Does Rule Machine stop working when devices are not responsive?

šŸ“ Rule MachineĀ® All things Rule Machine
1

Hi Folks,

I'm a recent refugee from SmartThings, and I have a nice rule set up for running a greenhouse. However, in the last week or two, RM has stopped working. When I check the devices, some of the smart plugs have not been responding. A reboot of the Hubitat generally solves this issue.

Some questions:

  • Do I need to have outlets with Z-wave Plus?
  • Does RM stop working when some of the devices are not responsive?

I'm happy to provide logs if that will help.

Many thanks in advance.
Peter

2

Welcome to HE and to the support community. I have found the folks here to be extremely helpful.

You do not need to have outlets with zwave plus. I have a bunch of zigbee outlets that work great. Here's a link to compatible devices. Important note: even if a device is not on this list it may still work fine, or it may work with a community-supplied driver. So this is not the definitive list, but this is a list of known compatible units.

https://docs.hubitat.com/index.php?title=List_of_Compatible_Devices

I have not found RM to stop working if a device is not responsive, though obviously that device won't work :slight_smile:

3

I would suggest (but might not be correct) that this is probably due to the z-wave issue not rule machine. You'll find it elsewhere on the forum but Z-wave just stops working every now and again and only restarts when the hub is rebooted. You can solve this by going all in on zigbee or by frequently checking your Z-wave devices are responding. Some people find that restarting the hub often (weekly) is the best solution, I find that I can tell soon enough as my heating stops working.

4

Thanks Simon,
I was afraid that was the case. I've been rebooting my hubitat twice a day now. >_<
Cheers, Peter

5

Hi Peter,
Welcome. I gather you have a C7 HE although itā€™s not mentioned and as such yes you may be experiencing Zwave issues, as has been mentioned elsewhere.
The good news is the team are aware of these problems and there is a new firmware release due very soon.
Before you ask - an actual release date has not been provided.
As a rule RM and HEā€™s should not need rebooting.
My C4 runs with some RM rules and is not on a regular reboot or shut down cycle. In fact I think the only time it does get rebooted is IF I update the firmware. (Iā€™m on the current release)
Hang in there - the update is coming. :+1:t3:

6

Do the C7 zwave challenges extend beyond inclusion? I was under the impression if the device could be included without issue it worked fine after that. But I could have misunderstood.

7

I just replaced the Z-wave plugs with Zigbee plugs, and the RM seems to be much more responsive. I may have had some bad Z-wave plugs.

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8

Lets hope the C7 Zwave challenges have been overcome by the new firmware :slight_smile:

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