C8 sporadically locking up/unresponsive since the beginning

[EZEMA]

Platform version: 2.3.9.197
Hardware version: C-8

I have had the C8 (upgraded from C7 a year ago). Ever since then, the hub has been locking up every so often. Sometimes it will be fine for a few weeks and sometimes only a day or two (like the last couple of days). It is usually completely unresponsive to the web interface and app, and google home won't see the devices either. I have to kill the power to bring it back. After it comes online I tend to then rebuild database and reboot again.

This is wired to my router and using the included power adapter. Jumbo frames are not enabled at least on the router. I use google home integration and have a bunch of z-wave devices. No zigbee though.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have dealt with this problem for a long time now, but have had enough (so has the wife).

[thebearmay]

Several possibilities to explore on this unfortunately. Personally, I'd start by asking @bobbyD if someone could take a look at the engineering logs to see if they contain any answers (send him a PM including the Hub ID). While you're waiting you could also look at your ZWave details to see if it appears to contain any ghosts, and possibly swap out the power supply as they occassionally go bad.

[danabw]

@bb9043a7e004e69c2977

the hub has been locking up every so often

Run this endpoint (put it in your browser address bar and hit enter - you'll get a simple "Done" response after a few moments):

• yourHubIPAddressHere/hub/zwaveNodeDetailGet

That should fill in the Stats info on your Z-Wave Details page. Looking at info in the Stats column, where you have high Route Changes, high RTT, or low RSSI.

Then post screen shot(s) of your Z-Wave Details pages and your Z-Wave Topology.

Topology is accessed from the Z-Wave Details page:

Looks like this...

[EZEMA]

Thanks for taking a look! Here are the screenshots. Let me know if I missed something.

[thebearmay]

0x0038 might be a problem. At a minimum it doesn't look like it's completed the pairing process.

[EZEMA]

@thebearmay

0x0038

Thanks for taking a look. I am not sure what device that would have been to repair it. In the meantime, I took your advice and messaged @bobbyD. The engineering logs were unremarkable. So we are going to try swapping out the hub.

[thebearmay]

I'd guess the one immediately below it but one never knows. Could try removing the power to the one below it and see if it allows you to remove 0x0038.

[danabw]

Did you try this for the 0x0038 device? If not, give it a go...

@danabw

Simple first steps - try these first

1. If a Discover button appears for a partially included device, selecting that button can allow a device to successfully complete joining the Z-Wave mesh.
2. Shut down the hub and restart it to force restarting of the Z-Wave radio - this can help w/ghost issues:
   -- a. Shut down your hub from the Settings menu.
   -- b. Then pull the USB power plug (recommended to do at the wall connection, not at the hub as the hub connection can be a little fragile, at least on some C-7 hubs) to completely remove power from your hub after it's shut down.
   -- c. Wait 30s
   -- d. Plug the hub in again.

Using the hub's built-in ghost removal tools
Below is a detailed summary from @jtp10181 of best way to use the hubs built-in ghost removal tools. Try these tools first before trying Ghost removal with a UZB stick:

• Click Refresh on the device ONCE, wait for the page to refresh. The Remove button should then appear. Click Remove ONCE. Again, wait. May want to have logs open while doing this as well.
• Sometimes it takes multiple tries of the Refresh button to get the Remove button to appear. Try to be patient and NOT click Refresh furiously. If you start getting "Zwave busy" error messages in your logs, power down and reboot again.
• It is common for it to take multiple tries at the Refresh/Remove buttons to remove a ghost, give it at least five or six attempts before assuming it's not going to work. Shutting down/restarting between successful removals can also help.
• From some anecdotal evidence, removal of a ghost device may be more successful if the device the ghost was created from is disconnected from power while you're trying to remove the ghost. If it's a plug, you can unplug it. If it's a switch and has an air-gap, pull the air gap. You can also flip a circuit breaker to temporarily remove power from a mains powered device. I'm most cases may not help at all with removal, but an option you can consider trying.

If the above steps don't remove the ghost...

The hub may not be able to remove Ghosts that have too many existing neighbor nodes. You can use the "Hubitat Z-Wave Mesh Details" tool (available in Hubitat Package Manger) to easily identify the neighbors of your ghost device.

You can try the following steps before moving on to using a Z-Wave USB stick:

• Install the Z-wave mesh tool [BETA] A Z-Wave Mesh Tool [C7 and 2.2.4+ Only] from Hubitat Package Manager and use the Mesh tool to identify the neighbor nodes that the ghost devices are hanging onto. Use the expand arrow in to expand the ghost device row in the Mesh Details app to see the device's neighbors. See the "Neighbors" column in the example screen cap below:

If you exclude the neighbor nodes, then the ghost node should also be removable.

Steps:

1. Create a virtual device for each neighbor.
   -- Add Device at top of Device page, choose "Virtual" device type, and choose virtual device types that match w/your actual devices.
2. Use the Settings>Swap Apps Devices tool to swap out each neighbor w/a virtual device (this maintaings your automations using these devices)
3. Exclude the neighbor devices
4. Use the HE hub steps above to remove your ghost(s)
5. Re-include the neighbor devices
6. Use Swap App Devices again to swap the restored devices back into their automations, dashboards, etc.

[EZEMA]

Took close to an hour to get the remove button to show up. No luck removing the easy way yet. I'll keep working it through

[danabw]

Yoy may want to so a hub shut down, wait 30s, then restart, can help to clear the radio when you're doing stuff like this, and only shutting down/pull power can do that.

[EZEMA]

@danabw

ub shut down, wait 30s, then restart, can help to clear the radio when you're doing stuff like th

Ok. I'll try that. Based on the device numbering, this was added in the last couple of months (after the issue started). It would be good to get this all clean though. Maybe it makes things worse.

[danabw]

@EZEMA

Maybe it makes things worse.

Yup - Z-Wave devices in a bad state can totally mess up Z-Wave...things can get ugly.

[rlithgow1]

If you can't remove it in the interface you will need a z-wave stick paired as a secondary controller to remove it.

[EZEMA]

With the USB method, I was able to remove it finally. Frustrating that things are never so simple. Between that and the replacement hub coming in a few days, I have high hopes for stability. We'll see.