INSTEON PowerLinc Modem (2413U)

Count me in for another dead 2413U. Got a email notification of a power failure (trigger) and then it went offline, came home unplugged it , nothing, tired resetting it with the set button, still nothing, then it came back to life half an hour later, but now it seems to think it sees X10 commands that are flooding the system.

It's within the 2 year warranty, so I'll be contacting smarthome tomorrow to see what they can do.

Code: Select all

Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all lights off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all lights off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all lights off (house code M)
  Trigger                         Rack Temp Update Variable
  Received X10                    M13 hail request
  Received X10                    M13 hail request
  Received X10                    M13 hail request
  Received X10                    M13 hail request
  Received X10                    M13 hail request
  Received X10                    M13 hail request
  Received X10                    M13 hail request
  Received X10                    M13 hail request
  Received X10                    M13 hail request
  Received X10                    M13 hail request
  Received X10                    M13 hail request
  Received X10                    M13 hail request
  Received X10                    M13 hail request
  Received X10                    M13 hail request
  Received X10                    M13 hail request
  Received X10                    M13 hail request
  Received X10                    M13 hail request
  Received X10                    M13 hail request
  Received X10                    M13 hail request
  Received X10                    M13 hail request
  Received X10                    M13 hail request
  Received X10                    M13 hail request
  Received X10                    M13 hail request
  Received X10                    M13 hail request

Nov 13, 2014, 5:20:30 PM
  Received INSTEON                "HVAC" temperature changed to 73.0
  Trigger                         HVAC Temp Update Variable
  Received X10                    M13 brighten by 5
  Received X10                    M13 brighten by 5
  Received X10                    M13 brighten by 5
  Received X10                    M13 brighten by 5
  Received X10                    M13 brighten by 5
  Received X10                    M13 brighten by 5
  Received X10                    M13 brighten by 5
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)


Nov 13, 2014, 5:25:27 PM
  Trigger                         Rack Cool Off
  Trigger                         Rack Temp Update Variable
  Sent INSTEON                    "Rack Fan" off
  Weather Conditions              Retrieving Weather Condition Information from Weather Underground
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Weather Conditions              Data retrieved from Weather Underground, and Saved.
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received X10                    all units off (house code M)
  Received INSTEON                "HVAC" temperature changed to 73.0
  Trigger                         HVAC Temp Update Variable


I have a similar issue with my 2413U. I had been running without a problem for a year or two with a white MacBook running Lion. Then I switched to a Mac mini running Yosemite. Ever since, every day or two, Indigo reports "PowerLinc not responding." Unplugging and replugging the USB cable puts the 2413 back online. As with DVDDave's report, OSX still 'sees' the USB interface even though Indigo reports the 2413U being offline. Unlike DVDDave, I do not see "Error unknown command bytes received."

Does this sound like a case of a 2413U going bad? A bad USB connection? Noise on the line? None of the above?

I have yet to return to the Lion-based system, but maybe that is the next step.

Update: I reinstalled the FTDI Driver, and my system has been working since.

[jay (support)]

It could be any of the things you mention unfortunately. Also add some as yet unidentified issue with Yosemite (which is the reason we never recommend upgrading to a new OS release until at least the first dot release and usually a couple). We've not had enough reports of PowerLinc issues on Yosemite to establish a pattern but there are a few.

Hi Bob,
Try a factory reset of it:
1) Unplug it from the wall and your Mac.
2) Wait 10 seconds.
3) Press and hold the SET button on the side.
4) Plug into the wall while continuing to hold the SET button.
5) Wait 10+ seconds.
6) Release SET button.
7) Plug USB cable back in and see if Indigo can connect to it. Make sure in the Preferences dialog you have a good serial port selected for it.

Thank you! The 2413U disconnected again. The instructions above worked; the device beeped and displayed a red light. I plugged in the USB and green light.
I'm still on OS 10.9. The only recent change was upgrading to Indigo 6 in September 2014.

A couple follow up questions:
1. Do the 2413U just get squirrely after a few years and need to be replaced?
2. Are there any other options for reliable X10/Insteon interfaces?

Thanks! -- Nat

[jay (support)]

1) Not generally. I've been using the same 2413 that I got when they first came out years ago with no issues on my production system.
2) It is the best INSTEON interface currently available and has been for a long while.

Add another user with the same issues with the 2413U starting since around Yosemite. First saw intermittent failures. Now cant seem to make it work at all.

-The 2413U also is recognized in my OSX System Report, and seems healthy
-I tried the full 2413U reset procedure - behaves as documented. Double beep and green light at end of reset - no change
-I reinstalled the FTDI drivers and rebooted - no change
-Tried different outlet, USB port, and cable - no change
-Plugged the 2413U into a Windows machine - it was recognized, and after installing the driver sees it as a valid COM port.

All of these items appear to indicate the 2413U is OK. However in the manual there is a Phase Detection Test initiated by pressing the set button four times quickly. The unit is supposed to start beeping. I can not make this happen. This test may only be relevant with multiple 2413 type devices plugged in. Does anyone know if the Phase Detection Test should work with a single device? If so, would this indicate the 2413U is bad?

thanks,
jeff

[jay (support)]

Yes, it should work, thought I'm not sure how reliable that test function actually is however. What exactly are the issues you're seeing?

When I launch Indigo, it can not see the powerlinc at all anymore, so basically nothing works.

[matt (support)]

If it was working initially under Yosemite and then started to fail then it might be a malfunctioning PowerLinc. I have seen PowerLincs that malfunction such that their USB connectivity fails on some Macs or some versions of OS X but not others (with PCs continuing to work). I suspect it is a timing/voltage issue and if it gets far enough out of tolerance it will start failing with some computers but not others.

Ugh, I got the dreaded Powerlinc 2413U not responding behavior this morning. I've been running this connected directly to an iMac for over two years in the same location in my home and have been running Yosemite for four months fine. Can't recall, but think my Powerlinc is about 4 years old or more.

I attempted the facotry reset directions and got nothing. …looks like I'm going to have to buy a new one as well

My modem started locking up again so I now have a replacement 2.0 version that Smarthome indicated should not have the problem. It didn't work by just plugging it in place of the original device. Anyone know of an easy way to do the swap or do I need to manually reestablish the Insteon links?

Also, the last time it hung up, I had a much harder time getting it to work again. Then I tried unplugging my Venstar thermostat interface (since my thermostat was stuck with an "OF" status) and, to my surprise, the modem started working immediately. Could this be a clue as to what is causing the problem?

--Dave

Never mind about redoing the links. Most came back right away but I had to relearn the quirks of the Morninglinc lock controller to eventually get it working.

Of course, I'll let you know if the new modem exhibits the problem that's been plaguing us.

--Dave

I had to reboot the iMac tonight (it usually runs 24x7) and upon restart, the PowerLinc once again went stupid; no connection to Indigo.
Tried the usual factory reset at least 4x and then a different approach. Maybe try this if normal resets do not work.

- Leave the USB plugged into the PowerLinc
- Remove from wall outlet for 15+ seconds
- Hold the reset button and plug into wall, watching the LED beneath the button
- Observed the green LED slowly illuminate from dim to bright
- Released the button and observed red LED, then beep, then back to green LED.
- Indigo is happily connected and passing controls.

>> Does anyone know of a price better than $67 on Amazon?
I'd still feel better replacing it, even though this one lasted only since March 2012 (nearly 3 yrs).

Try calling SmartHone support. They replaced mine with a 2.0 version and the problem has not reoccurred in over a week. There was probably a known bug in the 1.4 firmware.

--Dave

I'm riding this roller coaster at the moment. I just tried the reset; I'll report back if it fixes things.

Thanks to everyone who has provided suggestions in the thread.