Followed advice to update the controller via the official zwave integration/add-on and now nothing works. It sees all the devices and after a reboot all the device names, locations, device mfg/model etc came back correctly. I can Ping the devices and the diagnostic feature says they are “alive”. None of my automations or simply turn on/off devices from the UI respond anymore.
Another thing happening is somewhat random where individual nodes now report as “dead”. Its happened to 3 devices in less than 24 hours. They never come back. I have to exclude them and then include them again and sometimes do a device reset. I can “heal” the network without issue, but it makes no difference.
I waited over two years before jumping on Z-Wave JS figuring I should let it mature a bit. I’m thinking I should have waited another 2 or 3 years for more of the bugs to be worked out and the user experience to be improved. I fear I’ll have to recreate EVERYTHING from scratch again.
What software were you using with your Aeotec 700 series USB controller prior to “jumping on Z-Wave JS”? Are you unable to switch back to verify that the problem is Z-Wave JS or not? Or did I misinterpret the comment?
Dead nodes are often the sign of a poorly performing network. See the troubleshooting hints for possible ways to diagnose or solve those problems: https://zwave-js.github.io/node-zwave-js/#/troubleshooting/connectivity-issues. It’s important that your USB controller is on a short USB extension cord away from sources of interference, i.e. the back of a server or inside a server rack. That’s one of the major causes of network problems.
What region are you in? The Aeotec USB stick is known to have poor RF performance in the EU region.
Related to that, another thing to check would be the controller power level settings. Sometimes firmware upgrades clobber the power settings and region. You’ll need Z-Wave JS UI to confirm and set these values. You’ll also need to ask Aeotec what the proper power levels are.
We’ll need to see driver logs to have any hope of trying to determine what your problems are. I’d recommend switching to the Z-Wave JS UI add-on to have better troubleshooting capabilities, such as log files and the network health tool.
I built up a new system with a new RPi4b and the Aeotec 700 controller wasn’t used on my prior system which used an Aeotec Gen5+ controller. That system was going with the old deprecated zwave for many years without a single issue. I may have caused more problems by added most nodes as secure without knowing that could cause a lot of network traffic. Was thinking… security - why not?
The controller is on a very short “L” usb-male to usb-female dongle with the controller facing up above the RPi. It’s in the exact same location as the old system I took down.
I kept with the US install of 7.17.2 so as not to run into the problem with the more recent international install of v7.19.2 potentially clobbering the region.
I’ll have to follow the method of switching to Z-Wave JS UI to see logs and have better tools. I have no idea on power levels. In any case, I should probably exclude and include the nodes without security. Hopefully the entity ID will remain the same.
Were you using the Gen5+ with Z-Wave JS, or did you switch both the software and controller at the same time? There are a number of people have issues with with 700-series but not 500, so it may be more related to that than Z-Wave JS.
To confirm 700 vs 500, you could backup and restore your network to the Gen5+, assuming you still have it. This feature is also only available with ZUI. If everything is working again, that would indicate a the 700 is the issue.
If your nodes are all included with S0, yes that’s not a good idea, as it causes 3x number of messages per command. If the nodes are included with S2, that is generally fine, however some people still report issues with it versus insecure.
Excluding a node will remove the device and entities from HA. If you customized the names, you will lose those upon re-inclusion. With ZUI you have the option of replacing a failed node (not available in HA, once again) which will not lose the devices and entities. If you have the extra controller, you can exclude it with that to make ZUI think it has failed. Or, you can shutdown ZUI and factory reset the device. Once they are marked as failed, they can be replaced with themselves.
My (incomplete) understanding is that you can backup from Z-Wave JS UI. I think there is also a way to do it from a PC. Probably uses some utility from aeotec or Silicon Labs. Don’t think it’s possible otherwise.
You can use the PC Controller software (Windows only) from Silicon Labs, but only to restore to and from the same type of controller. You’ll need to use ZUI to go back and forth between 500 and 700 series.
I was not using Z-Wave JS with the Gen5+. It was only used with the old deprecated zwave infrastructure (not even open zwave).
I’m trying to get z-wave JS UI going using the instructions you pointed me to. I disabled the existing integration. Configured and started z-wave JS UI (with all the key values) and then tried to add the z-wave JS integration back in and unchecked the box to use the official UI. When I put
ws://a0d7b954-zwavejs2mqtt:3000 in the dialog box comes back saying “Failed to connect”. Can’t get to the next step. Any suggestions?
The error would typically mean the driver did not start properly. Check the add-on logs for any errors and make sure it’s reporting everything working.
@freshcoast - first a BIG applause to you for creating that very detailed guide to switching. Extremely useful and detailed. Your help to me on this forum is also greatly appreciated. Without this help I’d be lost and ultra frustrated.
Now after stopping the original and deleting the official add-on things are looking better. ZUI is now configured and seeing the controller, but the node names and locations didn’t transfer over and have to be entered in ZUI. Almost all the nodes don’t respond even though they are “live” and can be pinged. For one I did an advanced mode/re-interview and it came back as expected. A half of the rest had to be removed and added again. Of course names/locations had to be re-entered and any dependent automations fixed. The rest I wrestled with. Again they mostly were “live” and pingable but they didn’t respond to actions. A removal also failed. I ended up resetting them and sometimes had to even unplug them to remove them from the system and then add them again. The bottom line is I’m whole again.
Even with the problems, your help was appreciated and moved things forward significantly. Just hope this setup stays stable.
