Beginner Set Up + zwave + inovelli

Hi HE community -
I’ve been going thru the hundreds of threads but is there a starting place ?

Using tutorials -
I set up my hub, added some Inovelli lights and linked Alexa.

However - the problems

My hub doesn’t seem to work from the interface turning on/off the lights

My Alexa says everything is non responsive if I try using Alexa voice or app
(Shows the lights, but when tapped, goes unresponsive)

Only way to use my smart Inovelli lights is to get up and walk over to them - so 1980s.

Any advice or do I bust out my rotary phone and order a Clapper?

I am not an expert, but I can follow directions, which has gotten me this far. I just don’t know what some of the stuff means.

HE interface
Kitchen Island lights - on
Cannot turn off from interface
Pix from alex app

What type of Inovelli device is "Island Lights"? From that first screenshot, it looks like you're using the "Inovelli Z-Wave Smart Switch" driver for this, which would be for their first-generation switches/dimmers, the generic-looking white kind. If you have one of their new Red/Black series models, that isn't the best driver for these. Hubitat should have chosen at pairing, but it's possible it guessed wrong. That could cause this problem.

If that's all good, then the problem is less clear. Some ideas:

  • Rarely, a device may not have completed pairing correctly, and removing and re-pairing it may help.
  • Perhaps more commonly, sometimes the device is just too far from the hub and you don't have any repeaters (generally, any mains-powered Z-Wave device like other switches/dimmers or smart plugs, though dedicated "repeater" devices are also available) in between to extend the range of your Z-Wave mesh. Your Z-Wave Details screen suggests that the hub is trying to communicate directly with this device.
    • If you do have other repeaters (and they are within probable range), they should be discovered soon enough if they are good routes, so just waiting might help, especially if you added a lot (20+) of Z-Wave devices at the same time. A repair on this node (click the "Repair" button for "Island Lights" on this screen) or the entire network (see the button at the top of this page) might speed this up.
    • If you don't have other repeaters, try moving the hub closer to the device if possible (be sure to gracefully shut down first: Settings > Shut Down, not a pull of the power cord). If it works, then you likely have a mesh problem. If not, probably something else. To strengthen your mesh, you can add repeaters as suggested above (and put the hub where you really want it; centrally located with regard to your devices is best).

Thanks for the detailed info.!!!

I’m checking with Inovelli to see what model I have - bought in 2018
Then I can check the drivers.

Ah, 2018 would have been odne of those evices (the Red and Black Series weren't released until late last year, 2019). It wouldn't hurt to investigate a possible mesh problem or see if removing and re-pairing helps. I'm pretty sure these don't support Z-Wave security, at least not S2, which would be my other guess as to what might be wrong (mauhe the drivers need updating for the C-7).