C-7 turned into a Blu light special. Won't talk...period. Diagnostics access on :8081 also dead. Bought a new C-7. Set it up. Updated it. Loaded a good previous backup. Everything looks correct and appears to run correctly EXCEPT the switches do not respond. This is a large system so I do not want to start over with pairing. What am I missing.
Local backups do not include radio data. Cloud backups for the C-7 and earlier devices include z-wave radio data. Cloud backups for C-8 and later include both z-wave and zigbee radio data.
This is anticipated when a local backup is restored.
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Side note >> There is nothing "special" about the blue light. It means the platform isn't running. Now, recovering the platform requires access to Diagnostic Tool, which runs independent of the platform (not affected by the blue light). If both are not available, then it becomes somewhat "special". Troubleshooting network connectivity to resolve the access to Diagnostic Tool is the first step towards restarting the platform.
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Thank you. That explains it and it is what I feared. I am looking at a lot of work. Hubitat Cloud backups save radio data but local backups do not. THAT speaks volumes!
Hubitat is one of the only ones that actually can even back up radio data.
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Why was the decision made to leave radio data out of local backups? A very low cost piece of hardware should not be a conduit into the software subscription model, eh? Reminds me of the non-sense marketing game that the ink jet printer manufactures play with their ink cartridges! The excellent Hubitat revision system, and the work that it requires, is worth paying for....but Cloud Storage....not.
A lot of people balk at the idea of paying an annual fee for the Hub Protect subscription. But if your hub does fail, it will cover replacement of the hub plus the cloud backup will make recovery easier, especially if you have a C8 or C8 Pro hub that backs up both the Z-wave and Zigbee radio connections. For me, the annual fee is a small price to pay for peace of mind that I can easily get my system up and running quickly should it fail.
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Hubitat doesn't sell cloud storage. The product they sell is an extended warranty on the hub. To fulfill the terms of this warranty, they backup radio data. So that if a warranty purchaser's hub were to fail (like yours did), they would be up and running very rapidly with the new hub provided under the terms of the warranty.
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There’s a backstory to how hub backup capabilities came to be. It’s come up in other threads too, here are some examples. While it’s tempting to ascribe it all to corporate greed, etc., that’s probably not the reality of it.
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Back on topic - I don't remember, did you ever ask for help w/your original C7? If it was possible to resolve its issues that would be your simplest path back to a fully running system.
As Bobby said:
Confirm if you're interested in help to see if you can bring your first hub back online again. It could be a fruitless path, but worth it to be sure.
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On of the biggest questions many had at the beginning of Hubitat was how are they going to stay in business at the prices the hubs were selling at plus all the devices they were going to support and had to buy. This was a very big issue for so many of us..... the solution was doing cloud backups that would also save your radio data PLUS giving a extended warranty!! The warranty alone was a cost effective reason for me to buy that subscription.
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"Confirm...." Sure, I'll look at it if there is any chance of getting the radio data back. But If I have to go through that pairing nightmare again, I'm not going to do it with a C7. I'll by a C8 or wait for Thread hardware to mature. If a repair exists, let me try it.
Thread protocol has been mature for several years. Apple started putting it into their stuff in 2018. If you want to get started in thread devices or matter over thread devices that can be incoporated into hubitat, just get a homepod mini.
Did you reset either of the radios or just run a soft reset?
And so did Nest, their Protects are running Thread.
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It actually uses Weave
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- Thread is a network technology that defines layer 2 (link-layer) and layer 3 (network-layer). Thread gives your embedded device IPv6 interface with some nifty capabilities, such as fault-tolerance, mesh networking, and low power consumption.
- Weave is (for the most part) a layer 6 protocol, like CoAP or HTTP. It is a protocol that applications running on embedded devices can use to communicate with each other. It requires an IPv6 network interface, which could be provided by ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Thread.
Just want to make sure it is clear... "Thread" is a somewhat broad term. As others have mentioned, Thread has been around for quite some time and is mature. However, what vendors do with Thread is a different story.
- Apple's HomeKit over Thread has been around for quite some time and works well. However, these devices have the same limitations as other Apple HomeKit devices. They cannot be shared with any other platform. They are Apple Home only devices.
- Google Nest's Weave over Thread, AFAIK, is only used for their own devices to communicate with each other. I am not sure if any other 3rd party ever made any Nest Thread devices?
There is no easy, direct way of sharing these Nest Thread devices with any other platform either, IIRC. Google has now stopped developing Weave over Thread, and is focused on Matter over Thread. - Matter over Thread is a much newer solution, and as you mentioned, it needs some more time to mature. Matter over WiFi and Matter over Thread devices are designed to be used by multiple Matter Controller devices at the same time. For example, if a Matter device (Matter over WiFi or Matter over Thread) is added to Apple Home, that device can be shared with Hubitat's built-in Matter Controller (C5, C7, C8, C8 Pro hubs).
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See above, Weave. Similar but different
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To wave or not to wave. This thread has gone waving.
@rdvancleave please create a new thread if you'd like help to revive your older blue light hub.
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