Lighting Issues

[thedivineblue]

Hi there! So everything has been working great on my end, got the stupid thermostat issue fixed (grumble grumble stupid failsafe switch). I've been consistent with doing the updates for the system but something odd has been happening lately with the lighting.
 
Currently running omnipro ii 3.13, omnitouch 7 with v1.5 (cannot tell if it is v1.5 or v1.6). We have a handful of dimmer switches around the house and they have been working fine for the most part. The past week though, they have been non responsive to any remote commands (haikuhelper, superlink, even the touchscreens). I have to go unplug the UPB doohickey and then replug it back in for anything to work. The switches themselves work fine as a normal everyday switch. I do not have upstart because I have yet to get the cable, but I am starting to think that I may need to. (I am also a bit confused on what part I will need, since my computer does not have a serial port....what computer does?). Plus all the settings have been HLC.
 
The really odd thing is that two out of 8 areas have been working fine with no problems. The rest give me these odd issues. At first I thought maybe something happened and they lost contact with the system. So I tried to access them via PC Access and it kept giving me "error no module found", except for the two areas that don't have an issue. Once I power cycled the UPB, it worked fine, but lags a bit. We have not had any power surges or problems in the house. The only thing I can think of doing lately is updating to 3.13 and the screens to v1.5/1.6.
 
One question I had, is the port on the motherboard that is connected to the UPB, does it need to flash red, like some of the other connections?
 
I am thinking that maybe something happened with the last update? I am going to revert back to 3.11D (which was the last one I installed).
 
Thanks for reading and hopefully someone has some insight.
 
EDIT: I was able to revert back to a previous version, but now the zigbee isn't being read by the system nor are the security zones secure. How do I do a hard reset on the whole system? Would that be the best option? I have the company that installed it coming in tomorrow, but I hate going to bed without a security system working.

 

[Desert_AIP]

You can reboot the system by disconnecting the battery and unpluggin the transformer or about 30 seconds, then reconnect the battery and plug int he transformer.
You'll need to set the day and time.
Unless you have the system code and know what you are doing, I wouldn't perform an EEPROM reset or any of the other master resets, you would wipe things like LAN parameters/IP addresses, etc.

Your UPB module sounds like it is changing modes, and unplugging and replugging is changing it back.
The Omni talks to the PIM in Message mode, message mode is the default.
Something is likely changing it to Pulse mode. UPStart uses pulse mode.
Power cycling it changes it back to message mode.

For computer/UPStart use, the serial PIMs are better thant he USB versions.  You'll need a USB to serial adapter, but they are inexpensive.
It's much more conveinent to have a dedicated PIM for your computer ratehr than trying to share the HAI one, plugging and unplugging it.
Less apt to get it in the wrong mode too.
I use a Simply Automated serial PIM with UPStart and the USB adapter.

Do you have a UPB coupler installed?

Are you using UPB or HLC mode on the OMNI?

What do you mean by "lags"?

 

[thedivineblue]

For whatever reason when I reverted the system to 3.11D, the IPs and master code reset anyways. It almost seems like something went screwy. I was thinking of doing and EEPROM reset anyways since I already know all the settings.
 
UPB coupler is that little grey box that plugs into an outlet right? The OMNI is using HLC.
When I say lag, I mean sometimes it takes a minute before the lights come on.
 
Do you happen to know if the zigbee thermostat thingie has to be hooked up to serial port 2? There are no signs of activity when it is now.
 
Also waiting for the system to reboot, since I unplugged everything.

 

[Desert_AIP]

For the zigbee interface, check the serial port settings in PCAccess, they may have reverted from the correct settings.
Serial port number shouldn't matter as long as the correct protocol for the port is selected in PCAccess.
 
The coupler should either be installed in the breaker panel, wired nearby in it's own small box, or a plug in one conencted to a 240V outlet such as a dryer.
It bridges the two 120V legs of the service so UPB signals pass between them.
Otherwise you can have a transmitter on one leg and the receiver on another and the signlas may not be able to cross over.
 
The little box that attaches to the Omni is the PIM.
 
As for the lag.
When you get another PIM and UPStart running, you can use the log to look at the UPB traffic.
You may see a lot of requests for status and replies to and from the Omni.
That will cause a perceived lag in sending links and activating/deactivating lights.
A minute is a long time.
The UPB delay set in PCAccess is the delay between when the controller sends a command, or sees a command, and starts sending the status update traffic.
If it is set to short it will do the status requests and other UPB traffic will go in a queue until the network is quiet enough to send the traffic.
I think I have my set at 3 seconds (maybe 5, I can't recall).  So there is a short lag in the controller updating/verifying unit status, but the activation of the lights themselves is very quick.

 

[thedivineblue]

So I got ahold of the installers that originally did everything and they were able to remotely log into my system. What happened is when I tried to upgrade to version 3.13 something glitched and reset EVERYTHING. The problem is that I stupidly bought PC USER Access not Dealer, which meant that I could not fix the thermostats (zigbee and the serial ports on the mobo). They still have to come in to take a look at the lighting, because they agree something is screwy, as well as to reset the glass breaks that I have.
 
I've already bought Dealer access on amazon as well as a serial cable. Thank you for your help. I really really appreciate it. I'm trying to learn everything I can, so at least I can make adjustments in the future, as well as fix my parents house (who also have OmniPro ii)

 

[Desert_AIP]

Let us know how it turns out.

 

[thedivineblue]

Looks like we just had to install a upb repeater. Everything works fine now.
 
Question though: I plan on adding more 600 watt dimmer switches to my system. I am not sure if they installed just regular 35a00 switches or also auxiliary switches. Have alot of three way lighting in the house already. Is there a way to tell without looking at the physical switch? For example my kitchen has 4 switches. When you turn one on, the led light goes away on one switch (rotates) but stays lit on the rest. All the lighting is hlc programmed btw.