[XTension] Hubitat ghost units - Resolved (time will tell)

[Brian Williams]

Good evening, and yes, it is a good evening (so far).

First to answer James question: "Do you mean in the list you can get by going to settings and then ZWave settings in the Hubitat?” Yes, that is indeed the place to find problem devices. I had devices that showed the path from the HE to the problem device, showing the path to include non-existent devices. Something was returning pings for the ghosts. When ‘Remove” was offered, I tried to - sometimes it worked, and sometimes not. By this time I had 4 ghosts left, and they were persistent.

Taking some off-repeated advice, I again unplugged every plug-in Z-Wave dimmer and switch, then at the service entrance turned of the breakers for a couple of circuits, and in one case popped the GFCI on the outlet that feeds outdoor sockets. In one particular case, where a known switch was in the communication path, I took the switch out of its callbox, and disconnected the line feed. I was ready to use the software, described in the paragraph below.

There is a document by Silicon Labs, "Using Z-Wave USB Sticks to remove ghosts or add devices," that suggests that there is a Mac solution : "MAC users: "You can download the Mac version (dmg file) of the PC Controller app here." If there is a Mac version of the PC controller app, it is well hidden. I never found it. Well frustrated by apparent misguidance, I pulled out an old Windows (10) box (laptop) that had been given to me a few years ago. I loaded Silicon Labs' Simplicity Studio, and proceeded. My decade old Aeotec stick, ZW090 -A kept crashing the app, so I bought a Zooz S2 stick 700. After going in circles a couple of times, things started to look familiar.  The PC Controller app removed the 4 obstinate ghosts handily, and the Hubitat confirmed their demise. 

I should know by tomorrow if all is running properly.

There are suggestions that the ghosts are a product of failed pairings. However, from my perspective, some that looked to have failed hadn’t, and thus I tried again, and again, until I gave up on those. I suspect where some of the ghosts originate. While pairing, the HE acknowledges finding the new device, and asks if inclusion should be with or without security. Upon answer, it spins and never finishes (i.e. it never asks for the device to be named nor placed (room), and doesn't get to the concluding stages. Today I tried to pair a new device and that partial fail occurred , but I noticed that it was added to the devices. I was able to exclude it, I then reset the device to factory default, and tried to pair it again. This time the proper path was followed (i.e. Security?, Name, Room...). I remember several similar failures with other devices during my struggle to populate the C-8.

If all appears good over the next day or so, I’ll attempt to include several more devices that appeared to have failed previously, but I’ll know about ghosts and to watchful.

Best regards,  Brian