Thanks Thanks:  0
Likes Likes:  0
Results 1 to 10 of 10

Thread: After Activating devices Repeater and Picos are unresponsive

  1. #1
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2022
    Posts
    23

    After Activating devices Repeater and Picos are unresponsive

    I'm not sure if this is a network issue or maybe something with the repeater. I'm trying to add a RA-3LD table lamp dimmer. During activation, I come back with the step to press and hold the dimmer button to activate that device however the device never activates. Then I realized that all of my picos are not operating as well as integration with Control4.

    It seems that whenever I click Activate and it runs its course (and repeater beeps and comes back with what's activated and what's not) it never fully comes back online. I can "Find Main Repeater" and it sees it. I also see the repeater on the network itself but unless I power cycle the repeater, nothing comes back online. I suspect this has nothing to do with the new dimmers since I seem to recall having an issue when making any changes as well as (I think) doing a Transfer.

    To make matters difficult, the repeater is in a place that's not easy to get to so I have to run around to unplug it etc (not sure if you can power cycle it remotely)

    Any ideas?

  2. #2
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Posts
    579
    This may be too basic but just to make sure, are you re-uploading the database after activation is finished?

    If you want to power cycle the repeater, you can figure out what breaker it's on and just turn the breaker off and back on as well.

  3. #3
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2022
    Posts
    23
    Thanks for that. I wasn’t doing a transfer because I couldn’t get a table lamp dimmer to activate.

    I can’t seem to get it to assign a serial number but I think it might be the dimmers since I can’t get them to do a factory reset. They’re RA-3LDs which I picked up on eBay. They’re an older model but lutron support says they work for RA2 and the factory reset is the same method but I can’t any of them to enter factory reset mode with the triple tap method.

    I haven’t been doing a transfer after activation. Didn’t think that would be necessary since I didn’t have any changes to push up given I can’t assign serial numbers.

    Good idea about the breaker.

    Thanks

  4. #4
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    214
    Just FYI, since you mentioned Control4, I thought I'd mention that my Indigo integration craps out any time I do an activation or transfer. I have to restart the Indigo plugin to get it working again. My RadioRA 2 system works perfectly -- it's just the integration that requires a restart.

  5. #5
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2022
    Posts
    23
    Yeah for me after an activation my picos and other controllers aren't working as well as the C4 until I reboot the repeater. Just tried going direct router and turning off wifi but no go.

  6. #6
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Posts
    579
    I think you have the original Radio Ra version. The Ra2 compatible version is RRD-3LD .

  7. #7
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Posts
    518
    Quote Originally Posted by gt3mike View Post
    Just FYI, since you mentioned Control4, I thought I'd mention that my Indigo integration craps out any time I do an activation or transfer. I have to restart the Indigo plugin to get it working again. My RadioRA 2 system works perfectly -- it's just the integration that requires a restart.
    Does the integration require restarting if the Lutron repeater is power cycled? Or does it recover? I've had other 3rd party integrations talking to main repeaters and none I've used have required restarting after a repeater transfer.

  8. #8
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    214
    Quote Originally Posted by wkearney99 View Post
    Does the integration require restarting if the Lutron repeater is power cycled? Or does it recover? I've had other 3rd party integrations talking to main repeaters and none I've used have required restarting after a repeater transfer.
    It's difficult to know, because I so rarely power cycle the repeater.

  9. #9
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Posts
    518
    Quote Originally Posted by gt3mike View Post
    It's difficult to know, because I so rarely power cycle the repeater.
    Power reliability, and recovery from loss, is definitely something worth knowing about, and testing.

    With the many layers of devices involved in home automation you never know what sort of weird state a system can get into if certain pieces aren't started or available when others come online. Helps to know if systemA has be ready-and-online before systemB can be activated.

    WiFi is typically the most troubling in this regard, as some WiFi-based devices get into really oddball states if their intended WiFi network SSID isn't available. It becomes a hassle trying to make sure the SSID is online and then flipping breakers to cycle power to WiFi stuff that's hard-wired in junction boxes.

    The Lutron main repeaters are pretty quick to boot though, so they're not usually the problem.

    For the sake of knowing, it might be worth trying a power cycle on your main repeater to see how the integration handles it. If it does so without trouble, and it's just the transfer that causes it to hang then it'd be worth reporting that as a bug to C4.

  10. #10
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    214
    Quote Originally Posted by wkearney99 View Post
    Power reliability, and recovery from loss, is definitely something worth knowing about, and testing.

    With the many layers of devices involved in home automation you never know what sort of weird state a system can get into if certain pieces aren't started or available when others come online. Helps to know if systemA has be ready-and-online before systemB can be activated.

    WiFi is typically the most troubling in this regard, as some WiFi-based devices get into really oddball states if their intended WiFi network SSID isn't available. It becomes a hassle trying to make sure the SSID is online and then flipping breakers to cycle power to WiFi stuff that's hard-wired in junction boxes.

    The Lutron main repeaters are pretty quick to boot though, so they're not usually the problem.

    For the sake of knowing, it might be worth trying a power cycle on your main repeater to see how the integration handles it. If it does so without trouble, and it's just the transfer that causes it to hang then it'd be worth reporting that as a bug to C4.
    I'm using Indigo. The developer has done some things to the plugin that improve its resiliency to repeater behavior and it's much better than it was a couple of years ago, but it still isn't perfect.

Similar Threads

  1. Repeater Connects but I cant add devices near it. Help!!
    By joelbess in forum Troubleshooting - CAS
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 08-15-2021, 08:01 PM
  2. Some devices outdoors need a repeater
    By dougcoleman in forum Design Assistance - RA2
    Replies: 11
    Last Post: 03-10-2021, 03:06 AM
  3. Using Picos to control scenes including non-Lutron devices
    By Tim T in forum General Discussion - RA2
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 04-19-2019, 12:00 AM
  4. activating devices over wifi
    By digit1 in forum Best Practices - HWQS
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 12-15-2017, 12:38 PM
  5. Problems with the transfer from repeater main to devices
    By RUBEN in forum Troubleshooting - RA2
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 05-22-2015, 11:03 AM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •