Devices don't respond, scenes/groups work

Posted on
Sat Apr 08, 2017 12:21 am
cutmoney offline
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Joined: Dec 22, 2011

Devices don't respond, scenes/groups work

I've noticed an issue that I can't seem to resolve. I've used the Alexa-Hue Bridge plugin for quite a while now and it worked perfectly up until a few months ago. I'm having issues all the time where all of my Insteon devices will work properly right after discovery. Then, some time later (maybe an hour, maybe a day) individual devices stop responding using Alexa. I just get a long pause then "the device is not responding" response from Alexa. However, my device groups and scenes seem to work fine all of the time. For instance, if I use the command "turn on all kitchen lights" it will activate my device group, but if I use the command "turn on kitchen sink light" (which is included in the same device group), I'll get the not responding error. If I run discovery again, it will work for a short period of time again.

I'm using 2.0.11 version of the plugin, Indigo 7, and I've even tried switching to a static address (since my Indigo server has a static IP). It's pretty frustrating since that is the function I use on my Echo Dots 95% of the time, and that it worked flawlessly for months before. I've helped two other people with nearly identical setups and never had an issue.

Posted on
Sat Apr 08, 2017 7:03 am
jalves offline
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Joined: Jun 16, 2013

Re: Devices don't respond, scenes/groups work

I have a similar experience. I've never been able to correlate it to a particular set of circumstances. Sometimes groups (rooms) fail to function, sometimes action groups fail, sometimes its the individual devices. Rerunning discovery seems to resolve the issue.

Running Indigo 2023.2 on a 24" iMac M1), OS X 14.4
Jeff

Posted on
Sat Apr 08, 2017 9:59 am
jay (support) offline
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Re: Devices don't respond, scenes/groups work

When that happens, it means that Alexa tried to either control a device or queried a device for state and it didn't get a response. This problem is usually because of some network issue - either bonjour/upnp is periodically not working (generally a router issue) or something else is causing network conflicts. That causes the Echo to believe the device is no longer responding and it marks it as such. I've never seen it do it selectively, however; it's usually all or nothing, so that's new.

Unfortunately, other than rediscovery, I don't know of any way to fix it. I've been running my current configuration (mostly Insteon, some Z-Wave, some virtual devices) with no rediscovery for over 3 months with no issues.

You should turn on all debugging while it's working and wait for it to stop - then examine the logging in between the last time it worked and the first time it didn't and see if there are any clues. Not sure what changes to logging @autolog made, but there may be log files that would make finding that information easier (I'll let him chime in).

Jay (Indigo Support)
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Posted on
Sat Apr 08, 2017 10:21 am
cutmoney offline
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Joined: Dec 22, 2011

Re: Devices don't respond, scenes/groups work

What's odd is that it doesn't event seem to be hitting Indigo with the request when it doesn't work. It recognizes the device on the Echo, but just cannot communicate with it. I just tested it again with the exact same results. I tried:

Command: "turn on undercounter lights"
5-10 second delay while processing
Reply: "the device undercounter lights is not responding, please try..."

Command: "Turn on all kitchen lights" (a scene which includes the undercounter lights device)
Success
Reply: "Okay"

Then, I ran discovery and the undercounter lights worked fine. I checked the logs and don't see a request for turning on the undercounter lights initially, which is odd. As far as the network configuration, I would tend to agree that it's a possibility, but I just completely reconfigured my network after moving from an all AirPort routed network to a Ubiquiti network. I had the same exact problem before and after, despite reconfiguring the network from scratch. It's a very basic network configuration. I have the log I can attach if it's helpful.

Posted on
Sat Apr 08, 2017 10:31 am
jay (support) offline
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Re: Devices don't respond, scenes/groups work

cutmoney wrote:
What's odd is that it doesn't event seem to be hitting Indigo with the request when it doesn't work.


That's what I was saying - something caused the Echo to believe the device isn't available, so it's either not even sending the request or it thinks it's sending it and it's not getting to the plugin.

Jay (Indigo Support)
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Posted on
Sat Apr 08, 2017 10:49 am
jalves offline
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Re: Devices don't respond, scenes/groups work

jay (support) wrote:
When that happens, it means that Alexa tried to either control a device or queried a device for state and it didn't get a response. This problem is usually because of some network issue - either bonjour/upnp is periodically not working (generally a router issue) or something else is causing network conflicts. That causes the Echo to believe the device is no longer responding and it marks it as such. I've never seen it do it selectively, however; it's usually all or nothing, so that's new.


I believe this is the root cause of the issues I'm experiencing. For some reason my home network/internet connection has difficulty at times. I'm still narrowing it down, but think the problem is on my ISP's side of the router as I often see errors in the cable modem (not Indigo) log about Maintenance Ranging failing.

Running Indigo 2023.2 on a 24" iMac M1), OS X 14.4
Jeff

Posted on
Sat Apr 08, 2017 11:47 am
cutmoney offline
Posts: 35
Joined: Dec 22, 2011

Re: Devices don't respond, scenes/groups work

jay (support) wrote:
cutmoney wrote:
What's odd is that it doesn't event seem to be hitting Indigo with the request when it doesn't work.


That's what I was saying - something caused the Echo to believe the device isn't available, so it's either not even sending the request or it thinks it's sending it and it's not getting to the plugin.


I would tend to agree with that, however the fact that I can routinely execute an action group yet not a device wouldn't support that contention. From my understanding, the devices are exactly the same to the Echo, it thinks everything is a device. It doesn't make sense that I can call an action successfully, then a device unsuccessfully seconds later, and I could repeat that behavior with the same results over and over again.

Posted on
Sat Apr 08, 2017 11:49 am
autolog offline
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Re: Devices don't respond, scenes/groups work

OK - I am a bit late to the party - sorry about that :oops:

As Jay stated, it is a good idea to look at the log. See the Alexa-Hue Bridge Debug Logs + Port 1900 Check post on details of how to access the log.

Use the plugin config to turn on all logging and then PM me the results once the error has occurred. It would be best if you restarted the plugin after having turned on logging and save the plugin config.

I'll try and investigate and see if I can spot anything.

Just me minded that it is now Saturday evening in the UK and so it might not be until later tomorrow that I can take a look. :D

Posted on
Sun Apr 09, 2017 2:43 pm
jay (support) offline
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Re: Devices don't respond, scenes/groups work

cutmoney wrote:
I would tend to agree with that, however the fact that I can routinely execute an action group yet not a device wouldn't support that contention. From my understanding, the devices are exactly the same to the Echo, it thinks everything is a device. It doesn't make sense that I can call an action successfully, then a device unsuccessfully seconds later, and I could repeat that behavior with the same results over and over again.


If the Echo marks the insteon device as unavailable at some earlier point (but not the action-based device), then that behavior would be completely understandable.

Jay (Indigo Support)
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Posted on
Thu Apr 13, 2017 7:59 am
bruindrummer offline
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Re: Devices don't respond, scenes/groups work

Hello! First time, long time.

After working for the past couple of months, I'm suddenly unable to discover devices via the Hue Bridge. My Mac Mini that runs Indigo was reset when a circuit breaker tripped, and since that event Alexa hasn't been able to discover my lights. I've tried forgetting the devices, upgrading the Hue plugin from 2.0.9 to 2.0.11, reloading the plugin, rebooting everything in sight, attempting discovery via the Alexa app and via the Echo Dot, and re-installing the Alexa app. I'll see if I can grab some debug info later today, but if anybody has any other tips to try, I'd appreciate it. Oh, and there are no other applications using port 1900 on the Mac Mini.

Posted on
Thu Apr 13, 2017 3:05 pm
bruindrummer offline
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Joined: Apr 12, 2017

Re: Devices don't respond, scenes/groups work

OK, I figured out my problem. The Mac Mini uses both a wired (for security cameras) and wireless (for everything else) connection. When the circuit breaker tripped, for some reason the Hue Bridge started using the wired interface. I suppose this is why the plugin gives us the ability to designate a host IP. I changed the setting, restarted the plugin, forgot all devices via the Alexa app, then ran a new discovery. It found all of the devices once again. Hooray!

On a side note, how are the plans coming along for native Alexa integration? Has there been any progress made?

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