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I've been posting about this topic over at ZWaveWorld.  I have been struggling to get my PIR and door/window sensor to talk to my system controller, which uses the RZC0P.  I found that ThinkEssentials' optimization and repair tool, together with the SDK's association group "add" function works really well when using battery-powered sensors in a network.  But I've got a few questions:

1. Do the battery-powered sensors need to be awake during the optimization process, and if so, what is the best way to keep them awake during the 10 or more minutes that the process takes?
2. Does it help to run the optimization process more than once, back to back?
3. Does the network route map physically reside in the primary controller, or is it shared across multiple devices?
4. Is the primary controller the only controller from which return routes can be set, or can return routes be set from a secondary controller?
   
5. Does the SDK's association-group-add function also set the return route for battery-powered sensors?  If so, does this return routing then reside in the battery-powered device, or does it reside in the wired nodes that can "see" the battery-powered sensor?  How many return routes does the SDK set for a single battery-powered device?
6. If the SDK's group add function does not set return routes, is there an SDK function that does set return routes?
7. If my primary controller is a USB dongle, what is the best way to transfer the network routing map to my RZC0P, and would my RZC0P then be able to set return routes using the "RO" command?
8. Are there any plans to consolidate primary controller node add/delete functions, network optimization, and association group configuration into a single ThinkEssentials or ThinkEssentialsPro application?
   

 

Gary,

Here you go:

1. Yes, they need to be awake if you're rediscovering them.  The best way to do it depends on the particular device.
2. Running optimization more than once doesn't have any extra benefit.
3. The network route map resides in every controller.  When you set associations/links in devices or "add/update" a controller in the network, pertinent routing info is updated at that time.
4. All controller can set Z-Wave "return routes" (i.e. the routes the device uses to contact devices in its associated groups).
5. The SDK automatically updates "return routes" in the devices when you set up the associations/links.
6. n/a
7. Just press the "add device" button in ThinkEssentials and put the RZC0P in receive mode, and it'll be updated with all the latest routes.
8. Yes, we will be adding associations (linking) in a future update of ThinkEssentials.

Chris

Thanks Chris!

I guess if the RZC0P was alive and talking during the optimization procedure, that it got the latest routes during that procedure, and there's no need to add/update? 

garylm,

No, you'll need to copy the routes over to it.  In the current version, optimizing the network doesn't propogate the optimized routes out to the devices; it just stores them in the USB stick.

Chris

So after running the optimization I need to add/update every device in the network?

The RZC0P with the serial side disconnected came back:  "No device was added."  Every other device in the system added/updated successfully.  I originally added the RZC0P to the network using Z-Tool and the same HA22 dongle that I'm using with ThinkEssentials.

Gary,

For this advanced procedure, you only need to add/update every _controller_ in the network after you do the optimize/repair.  If there are any "routing slaves" that are acting up, just update them by re-assigning them their associated nodes.

How are you doing the "receive update" on the RZC0P?

Chris

According to the RZC0P Installation Instructions:

To update Plug-In Serial Interface Module proceed as follows:

...

When prompted (by the non-Leviton Programmer/Remote), press button on the Plug-In Serial Interface Module.

In my case, the "non-Leviton Programmer" would be ThinkEssentials.

The procedure for adding the RZC0P to the network is a bit different.  In that case you hold the button in on the RZC0P until the LED turns amber, and then you press the add/include button on the programmer.

I've tried the first method, but maybe I need to do the add/include method.

There is this note at the bottom of the instruction sheet:

NOTE: If the Plug-In Serial Interface Module has been successfully included in the network and the user tries to include it again without first excluding it from the network, the controller will retain the first node ID it had received and ignore the second.

So it couldn't hurt to add/include it again. 

It turned out to be a combination of the two methods.  Hold the button in on the RZC0P until it flashes amber.  Then click "add" on ThinkEssentials.  Then press the button on the RZC0P momentarily.  And I think the ThinkEssentials dongle needs to be close to the RZC0P.

 

edit:  It turns out that there's no need for that second button press.  Just get the RZC0P flashing amber, click "add", and then WAIT. 

Does the HA22 count itself in the network map after running the optimization?

Chris,

If I use the HA22 with my laptop as my primary controller when adding Z-Wave devices and when running ThinkEssentials' optimization utility, is the HA22 counting itself as a routing node?  If my HA22 and laptop are located in the same room as my sensors when I run the optimization, does my HA22 get the idea that he's the best node for the first hop when routing from my sensors?  When I use that same HA22 to add a device to my sensor's association group and at the same time transfer to my sensor the first four or five routes connecting to that newly-associated device, is the HA22 counting itself in all four of those routes?  If I unplugged my HA22 when I took my laptop to work, did I just cut off the only four routes that those sensors know about.  If the HA22 is counting itself in the routes, but the HA22 will not be available for continuous operation, what is the best way to fool the optimization utility into thinking that the HA22 is not the best choice for routing hops?  Should I run the optimization utility from across the street or down in the Bat Cave where the HA22 can only see one other device in the network?

Thanks.

garylm,

You have a bat cave? ;)

By default, ThinkEssentials does not include the USB adapter as a routing device.

Chris

Chris Walker:

By default, ThinkEssentials does not include the USB adapter as a routing device.

 

 

This is helpful for me to understand as well.  What if you have other, non-primary USB sticks on the network at the time of optimization?  Does the primary stick use those other HA-22's in the routing path?  

Thanks,

Andy

If the HA22s were set up by ThinkEssentials, they do not act as repeaters in the network.

Chris

Chris Walker:

If the HA22s were set up by ThinkEssentials, they do not act as repeaters in the network.

 

Maybe that's where I went wrong.  I was dabbling with Z-Tool when I added my HA22 to the network as primary controller.  Do I now have a mobile repeater (network befuddler?) on my hands?

Very possibly.  Unfortunately, there's no easy way to fix that.  Might I recommend transferring the primary role to another controller, removing your PC from the network, resetting the USB using ThinkEssentials, and then transfering primary role back?

Chris