I've been having alot of frustrations and I'm just about ready to return my C8.
Posted this a couple of weeks ago.
I've followed all of the advice given, Thanks You. But I'm still getting ghost nodes and the device I'm trying to add will not take.
The device is a Minoston MP31ZD dimmer plug. It's a Zwave+ device. Works great with my Vera.
I have excluded the Minoston and removed it from the Vera.
Performed a factory reset of the Minoston
Reset the C8 Zwave radio
Soft reset the C8, with clear logs
Removed the C8 from my Hubitate account.
Shutdown the C8 and let it sit unpowered for a few days
Unplugged/ powered off the Vera
Restarted the C8
Reconnected the C8 to my account,
Updated firmware
Checked if there were any pending Zwave updates, none pending
Reset the Zwave radio
Installed the Minoston MP31ZD driver
Rebooted the C8
Plugged in the Minoston MP31ZD, preformed another factory reset
Checked to Zwave ghosts, none found
Started the inclusion process, enabled inclusion on the Minoston
The Minoston would not add, but I'd end up with 20-30 ghosts.
I really can't be this hard. And Zwave can't be this fragile.
Can you please take a screenshot of your logs, at the time of pairing?
Perhaps that will give us an inkling of what's going on.
P.S. I've used Minostan and I think that they are first rate products. (Although I haven't used their MP31ZD).
By the way, I looked it up and the dimmer outlet plug from Minostan is not on the list of compatible devices. (MP31ZD).
If your older controller is not Z-Wave Plus V2 certified that is able to handle the S2 encryption and works with 700 series devices, then is using the backwards compatibility to include the device bypassing the S2 encryption. Our C-5 model, for example would probably work just as well. Based on details you've shared, it sounds like your device may not be running the latest firmware. We have seen this with various manufacturers that have released 700 series devices, and had firmware problems that required an update. I would reach out to Minoston support to see if a newer firmware is available for your device.
You are correct, it shouldn't be this hard to get started. I wouldn't do anything else but perform inclusions/exclusions from your hub. If the device fails to include properly, I would first look into the device firmware, before focusing on the hub, by resetting radio, resetting database, etc. Doing so will not resolve the problem with one specific device. If you have other devices, I would try to include those while waiting to hear back from Minoston.
To add to what @bobbyD one thing I have seen is when a previous z-wave controller (in this case your vera) is on while pairing, it can fail... (Now I'm not saying this is a cause, simply relaying anecdotal information). Can't hurt to turn it off while pairing stuff to HE
It's been a couple of days. So far no ghosts and everything is working as expected.
Not sure what step cleared all the ghosts.
Here's what I did:
I reset the C8 Zwave radio,
Performed a soft reboot, cleared logs
Shutdown the C8,
Removed C8 from my account
Let it sit without power for a while
Rebooted C8, registered it
If I found ghosts, repeated the process
I did this 4-5 times before all the ghosts where eliminated and no new ghosts showed up. Waited overnight before I added any devices. In the morning, no new ghosts!
The first device I added was the Minoston MP31ZD dimmer outlet.
Put the outlet in elimination mode, and ran the Zwave elimination on the Vera controller
Shut down the Vera controller
Did a factory reset of the outlet
Put the outlet in elimination mode, and ran the Zwave elimination on the Hubitat controller
Put the outlet in inclusion mode, and ran the Zwave inclusion on the Hubitat controller
Device added, no ghosts.
Let that sit for a couple of nights. So far no ghosts and everything working as expected.
I have since added a few more Zwave devices using the above steps of exclusion, shut down Vera, etc. So far no ghosts and all woking as expected.
My home automation setup is very small, 5 devices at this point. I removed all the devices from the Vera and shutdown the Vera. Added them to the C8. I'm not going to do anything on the C8, just let it run for awhile and see how it goes.
But when I do add devices, my plan will be to very patient. Perform the exclusion, factory reset, inclusion steps for each device. Let the device settle into the mesh before I add another device.
Sounds like you're on the right track now, overall.
One thing I have done when I'n including multiple devices is every couple devices I shutdown the hub/pull power/wait a couple minutes/plug hub in again. For me, anyway, it has helped to restart the hub Z-Wave radio during multiple Z-Wave inclusions. This was on the C7, I haven't had to do more than individual inclusions on the C8, but it is one of those, won't hurt/might help actions.
This is a little extreme and wayyyyyyy unnecessary. If you have a failed pairing, check for the ghost, hit remove and continue. (Absence of a route doesn't necessarily mean you have a ghost, it could be it hasn't reported in yet). Failed pairings or sometimes force removing a device are what cause ghosts.
This is a little extreme and wayyyyyyy unnecessary
I apologize if my original post was not clear.
Long story short, I was have a few issues with the C8 to the point I was about to give up on Hubitat. At one point my C8 had no connected devices, but about 50 ghosts. I essentially rebooted the Zwave radio and soft rebooted the C8 until I had no ghosts. (see previous post for more detail) For awhile a few ghosts would show up after the reset & reboot, so I'd rinse and repeat. I repeated the process a few times until no ghosts popped up. I suspect I really gummed up the system with my impatience adding zwave devices, so it took some time to clean up the mess.
I've learned to be very patient when adding devices. Currently have 7 devices connected, it's been about 4 days no issues.
Cool... As I said though, take a gander at this thread. Helps avoid gotchas. And remember, just because a device doesn't have a route doesn't mean it's a ghost. It could mean it just hasn't reported in yet.
