HouseBot

My housebot server crashes multiple times a day. I am pretty sure that it is a problem with the Insteon plug-in. Using a batch file to restart the server does not work, the server just hangs with an error message, even if I turn windows error reporting off. Below is an excerpt from the System Error log right befoe the last crash. Help!


Feb 23 2007,03:42:55PM,InsteonV2,Error,"Insteon Command Timed out"
Feb 23 2007,05:04:01PM,InsteonV2,Error,"Insteon Command Timed out"
Feb 23 2007,05:04:06PM,InsteonV2,Error,"Insteon Command Timed out"
Feb 23 2007,05:04:13PM,InsteonV2,Error,"Insteon Command Timed out"
Feb 23 2007,05:04:13PM,Property:Dim Level,Error,"Due to an error, Device [Entry - Overhead] Property [Dim Level] DID NOT change."
Feb 23 2007,05:04:15PM,!! Exception encountered !!
Feb 23 2007,05:37:05PM,InsteonV2,Error,"Insteon Command Timed out"
Feb 23 2007,05:37:10PM,InsteonV2,Error,"Insteon Command Timed out"
Feb 23 2007,05:37:15PM,InsteonV2,Error,"Insteon Command Timed out"
Feb 23 2007,05:37:20PM,InsteonV2,Error,"Insteon Command Timed out"
Feb 23 2007,05:37:25PM,InsteonV2,Error,"Insteon Command Timed out"
Feb 23 2007,05:37:25PM,Property:Dim Level,Error,"Due to an error, Device [Outside Light] Property [Dim Level] DID NOT change."

Can you send me the latest dump file (found in the \HouseBot\Dump directory)? Send it to [email protected].

Also, was it running fine previously, or has it always had this issue?

Thanks for the quick response. Dump file sent.

The problem has actually been a downward slide. I have been running this setup for about eight months. In the beginning it would crash once a month, then every two weeks, one week, then about a month ago, at least once a day.

At first glance, it looks like it's happening when it tries to make a call into the SDM (activeX control).

Couple of questions:
Have you upgraded the SDM recently?

What version of the SDM are you running?

Did you notice if the SDM is running when this happens? (you may have to run your mouse pointer over the icon in the task bar to make sure it's really running).

There is more to the story. When the problem really started to get bad, I did notice odd behavior from the SDM: freezing up, or working perfectly even though it did not appear in the tray. Late, last night in my meddling, I ‘accidentally’ updated the SDM to 1.01.138.308. The update seems to have no effect on the system as a whole.

ahhh... an accidental update. That explains it

I've had issues myself with the latest SDM where it just suddenly dies. That pulls the carpet from underneath the PowerLinc2 plugin as it tries to communicate with it and WHAM, bad things happen.

I've seen other reports on their forums that 308 will randomly die, so that may be what we are seeing here. Not really sure. I'm going to return to the Insteon plugins in a while and work on them some more. Hopefully I can work around these types of things.

I'm really surprised that the SDM isn't more stable at this point in time. It's been around for a while, and still seems to be unpredictable at times.

Please confirm my conclusions:

My problems are due to an unstable SDM coupled with a plug-in that might need a little work.

Should I try to revert to an early SDM? If so, what version?

Yea, I don't know which is more unstable... the SDM or my plugin. So I don't mean to point fingers at the SDM too quickly. However, there are definitely issues with the SDM that still need to be resolved. I'm not trying to brush off the issue on them. I do plan on working on improving the stability of the Insteon plugin for V3.

I would recommend reverting back to an older version of the SDM. Not sure what the best version to try would be. Version 202 was the one that was included with the HouseBot Insteon plugin, so I know that version should work to some degree. Not sure how well the SDM will backward-migrate.

Thank your for you prompt, informative, and honest response. Very much looking forward to the day V3 is released. You have a great piece of software with a very loyal following. I foresee good things in the future.

FWIW, I have been running version 308 of the SDM and it has been rock solid. I have problems with the plugin-delivered version of the SDM almost daily. When I upgraded to 308 all of the strangeness went away. I will however say that the SDM expects to see the controller plugged in. If you unpluc the PLC and HB sends a command, ugly things can happen. I have done this before and had to restart the SDM and HB before things returned to normal.

BTW Scott - I understand that Smarthome is supposed to be releasing a new version of the Insteon PLC - they call it a PLM (Power Line Modem). It is supposed to take standard ASCII in and out to control/monitor. Supposedly this will make it much easier for software and Hardware vendors to develop products for Insteon. The PLM is supposed to be around $50.00 and be serial-only. Homeseer has already developed a plugin anticipating its arrival and has abandoned further development for the existing PLC.

Terry

I've read about the PLM, and it sounds like it is what we are really needing. It's a better fit for software managed solutions. In some ways, it seems like they should have released that first, and then the PowerLincV2 with all of its complexities later.

Anyway, assuming they have a decent API of some kind into the PLM, I look forward to having HouseBot support for it sometime after it is released.

I spoke to soon about the upgrade to SDM version 308. Although I had a few crashes right after I upgraded, I have not crashed since. The longest I have gone in almost six months.