I run VirtualBox with a Windows instance to then run SiLab's PC Controller tool.
You Include the ZWave USB stick to Hubitat as a Secondary Controller... it will show as a Device... and that process will cause the Hub's DB of devices to be mirrored into the USB Stick's DB. Then, using PC Controller, you can see what devices the radio thinks it should be connected to. The PC Controller software will allow Node IDs to be deleted and those actions get sent back to the hub because it's been joined as a secondary controller.
There's a much older version of controller software called OZWCP (Open-Zwave Control Panel) that can run natively on Linux and thus your Mac. I used it for years but it's a pain to get installed. More pain than VirtualBox and a Windows instance??? Maybe..
OK, The Aeotec Z-stick looks appealing as it is available through Amazon although at a higher price point... it also mentions supporting OTA firmware updates which might be something I might have to do with Leviton devices. Is this something you or anyone else has used and can verify is compatible with Hubitat?
Once the ZWave USB stick (from either manufacturer.. but for this message, I'll use Aeon's Z-Stick name to simplify) is joined to your Hub via PC Controller, you will see a list of the devices. Let's simplify down from 50+ devices to a more manageable count... 6 devices found in Hubitat's ZWave Details page. Looking at PC Controller, you see 8. So 2 too many. You need to find those in PC Controller, select them, click Is Failed until the device goes red indicating it is marked as failed. Then you can click Remove Failed and it will be deleted from the Z-Stick. And by virtue of being a secondary controller, that delete will be echoed back to the primary controller -- your Hubitat hub.
I have one of everything mentioned. I have a SiLabs UZB3 and a UZB7 from Digikey, I have a couple of Aeon Z-Sticks that I purchased long before Hubitat got invented.
They all work within PC Controller the same. Can't tell the difference. Only the Aeon has a difference and that's it's battery to allow you to walk around and Exclude.
Ok I've placed an order for the Aeotec stick... should get here on Monday. Hope you don't mind if I post additional questions here to talk me through getting it working. I understand conceptually what you are saying, but I'm still not sure about the actual details of joining it to my hub. Also, is there any point to my trying to add devices while I get this or would you recommend I nuke those stranded Znodes first? Would getting rid of those stranded Z-wave nodes fix the problem with my inability to add devices?
It's the same as any ZWave device... you will put the Hub into Include (Discover new device) and then click the Z-Stick once to get it blinking Blue. It will Include like any other device... but it gets detected as Device... meaning there's no 'better' driver known for that device type.. and that's both expected and correct.
It's use is as a Secondary Controller and via PC Controller.
Wait, so since it has a battery, I don't have to plug this into my computer to pair it with Hubitat, right?
So where does the PC controller come into this - is that software on the PC that I use to interface with the device? If so, what software do I download if I choose to use it with a Mac as opposed to a PC? Sorry for the stupid questions, I've never really used a device like this before. Hopefully it will be more intuitive when I get it?
We don't know what's good/bad with your ZWave Mesh. We have all focused on you saying you did Force Remove in a context that implies you didn't know the problems that MIGHT cause. So now we're all focused in on those potential problems and how to cure them, without knowing you actually have them
Force Remove is ideal when you hear a Bang/Pop and all the lucky smoke comes out of a device. The device goes into the trash and you replace it. The replacement uses the next NodeID available but that Dead Device is still in the Hub's DB, as well as the ZWave Radio's DB inside the hub. To clean that up, you do a Remove, which starts the Exclude process, but the device is in the trash and cannot respond. Force Remove pops up and you click it. Overnight, the hub will detect the failed device and clean up the Radio's DB. It does this exactly the same way as the PC Controller process... "Is Failed" followed by a "Remove Failed" But Remove Failed also does an Is Failed and unless it finds a failure, remove will NOT occur. This is a protection feature, obviously.
What goes wrong with Force Remove on the Hub is exactly what I described above.. the device is somehow responding. It's not in the trash, it's alive and well. It responds during the Is Failed cycle and thus Remove Failed is not allowed to proceed. Some of this is the result of caching and the device will seem alive but isn't. Using the Z-Stick and PC Controller allows YOU to click Is Failed a dozen times.... if needed to get it to mark the device as failed (red).
But at least we're all agreed that if I was able to add the devices to Hubitat, then the problem is NOT a failure to exclude properly from Wink, right?
Also wanted to add that if price is not an object, then I would recommend like Aeotec stick over the UZB3 as @csteele suggested. I had purchased a UZB3 to flash and use as a zniffer when I had z-wave issues. Never got around to that because using PC Controller I discovered the stranded nodes, and deleting them resolved the z-wave issues I had.
I did end up ordering the Aeotec, just because at this point I'll spend any amount of money of if it means getting this fixed, and it seems to have some additional nice options. It will be here Monday, hopefully I will have more updates then.
Ghostbusters, heh, nice. I'll reference this when I get the Aeotec stick Monday. Everyone is referring to PC controller software so I guess I'll have to use my wife's PC laptop or get a Mac emulator working, which I've never had good luck with in the past. Would be nice if there was Mac software.
It turns out there is a Mac installer for the software so I installed it on my Mac and otherwise followed the directions which were mostly identical. After installation and restarting the software, I plug in the Z-stick to my Mac... and nothing happens.
Apparently I'm supposed to see it under System Preferences/Network but I don't.
By chance has anyone attempted this with Mac before? I'm trying it on a different Mac now, and if that doesn't work, I'll try it on my wife's PC laptop.
While Simplicity Studio installs and runs on a Mac, I believe the PC Controller software (which is now built into Simplicity Studio) is still Windows only.
OK I have the Aeotec Z-Stick Gen 5. If I understood this correctly, all I need to do is press the Action button once and then put my hub in Inclusion mode. The Z-stick is not supposed to be plugged into my PC when I do this, right?
Because when I take it unplugged right next to my Hubitat, and start inclusion mode on both Hubitat and the Z-stick, it doesn't see it at all.
