The button device that fails was directly connected to the hub, and would never have connected to those removed devices.
I did disable them in the devices list, does that not end up rerouting around them? What does it mean to disable a device?
Disabling it just makes it so the driver wont process any incoming messages.
The only way to remove it from the z-wave mesh is to exclude it, but that also takes out the device in the HE devices list, breaking automations. That is why I avoid excluding seasonal devices and suggested to just relocate them for now.
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I can try to do that, but are they really the reason a directly-attached device isn't getting heard?
No idea, process of elimination.
I am going off what you said that around when you unplugged those devices is when the problems started. If plugging them back in does not help within 24-48 hours then we move on to something else.
Also, have you tried brand new batteries in the remotes to be sure? I think one of your problem devices is hard wired ZEN32 though, so obviously not a power issue for that one.
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I’m sorry if this was mentioned, but have you tried doing a reboot with the rebuild database option checked? Just in case it is a software corruption causing these issues.
I haven't tried that, no. I'll keep it in mind.
Yesterday I decided to change the setup of one lamp in my living room, which entailed putting it on a different Z-wave outlet. I went to rename the old and new devices in HE, and fix up my rules, when I noticed something. That device was connected to the hub via like 5 other devices. The button devices I was having the most trouble with were connected in turn to that.
I tried rebuilding it, hoping it would end up with a more direct connection, but had no luck. So I tried excluding it and deleting it. That created a ghost, which I needed to break out the PC stick to fix. But after that, everything seems to be working much better. I'm cautiously optimistic that it will hold.
I still have one device with far too many hops, but none of the others depends on it.
Routes
I think I've asked this question before, but I don't really understand the route descriptions in the z-wave details. I'll have something like:
| Device | Route |
|---|---|
| 0x0A (outlet) | 01 <- 02 <- 03 <- 04 <- 0A |
| 0x11 (button) | 01 <- 0A <- 11 |
I would expect 0x11 to look like 01 <- 02 <- 03 <- 04 <- 0A <- 11 instead.
The mesh view shows practically everything connected to everything, so that's extra confusing.
That means you did not actually exclude it. When exclusion works the node is removed. Do not force remove / factory reset a device until you confirm exclusion worked and node is removed.
The routes is just the last route the device reported back to the hub, it may not be current, routes can change quickly if needed. Routes are independent of one another, so in your example 0A was hoping through 3 other nodes to get to the hub when sending messages for itself. BUT when 11 sends a message to 0A it tells it the next hop that it wants, so 0A would just fire it back out sending directly to 01.
The mesh view shows all possible neighbors, not routes.
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I've been fooled before, but this time I think everything is finally fixed. After many attempts at removing unused devices and removing ghosts using a PC and USB stick, what finally seems to have fixed everything is a brief power outage.
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If that is the case, be on the lookout for a z-wave device going bad. I have had a couple go bad and spam the mesh to where nothing else would be able to communicate. Power cycling the problem device would “fix” it for a short time.
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What's weird is most devices work fine. And it's always the same set of devices that fail. In any case, if it happens again, I'll try some form of process elimination to see who’s the culprit.
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