I was using a lot of scenes and Timers before and switched over to using PLEG which is much nicer and more organized but ever since I have been having issues with Vera’s stability.
Now I may be using PLEG more than I should so this could be a user error. I have moved all my timers into a AutoLights & Timers PLEG instance since I wanted to move all NOW statements into one instance. Below is my PLEG:
Triggers
Name Description Last Trigger State
babyLightOn Baby Light Dimmer is turned on 2013-12-10 12:11:25.971 true
isNightTime DayNightPlugin indicates Night time. 2013-12-07 17:23:53.123 false
laundryLightOn Laundry Room Light is turned on 2013-12-10 07:08:22.424 false
masterToiletLightOn Master Bath Toilet Light is turned on 2013-12-08 00:10:50.673 false
masterClosetLightOn Master Bath Closet Light is turned on 2013-12-10 07:27:58.725 false
kidsBathLightOn Bathroom (kids) - Light is turned on 2013-12-10 07:30:52.245 false
babyLightOff Baby Light Dimmer is turned off 2013-12-10 09:36:53.527 false
entryDoorOpen Z1 - Entry Doors armed is tripped 2013-12-10 12:12:00.039 true
patioDoorOpen Z2 - Patio Door armed is tripped 2013-12-10 12:10:37.016 false
isDayTime DayNightPlugin indicates Day time. 2013-12-10 07:07:56.124 true
motionGameRoom Game Room Camera Motion Sensor armed is tripped 2013-12-10 12:19:15.396 true
motionBabyRoom Baby Camera Motion Sensor armed is tripped 2013-12-10 12:20:49.571 true
patioDoorClosed Z2 - Patio Door armed is not tripped 2013-12-10 12:10:42.021 true
motionLivingRoom Living Room Camera Motion Sensor armed is tripped 2013-12-10 12:18:52.269 true
livingRoomLightOn Living Room Light is turned on 2013-12-10 07:02:30.626 false
breakfastLightOn Breakfast Room Light is turned on 2013-12-10 07:02:30.887 false
kitchenLightOn Kitchen Light is turned on 2013-12-10 06:53:52.256 false
stairsLightOn Living Room Light is turned on 2013-12-10 07:02:30.627 false
motionFrontDoor Front Door Camera Motion Sensor armed is tripped 2013-12-10 12:18:44.006 true
Conditions
Name Expression Last True State
turnOffLaundryLight laundryLightOn;NOW > 300 2013-12-10 07:13:53.102 true
turnOffKidsBathLight kidsBathLightOn;NOW > 3600 2013-12-10 08:30:53.103 true
turnOffMasterToiletLight masterToiletLightOn;NOW > 300 2013-12-08 00:16:50.104 true
turnOffMasterCloset masterClosetLightOn;NOW > 300 2013-12-10 07:33:53.105 true
turnOnBabyLight babyLightOff; motionBabyRoom > 10 2013-12-10 12:11:25.717 true
turnOffBabyLight babyLightOn;NOW > 1200 2013-12-10 09:36:53.113 false
turnOnFrontLights isNightTime 2013-12-07 17:23:53.134 false
turnOffFrontLights isDayTime 2013-12-08 07:06:31.131 true
resetMotionBaby motionBabyRoom;NOW > 60 2013-12-10 12:16:53.108 false
resetMotionGameRoom motionGameRoom;NOW > 60 2013-12-10 12:16:53.113 false
resetMotionFrontDoor motionFrontDoor; NOW > 120 2013-12-10 08:22:53.110 false
resetMotionLivingRoom motionLivingRoom; NOW > 120 2013-12-10 12:04:53.113 false
alertEntryDoor entryDoorOpen AND (entryDoorOpen; NOW > 120) 2013-12-10 12:14:53.113 true
alertBackDoor patioDoorOpen AND (patioDoorOpen; NOW > 60) 2013-12-05 11:34:33.114 false
alertDogReminder patioDoorClosed; NOW > 600 2013-12-10 08:59:53.122 false
livingAreaLightsOff NOT livingRoomLightOn AND NOT kitchenLightOn AND NOT breakfastLightOn AND NOT stairsLightOn 2013-12-10 07:40:34.024 true
autoLivingAreaLightsOn livingAreaLightsOff AND (motionLivingRoom AND isNightTime) 2013-12-06 19:55:43.514 false
turnOnLivingArea autoLivingAreaLightsOn 2013-12-06 19:55:43.517 false
turnOffLivingAreaLights turnOnLivingArea; NOW > 600 2013-12-07 01:11:16.237 true
You can see from the attached image that Vera is always stuck loading this last plugin and is constantly switching from the screen shoot to “Unit is Busy”.
My Vera is a Vera Lite so I may also be pushing the limit of the Vera Lite. Is there a way to find out how many devices you have? I have all lights in my house automated except 3 with ceiling fans, considering using the Insteon FanLink for these.
I do not have a USB Thumbdrive attached for logging but I have unchecked all logging options. Richard, any ideas of what I can do or am I just pushing my Vera Lite to much.
When you say all … I hope you did not uncheck:
Store logs on USB device*
How many Z-Wave device ?
Which Plugins and how many of each ?
[quote=“RichardTSchaefer, post:2, topic:178213”]When you say all … I hope you did not uncheck:
Store logs on USB device*
How many Z-Wave device ?
Which Plugins and how many of each ?[/quote]
I do not have a USB Thumb drive attached to store my logs there so yes it is also unchecked. I am trying to find a spare USB drive to attach to see if it will make any difference, what is the minimum size recommended for the USB drive?
Devices:
I went to http://VeraIP:3480/data_request?id=user_data2&output_format=xml and counted the Device’s under the tree and come up with 68. Is there a better way to get an actually count of all devices, virtual and real?
My Plugins:
1 - Wunderground Weather Plugin
0 - Countdown timer
1 - DSC Alarm Panel Plugin
1 - Wake-on-LAN
1 - System Monitor
2 - Garage Door
1 - Ping Sensor
0 - PLC
3 - PLEG
0 - PLTS
1 - Day or Night
1 - VeraAlerts
1 - OpenSprinkler
1 - VistaCam SD, PT & HD Plugin
1 - VistaCam SD&PT
4 - Foscam IP Camera
You can use an old one … I think it will only use 500MB … no matter what size you install.
When you first start having instability this is the first thing to do.
OK, I found an old 1GB thumb drive from an expo. I will plug it in this evening and report back the results.
Richard
Is there any pro/con to using multiple PLEG for functions, for example one per “room”, as a opposed to a single PLEG to do all the functions?
Right now I’ve been converting Scenes to PLEG for managing motion sensor functions and I’ve used a separate one for each room to make it “easier” to know whats happening rather than a single PLEG for all the motion sensor management.
There are always memory-performance trade offs.
Vera is mostly restricted by memory … So I worry about it more.
There is a significant memory consumption per plugin … this is mostly independent of what the plugin does. (Z-Wave and Insteon devices do not have this cost). So the more plugin instances you have the more memory you use.
However, the more Conditions you put in a PLEG, the more wasted compute cycles each time it has to evaluate the conditions, because many will not participate in the current trigger.
I tend to side on the side of memory (fewer PLEG instances). But If the number of conditions gets large > 30 … than I might consider another PLEG. I also tend to group by functionalitly … i.e. Lighting, Security, Water Management, …
[quote=“RichardTSchaefer, post:7, topic:178213”]There are always memory-performance trade offs.
Vera is mostly restricted by memory … So I worry about it more.
There is a significant memory consumption per plugin … this is mostly independent of what the plugin does. (Z-Wave and Insteon devices do not have this cost). So the more plugin instances you have the more memory you use.
However, the more Conditions you put in a PLEG, the more wasted compute cycles each time it has to evaluate the conditions, because many will not participate in the current trigger.
I tend to side on the side of memory (fewer PLEG instances). But If the number of conditions gets large > 30 … than I might consider another PLEG. I also tend to group by functionalitly … i.e. Lighting, Security, Water Management, …[/quote]
Good information, thanks
OK, I installed the 1GB USB Drive and the logging screen now reads:
Enabled
Mounted: read-write
Usage: 8%
Errors log:
2013-12-11_17:25:00 CHECKDISK: Starting to check device: /dev/sda1 with: /usr/sbin/e2fsck
2013-12-11_17:25:01 (/dev/sda1) : Successfully checked
But the top of my screen is still showing:
“AutoLights & Timers[110] : Running Lua Startup” then after a little while switches back to “unit busy” and the same all over again.
Any ideas?
Can you attach your log ?
Do you have the energy plugin enabled ?
OK, when I woke up this morning Vera was stuck and I couldn’t turn on any lights (The wife was not impressed). I unplugged Vera and replugged it back in and now for the first time the top of the screen is not showing “Running Lua Startup” or “unit busy”. When checking the Log tab it now reads:
Enabled
Mounted: read-write
Usage: 5%
Errors log:
1999-12-31_18:00:01 CHECKDISK: Starting to check device: /dev/sda1 with: /usr/sbin/e2fsck
1999-12-31_18:00:05 (/dev/sda1) : Successfully checked
I’m a little concerned because the year is wrong on the date for the logs. I tried to ssh into /dev/sda1 but I can’t seem to get into the sda1 directory.
And no I do not have the Energy Plugin enabled
Sounds like you have network problems … and that can cause things to backup in Vera as things try to access the network.
i.e. On Vera Boot it gets the Date from Network
It tries to contact the MCV servers for various reasons.
On Vera Startup (Reload)
It tries to contact the MCV servers to see if Any Plugins need to be updated.
It Also sends events out to the MCV Servers
In addition the Network is needed for Such things as:
Vera Alerts, Push, Prowl, ...
Nest
Weather Underground
Goolgle Calendar Plugin
iPhone Location Plugin
Ping Plugins
It could be that enough of these things are waiting to timeout … that Vera itself gives up.
Make sure you Power Cycle the Vera while the NETWORK is UP!
That’s one reason why people put Vera, Router, Cable Modem … on a UPS.
If you bypass the PLEGs … do the problems go away ?
Can you also email me your status reports.
I want to make sure you do not have any event cycles.
So here is the current status:
- Added 1GB USB Drive last night and Vera was frozen this morning.
- Rebooted (physically Unplugged) Vera this morning and everything cleared up. Logs had bad dates.
- Rebooted (remotely) and everything is clear including correct date on logs.
I will continue to monitor to see what happens. Maybe if I would have Physically rebooted Vera after installing the USB drive last night it would of worked ok.
Edit - 2013.12.12: Another thing I just noticed is that before System Monitor was showing CPU at 50%-70% and today is at 20%.
Edit - 2013.12.13: Its’ now been more than 24 hours since I did the physical reboot then remote reboot and Vera is running better than she has in a long time. System Monitor is showing CPU at 18%, the status menu at the top of the screen is clear and everything is responding quickly. Could this be the improvement in performance you were talking about by using the USB drive for logging?
Edit - 2013.12.15: It looks like I spoke to soon. Yesterday Vera started doing the same thing again. I unplugged Vera and plugged it back in and it worked ok for a while then back to the same. My PLEG still gets stuck on the Running Lua Startup then Unit Busy. I tried to disable the PLEG but it just comes up and says device not ready yet. Any more ideas?
[quote=“Chris H., post:1, topic:178213”]alertBackDoor patioDoorOpen AND (patioDoorOpen; NOW > 60) 2013-12-05 11:34:33.114 false
alertDogReminder patioDoorClosed; NOW > 600 2013-12-10 08:59:53.122 false[/quote]
Sorry if im thread jacking but this seems to be the only active place that my question might get answered
Chris it looks like you might already have done what I want to do since i ran a search for pleg and Dog and you’re the only one that came up. I want to have my patio lights come on when i let my dogs outside after dark (1st door opening) and then turn off when i let the dogs back in (2nd Door opening). Im not familiar with programing or logics so hopefully you already have this setup and can tell me how to do it. Any help is appreciated, thanks
[quote=“Willard311, post:15, topic:178213”][quote=“Chris H., post:1, topic:178213”]alertBackDoor patioDoorOpen AND (patioDoorOpen; NOW > 60) 2013-12-05 11:34:33.114 false
alertDogReminder patioDoorClosed; NOW > 600 2013-12-10 08:59:53.122 false[/quote]
Sorry if im thread jacking but this seems to be the only active place that my question might get answered
Chris it looks like you might already have done what I want to do since i ran a search for pleg and Dog and you’re the only one that came up. I want to have my patio lights come on when i let my dogs outside after dark (1st door opening) and then turn off when i let the dogs back in (2nd Door opening). Im not familiar with programing or logics so hopefully you already have this setup and can tell me how to do it. Any help is appreciated, thanks[/quote]
This could get very confused. Once way I can think is to have it toggle the light each time the door is closed. This way if the light is off and you open the door and close it the PLEG checks to see if the light is off, if so then turn it on. The next time it runs that condition is false so it hits the next one that says if the light is on, turn it off.
[quote=“Chris H., post:14, topic:178213”]So here is the current status:
- Added 1GB USB Drive last night and Vera was frozen this morning.
- Rebooted (physically Unplugged) Vera this morning and everything cleared up. Logs had bad dates.
- Rebooted (remotely) and everything is clear including correct date on logs.
I will continue to monitor to see what happens. Maybe if I would have Physically rebooted Vera after installing the USB drive last night it would of worked ok.
Edit - 2013.12.12: Another thing I just noticed is that before System Monitor was showing CPU at 50%-70% and today is at 20%.
Edit - 2013.12.13: Its’ now been more than 24 hours since I did the physical reboot then remote reboot and Vera is running better than she has in a long time. System Monitor is showing CPU at 18%, the status menu at the top of the screen is clear and everything is responding quickly. Could this be the improvement in performance you were talking about by using the USB drive for logging?
Edit - 2013.12.15: It looks like I spoke to soon. Yesterday Vera started doing the same thing again. I unplugged Vera and plugged it back in and it worked ok for a while then back to the same. My PLEG still gets stuck on the Running Lua Startup then Unit Busy. I tried to disable the PLEG but it just comes up and says device not ready yet. Any more ideas?[/quote]
See above update. I’m wondering if I have to many devices. My next test I guess is to start pulling stuff out of that PLEG and see how Vera runs. I hate to do it since I put a lot of time into getting it working.
How many PLEG/PLTS do you have ?
I just released Version 5.5 … it cuts down on resources needed at startup.
I have no PLTS (uninstalled it) and 3 PLEG, 1 long one that it gets stuck on and 2 small ones. I see my PLEG is now at 5.5.
Is the Long one also the one with the highest Vera Device ID ?
If so you might want to put an Empty PLEG that has a higher Device ID.
Add a simple Input and Condition.
See if it now stops at this one.
If it does … it means it is stopping AFTER all plugins are initialized.