF On/Off socket, and have found a plugin which can trigger a event with the Z-wave error. That will then power cycle my Z-net... not pretty but should at least have the zwave network back up in a couple of minutes. Maybe Homeseer will fix that issue one day and I can get rid of that solution....

[rjh]

A while back I made some changes to the Z-Wave plugin so a timer runs that pings the Z-Wave chip with a NOP command and makes sure it gets a response. This was done to detect when a connection to the Z-NET is lost. I powered cycled the Z-NET here many times and it always detected the lost connection and then re-connected. I test with both Ethernet and WIFI. If its not working for you, power off the Z-NET then power it on and watch the HS log. Make sure it detects that the connection is gone, and you should see it attempt to re-connect. If its not re-connecting, post the entire log snippet.

Note that you cannot leave both the wifi and the Ethernet connected at the same time, there is some issue with that. If you are using wifi, unplug the Ethernet connection.

[sooty]

A while back I made some changes to the Z-Wave plugin so a timer runs that pings the Z-Wave chip with a NOP command and makes sure it gets a response. This was done to detect when a connection to the Z-NET is lost. I powered cycled the Z-NET here many times and it always detected the lost connection and then re-connected. I test with both Ethernet and WIFI. If its not working for you, power off the Z-NET then power it on and watch the HS log. Make sure it detects that the connection is gone, and you should see it attempt to re-connect. If its not re-connecting, post the entire log snippet.

Note that you cannot leave both the wifi and the Ethernet connected at the same time, there is some issue with that. If you are using wifi, unplug the Ethernet connection.

I'm not at home to test right now but the issue I had was not power cycling the Z-Net but a temporary loss of Ethernet connection. Did you try pulling the RJ45 on an existing connection then plugging it back in ?

What I saw was the plug in successfully detect the failed connection but the Z-Net still thinks it's connected (green LED) therefore refuses a connection from the plug in.

Paul..

[mikee123]

Mine is only connected via ethernet, but when I have that disconnected problem the light is still green.

[Edvins]

Doesn't mean it is connected

Mine is only connected via ethernet, but when I have that disconnected problem the light is still green.

I have come to find that the z-net LED will remain green for quite some time even when the connection is lost, such as rebooting a router...

[Edvins]

I'll give it a shot

A while back I made some changes to the Z-Wave plugin so a timer runs that pings the Z-Wave chip with a NOP command and makes sure it gets a response. This was done to detect when a connection to the Z-NET is lost. I powered cycled the Z-NET here many times and it always detected the lost connection and then re-connected. I test with both Ethernet and WIFI. If its not working for you, power off the Z-NET then power it on and watch the HS log. Make sure it detects that the connection is gone, and you should see it attempt to re-connect. If its not re-connecting, post the entire log snippet.

Note that you cannot leave both the wifi and the Ethernet connected at the same time, there is some issue with that. If you are using wifi, unplug the Ethernet connection.

I will give this a try when I get home. thanks.