INSTEON PowerLinc Modem (2413U)

[jay (support)]

Honestly, I don't know which driver is preferred or if there's even a difference. I believe most people are using the FTDI driver that comes preinstalled on Mac OS X (and has since Mavericks) successfully. If you're using El Capitan, the issue becomes even cloudier since there appears to be a continued sporadic issues with USB devices and the OS.

Wish we could help more.

Remember, El Capitan seems to have some relatively serious USB issues that Apple doesn't appear to have addressed yet - not sure if this applies to you or not.

Thanks for the reply Jay. I haven't upgraded my OS to El C yet. Strangely the issue came without any modifications to the server.

To see if there is a conflict between the apple and FTDI interfaces, I removed the FTDI interface. I've been running for five days with just the apple interface and the interface appears to be more reliable although I do get a "send failed (no acknowledgement)" error a few times a day. The interface does recover after a minute or two though and it has not hung permanently has it did when I had both interfaces installed. This is still irritating, though, as I can not turn off the lights while waiting for it to recover. I'm going to try removing the apple interface and installing the latest FTDI interface to see if it performs more reliably. I'll post the results of this test in a few days.

Seems like there's some reliability problems with this.

Is there a better choice in straight X10 controllers? That Marmitek (And where do I get one of those? They're European.) I mean, I know it's the recommended one "if you must", but how does it compare in reliability to the 2413U?

The stuck green nuggets in the progress bar occurs when the PowerLinc reports to Indigo the power line is "busy" and cannot accept a command. This can occur if there is power line noise.

Doesn't it also occur if there is no signal path across a phase or if the receiving module is sick or unplugged?

[jay (support)]

Seems like there's some reliability problems with this.

Is there a better choice in straight X10 controllers? That Marmitek (And where do I get one of those? They're European.) I mean, I know it's the recommended one "if you must", but how does it compare in reliability to the 2413U?

See my post from yesterday.

Unbelievably, I just lost my second Powerlinc. I'm not very happy. A few days ago all my Insteon devices stopped working, I unplugged the Powerlinc and everything started working again. And now I got this error in the log the moment it died:

Error unknown command bytes received 00 00 (ignoring)
Error unknown command bytes received E0 65 (ignoring)
Error unknown command bytes received 00 00 (ignoring)
Error PowerLinc not responding -- attempting reset
Power Failure possible power failure
Interface Failure lost connection with interface

The Powerlinc is bricked. This one lasted 2 years and 9 months. Go read the reviews on Smarthome and you'll see the similar stories on there:

http://www.smarthome.com/powerlinc-mode ... ml#reviews

I'm not looked forward to digging my devices out of my boxes and skylights again to re-sync them

I'm not looked forward to digging my devices out of my boxes and skylights again to re-sync them

Why would you have to do that? Once you replace your Powerlinc it's going to automatically resync all of your stuff. Or am I not understanding correctly?

If you see my earlier posts in this thread (from my previous failure), I have several devices that require manual re-syncing inside electrical boxes and skylight motor enclosures.

[matt (support)]

Wasn't that just the IR-Linc? You will need to re-Define/Sync most modules (not just resync) because of a chance in the i2CS firmware but you shouldn't need to physically access the module except for a few specialty modules (IR-Linc, maybe some EZIOs, etc).

Update: As of Indigo 7 you no longer have to individually define/sync i2CS firmware INSTEON modules. Indigo can now swap the PowerLinc addresses (if it is replaced) as part of just a normal sync or sync-all operation.

Thanks for info Matt. It was my Ir Lincs and a few switches last time. I think I'm just disappointed that I'm going to be doing this every few years. Luckily you guys made it relatively simple. Hopefully, we'll have a similar back up for the z-wave devices soon. Its times like these I appreciate my system being half Insteon/half Z-wave and Amazon for over night shipping.

So I will preface this entry that I am very frustrated......I spent about 4 hours today getting a new 2413U up and running. I was disappointed that I had approximately 25 devices I had to manually sync, Insteon light bulbs, recessed door sensors, trigger lincs, micro switches, motion sensors, even some I/O lincs and the dreaded IR-linc transmitter tucked way up in my skylight. I am so annoyed with the erratic behavior of the "set" button on Insteon devices. Two identical devices would behave differently with the same button press. I also don't understand why the Indigo interface doesn't "red out" the unconnected Insteon devices like it does the Z-wave devices when they can't communicate? I had to manually go through my logs to figure out which devices reconnected through the batch re-sync.

I have noticed that the new 2413U version 2.1 (previous V 1.8 ) does not have the same reception and I now have a void in a previously covered spot. I also have some crazy behavior in that "void" where the Insteon light bulbs are behaving crazy. Ramping up and then back down on their own and not turning on/off (assumed communication problem). Nothing has changed in my system except for the power linc modem. Is it possible that triggers can become corrupt because of a modem change out? Anyway, time heals all wounds and I'll be happy again tomorrow. Matt and Jay, see what you made us take for granted? Reliable home automation and the weakest link (or as Insteon say "linc") turns out to be the hardware.

I have never had a single Insteon piece of hardware fail...except for the powerlinc modem...twice. The only piece I would never want to fail. Enough said. God bless Murphy and his laws.

I also don't understand why the Indigo interface doesn't "red out" the unconnected Insteon devices like it does the Z-wave devices when they can't communicate? I had to manually go through my logs to figure out which devices reconnected through the batch re-sync.

I replaced a 2413U yesterday and had Indigo sync it. Was surprised to see errors in the log for about 40 devices that said "(PowerLinc not in module's database -- try the Define and Sync process in the device dialog)".

+1 fora a feature request to reduce the manual efforts required when replacing a powerlinc. It would be nice for Indigo to identify the devices that need to be manually defined and sync'd without going through the log, as suggested by toille27. But, even better would be the ability to have Indigo identify, then batch "define and sync" them.

PowerLinc not in module's database -- try the Define and Sync process in the device dialog

That's the same error I was getting. As an example, I have 4 I/O lincs in the same box, same version number. Three of them batch synced, one errored like this, in addition to the other numerous devices. Not sure why.

[matt (support)]

If they have i2CS firmware then, unfortunately, the full define/sync process (not just the sync) should be required. So I'm not sure how to explain the difference between multiple modules with the same version behaving differently. I totally agree swapping out the 2413U is a pain, and we definitely hope to improve it on Indigo's side although it still won't likely be pain-free especially for some modules.

Update: As of Indigo 7 you no longer have to individually define/sync i2CS firmware INSTEON modules. Indigo can now swap the PowerLinc addresses (if it is replaced) as part of just a normal sync or sync-all operation.