HELP: Hubitat Zigbee not working anymore after Power outage

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1

Hello,

I think I have quite a big problem. The Hubitat lost power, meaning it wasn't shut down properly—just powered off and then turned back on a few minutes later.

The Hubitat starts up fine, but my Zigbee devices don't seem to work anymore. They appear to be detected, but I’m not sure if everything is actually being recognized. Luckily, I'm still in the testing phase, but this is exactly the kind of instability that made me want to move away from HASS!

In the Zigbee log, I see the following:

dev:12025-03-04 05:13:47.605 PM

profileId:0104, clusterId:0406, sourceEndpoint:02, destinationEndpoint:01 , groupId:0000, lastHopLqi:255, lastHopRssi:-35

dev:12025-03-04 05:13:37.554 PM

profileId:0104, clusterId:0406, sourceEndpoint:02, destinationEndpoint:01 , groupId:0000, lastHopLqi:255, lastHopRssi:-34

This suggests that Zigbee is working, but in the graphical overview, I only see this—while there should be a lot more devices.

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What I've tried so far:

  • Stopped and restarted the Hubitat
  • Restored a backup
  • Rebuilt the Zigbee network
  • Restarted Zigbee
  • Updated Zigbee settings

Hardware: C8 PRO (about 2 weeks old)

But nothing seems to work. None of my automations function, and it looks like my devices are no longer properly registered.

Does anyone recognize this issue? What is the solution? Right now, I only have about 8 devices in the test phase, but in a live setup, this would be 45+ devices. I can't use an unstable system!

kind regard, Andre

2

It's possible the sudden power loss caused corruption to the Hubitat database.

If so, a Soft Reset should help recover / restore the database. Information about Soft Reset here: Soft Reset | Hubitat Documentation

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3

I thought it was working again because the switch(es) were making contact, and the sensor was also responding. But suddenly, it went wrong again—nothing worked anymore. I have now done a soft reset and restored the database from this morning at 09:00.

A question: how long should it take for the PRO8 with 8 Zigbee devices to be fully operational again, considering it only has a few simple rules like "if this, then that"? Because I have the impression that this is taking an extremely long time.

For example, when I try to turn a Hue lamp on or off via the devices section, it says the command was sent, but the lamp does nothing. The same applies to the switch and everything else.

I do see (some) Zigbee environment in the Zigbee graphical interface.

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and strange thing is when i check te log when i push a button etc.

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i see the the button is recieved but Hubitat does NOTHING with it??

and the devices are seen also by Hubitat:

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i cant understand this issue?

4

Have sent you an email with a possible solution Andre.

But for anyone using a smarthome product that communicates over zigbee and/or Z-wave: Invest in a small ups.!!!

Take a random Linux distri, put a database with sequential data on it, and jank the power off.
There is an extreme high chance that when your server is booted again, the database will be corrupt.

Hubitat, or any other smarthome product is no different.

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5

Did you do this?

Also, @fanmanrules has some rock solid advice:

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6

@hyrdri311 : yes i did that nothing.

7

Not an expert, but how about trying a controlled shutdown, turn off power to the hub, wait 30 seconds, and then turn on power?

Can't hurt.

Edit: I see that you have already.

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8

I don't see where that was done. It looks like just a quick reboot has been done. This should be tried as it resets the radios. Power cable must be pulled for 30 secs after the shutdown.

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I figured that was it.
In any event, it's worth a shot.
It's my go-to move, anyway. :slight_smile:

10

Agreed. Hard to stay what "Stopped and restarted Hubitat" really means, but I assume at most a shutdown and restart, without waiting the 30 secs for the radio power to drain out for a full reset.

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11

Hello everyone,

Whatever I did no longer seemed to work. I press the button, and I can see in the log that I'm pressing it, but the circuit doesn't work. I saw the Hue sensor activating and deactivating, but nothing switched.

I created a new rule (circuit), but the same issue occurs there as well. You can see in the log that it triggers, but nothing is executed.

Since this is still a test system, I have decided to do a hard reset and start over. I will do this today.

I understand the comments about using a UPS, and I have now connected it to one. However, there are plenty of people who don’t use a UPS, and with just one power outage, everything is lost? That sounds like a major issue (super dangerous/annoying) because nothing helps—restoring a backup, soft reset, you name it!

Once I have re-added a few devices and rules, I will continue testing. My initial tests will be:

  • Shutting down and restarting from the menu (does everything still work afterward?)
  • Rebooting (does everything still function after that?)
  • Power loss—what happens? Is everything broken again?

I am currently using HASS, which has also gone down a few times. Although I’m not entirely happy with its overall stability, at least Zigbee would reconnect properly, and devices would work again. I was quite shocked that Hubitat doesn’t seem to handle this as well—unless I just got really unlucky?

kind regards, Andre

12

Hi Andre,

It seems that your Zigbee sensors are paired and working OK. So there may be problems with your Zigbee actuators (lights, plugs) or the automation.

Can you manually control (switch on and off) the lights and the plugs from their web pages in HE? If yes, then the problem may be in the automation that you have created.

Can you post a screenshot of one of the automations (rules) that is not working as expected?

Your last screenshot here shows that you have seven Zigbee devices communicating to your hub. The Water sensor may be working as well, it is a sleepy device and sends battery reports rarely, that's why we have zero messages received.

Update: your rule seems to be not running because it is Restricted ?
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Make a screenshot of this rule.

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13

https://docs2.hubitat.com/en/apps/basic-rules
Search the web page for 'restriction'

Note that the condition defined by the restriction must be true for the rule to run.

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This may be a bit confusing for some of us who are non-native English speakers and not software developers .. :slight_smile:

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14

Just in case :slight_smile:

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15

Good morning,

Regarding your first question:
When I go to Devices and, for example, select an on/off plug (switch), I can click on it, but the switch does nothing.
This also applies to other switches and similar devices.

Regarding your question about "restricted": this was a motion sensor rule,
and in the restricted section, it was set to do nothing if the lux level was higher than 20 (so the lights should not turn on).
This actually worked very well, I must say.

But in general, after turning the power off (and back on a few minutes later), the problems started.
In short, devices were detected, but you couldn’t control them, not even directly.
For example, if you set a power plug to ON, the system sent the ON command, but the plug remained off—this applied to everything else as well.

I have now completely wiped the system and will re-add the 8 test devices tonight.
After that, I will set up some test rules and perform several tests, including simulating a power loss.
In my opinion, a system should be able to handle emergency situations or, at the very least, allow you to restore a backup that works 99% of the time.

Unfortunately, this time everything was—well, let’s just say—completely broken.

about a UPS
I have it connected to a UPS, which can keep running for about 2 hours (with my NAS also)
But suppose I am not home, the power goes out, and the devices switch off. The NAS continues running for 2 hours and then shuts down properly because it detects the power loss.
However, the Hubitat does not, so it goes down "hard."
Does this mean I would still have to start over completely, or was I just really unlucky this time?

kind regard. Andre

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16

I think you were just unlucky with the Zigbee connectivity problems starting after a 'hard' power-off. I have accidentally powered off my HE hubs many times, without noticeable issues. But of course, a graceful shutdown is always recommended. After you restore your system working, we can think of how to get an early warning that the UPS battery is going down to make an automation that will gracefully shut down the HE hub, before the UPS gets fully depleted.

If you have already started over, wiping anything from your hub - start with the mains-powered devices first. Pair the devicesone by one, test it from the web page that it works one minute after being installed for a first time, then go to the next mains-powered device. Lastly, pair the battery Zigbee devices. Make sure they are sending events when activated (contact open/closed, water sensor wet/dry, etc..). When all devices are working OK, proceed with the automation / rules.

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17

Thanks kkossev for your tip, I will definitely test it. Before I migrate my setup from HASS to Hubitat, I want to be sure of its stability.

But thanks for your time—the explanation and tips are greatly appreciated.

Tonight, I’ll start fresh, and hopefully, the power-down test I plan to do this weekend goes well.

Best regards,
Andre

18

When you get things back up and going there is an application in Hubitat Package Manager that will allow shut down of the hub in this case. It is called Power Outage Manager. You can connect a device that runs off main power and switches to a battery when the power goes out. Power Outage Manager can be set up to notify you when the power goes out and comes back on. It can also be set up to gracefully shut down the hub after some period of time with the power out. I have used it for a while and it works great. You should look into it when you get things back to going.

19

Before starting fresh, have you actually tried to delete one of the non-working Zigbee devices (use the red REMOVE button), and then pair it again as a new device?

20

“When you get things back up and going there is an application in Hubitat Package Manager that will allow shut down of the hub in this case. It is called Power Outage Manager.”

That sounds great. I did not know that Power Outage Manager existed :laughing: . Several years ago I made a RM app that did essentially the same thing along with push notifications to let me know what was going on. I was able to get notifications since everything is on a UPS (hub, wifi, modem etc):

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My “-House Power Outage Monitor-“ is a presence sensor rule that monitors whether my Ring Alarm Extender (I do not have a Ring Alarm but use the extender as it reports whether it is on battery power or mains) is running on battery power:

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I have not yet checked out the “Power Outage Manager” app in HPM but it sounds like it is a much simpler way to achieve what I did in RM :joy:.

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