Comfort Automation/ Security System Forums > Third Party (interfacing to Comfort) > Zwave > Communication error - Zwave problem |
Comfort Automation/ Security System Forums > Third Party (interfacing to Comfort) > Zwave > Communication error - Zwave problem |
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Ian Member
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I have suddenly started to get a Communication error with UCM2. My UCM2 is a zwave3 and has, up until today, been working fine. I reset the alarm as I had done a change to the programming and after resetting it announced the error. I see RS485Comms, UCM#2 in red at the bottom of Comigurator. I have removed the connector and put it on again, and reset again but am still getting the error. UCM#1 is an Ethernet board and seems OK. I switched the RS485 connectors from UCM#1 to UCM#2 so that it was UCM#2 then UCM#1 but that hasn't helped. I note the green LED is not lit on UCM#2 but is on UCM#1.If I scan for modules I get Not found for UCM#2. Any suggestions as to what the problem might be? Last edited on Friday Jun 23rd, 2017 06:34 pm by Ian |
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slychiu Administrator 
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Which green LED is not on in UCM 2? The RDY LED turns on if power is applied The D10 Green Led flashes when it is polled by Ccmfort. Id 10 is offf, it means iit is not being polled. This is probably because The KA KB wires are not connected The D9 red led flashes when the UCM replies ie communications is goood |
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Ian Member
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Thanks for the reply.It is the green LED on UCM#2 that is not on, there are no LEDs lit on the UCM.The Ethernet daughterboard has a red LED lit. I don't have KA KB connected as it is connected with the RS485 cable. |
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slychiu Administrator
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If no leds are on on the UCM it may be faulty, if you have tried powering off Try doing a firmware upgrade using another UCM with the firmware upgrade cable http://www.comfortforums.com/forum4/1782.html Perhaps the firmware was corrupted |
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Ian Member
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Tried - nothing happening :-( It must be faulty. I'll get in touch with supplier Monday for a replacement. When I fit a replacement will Comfigurator simply put all the z-wave devices back or am I going to have delete them all from the network and start again? Last edited on Saturday Jun 24th, 2017 11:26 am by Ian |
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Ian Member
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I do not think it is a problem with the 4 way cable. I moved the one from UCM#1 to UCM#2 and it was the same. There is 12V at the terminal block marked 12V and COM |
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Ian Member
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There are two barcodes; C085905 P102448 |
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slychiu Administrator
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OK, request for a replacement UCMZwave when you get the replacement, do a learn from the Primary controller so that the Zwave network has your new device You will see the old UCM/Zwave Node which is now a dead node, which you cannot remove without the working device Check that the mappings are correct and write to Zwave |
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Ian Member
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Hi - things are progressing! I received a replacement zwave UCM today and fitted it. I did as you suggested and did a learn. Things appear to be working. Now when I go to Exit Comfigurator it tells me the info has changed and do I want to write to the Eprom. I say yes and get a message, 'The HomeID & Node ID in the EEPROM differ from the values in the configuration = please read the EEPROM. I read from the EEPROM and now have only the Primary controller listed. I exited Comfigurator without saving anything and reloaded. Should I write to the EEPROM rather than read? Also when I did the 'Learn' the primary controller found the new interface but Comfort didn't seem to learn anything. The command I used on the PC was 'Send Network Information to another Controller'. The newly registered Cytech Controller is not appearing in the z-wave mappings. |
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slychiu Administrator
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Do another Learn on the UCM/Zwave. This should automatically Read from EEPROM. Save the cclx file You should see the UCM/Zwave listed as secondary controller. The old UCM/Zwave may be there if you did not remove it from the zwave network using the primary controller After doing the mapping then write to EEPROM if you have problems send the saved cclx file to support@cytech.biz |
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Ian Member
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Hi - I moved the aerial and had some success! I'll play some more! |
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Ian Member
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My next problem! The nodes that were originally created as Virtual nodes in Comfort are now appearing as Basic nodes and as such don't have the options of a virtual node. Is there any way to 'convert' them? |
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slychiu Administrator
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When you create Virtual Nodes in UCM/Zwave, these appear to the primary controller as "real" zwave nodes. They are virtual in the sense that they are in UCM/Zwave, but the Primary controller does not know that - it appears as normal zwave nodes When you remove the UCM/Zwave without excluding the zwave nodes from the primaryt controller, the controller thinks that the nodes are still there, so they become dead nodes When you add a new UCM/Zwave, it wil learn the zweave network from the primary, and this will include the previous "virtual nodes" as normal nodes even though they do not exsti anymore. You need to add the virtual nodes again in UCM/Zwave and ignore the dead nodes Alternatively, use the primary to reset to default and also reset to default all the zwave nodes and start again. This may be a pain but it is the way Zwave works. If you are using all wave from a single manufacturer eg Fibaro they may have an easier way to manage it, but if there are other devices it can be nmore complicated |
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Ian Member
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Unfortunately I am still struggling and any help you can give will be welcome.I deleted one of the previous virtual nodes that was now being seen as a basic node.I created a new virtual node (to replace it). The process started but ended with an error in the primary controller saying it failed to create correctly. It appears in Comfigurator but is in the Primary controller without any info. I suspect I will have trouble deleting this at some stage but I'll worry about that later. I have tried numerous times to do a Learn in Comfigurator but it sticks at 'Waiting for response from Z-Wave'. I know there is some communication because I see this in the Primary Controller; Replicate Send started... Activate the "Receive" function on the other controller while it is close to your HomeSeer interface... A new node is being added... Adding a new CONTROLLER... DONE - Replication Send Operation is Complete. Done. Node 45 Added. Reloading (importing) node information... Synchronizing node information with HomeSeer and creating new device(s) as necessary... Synchronize nodes finished. Number of device nodes to be created/added = 0 Finished. I have the same setup as I had with the previous board and everything worked as it should. I have moved the Z-wave USB stick so it is nearer the Comfort z-wave aerial but that doesn't seem to have helped.I'm not sure what to try next. |
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slychiu Administrator
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You say the the Learn operation results in Comfigurator. Can you save and send us the cclx file so we can see what appears |
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Ian Member
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Sure Attachment: Sunnydale2017.cclx (Downloaded 2 times) |
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slychiu Administrator
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The learn data seems correct Node 45 shows the controller in Blue which is the UCM/Zwave. Everything seems in order I cannot tell why the primary has an error even when the UCM has copied the correct network from it This question should be asked of the Homeseer support Have you tried controlling the Zwave nodes using the ON and Off buttons on each node? If this works then you should continue and ignore the primary controler errir Attachment: capture.JPG (Downloaded 37 times) |
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Ian Member
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Everything is working fine in the Primary Controller, all the nodes that are not related to Comfort are working as they should. I have visitors for a few says = I will have to leave this until they have gone! |
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Ian Member
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Hi - had some time to look at this again. I have now removed all the nodes originally created by the Comfort from the Primary Controller. The Primary Controller continues to work correctly with all the nodes that are separate from Comfort. I have tested communication from the Primary Controller and get a response; Successfully sent a frame to node 45 (Node 45 Z-Wave Sigma Static Controller) which was acknowledged. I did a rescan from the Primary controller and di spot a name change; Successfully sent a frame to node 45 (Node 45 Z-Wave Cytech Tech Static Controller) which was acknowledged. I have now attempted a 'Learn' again but nothing happens. The Comfort just shows 'Waiting for response from Z-Wave'. The Primary Controller shows as per the attachment. I now have the Primary Controller showing the correct nodes but Comfort showing the 'old nodes' now deleted from the Primary and I can't 'Learn the new configuration. Attachment: Comfort.PNG (Downloaded 34 times) |
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Ian Member
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I've made some progress and can now set up new Virtual Nodes. This, from another forum, helped me; "go into the Z-Wave controller menu and "Import Node Info from Controller and scan devices". After doing this things seem to be as they should be, however I now need to try and recreate all the original nodes again and see if they work. |
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slychiu Administrator
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In Zwave, each primary controller has its own way of dong things, and its won set of problems, which is a difficult support issue "Import Node Info from Controller and scan devices" seems strangfe. I dont know why they have to import node info when they should be adding devices |
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Ian Member
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It is tricky - but it seems to have worked! |
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slychiu Administrator
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Is this Homeseer? so that when others have the same problem we have some idea |
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Ian Member
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It is indeed HomeSeer.There used to be a HomeSeer plugin for the Comfort alarm but when HomeSeer changed from version 2 to 3 the plugin was not upgraded.I use the z-wave board in Comfort purely to communicate with HomeSeer. |
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Ian Member
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I have now re-created all the devices I previously had but things do not seem to be exactly the same.As I understand things a Z-wave can either be 'Instant' or require polling. This is from the Homeseer help file;"Instant Status" is a HomeSeer term that refers to Z-Wave devices which are capable of transmitting their status immediately upon being operated by a human. Associations and Scenes (see the previous item) are used to set up which node will receive the status notifications. In the case of many devices, patents may prevent the manufacturer from implementing instant status via associations; if instant status is required for your usage, be sure to check the product carefully to make sure it is supported. Without instant status, "polling" or unsolicited reports are used to send the status of a device to another node. "Polling" refers to the plug-in periodically requesting a status from a node. Unsolicited reports are where a device may be configured to send a status update at a regular interval, or when a certain status change has been reached. For example, a light sensor may be configured to send a light level report when the light level changes more than 30 Lux. For the health of a Z-Wave network, the best way to report status is through instant status. The next best method is through unsolicited reports because these are only travelling from the node to the destination node (one way), even though they may be transmitted more often than necessary. The worst method of status updating is polling, because it generates two-way Z-Wave traffic which makes the network busy for a longer period of time; one node requests the status from another, and then the other node responds with its status. I thought previously the Z-wave devices created by Comfort were Instant on, but this is clearly not the case now in that they only respond when polled. Should they be Instat On? |
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slychiu Administrator
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"Instant On" is the Homeseer term means you must create a Virtual Node in UCM/Zwave and Associate with your other device so that the change in state of the devicxe is instaly sent to the Virtual Node You can create a Virtual Node in UCM/Zwave and associate the device, as shown in the manual For all other devices which dont associate with a virtual node, Polling is used. UCM/Zwave smart polling wil adjust the frequency of the polling to try to optmise the response time |
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Ian Member
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I have a wired door sensor connected to a Comfort input.In Comfigurator I have an On Response for that Input.The On Response sets a flag.When I open the door the flag is set instantly.I have created a virtual node that is set as a flag, the flag the front door sets. In the primary controller, Homeseer, I do not see an Instant change. I only see the change when the z-wave node is polled. For me to program actions following the door being opened I need it be recognised as open by z-wave. Is there a way to get the z-wave node recognised as Instant On? |
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Ian Member
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I guess that is a No then...... |
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slychiu Administrator
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You can try to associate the virtual node with the device that is polling so it can get the status immediaytely |
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slychiu Administrator
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A better way to do this is to create a virtual node on the homeseer In zone response, On response send a zwave On commmand to the virtual node and vice versa This should work if homeseer can create virtual niodes |
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Ian Member
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As the node created by Comfort is virtual it appears to Not support associations. Homeseer does not have the facility to create virtual nodes. |
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slychiu Administrator
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Using Zone On and Off responses does not require a virtual Node in UCM/Zwave It sends zwave commands to a zwave node But if Homneseer is not able to create virtual node then this woll not work It is one of the limitations with zwave due to the need for polling |
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Ian Member
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slychiu wrote: Using Zone On and Off responses does not require a virtual Node in UCM/ZwaveIndeed - which is why, as I understand it, z-wave devices may be 'Instant On'.I'll have to set the polling frequently enough to make it useable, but not too frequent that it swamps the network. |
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slychiu Administrator
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Can you send us your cclx file to support@cytech.biz We may be able to try a special command which can inform the controller, but no promises that it willl work |
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Ian Member
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slychiu wrote: Can you send us your cclx file to support@cytech.bizOn its way. Thank you. |
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slychiu Administrator
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Sorry, after studying, what we waere thinking of doing will not work for zwave You will have tyo depend on polling after all |
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Ian Member
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slychiu wrote: Sorry, after studying, what we waere thinking of doing will not work for zwave  Thank you for trying. Always happy to experiment if you think of something else. |
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Ian Member
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Thanks to Slychui and the Comfort team. They have sent me an experimental firmware that shows the way to solving this problem. Now that is good support! |
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slychiu Administrator
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Thanks Would anyone else like to be able to update virtual node status to a controller without being polled? |
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juwi_uk Member 
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Any method that doesnt include the word "polling" has to be better IMHO!! 😊. Can you maybe summarise the challenge and proposed solution in a single post as this thread has been bouncing around a bit. |
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slychiu Administrator
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Polling has always been a big problem in Zwave. Devices are not allowed to automatically give their status when it changes. The controller has to poll ie send a Get Status command to each device that it wants status. This means that in order to know the status of many devices, the controller must constantly poll each device as it would not know when its state would change. This is undesirable as it causes a lot of RF traffic and is discouraged by Zwave. For a virtual node in UCM/Zwave, the controller also has to poll its status Ian has mapped virtual nodes to Flags in Comfort. The Zone On response sets the flag and Zone Off response clears the flag. The Homeseer controller polls the virtual node to get the status of the flag ie zone The new action code in the firmware sends a Status Update command from the virtual node to the controller node. Status Update is normally a reply to a Get Status command ie a Poll. The new action sends a status update without waiting for a poll. It appears this works for Homeseer but it is not known if other controllers will handle in the same way. |
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Ian Member
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If anybody else is using Homeseer; It seems that HomeSeer recognises the change to ON in the Z-wave virtual node as a change to LAST. ON is 99 and LAST is 255. OFF is 0 When triggering events I am using 'The device had its value set and is greater than, 99. For OFF I simply use OFF. |
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slychiu Administrator
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Hi Ian, Did you manage to get alll the other zones reporting the sttaus using the new action? |
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Ian Member
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I did - thank you. I can now have an instant status of the alarm reporting in Homeseer. That allows me to program events in Homeseer as the alarm is set to Away, Off, Night or Day as well as other states such as smoke alarm and intruder alert. Last edited on Thursday Aug 24th, 2017 01:02 pm by Ian |
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slychiu Administrator
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That seems to be a useful feature. However it is not known if it will work with other controllers like Fibaro, Vera, etc as each may handle differently |
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leonchue Cytech
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Ian wrote: If anybody else is using Homeseer; Triggering events using "The device had its value set and is greater than, 0." will be better. |
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