Initializing GE Zwave Switch takes a loooooong time

[Navat604]

@keltymd1

if you do a hub reboot or Zwave repair. The entire ZWave network will not transmit commands until it is done finding them either Dead or Unknown.

I think that's normal for Z-Wave devices not to function correctly during reboot or Z-Wave repair.

[keltymd1]

understood but it it taking an hour for all to work after a reboot.

[Navat604]

@keltymd1

understood but it it taking an hour for all to work after a reboot.

If you are talking about Z-Wave then that's odd but @JDRoberts mentioned about Zigbee devices take hours for mesh rebuild so it's possible a reboot could caused this. I wouldn't think a reboot would do it since it's not shutting off the zigbee module that long. Maybe give support a shout.

[Keo]

I had to move my hub closer to the switch and it paired much faster. I then moved it back to it’s original location.

[Navat604]

@jprosiak

I had to move my hub closer to the switch and it paired much faster. I then moved it back to it’s original location.

It's a pity. I have 5 Aeon minimotes and I used them to add Z-Wave devices to ST. I find no success with Hubitat so far.

[josh]

I requested support for Minimote inclusion as well.

Use Aeon Minimote for Inclusion

Is it possible to use the Aeon Minimote for pairing new devices? I was able to successfully add the Minimote to my system and use the pushable buttons, but I can't seem to use it to include new devices like I could on ST. I have several switches that will only pair when in close physical proximity to the Z-wave radio and I was previously able to use the Minimote as something of a proxy for inclusion so I didn't have to deal with trying to get out a long network cable and lug my hub all over my …

[MEarly]

I can’t get any Zwave devices to even be discovered. Been working on Minimote and GE dimmer for 2 days now.

[ogiewon]

No problem with my Minimote whatsoever. Was paired easily and works great with built-in Button Controller App and Rule Machine. My minimote is a 1st gen with latest firmware.

[MEarly]

@ogiewon

No problem with my Minimote whatsoever. Was paired easily and works great with built-in Button Controller App and Rule Machine. My minimote is a 1st gen with latest firmware.

Unfortunately, I am not having such luck. ST can quickly discover the devices after exclusion and reset. Hubitat cannot.

[ogiewon]

Did you update the firmware on the minimote?

[MEarly]

@ogiewon

Did you update the firmware on the minimote?

No, I haven't in 8 or 9 months. The minimote isn't my biggest concern. It's my GE light switch to be used with the motion sensors I've already migrated over.

[ogiewon]

I hear you. I have some GE Z-wave switches that were a little stubborn. Part of the problem I faced was getting the GE Switches properly EXCLUDED before trying to pair them. You can use your old ST hub to perform a General Exclusion, and then press the GE Switch ‘On’ which should exclude it and make it ready for pairing. Make sure you turn off General Exclusion mode on the ST Hub. Now, make sure your Hubitat Hub is pretty close to the Z-Wave switch you’re trying to pair, and try again.

Until you have a new Z-Wave mesh built out, pairing devices requires the hub to be close by.

[ritchierich]

@MEarly

I can’t get any Zwave devices to even be discovered. Been working on Minimote and GE dimmer for 2 days now.

I am having troubles as well. I have been in touch with @bobbyD in support. I have been trying to pair a minimote and nothing shows up on the discover devices page, but if you go to settings, Zwave and look at the bottom you may find a new entry with no device associated. Something is definitely not right.

[ritchierich]

@MEarly could you please navigate to Settings \ Z-Wave Information and scroll to bottom to see if these devices are showing up there with no associated device like this:

I have 83 zwave devices paired and it was only recently within the past few days that I have had this issue. Fortunately I am 99% finished migrating everything from ST.

Also if you wouldn't mind, could you please email support regarding this issue? This will certainly help get the focus on it to get it fixed.

[MEarly]

@ritchierich

@MEarly could you please navigate to Settings \ Z-Wave Information and scroll to bottom to see if these devices are showing up there with no associated device like this:

image.png1504x35 1.65 KB

Yep. This was the first thing I noticed this morning.

I just resolved the issue with my one switch. I was skipping the ST General Exclusion step, though the device I was adding was NOT part of the list of Radio Devices under Zwave Info. There's still that mystery to solve.

[MEarly]

LOL…unfortunately, a by-product of this morning’s Z-wave adventures was that ST lost contact with ALL my Z-wave devices.

I was able to successfully re-include a couple via exclusion and re-including, but I am not going to deal with that for them all.

Trying to figure out what’s going on now.

[toy4rick]

I am having a hell of a time

I have 3 GE plugs and 10 switches, so far everyone of them took a different sequence of events to get them to pair

One switch still won’t par no matter what. I was able to re-pair it back to ST, removed it, did an exclude and it still won’t part to Hubitat

Hub is 3 feet from the switch
Rebooted the hub several times, even did a z ware repair

Any other ideas?
Rick

[Tony]

I had a hard time pairing my Z-Wave plug-in outlets; they have a local control pushbutton on them which I assumed had to be pushed once to pair. I eventually discovered that it required a double click on the pushbutton to pair it (same action required for it to be excluded). When it is paired however, only a single click is required to turn it on or off.

For the my GE Z-Wave wall mounted switches, I found that the Hubitat had to be much closer to the switches when pairing than the ST hub. Three feet does sound like it should be close enough, though; I was able to pair one which was located one floor directly below me in my garage. For mine I did the general exclusion with a minimote and the inclusion with my Hubitat on a long ethernet cord.

Once properly excluded, a single push of the switch (on or off, doesn’t matter) should be enough to pair the device if it is within pairing range. Mine were found right away. Is it possible that they aren’t being properly excluded by ST? I know you said you did a remove from ST; did you actually see an ‘device excluded’ message from ST when doing so or just remove them from the app (I never seemed to get those exclusion messages from ST; I assumed I was out of range. That’s why I used a minimote right next to the switch to to the general exclusion before I removed them from ST. I then tried to operate them from ST to make sure they failed to operate, that told me they were properly excluded).

[toy4rick]

As for ST exclude, I have never seen a successful exclude message either. All I know is I did the exclude about 10 times with no luck. I ended up mapping out every device, testing each one until I could determine which ones had failed then started from scratch on those

1. Perform exclude
2. Go into Z Wave info, found several that were either failed, dead or listed as a device
3. Worked to get each one removed by either do another exclude, select the device name and then remove…
4. Start device discovery and activate switch until it was found
5. Before trying to control the device, go into device config and ensure the device type is correct, Generic Z Wave Switch, Outlet or Dimmer and save
6. Now test the device

What helped me was to ensure nothing was in a bad state in the Z Wave info section before moving on

Some GE switches paired real quick even when 40-50 feet away, others i had to take the hub with me or they wouldn’t work

I literally spent 7 hours on 2 switches and 1 Iris Smart plug

Good luck all
Rick