HC2 will not start after a power outage

[Pecericek 0]

Hello everyone,
can you advise what could have happened to the HC2 after a power outage. I have it permanently connected to a UPS for approx. 7 years with a power backup of several hours and I have never had a problem. However, now the distribution company turned off the electricity for several hours a day for 1 week and the UPS power outage occurred.
Since then, my HC2 starts up in such a way that only the first LED (ON) lights up after booting and the communication on the Ethernet port also stops.
After forced starting Recovery mode, the ON and + (recovery) LEDs light up. The Ethernet communication LED is still off.
I have FW 4.630 stable. The CR2032 battery has 3V. After connecting a VGA monitor, the startup stops with no IP address assigned.
Can anyone help?

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[RH_Dreambox 189]

Maybe it's time to try something new and exciting?
 

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[Pecericek 0]

Yes, HA from HC2 is planned unless my problem with the HC2 could be solved simply

Edited June 23, 2025 by Pecericek

[m.roszak 763]

@Pecericek Database seems to be corrupted, probably due the power outage.
Support should be able to help you restore the backup.

[Pecericek 0]

I noticed the corrupted database but how is the HC2 bootloader solved if I can't force it to start Recovery mode?
I have a backup on the Fibaro recovery USB key as well as in the cloud but the HC2 can't even boot into Recovery mode

[Pecericek 0]

@RH_Dreambox

What Zwave dongle do you recommend when switching from HC2 to HA? I'm a bit skeptical after reading on the HA forum about the Zwave network (dead nodes, network congestion, etc.)
Most of my smart modules are Fibaro Z500 + some Chinese modules Z300 and Z500. I have a few Z700s. Total battery and non-battery modules approx. 50pcs.

Thx.

[RH_Dreambox 189]

Hi @Pecericek
I use many different protocols in my Home Assistant system and it is rare that I get any problems.
For Z-Wave I use an Aeotec Z-stick Gen 5+ (ZW090), for Zigbee I use a Sonoff ZBDongle-E and for 433MHz I use an RFXCOM RFXtrx433E.

 

If there are USB3 ports on the device e.g. Raspberry, it is important to use a short extension cable (about 50cm) to the USB devices to avoid interference from the USB3 port.
The problems you have read about may be due to the USB devices being plugged directly into the USB3 port, which interferes with communication.
I use a 70 cm cable to the Z-Wave and Zigbee sticks and have no problems with interference.

 

Other protocols I run are HUE and WiFi to Shelly and ESP32 modules.
The ESP32 modules are used for various sensors and as a proxy for devices with BLE Bluetooth (eg Flower Care plant sensors).

[Pecericek 0]

Hi @RH_Dreambox

I read about that USB extension cable, but they said they also had meter lengths and there were problems with dead nodes.
OK, what hardware is more suitable? HC2 microboard conversion (4GB RAM + SSD, of course much higher consumption) or RPi5 (4/8GB RAM + SSD). Can you evaluate it? Do you have experience with the combined Aotec Z-Stick 10 Pro or RaZberry 7 Pro z-wave module.
I also have my own HW solutions embedded on the Z-Uno (Z-wave500) and Z-Uno2 (Z-wave700) platforms in my network. Will there be a problem with that?
What is your SiLabs SDK or firmware in your Aotec ZW090?

Thx

BTW, they are still ignoring my HC2 trouble ticket in Fibaro support, which confirms my transition to HA.
Imagine that there are hotels in our country that have zone heating control with 15 HC2s and hundreds of sensors and actuators, and this happens to them during the heating season and the Fibaro group is silent?

[RH_Dreambox 189]

@Pecericek

I have tested HA with an RPi4 with SD card but it was too slow, the HC2 card with SSD disc was 35 times faster. RPi5 with SSD I have no experience with, but I would rather recommend you to buy a second hand micro-PC for the same cost.

I bought a used Dell OptiPlex 7040 and then got a stable computer with many USB ports, 128 GB SSD disc, 8 GB RAM in a neat and compact computer box. 

 

Regarding the combination of Aeotec and RaZberry Z-Wave, I unfortunately have no experience with it, but there should be no problem with running two separate Z-Wave systems.
My Aeotec USB stick has fw. 1.2 but I have not checked if there is any update.

 

It can be daunting to start over with a new system, but I can guarantee you that you will not be disappointed.
HA is hard to describe, it has to be experienced! The first thing you will experience is an interface that you can modify just the way you want it on a tablet, mobile or computer.

[Pecericek 0]

@RH_Dreambox

I like the HA system and its philosophy. I will have my own HW fully under control and if anything happens to it I can quickly fix it, load the image and configuration from the backup, which is the biggest weakness of Fibaro.
To this day, no one from Fibaro has contacted me about my problem with HC2. Repairing HC2 itself will not be a solution for me unless it is possible to restore the backup settings.
What worries me most is that many modules are located under sockets, in switchboards, cable ducts, air conditioners and PV.
If I have to go through this nightmare again, it's definitely not with Fibaro, where there may be another flash memory collision and everything will be lost unless they restore my backup.
So if I go to HA, I'll only be concerned about whether the z-wave network will be stable. Having a SmartHome system that is unreliable is a nightmare.

[RH_Dreambox 189]

@Pecericek

HA is a very stable system and it evolves at a fast pace. Each monthly update contains more improvements than Fibaro achieves in a year.
The monthly update is released on the first Wednesday of the month and is followed up the next week with adjustments and fixes so you don't have to wait months for a fix.

I sometimes (not often) lose contact with my greenhouse which is 40-45m away from the controller, but then I just re-interview the unit and contact is re-established.

[Pecericek 0]

@RH_Dreambox

OK, thanks for the info. I will try to go for it but I am still waiting for Fibaro to respond, they have not heard back yet. Sad story, their technical support or lack of support.