Mini Mac Power Loss

Hello,
My power went out briefly today – just long enough to get the clocks blinking.

I have Indigo running on a dedicated Mini Mac. I'm not familiar with Apple computers at all.

1) Does the Mini Mac automatically reboot after power loss?

2) I found it would not manually reboot until I unplugged the Aeon Z-Stick from the USB socket. Once removed, it rebooted and I started Indigo with zero problems. Is it normal to have to remove the Z-Stick or is there some setting I need to change?

I've purchased an UPS - hopefully power losses will be few and far between.

Thanks,
Barry.

[jay (support)]

1) You can set it up to automatically reboot - I think in the Energy Saver system preference maybe?

2) We've had a few reports of this behavior - it should NOT have to be unplugged. I don't recall if the other users tried a replacement Z-Stick, but if it continues to do it that would be my recommendation.

Hello,
....

I've purchased an UPS - hopefully power losses will be few and far between.

Thanks,
Barry.

I use UPS's, too, but you'll want to read this forum for discussions about them. Sometimes, they are blamed for causing signal noise that interferes with otherwise fun and reliable home automation setups. Filters are available, but I've had a couple filters fry when connected to UPS units that are not on the small side.

I use UPS's, too, but you'll want to read this forum for discussions about them. Sometimes, they are blamed for causing signal noise that interferes with otherwise fun and reliable home automation setups. Filters are available, but I've had a couple filters fry when connected to UPS units that are not on the small side.

Very interesting. I will have to check to make sure everything works after installing the UPS.

Are you referring to powerline electrical noise or RF radio wave interference/noise.

My search of this Forum turned up the some hits for Indigo/Insteon, but, didn't mention RF versus powerline.

Barry.

Are you referring to powerline electrical noise or RF radio wave interference/noise.

.

I believe it's power line noise.

Hi Guys,

All good replies but what about any help with canalrun's second part of the post - 2) "I found it would not manually reboot until I unplugged the Aeon Z-Stick from the USB socket. Once removed, it rebooted and I started Indigo with zero problems. Is it normal to have to remove the Z-Stick or is there some setting I need to change?"

I would be interested in any fixes as I get the same problem; if I reboot my MAC with the AEON Z Stick inserted in any of the USB Ports the MAC will not boot up until I remove it (Unplug it) then the MAC fires up just fine.....bit of a Faff having to do this as my MAC is mounted in a rack and if I want to get to the rear ports I have to unscrew the faceplate and pull the MAC out.

I was thinking of using a USB Extension Cable (0.5m or a 1.0m) and mounting the stick in a more accessible place in my rack but I read somewhere that using the Stick with an extension cable was not a good idea?

Sorry to Hijack your post canal run but a two pronged approach may get us some answers........

Looking forward to any replies on this and on canalrun's post

Cheers

Dave

[jay (support)]

I did reply...

Bottom line: it shouldn't do this, so either the Z-Stick is bad in some way or your Mac's USB subsystem has some kind of problem. My guess is it's the Z-Stick, and I'd recommend replacing it to see if that makes any difference.

Hello,
No problem with the hijack. I am also very interested in the solution for the Z-Stick anomaly. Although, it's not much of a problem for me – I just have to lean over and remove the Z-Stick. Hopefully the UPS will ride out any short-term power fails. Long-term power fails are so infrequent that it's not worth worrying about.

I agree it shouldn't happen.

I am not familiar with the Mac, but on the Windows side of things there are very low level settings that will allow booting from the USB port. I suspect that maybe somehow my Mac is trying to boot from the Z-Stick, unless this makes absolutely no sense. It might be that our Z-Sticks are not functioning properly – by not responding "Not Bootable".

Is it possible this may be happening?

Barry.

[matt (support)]

I'm not sure if it is trying to boot from it, but it definitely is some incompatibility between your Mac and the Z-Stick. It is possible the Z-Stick is marginal in a subtle way that is just enough to cause the Mac to throw a fit during the boot process but doesn't prevent it from working once you remove/reinsert it. Aside from trying a replacement Z-Stick, I'd definitely try different USB ports and try ports on any USB hubs you have. There might be a combination that works.

WOW....thanks for all the answers guys....I'll give it a whirl and let you all no the outcome.....

Cheers,

Dave

I've just realised I might possibly have this problem as well, though I hard-boot the Mac twice to get it to boot; I'll try this softer approach next time!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi,
I had this issue and a PRAM reset did it for me, and it now reboots fine and is on a UPS. I was also new to the Mac at the time so http://www.tekrevue.com/tip/mac-startup-options/ gives you the detail. Verbose mode may also help you trouble shoot this as well.
Thanks,
Neil

I use UPS's, too, but you'll want to read this forum for discussions about them. Sometimes, they are blamed for causing signal noise that interferes with otherwise fun and reliable home automation setups. Filters are available, but I've had a couple filters fry when connected to UPS units that are not on the small side.

Thanks for your recent response.

I got my UPS today and I think I experienced the type of problems that were mentioned above with line noise.

I will also search the forums for other UPS discussions,

I use a Mini Mac and strictly Z-Wave with an Aeon Z-Stick plugged into the Mac USB. Today I installed the UPS, plugged the Mini Mac and my LCD monitor in to the UPS.

About four hours later I noticed the Z-Stick Red LED was on solid (signifying an error) and the Indigo log showed "serial communication error". The only thing different was the UPS.

I'm thinking maybe the output of the UPS is electrically noisy causing noisy 5 volts to be supplied to the Z-Stick or maybe the UPS radiates a lot of RF noise that is interfering, but RF noise would not seem to cause a serial communication error with the Mini Mac.

I have disconnected the UPS, but will try using it again tomorrow.

Is this type of problem consistent with what was being referred to?

I'm thinking of trying a pure sine wave output UPS. Higher power UPSs were mentioned in the previous post as improving things. I would also be increasing from 650 VA to 800 or 1000 VA.

Thanks for any additional info.

Barry.

Is this type of problem consistent with what was being referred to?

No, the problems others have experienced with line noise are in reference to INSTEON and X-10 protocols that are communicating over the power line. I don't remember ever seeing any discussions in the forums of a UPS interfering with Z-Wave in any manner.

Not that one person's instance always is applicable to another, but I have 4 UPS's on my rack directly (physically) between my Z-Stick and several Z-Wave sensors and none have communications issues.

I know that doesn't really help all that much, but I would tend to look at other potential causes first... it may not seem like much else changed just installing a UPS, but that surely involved a reboot which could have reset a configuration, finish an install, caused a caching issue, who knows. I'd start with the typical reboot, try other USB ports for the Z-Stick, etc. (with the UPS still installed).

Adam

Hello,
For anyone who might be interested, I am running a little test.

I have my Mini Mac and LCD monitor plugged in to the UPS, but I have left the USB connection from the UPS to the Mini Mac unplugged.

I read somewhere a certain brand of UPS might experience noise that bleeds through the USB connection to other connected devices.

So far, it's been running a day and a half in this configuration without getting the Z-Stick "serial communication in error".

If this works for a couple more days I may plug-in USB connection from the UPS see if the error shows up again (provides status and power fail shutdown function).

Barry.