ZME flush mountables config question

Discussions about existing Z-Wave device and their usage with Z-Way/Z-Cloud/Z-Box
Liquid
Posts: 6
Joined: 18 Nov 2011 11:09

ZME flush mountables config question

Post by Liquid »

I have a bunch of ZME dimmers and switches and I was using them with Z-Cloud and I was using the option to perform double click and control other devices.

I had some issues with losing connection between my Z-Connector and Z-Cloud which always seemed to be at exactly the times I wanted it to be connected. It would always recover after a short while but it was too annoying for me so I purchased a Vera Lite with the intention of moving to a Z-box / Z-way whenever that becomes available. Now the Vera has a whole host of it's own issues too and I feel it's not as feature rich as Z-Cloud but at least it's available every time I've needed it to be so I can alter lights / settings etc.

My problem is that I can't get the double click working with the Vera. My understanding is that it's simply a variable setting and an association group.

This is what I'm doing currently:

I select the light device and go to Advanced Settings. I click 'Add Configuration Settings' I enter variable '14' data size '1 byte dec' and assign a desired value of '1' - I understand from the dimmer/switch documentation that this sets the double click to send Switch on, off and Dim using basic set

Then under associations I type '2' in Group ID and then click Add. Then I click Set and select the device I want to control from the drop down list.

I think that should be all I need to do and once I've saved my changes and waited a short while if I go back into the settings it shows that the variables I entered are now set and the association looks to be okay. Now double clicking the Dimmer doesn't control the local load anymore which is good but neither does it control anything else.

Is there anything I'm doing that is obviously wrong or does this look like it should this work?

I know the obvious answer would be to just use Z-Cloud but I don't see why it shouldn't work with the Vera Lite.
User avatar
PoltoS
Posts: 7565
Joined: 26 Jan 2011 19:36

Basically, all you have done

Post by PoltoS »

Basically, all you have done is correct.

As a short test try to powercycle the dimmer. There is an issue that it loses some functions after some (long) time.

If this does not help, try to include Z-Cloud as a secondary controller and configure the device from Z-Cloud. If it would work, we have to analyze log files from Vera why it can not do same.
Liquid
Posts: 6
Joined: 18 Nov 2011 11:09

I power cycled the dimmer and

Post by Liquid »

I power cycled the dimmer and the function works now.
Can you tell me what the issue is that causes this and is there a way to avoid it because as you can appreciate removing power from a flush mounted dimmer isn't the easiest of fixes.
User avatar
PoltoS
Posts: 7565
Joined: 26 Jan 2011 19:36

The problem is casued by too

Post by PoltoS »

The problem is casued by too many simultaneous packets addressed to the device. Unfortunatelly it is not easy to avoid. The bug was found a month ago and it is for more than one year, so it is quire rare. To avoid it I would suggest to turn off device polling (at least all Z-Wave.Me devices, since they report their value in push mode themself). This will certainly help. As another way to fix it might be a reboot of the device wirelessly (there is a way in latest versions - what is your firmware version?).
anthonycook
Posts: 8
Joined: 11 Dec 2012 13:11

I get this also, and it

Post by anthonycook »

I get this also, and it appears to be a function of the signal quality between the associated devices (possibly causing a flood of corrupt messages). In my setup one pair of lights will fail in a couple of days, and another triple association can fail in minutes if I stand in the right place to obscure the signal! So, in practice the associations cannot be relied on. Direct control by a controller is 100% reliable so it is better to use scenes and do something more useful with the saved time! I've seen comments elsewhere that it is a buffer overflow in the Zensys embedded firmware so this will basically never get fixed!

I would be very interested to know how you can reset the modules without a power down. The other half gets a bit annoyed when all the lights go out of an evening! My devices are running version 6,3,22,1,6 i.e. z-wave.me firmware version 1.6.

AC

P.S. The first thing I did was to switch off polling as you rightly point out. However, the associations will still fail within days
User avatar
PoltoS
Posts: 7565
Joined: 26 Jan 2011 19:36

You are right, poor link will

Post by PoltoS »

You are right, poor link will affect the problem. This is indeed related to a bad error handling in SDK and poor documentation. Unfortunately we have figured out that this problem exists only few months ago and we are preparing a fix for next versions.

It can also be helpfull to exclude all dead devices from the network, remove them from associations and update network routes. I the network is fast, the problem is hard to reproduce. However if it is slow, the problem rises in one minute (provided you have some special conditions).

Remote powercycle is available from versions 1.7.
anthonycook
Posts: 8
Joined: 11 Dec 2012 13:11

Thanks for the update. As my

Post by anthonycook »

Thanks for the update. As my units are version 1.6, it begs the question of how to get the firmware updated? These units are not really fit for purpose in their current state as once the corruption occurs, the units also fail to send instant status updates, thus rendering scene controllers (VeraLite in my case) useless for triggering slave lights too. However, using the scene controllers is a lot more stable.

As a side question, what is the RF dispersion profile of the Duwi units? i.e. do they prefer to be facing each other or side to side to maximise signal strength? I don't have a lab to do the testing!

AC
User avatar
PoltoS
Posts: 7565
Joined: 26 Jan 2011 19:36

We don't have the lab neither

Post by PoltoS »

We don't have the lab neither, we use third company to tune antennas. But you can have an idea from antenna shape.Unfortunatelly there is no f/w update by air function in the device. If Duwi would have a bigger memory inside, we can do it. But they don't.
anthonycook
Posts: 8
Joined: 11 Dec 2012 13:11

Thanks for the link. The

Post by anthonycook »

Thanks for the link. The antenna looks a good shape and importantly it sits to the front of the unit with the high voltage card at the back. In the UK all solid wall fittings are metal construction which will have a severe shielding effect. I may try some shallower boxes which will remove all the metal towards the front of the device (although I have already knocked out all discs around the sides).

On the f/w update, is it possible to return the modules (from the UK) to acheive this? If you fix the corruption problem I would be very interested to upgrade.

AC
User avatar
PoltoS
Posts: 7565
Joined: 26 Jan 2011 19:36

Yes, we can do the upgrade.

Post by PoltoS »

Yes, we can do the upgrade. You have to end them to Z-Wave Europe GmbH for this. I would also suggest to wait till end of January - we will release a new bugfixed version 1.9
Post Reply