z-stick included devices not appearing in Indigo node list

I had to repair a device which I was having difficulties in changing some parameters.
I successfully excluded & then re-included the device to the z-stick, but when I returned the z-stick to my computer, the device does not appearing the node list to re-sync to the device in Indigo.
I repeated the exclusion / inclusion several time, and I still had the same issue.

My node count is currently sitting at 232.

Also is there a way I can remove unwanted "Other available Node ID's from my list that are no longer accessible or needed?

The plot thickens.

In an attempt to trouble shoot this issue I have performed the following.
> I have a brand new Z-Stick, which I loaded with a back-up from the old z-stick, then excluded & re-included the same device, plugged the new z-stick in to my mac, and I could still not find the device in the node list on Indigo.
> I grabbed a spare z-wave sensor and excluded / re-included it using the new z-stick, and that I could not find this device in the node list either.
> I repeated this same exercise as above with the old z-stick, same result.

The only conclusion I can draw is that for some reason Indigo is not picking up new included devices.

Any help with this would greatly be appreciated before I go insane.

[jay (support)]

I suspect it's not actually including for some reason. With your new stick (since you still have the old one with your current network), connect it and reset the stick completely (Interfaces->Z-Wave->Reset Z-Wave Interface...). Then exclude/include the spare sensor you have to see if it will include correctly.

Also is there a way I can remove unwanted "Other available Node ID's from my list that are no longer accessible or needed?

Check out the Remove Failed Device from Controller section of the Z-Wave docs.

What version of Indigo are you using?

[MODERATOR NOTE]: moved to the Z-Wave forum.

Thanks Jay,

I'm currently using version 7.5.

I'm a bit nervous when it comes to resetting things on Indigo, as I don't want to run the risk of loosing connection to me 200+ devices and the interaction with established triggers, schedules & groups.

When I upload the backup to the new z-stick, it was ~5 devices short, as they had been added to the old z-stick after the last back-up. This was confirmed when I plug in the new z-stick and checked the node list. This gave me the impression that Indigo was talking and picking up data from the to the new z-stick.

Before I hit the reset, can you please reconfirm that the action I need to take will be as follow and this will not interfer with any device connections with indigo nor established triggers, schedules & groups.
> Insert new Z-stick with back-up data from old z-stick in to mac ruling Indigo;
> Go to Interfaces->Z-Wave->Reset Z-Wave Interface

In regard to the removal of the unwanted "Other available Node ID's from my list in Indigo, I did follow the steps in the link you provided (Create a new device, tried to sync the unwanted node, received a "Timeout" notification, cancelled the synchronisation, went to Interface > Z-Wave > Remove Failed Modules from Controller) and it did not work.

[jay (support)]

> Insert new Z-stick with back-up data from old z-stick in to mac ruling Indigo;
> Go to Interfaces->Z-Wave->Reset Z-Wave Interface

That's correct. Note that it won't do anything in Indigo. It will only reset the Z-Stick and will allow you to add the sensor to a new empty network to see if that works. All of your Indigo devices in will still be present, and when you switch back to your old stick it should be operating as before.

When I upload the backup to the new z-stick, it was ~5 devices short, as they had been added to the old z-stick after the last back-up. This was confirmed when I plug in the new z-stick and checked the node list. This gave me the impression that Indigo was talking and picking up data from the to the new z-stick.

Not quite following that logic. Did you try making a backup AFTER you added the 5 devices then restoring that backup to the new stick? My suspicion is that those were never really added to the stick, which is why Indigo isn't seeing them. Also, why are you adding devices by carrying around the stick rather than just doing it through the sync dialog?

In regard to the removal of the unwanted "Other available Node ID's from my list in Indigo, I did follow the steps in the link you provided (Create a new device, tried to sync the unwanted node, received a "Timeout" notification, cancelled the synchronisation, went to Interface > Z-Wave > Remove Failed Modules from Controller) and it did not work.

That is not a good sign - the last time I saw that fail it was because of a corrupted Z-Stick. What exactly does it show in the Event Log when you try to remove failed modules?

Thanks Jay,

The good news is
that I managed to remove all the unwanted nodes from my list , The bad news is it took multiple attempts to try and sync the nodes to a device before the "Remove Failed Modules from the Controller" function would work. It was a long drawn out process with lots of failed attempts

With the Z-stick issue, I "Reset the z-wave Interface" as instructed, which wiped my z-stick of all nodes, I then reloaded my backed up copy to the new z-stick and managed to restore nodes and bring the system back on line, with the added benefit of being able to add new devices to the z-stick.

I have parked the old z-stick for now, as it decided turn rouge on the other day by turning every z-wave device on in my house without any instructions from Indigo. The strange thing was that the device state in Indigo remained unchanged i.e. The kitchen light turn on, but Indigo was telling me it was off. This meant that I had to turn every device on & off in indigo to return the devices to a normal stated, which was not fun, as I have a number of devices on my network.

[jay (support)]

With the Z-stick issue, I "Reset the z-wave Interface" as instructed, which wiped my z-stick of all nodes, I then reloaded my backed up copy to the new z-stick and managed to restore nodes and bring the system back on line, with the added benefit of being able to add new devices to the z-stick.

Glad it's working, though I have to say I'd be highly suspicious of it. My guess is that there is some corruption in the Z-Stick's database, which is being moved via your restore. It might be working now, but whatever corruption is there might just be dormant for the time being.

I have parked the old z-stick for now, as it decided turn rouge on the other day by turning every z-wave device on in my house without any instructions from Indigo. The strange thing was that the device state in Indigo remained unchanged i.e. The kitchen light turn on, but Indigo was telling me it was off. This meant that I had to turn every device on & off in indigo to return the devices to a normal stated, which was not fun, as I have a number of devices on my network.

All you really needed to do was to select the device in the list and click the send status request button. That might fail for some battery powered devices, but others it would just queue it up until the next update. It should work for all always-powered devices.

Thanks again Jay, you learn something new everyday. I'll try out the Status Refresh button next time to see if that speeds up things.

Here is fingers crossed that I do not have to re-create my z-stick database, because with 200+ nodes, some in difficult places to reach, it is not a task I would be looking forward to.

This being said, it begs the question, what is the potential causes of the z-stick database becoming corrupt? Could it be because I remove the z-stick from my Mac to pair new devices whilst Indigo is running and communicating with the z-stick? If this is the case, is there a better and safer way to remove the z-stick? i.e. shutdown Indigo first, or a eject the z-stick like you would with a USB stick on a PC.

I do not hold a lot of confidence should I have to recreate my z-stick database, that it would not become corrupt again, as this would be the second time I would have done this. So any advise you can provide on this would be greatly appreciated.

[jay (support)]

Curious: why are you carrying the stick to each device? You can start the inclusion from the device sync dialog and just go to the device to include it, no need to carry the stick. In fact, that's the recommended procedure because it creates correct network routes. If you carry the stick around, the network routes can be wrong because the stick is constantly changing physical location.

Theoretically unplugging/plugging shouldn't cause a problem, but I suppose it's possible that the stick is susceptible to issues like that.

Thanks Jay, what happens if the device is out of range of the Mac, will it still include via other connected devices?

[matt (support)]

Yes, if you have modules that support Z-Wave routing (which is just about any module that isn't battery powered) it should include even if it requires routing.