macOS High Sierra (10.13) FTDI Driver Bug Workaround

when applying trying to remove the AppleUsdftdi.kext i am told it’readonky


unable to change permissions

so guess it back to my unix reference manual unless som3
e has a simple solution

[jay (support)]

Did you try a clean install without attempting the workaround? That's what I meant: do a clean HS install then try Indigo without doing any workarounds...

So, to be very specific:

1. Install High Sierra, and reformat the drive in the installation process so that is a totally clean install
2. Once you have the clean High Sierra install working (you've logged in, etc), then manually move the files as described in step 2 of this section of the docs from your backup to that exact location (assuming you're on 7.4)
3. Run the Indigo 7.4.1 installer

Then start up Indigo, make sure the Insteon interface is configured with the right serial port, and see if it works.

it was a clean install but I did a time machine back up

wil try again your way

[jay (support)]

it was a clean install but I did a time machine back up

wil try again your way

I don't know that it'll work, only that we've had reports of 2012 and 2014 Mac minis that had the issue but after that procedure they no longer had it. Keeping my fingers crossed...

using time machine I still have the issue. but I dot have any working insteon devices anyway. Z wave and x-10 work fine

OK did the 7.4 install.. I had for gotten about you ending support for Apple script. opps.. Insteon work around not working but no loss. The AppleScript loss is major Cab I down grade to 7.3?

[jay (support)]

The 7.4 installer doesn't delete/overwrite the 7.3 install, so you can just follow the same steps for 7.3.

I have to ask - if you don't have any Insteon devices then why worry about the PowerLinc driver issue at all?

And, when you say X10 is working fine, do you mean X10 RF?

I should say "I don't have any I use"

I did have a couple of motion detectors I retired on favor of Z-wave


Yes the X-10 is RF (W800USB)

[jay (support)]

Update

Thanks to some great sleuthing by a forum user, we've discovered that there is also a PowerLinc Modem version component to this issue. He had an older PowerLinc which identified itself as v2.1. When he upgraded to Catalina, he experienced the issue. After attempting all of the various workarounds (drivers, hubs in various configurations, etc), he decided to buy a new PowerLinc, which identified itself as V2.5. He attached it directly to a USB3 port on a MacBook Air, and it worked.

It's unclear if it's some hardware change or something in the firmware (or both), but it does appear that this also plays a role in the issue. So, a reasonable attempt to overcome the issue is to get a new PowerLinc and give it a try. If it doesn't work you can always return it.

I'd like to add some additional experience with this, too. (And, I waited a very long time to upgrade past Sierra due to this, and some other apps that I needed to keep around for a while).

Anyways, I upgraded this weekend from Indigo 6.x to 7.4.1, and then once it was up and running and I had cleaned out my non-64 bit apps, I upgraded to the current Catalina (10.15.6) from Sierra.

Upon the first login after the upgrade (which went very smoothly) I went into System Prefs and enabled the FTDI driver (among others) so it would be allowed to load. It did not "load" right away and my 2413U showed up as red/disabled in Indigo. After a full restart, the FTDI obviously loaded just fine, and I was surprised (and...yay!...very happy) that the PowerLinc showed up as green in Indigo.

The unit in question is marked (sticker) v2.1 firmware (purchased Dec 2016) but as the other user had mentioned, reports as v9.14 (in Indigo 7 + Catalina). I checked the recent Indigo 6.x logs (under Sierra) and it was reporting v9.14 there as well. So, I'm not sure what's going on with that, since these PLMs don't get firmware updates, right?

So, I'm quite pleased that I still have access to my Insteon devices (although I'm slowly moving away from the platform...long story) now that I'm on Catalina. I hope this information helps others who have had challenges. One last bit of detail, Indigo is running on a late 2016 Retina 5K iMac 4GHz i7, as I know there's been speculation that all of this could be due to certain chipsets and such.

Ok, that's all!

--Joe

I've just (probably? possibly?) been hit by this issue. To say that it's driving me nuts would bre putting it mildly.

I've had the house running on Indigido 6.something for ages with no problems. About 6 weeks ago the 2413U appeared to have failed, so I plugged in my acnient 2414 and ordered a new 2413. Which arrived, got plugged in, initialised and all seemed well. Then a couple of weeks ago, it just stopped working. After much swearing, I again plugged in the ancient 2414 (which means I have to get up a ladder to manually turn on/off the inline module that operates the bathroom fan!) to await a replacement 2413.

Today that arrived. Plugging it in simply didn't do anything I've ever seen before; it repeatedly (like hundreds of times) complained about no communicatins, no response, the 2413 wasn't conencted, compalin, complain, oh, I have a 2413, no i don't, compalin... on and on. I tried rebooting the Mac mini, differnet usb cables, plugging the 2413 into differetn mains sockets...

Then it actually started connecting, and doign the initalisation stuff. All seemed to be goign ok. Did some testing, found a few things not linking up properly, some would handle the 'define and sync' stuff, some wouldn't.

I bought an update to 7.5 and installed it in desperation. That seemed to start ok; connected, made lights turn on/off except the same few and then suddenely.. nothing. No conenction to the 2413 at all. Another hour of so of swearing and I'm back tothe tediously slow init for the ancient 2414. And climbing a ladder for the shower fan.

I'm not going to try messing with FTDI drivers at this time of the day after so much frustration; it'll only end in things being thrown.

It really does feel like time to find sometihng other than insteon gear.

[jay (support)]

Your symptoms don't seem to be the driver issue. Are you seeing any errors in the Event Log window? Copy/paste them into a reply if so.

Hi Jay,
yes, many messages in the log. I'll try attaching the full file for yesterday but in case that doesn't work here are some snippets that appear important to me - all seem to be post 7.5 upgrade

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2021-02-02 16:59:20.662   Application   Connected to PowerLinc 2413U interface on port usbserial-AK05Z8BU
2021-02-02 16:59:20.662   Application   PowerLinc address 53.C1.81, firmware version 9.14
2021-02-02 16:59:53.903   PowerLinc   Linking - syncing PowerLinc links (address 53.C1.81)
2021-02-02 16:59:53.903   Error   "LaundryControlMB" on to 100; send failed (no acknowledgment)
2021-02-02 16:59:53.904   PowerLinc   Linking - . . adding: INSTEON plc link to controller 39.44.1C, flags 03, group 01, data 00 00 FF
2021-02-02 16:59:54.621   Error   resending previous command (busy or unexpected command)
2021-02-02 16:59:54.972   Error   resending previous command (busy or unexpected command)
2021-02-02 16:59:55.324   Error   resending previous command (busy or unexpected command)
2021-02-02 16:59:55.678   Error   resending previous command (busy or unexpected command)
2021-02-02 16:59:56.033   Error   resending previous command (busy or unexpected command)
2021-02-02 16:59:56.388   Error   resending previous command (busy or unexpected command)
2021-02-02 16:59:56.741   Error   resending previous command (busy or unexpected command)
2021-02-02 16:59:57.091   Error   resending previous command (busy or unexpected command)
2021-02-02 16:59:57.446   Error   resending previous command (busy or unexpected command)
2021-02-02 16:59:57.797   Error   resending previous command (busy or unexpected command)
2021-02-02 16:59:58.147   Error   resending previous command (busy or unexpected command)
2021-02-02 16:59:58.499   Error   resending previous command (busy or unexpected command)
2021-02-02 16:59:58.854   Error   resending previous command (busy or unexpected command)
2021-02-02 16:59:59.205   Error   resending previous command (busy or unexpected command)
2021-02-02 16:59:59.555   Error   resending previous command (busy or unexpected command)
2021-02-02 16:59:59.905   Error   ManageAllLinkRecord failed to add link record
2021-02-02 16:59:59.909   PowerLinc   Linking - sync complete
2021-02-02 16:59:59.909   PowerLinc   Linking - PowerLinc links updated
2021-02-02 17:00:00.165   PowerLinc   Linking - sending engine version request to 39.44.1C
2021-02-02 17:00:00.919   Error   resending previous command (busy or unexpected command)
2021-02-02 17:00:01.287   Error   resending previous command (busy or unexpected command)
2021-02-02 17:00:01.655   Error   resending previous command (busy or unexpected command)
2021-02-02 17:00:02.023   Error   resending previous command (busy or unexpected command)
2021-02-02 17:00:02.391   Error   resending previous command (busy or unexpected command)
2021-02-02 17:00:02.758   Error   resending previous command (busy or unexpected command)
2021-02-02 17:00:03.126   Error   resending previous command (busy or unexpected command)
2021-02-02 17:00:03.494   Error   resending previous command (busy or unexpected command)
2021-02-02 17:00:03.861   Error   resending previous command (busy or unexpected command)
2021-02-02 17:00:04.229   Error   resending previous command (busy or unexpected command)
2021-02-02 17:00:04.597   Error   resending previous command (busy or unexpected command)
2021-02-02 17:00:04.965   Error   resending previous command (busy or unexpected command)
2021-02-02 17:00:05.332   Error   resending previous command (busy or unexpected command)
2021-02-02 17:00:05.700   Error   resending previous command (busy or unexpected command)
2021-02-02 17:00:06.068   Error   resending previous command (busy or unexpected command)
2021-02-02 17:00:06.419   Error   SendInsteonMessage failed
2021-02-02 17:00:12.519   PowerLinc   Linking - no response from device
2021-02-02 17:00:12.519   PowerLinc   Linking - sending engine version request to 39.44.1C
2021-02-02 17:00:13.278   Error   resending previous command (busy or unexpected command)

This pattern repeats many, many times.

Then there are several cases of

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2021-02-02 17:00:43.478   Error   PowerLinc not responding -- attempting reset
2021-02-02 17:00:43.731   Power Failure   possible power failure
2021-02-02 17:00:46.982   Error   resending previous command (busy or unexpected command)
2021-02-02 17:00:47.111   Interface Failure   lost connection with interface
2021-02-02 17:00:47.349   Error   resending previous command (busy or unexpected command)

... followed by hundreds of the "Error resending" messages.

Currenlty I'm back on the ancient 2414 and the log messages from restartign with that are the rather more normal -

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2021-02-02 17:17:39.349   Application   Started interface "INSTEON Commands 7.5.0"
2021-02-02 17:17:50.842   Application   Connected to SmartHome PowerLinc USB E
2021-02-02 17:17:50.881   Application   PowerLinc address 15.CD.0F, firmware version 2.13
2021-02-02 17:17:52.697   Application   PowerLinc standalone operation disabled
2021-02-02 17:17:52.697   Application   Indigo directly controlling automation logic
2021-02-02 17:18:06.000   PowerLinc   Linking - batch syncing all links for "LowerHallControlSwitch"
2021-02-02 17:18:06.000   PowerLinc   Linking - batch syncing all links for "LowerHallOfficeEndSwitch"
2021-02-02 17:18:06.000   PowerLinc   Linking - batch syncing all links for "LowerStairControlMBDimmer"
2021-02-02 17:18:06.000   PowerLinc   Linking - batch syncing all links for "LivingRoomControlMB"
2021-02-02 17:18:06.000   PowerLinc   Linking - batch syncing all links for "MBedHallControlMB"
2021-02-02 17:18:06.001   PowerLinc   Linking - batch syncing all links for "MBedBridgetControlSwitch"
2021-02-02 17:18:06.001   PowerLinc   Linking - batch syncing all links for "MBedTimControlMB"
2021-02-02 17:18:06.001   PowerLinc   Linking - batch syncing all links for "GarageExternalLightsControlSwitch"
2021-02-02 17:18:06.001   PowerLinc   Linking - batch syncing all links for "EntryHallwayControlMB"
2021-02-02 17:18:06.001   PowerLinc   Linking - batch syncing all links for "MudroomControlSwitch"
2021-02-02 17:18:06.001   PowerLinc   Linking - batch syncing all links for "LaundryControlMB"
2021-02-02 17:18:06.002   PowerLinc   Linking - batch syncing all links for "UpperStairControlMB"
2021-02-02 17:18:06.002   PowerLinc   Linking - batch syncing all links for "MBathControlMB"
2021-02-02 17:18:06.002   PowerLinc   Linking - batch syncing all links for "EntryLightRelay"
2021-02-02 17:18:06.002   PowerLinc   Linking - batch syncing all links for "DiningRoomLightingRelay"
2021-02-02 17:18:06.002   PowerLinc   Linking - batch syncing all links for "GBathFanSwitch"
2021-02-02 17:18:06.003   PowerLinc   Linking - batch syncing all links for "KitchenCeilingLightRelay"
2021-02-02 17:18:06.003   PowerLinc   Linking - batch syncing all links for "KitchenControlMB"
2021-02-02 17:18:06.003   PowerLinc   Linking - batch syncing all links for "KitchenTableDimmer"
2021-02-02 17:18:06.003   PowerLinc   Linking - batch syncing all links for "KitchenPantryRelay"
2021-02-02 17:18:06.003   PowerLinc   Linking - batch syncing all links for "MBathLightingRelay"
2021-02-02 17:18:06.003   PowerLinc   Linking - batch syncing all links for "Plug-in1"
2021-02-02 17:18:06.004   PowerLinc   Linking - batch syncing all links for "Plug-in2"
2021-02-02 17:18:06.004   PowerLinc   Linking - batch syncing all links for "MBedHallLightRelay"
2021-02-02 17:18:06.004   PowerLinc   Linking - batch syncing all links for "FireplaceNicheDimmer"
2021-02-02 17:18:06.004   PowerLinc   Linking - batch syncing all links for "BackPorchControlSwitch"
2021-02-02 17:18:06.004   PowerLinc   Linking - skipping batch sync for "new device" (device communication is disabled)
2021-02-02 17:18:06.004   PowerLinc   Linking - batch syncing all links for "BathFanRelay"
2021-02-02 17:18:06.005   PowerLinc   Linking - batch syncing all links for "LowerLRPatioControlMB"
2021-02-02 17:18:06.005   PowerLinc   Linking - batch syncing all links for "MBedTablelampPlugin"
2021-02-02 17:18:06.005   PowerLinc   Linking - batch syncing all links for "Entry niche light"
2021-02-02 17:18:06.005   PowerLinc   Linking - batch syncing all links for "unused"
2021-02-02 17:18:06.005   PowerLinc   Linking - skipping batch sync for "PorchSensor" (device communication is disabled)
2021-02-02 17:18:06.005   PowerLinc   Linking - batch sync started
2021-02-02 17:18:06.006   PowerLinc   Linking - syncing PowerLinc links (address 15.CD.0F)
2021-02-02 17:18:08.385   PowerLinc   Linking - . . . read: INSTEON plc link to controller 15.C6.F9, flags 03, group 01, data 00 00 FF
2021-02-02 17:18:08.465   PowerLinc   Linking - . . . read: INSTEON plc link to responder 15.C6.F9, flags 02, group 13, data 03 1F 00
2021-02-02 17:18:08.465   PowerLinc   Linking - . . . read: INSTEON plc link to controller 17.81.F1, flags 03, group 01, data 00 00 FF
2021-02-02 17:18:08.545   PowerLinc   Linking - . . . read: INSTEON plc link to responder 17.81.F1, flags 02, group 0D, data 03 1F 00
2021-02-02 17:18:08.545   PowerLinc   Linking - . . . read: INSTEON plc link to controller 15.C5.EC, flags 03, group 01, data 00 00 FF
2021-02-02 17:18:08.545   PowerLinc   Linking - . . . read: INSTEON plc link to controller 15.C7.EA, flags 03, group 01, data 00 00 FF

... and finallly 40 minutes later

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2021-02-02 17:56:51.564   PowerLinc   Linking - batch sync complete

[jay (support)]

Hmmm. That's not exactly what we expect with the driver issue. Try doing a factory reset on the 2413U:

1. Shut down the Indigo server
2. Unplug the 2413U
3. Press and hold the black set button
4. Plug it in while continuing to hold the button
5. Wait about 15 seconds or until it long beeps
6. Release the set button
7. Start the Indigo server back up and reselect the PowerLinc's serial port (if necessary)
8. Watch the event log window and allow whatever it's trying to do to complete

If it has any errors, copy/paste all the text from the Event log window into a reply.

Also another question: is the 2414U plugged into exactly the same outlet and USB port as the 2413U was?

OK, I'll try that tomorrow morning while SWMBO is out and unable to try pressing buttons mid-test.