Phantom menace (RGBW)

[Kuba13 49]

Right so here is a problem:

SOMETIMES (rather sparsly but still enough to warrant me bugging Fibaro about it) RGBW makes phanthom associations for no bloody reasson.

 

It happened a while back and only replacement of specific RGBW module seemed to help that was in pre "100" era tho.

Most recent case i have are 2 RGBW modules (v 2.5) running on same HC2 4.100, reading tempriture and humidity via IN1 and IN2.

 

Confirmed at least one of them caused it (once disconnected from power the random behaviour stoped), second of those RGBW is very strong suspect. Sad thing is that the second RGBW seems to have worked fine untill the first one was disconnected.

 

Now i seek aid, advice and wisdom. if annyone had this happen to them please add your controller, its FW and mofule's FW aswell - lets see if we can help fibaro figure this one out!

[jakub.jezek 350]

6 minutes ago, petergebruers said:

Let me put it this way. I had a outdoor lux sensor. Connected to an RGBW, obviously set to input mode. Until a rodent chew through the cable. I repaired it, but I also thought it would be a good opportunity to experiment. So I excluded the module and took it out of the garden shed and put it on my desk. The ghost disappeared. So I do think the RGBW can send random on commands. But only when set to input mode. My other modules are in output mode...

 

Customer had RGBW in IN/OUT mode with temperature sensor and humidity sensor. Suddenly RGBW stopped sending new values and they stuck for awhile. Suddenly some gremlin appeared in a system and started to turn on all devices (neighbors of that RGBW). So he solved it by cutting it's power. Cable from sensor to RGBW was ok (measured). 2nd RGBW started to do same behavior. So "nice guys" from Fibaro tech support created a scene for me, that solved it customers case and 3 next cases , that other customers reported. One was with wall plug, that behaved like this, so i had to make an adjustment.

[AutoFrank 372]

2 minutes ago, jakub.jezek said:

 

Customer had RGBW in IN/OUT mode with temperature sensor and humidity sensor. Suddenly RGBW stopped sending new values and they stuck for awhile. Suddenly some gremlin appeared in a system and started to turn on all devices (neighbors of that RGBW). So he solved it by cutting it's power. Cable from sensor to RGBW was ok (measured). 2nd RGBW started to do same behavior. So "nice guys" from Fibaro tech support created a scene for me, that solved it customers case and 3 next cases , that other customers reported. One was with wall plug, that behaved like this, so i had to make an adjustment.

 

Thanks @jakub.jezek, @petergebruers

One of my RGBW was connected to a standard RGB strip (so output mode only I assume). I cant see it on my system any more but i do know that id

I have a second RGBW module and that is still connected

 

I'll try and run the scene on both devices and see if it makes any difference

 

-f

[jakub.jezek 350]

@AutoFrank, that scene i posted will clean associations in all RGBW devices, that can be found through REST. So no need to look at IDs , if it is desired to do this with all RGBW modules.

[AutoFrank 372]

11 minutes ago, jakub.jezek said:

@AutoFrank, that scene i posted will clean associations in all RGBW devices, that can be found through REST. So no need to look at IDs , if it is desired to do this with all RGBW modules.

 

Thanks @jakub.jezek

 

Any idea how long it takes to run

It doesn't appear to be finding any devices but if I look at /docs

 

i can see my module

Please login or register to see this code.

Any ideas ?

 

 

PS - The module control a led strip in covered out door space.

we had the floor power washed in that area a while back and parts of the strip stopped working

The module itself is in a utility box in an adjacent building that never got wet

 

I haven't had a chance to replace the strip 

Could this be causing my issue .. 

its easy enough to disconnect it ...

 

thoughts ?

Edited April 24, 2017 by AutoFrank

[petergebruers 1,261]

There's a typo in the script. Replace this line:

Please login or register to see this code.

With this one:

Please login or register to see this code.

 

[AutoFrank 372]

2 hours ago, petergebruers said:

There's a typo in the script. Replace this line:

Please login or register to see this code.

With this one:

Please login or register to see this code.

 

 

@petergebruers

I've ran that, will keep an eye on system over the next few days

I've stopped all new development and changes to existing code on my system for now until I get to the bottom of the issues I am seeing.date

 

 

I also remove the damaged RGB strip from the second RGBW module so now it is not driving anything

 

Update:

The gremlin has appeared again

My sunroom dimmer (dimmer 1, fw 2.2) is jumping from 0% to 100% every few seconds

The off button in the web UI doesn't work

It does this for about 20 seconds and then stops for about 30 seconds and repeats

 

Is there anyway I can see what is causing the dimmer to fire ?

 

Update 2

I checked the associations and only found one which I removed

Does anybody know what this association means/does

Please login or register to see this attachment.

 

 

The dimmer seems to be behaving itself now

any thoughts ?

 

 

Last update

I also have a fibaro dual relay that when triggered will show "Transfer OK" in the WebUI briefly but  then will switch on and show "Transfer Success" 

Edited April 24, 2017 by AutoFrank

[jakub.jezek 350]

Sorry for that typo. I changed it back from FGWPE101 to FGRGBW441 before posting and i accidentally did not delete "W".

Edited April 25, 2017 by jakub.jezek

[AutoFrank 372]

19 minutes ago, jakub.jezek said:

Sorry for that typo. I changed it back from FGWPE101 to FGRGBW441 before posting and i accidentally did not delete "W".

No worries @jakub.jezek

To be honest I think I'm  chasing a few issues and not one

I now have my system functionally in a good place but I don't have the stability and reliability I need. I'm going to spend the next few weeks trying to pick the issues apart and try and root cause. It's difficult when I just have a couple of hours in the evenings but I'll keep slogging away 

[jimicr 89]

@AutoFrank did you have these issues before you restored your system? If not, might be worth a try to restore the back up again. 

[AutoFrank 372]

2 minutes ago, jimicr said:

@AutoFrank did you have these issues before you restored your system? If not, might be worth a try to restore the back up again. 

 

Thanks @jimicr

That's a good question and my instinct tells me I had some of the issues but perhaps not all a while back. I am not even sure I can pin it on the 4.120 upgrade TBH. I have had two restore events since 4.120 and only one prior to that but like all our systems that are layered and constantly changing. Over the course of a night I could make changes to 5 or 10 different vd/scenes and perhaps I was changing too much in one go.

 

At this stage a backup (that I used do each night if I was working/making changes in the system) makes me very nervous and a restore makes me terrified.

I would have to go back a good bit in my backups to where I thought the system was more stable and I have made so many changes (both code and setup) that it wouldn't be worth it.

 

I'm going to draw a line at this point (limit the changes to break/fix) and work through the issues logically and perhaps through a lot of trial an error.

 

 

[petergebruers 1,261]

I put back my outdoor light sensor (see post #20), and powered up my RGBW (in 4 x input mode). I did not yet schedule the cleanup script shared by @jakub.jezek - I'm waiting for a phantom to appear  then I can kill it with the script. I'll post here if something happens.

[AutoFrank 372]

34 minutes ago, petergebruers said:

I put back my outdoor light sensor (see post #20), and powered up my RGBW (in 4 x input mode). I did not yet schedule the cleanup script shared by @jakub.jezek - I'm waiting for a phantom to appear  then I can kill it with the script. I'll post here if something happens.

Thanks @petergebruers

 

[petergebruers 1,261]

On 26-4-2017 at 1:45 PM, petergebruers said:

I put back my outdoor light sensor (see post #20), and powered up my RGBW (in 4 x input mode). I did not yet schedule the cleanup script shared by @jakub.jezek - I'm waiting for a phantom to appear  then I can kill it with the script. I'll post here if something happens.

 

Yes. What can I say. If I plug in my outdoor light probe, connected to an RGBW, I get this effect: one day, nothing happens. The next day, I notice that the light in the hall is on. It's controlled by motion sensor -> script -> relay. This happens a few times, but the first time you see this you think it's the script or the motion sensor. Weird. Then, I get mails "someone left the light on". I detect that, on some relays, because several months ago I first encountered the "Gremlin of Fibaro" (not "the phantom of the opera"). So I put a script on a device that I knew that would be turned on by itself. And I got mails... But then I realised that this test is not going to work, if I don't poll the relay. Because the Gremlin sends "turnOn" to the device, without using your HC, the HC will think the device is actually off...

 

I ran the script, but I think it's only a temporary fix. When you run the script, the gremlin returns, to control other devices...

 

It's *very* difficult to diagnose...

 

What I did today, is set the RGBW to report a delta of 10 V meaning report nothing at all. Instead I'm going to poll this device. I'll be back (said Peter to the Gremlin, not the other way around I hope).

[AutoFrank 372]

2 minutes ago, petergebruers said:

 

Yes. What can I say. If I plug in my outdoor light probe, connected to an RGBW, I get this effect: one day, nothing happens. The next day, I notice that the light in the hall is on. It's controlled by motion sensor -> script -> relay. This happens a few times, but the first time you see this you think it's the script or the motion sensor. Weird. Then, I get mails "someone left the light on". I detect that, on some relays, because several months ago I first encountered the "Gremlin of Fibaro" (not "the phantom of the opera"). So I put a script on a device that I knew that would be turned on by itself. And I got mails... But then I realised that this test is not going to work, if I don't poll the relay. Because the Gremlin sends "turnOn" to the device, without using your HC, the HC will think the device is actually off...

 

I ran the script, but I think it's only a temporary fix. When you run the script, the gremlin returns, to control other devices...

 

It's *very* difficult to diagnose...

 

What I did today, is set the RGBW to report a delta of 10 V meaning report nothing at all. Instead I'm going to poll this device. I'll be back (said Peter to the Gremlin, not the other way around I hope).

 

 

Thanks @petergebruers

This is very interesting.

 

Do you know or suspect if this is related to a specific use of the RGBW module (sensors connected, RGB strip connected, etc)  or any use at all ?

 

 

[petergebruers 1,261]

6 minutes ago, AutoFrank said:

 

 

Thanks @petergebruers

This is very interesting.

 

Do you know or suspect if this is related to a specific use of the RGBW module (sensors connected, RGB strip connected, etc)  or any use at all ?

 

 

 

I think this only happens in input mode, and when the signal changes, causing the RGBW to send a report. But I'm not even 25 % sure about this. I'm certain, that if I power up the RGBW, I'll have a random device turned on "by itself" within 48 hours. When I power down, I have no such Gremlin...

[AutoFrank 372]

Okay - Thanks @petergebruers

[jakub.jezek 350]

11 minutes ago, petergebruers said:

 

I think this only happens in input mode, and when the signal changes, causing the RGBW to send a report. But I'm not even 25 % sure about this. I'm certain, that if I power up the RGBW, I'll have a random device turned on "by itself" within 48 hours. When I power down, I have no such Gremlin...

Customer said RGBW did not changed values (in any GUI), but apparently it did internally and that broadcasted some command to change device state.

 

One theory and it is just a theory: Maybe it is not in association but in sending status frame via broadcast.

 

@T.Konopka, did engineers found something?

Edited May 2, 2017 by jakub.jezek

[petergebruers 1,261]

21 minutes ago, jakub.jezek said:

Customer said RGBW did not changed values (in any GUI), but apparently it did internally and that broadcasted some command to change device state.

 

One theory and it is just a theory: Maybe it is not in association but in sending status frame via broadcast.

 

@T.Konopka, did engineers found something?

 

Thanks. That all sounds very plausible to me...

[jakub.jezek 350]

@petergebruers, in which IN do you have connected your LUX sensor? Customer has in IN 1 and 2 connected Temperature and Humidity sensor. Then dealer re-wire it to IN 3 and 4 and Gremlin disappeared and it is working for now. What happens if you have RGBW without sensor connected? Does it turn on radio visible devices?

[petergebruers 1,261]

24 minutes ago, jakub.jezek said:

@petergebruers, in which IN do you have connected your LUX sensor? Customer has in IN 1 and 2 connected Temperature and Humidity sensor. Then dealer re-wire it to IN 3 and 4 and Gremlin disappeared and it is working for now. What happens if you have RGBW without sensor connected? Does it turn on radio visible devices?

 

Tried combinations of IN1 and IN2 but never thought of trying only IN3 and IN4. Interessting idea. If it's a weird bug, it might have a weird cause

I live in a small house, I think about 50% of all devices are in direct range of the RGBW. This morning, an FGD-211 turned on. There are no scenes and other devices that control this dimmer, so it *has* to be a radio signal from a gremlin... I have to admit that I observe delays in some parts of the house. That issue was introduced this week. I'm still trying to find out what happened.