Hue Lights Controlled by Ghosts? They Turn Off Every Night at 10pm. HELP!

General Discussion
1

I need some help. I have a bunch of Philips Hue bulbs, both white and color and they’ve been set up and working great for almost a year. No issues.

However, ever since Monday night (4/8/2019), it seems that all of my Philips Hue bulbs turn off at 10pm. Some (the upstairs ones) seem to turn back on. The ones in the TV room, where I am, do not.

My bulbs are listed in Philips Hue app, show also in the Samsung SmartThings app (classic and newer one). I also have integration into the Amazon Alexa app and have some rules in WebCore.

Each of the last two nights, I spent an hour looking through all my rules, scenes and pistons and have found nothing telling me why these lights are doing this.

I know it’s a shot in the dark, but does anyone have any ideas on what may be causing this? I did add a new Philips Hue color bulb on Monday. That night, the weirdness started. Please, any, and I mean, any ideas to look at here would be appreciated. Thanks!!

2

Are you using them with a Hue bridge? Or directly connected?

Is the new bulb a Phillips bulb? And in any case, brand and model?

It might be that the new bulb needs a firmware update and that’s triggering something. You should be able to check that in the hue app.

Otherwise, try removing the new bulb and see if that fixes the problem or not.

3

Thanks for the quick reply! I suppose I could have been more specific. Here goes…

I am using the Hue bridge and have been for about a year. Yes, the new bulb is a Philips Hue bulb.

It’s model LCT016.
SW version 1.46.13_r26312

When I installed the bulb, I went through a firmware update through the Hue app. All of the other color bulbs of the same model have the same SW level.

I will disconnect the bulb tomorrow before 10pm and see what happens. It would be great if that solved the issue. But if it does, I’m not sure what about that bulb would make it behave differently. I guess, let’s keep the horses in the barn for now. :slight_smile:

Thanks for your input.
Scott

4

It’s pretty common that a scheduled pending update will attempt to complete once a day. Often at around the same time. So that’s why we’re looking at that. Often a brand new device will have several updates that have to be applied one after the other, and that can cause the Bridge to be busy while the update is being applied.

Open the Hue app and look and see if there are any pending updates left.

It could be the Bridge itself that is trying to complete a pending update once a day.

5

Interesting. I opened the app this morning expecting to see nothing but there was a pending update for the Hub. So, i did the hub update this morning. Now, I have to wait until 10pm to see if things still act up.

My thinking is to leave the new light bulb connected tonight to see if the hub update was the culprit. At least then, I don’t introduce too many variables. Unless you think differently.

Again, many thanks upon you. :slight_smile: I will cross my fingers that the hub update does the trick.

Thanks!
Scott

1 Like
6

Sounds like a plan. :sunglasses:

You meant Bridge right?

1 Like
7

Informative read. Yes, I should have said bridge and will try to do that going forward. :slight_smile: Thanks for sharing the info. :smile:

1 Like
8

Nobody cares about that but me. :wink: But it can get confusing as to whether you were talking about the smartthings hub or the hue bridge.

9

So 10pm just happened here on the east coast. Sure enough my lights went out again. So, firmware updates don’t seem to be the issue unless there are updates not visible to the Hue app.

I guess the next thing is to take out the new light bulb before 10pm tomorrow night. I’m not sure why a new bulb would have an effect on all my lights but that is the new addition to my lights.

1 Like
10

Welp, 10pm came and went. Lights turned off again even without the new Hue bulb connected. So, I guess the bulb is not the culprit.

@JDRoberts where do I go from here? How can I isolate where the issue is - Hue Bridge, SmartThings Hub, Alexa, WebCore?

Do I unplug the Hue bridge one day and see what happens? Or the ST hub? Would that narrow down where the issue is coming from? What else can I look at?

Thanks,
Scott

11

I don’t think you will want to do that because then you would lose the ability to control the lights. You would not be able to turn on/off, dim, set color. So nix that!

OK, let’s go through everything…

  1. did you look in the hue app for any rules that might have been enabled?

  2. In the Classic app, open one of the bulbs and click on the recently tab. Anything showing at 10pm that might list the cause? Check under the SmartApps tab as well and look for all items associated to it in the Classic app and you can click to open them. Also check your routines, scenes and smart lighting rules if any.

  3. in the STSC app, check any automations.

  4. you mentioned webCoRE. did you edit any of them on Monday?

  5. open Live Logging in IDE tomorrow before 10pm and see what shows up.

  6. did you create any routines in Alexa?

Most people always figure it out - that it was an automation, routine, smart lighting rule or piston that they set up and completely forgot about.

last thought - any other apps or system connected to your hue bridge other than the ones you mentioned? so many can connect to it

1 Like
12

Hi jkp,

Thanks for the reply.

My thinking here was to unplug the ST hub right before 10pm to see if the lights still turned off or not. Then, at least I could narrow down where the issue may be coming from. Perhaps that approach doesn’t work though.

I did look in the Hue app. I only have a few rules that run under the Go to sleep routine and none of them involve the lights in question. I suppose I can disable the rules to see if there is something I am missing or some oddity occurring here.

I looked in the app. There is nothing obvious in the Recently tab that sheds light on where this is coming from. I did see that all of the lights that turn out are in my TV Room and in each case, the Recently tab show the following in the exact same order:

  • Light turns off
  • Light level set to 1
  • Light level set to 100
  • Light level set to 1

I thought it was odd that the light level is changing even after the light is turned off…unless these are at the second or millisecond level but are only being shown / sorted at the minute level (if that makes any sense). I believe I looked at all SmartApps, routines and scenes to no avail.

Automations looks to be in good order. The only thing that I really automate with these lights in turning them on at Sunset and turning them off as part of a routine that I verbally initiate via Alexa.

I have not made any WebCore changes in months. in fact, I looked yesterday to see when the last time all of the pistons ran. Most of them were months ago. The only ones that ran this week are open / close sensors and all those do is text me when a door is left open. No light automation at all.

Good idea. I added a reminder in my calendar to turn this on tonight.

Yes, I do have a few Alexa routines. Most of them are initiated using voice only. I don’t think there are any that are automatically initiated.

Hmmm, good question. I’m not sure the best way to determine this. I know I have IFTTT integration and I did check that last night. Those applets haven’t run in months. Any other way to tell what is connected to Hue?

Thanks for the insight. Is it wrong I am eager to see what the Live Logging looks like tonight?

Scott

13

Have you created any pistons or automations that adjust levels?

You can login to https://account.meethue.com and click on Apps. It shows all connections to your Hue bridge. Note: the ST connection will be listed as a long string of characters under Home Network Connections.

1 Like
14

Sorry, I haven’t been following this thread closely recently. You’re getting excellent advice, but I myself would consider unplugging the bridge just to get that out-of-the-way.

If it still happens with the bridge turned off then it isn’t any of the automations from any source. It’s some kind of local interference or power surge.

There are other people who would leave turning the bridge off until the very last because It’s not likely to add as much information to the process as doing the other stuff. That is, your expectation is that it won’t happen with the bridge unplugged but it won’t tell you anymore about why it is happening. Unless it does happen with the bridge unplugged, but that’s not that likely.

So up to you. :sunglasses:

15

So, I hope I’m not overstaying my welcome here. I’m including a small section of the results of the live logging here, from a few seconds before 10pm to after the lights turned off. I like to geek out every once in a while but, admittedly, I don’t really know what most of the results mean. With my limited knowledge of all of this, I didn’t see anything that stood out as the obvious culprit but it is quite possible I overlooked something.

I do have some Sonos speakers still listed as devices that have either been renamed or repurposed elsewhere in my house (surround sound) so I probably can / should clean them up a bit. I also have a few Hue bulbs that show up in the Hue app and my list of devices but these are not connected to anything at this moment.

My bad if I am including the log files herein if I should have attached them. Please let me know if you see any smoking guns in anything below. Without further ado…

6bdce76f-2812-4094-8ece-4d03e8445ede  10:01:04 PM: trace Current status: 'playing', coordinator: ''
6bdce76f-2812-4094-8ece-4d03e8445ede  10:01:04 PM: trace sonosAction(GetTransportInfo, AVTransport, /MediaRenderer/AVTransport/Control, [InstanceID:0])
6bdce76f-2812-4094-8ece-4d03e8445ede  10:01:04 PM: trace getCurrentStatus()
6bdce76f-2812-4094-8ece-4d03e8445ede  10:01:04 PM: trace Cannot update group change because no zone group member found
6bdce76f-2812-4094-8ece-4d03e8445ede  10:01:04 PM: trace uuid; RINCON_347E5C72C5D701400
c1cd522f-4235-4a24-9732-e6c78a242feb  10:00:51 PM: debug Creating battery event for voltage=1.8V: Arrival Sensor - Lily battery is 30%
c1cd522f-4235-4a24-9732-e6c78a242feb  10:00:51 PM: debug Creating presence event: Arrival Sensor - Lily presence is present
b12302f8-e8ff-4af4-a699-5d0a081cdc9b  10:00:45 PM: trace sonosAction(GetTransportInfo, AVTransport, /MediaRenderer/AVTransport/Control, [InstanceID:0])
b12302f8-e8ff-4af4-a699-5d0a081cdc9b  10:00:45 PM: trace getCurrentStatus()
b12302f8-e8ff-4af4-a699-5d0a081cdc9b  10:00:45 PM: trace Cannot update group change because no zone group member found
b12302f8-e8ff-4af4-a699-5d0a081cdc9b  10:00:45 PM: trace uuid; RINCON_B8E937EC84F401400
6bdce76f-2812-4094-8ece-4d03e8445ede  10:00:34 PM: debug Not parsing XML message:
<s:Envelope xmlns:s="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/" s:encodingStyle="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/encoding/">
<s:Body>
<u:GetTransportInfoResponse xmlns:u="urn:schemas-upnp-org:service:AVTransport:1">
<CurrentTransportState>
PLAYING
</CurrentTransportState>
<CurrentTransportStatus>
OK
</CurrentTransportStatus>
<CurrentSpeed>
1
</CurrentSpeed>
</u:GetTransportInfoResponse>
</s:Body>
</s:Envelope>
6bdce76f-2812-4094-8ece-4d03e8445ede  10:00:34 PM: trace Current status: 'playing', coordinator: ''
6bdce76f-2812-4094-8ece-4d03e8445ede  10:00:34 PM: trace sonosAction(GetTransportInfo, AVTransport, /MediaRenderer/AVTransport/Control, [InstanceID:0])
6bdce76f-2812-4094-8ece-4d03e8445ede  10:00:34 PM: trace getCurrentStatus()
6bdce76f-2812-4094-8ece-4d03e8445ede  10:00:34 PM: trace Cannot update group change because no zone group member found
6bdce76f-2812-4094-8ece-4d03e8445ede  10:00:34 PM: trace uuid; RINCON_347E5C72C5D701400
b12302f8-e8ff-4af4-a699-5d0a081cdc9b  10:00:34 PM: trace sonosAction(GetTransportInfo, AVTransport, /MediaRenderer/AVTransport/Control, [InstanceID:0])
b12302f8-e8ff-4af4-a699-5d0a081cdc9b  10:00:34 PM: trace getCurrentStatus()
b12302f8-e8ff-4af4-a699-5d0a081cdc9b  10:00:34 PM: trace Cannot update group change because no zone group member found
b12302f8-e8ff-4af4-a699-5d0a081cdc9b  10:00:34 PM: trace uuid; RINCON_B8E937EC84F401400
c1cd522f-4235-4a24-9732-e6c78a242feb  10:00:31 PM: debug Creating battery event for voltage=1.8V: Arrival Sensor - Lily battery is 30%
c1cd522f-4235-4a24-9732-e6c78a242feb  10:00:31 PM: debug Creating presence event: Arrival Sensor - Lily presence is present
c8025c31-ad5c-4d4a-90b9-c6ba9b6296db  10:00:28 PM: debug createChildDeviceEvent('001788613AE9/5', [name:color, value:#FFCE77, descriptionText:Color has changed, displayed:true])
c8025c31-ad5c-4d4a-90b9-c6ba9b6296db  10:00:28 PM: debug createChildDeviceEvent('001788613AE9/6', [name:colorTemperature, value:2732, descriptionText:Color temperature has changed])
c8025c31-ad5c-4d4a-90b9-c6ba9b6296db  10:00:28 PM: debug createChildDeviceEvent('001788613AE9/5', [name:saturation, value:55, descriptionText:Color has changed, displayed:false])
c8025c31-ad5c-4d4a-90b9-c6ba9b6296db  10:00:28 PM: debug createChildDeviceEvent('001788613AE9/5', [name:level, value:1, descriptionText:Level has changed to 1%])
c8025c31-ad5c-4d4a-90b9-c6ba9b6296db  10:00:28 PM: debug createChildDeviceEvent('001788613AE9/11', [name:saturation, value:78, descriptionText:Color has changed, displayed:false])
c8025c31-ad5c-4d4a-90b9-c6ba9b6296db  10:00:28 PM: debug createChildDeviceEvent('001788613AE9/1', [name:switch, value:off])
c8025c31-ad5c-4d4a-90b9-c6ba9b6296db  10:00:28 PM: debug createChildDeviceEvent('001788613AE9/11', [name:colorTemperature, value:2257, descriptionText:Color temperature has changed])
c8025c31-ad5c-4d4a-90b9-c6ba9b6296db  10:00:28 PM: debug createChildDeviceEvent('001788613AE9/12', [name:level, value:92, descriptionText:Level has changed to 92%])
c8025c31-ad5c-4d4a-90b9-c6ba9b6296db  10:00:28 PM: debug super_connect 3 may not reachable by Hue bridge
c8025c31-ad5c-4d4a-90b9-c6ba9b6296db  10:00:28 PM: debug createChildDeviceEvent('001788613AE9/11', [name:hue, value:12, descriptionText:Color has changed, displayed:false])
c8025c31-ad5c-4d4a-90b9-c6ba9b6296db  10:00:28 PM: debug createChildDeviceEvent('001788613AE9/11', [name:switch, value:on])
c8025c31-ad5c-4d4a-90b9-c6ba9b6296db  10:00:28 PM: debug createChildDeviceEvent('001788613AE9/11', [name:color, value:#FFBC54, descriptionText:Color has changed, displayed:true])
c8025c31-ad5c-4d4a-90b9-c6ba9b6296db  10:00:28 PM: debug createChildDeviceEvent('001788613AE9/10', [name:color, value:#F4FDFF, descriptionText:Color has changed, displayed:true])
c8025c31-ad5c-4d4a-90b9-c6ba9b6296db  10:00:28 PM: debug createChildDeviceEvent('001788613AE9/10', [name:level, value:100, descriptionText:Level has changed to 100%])
c8025c31-ad5c-4d4a-90b9-c6ba9b6296db  10:00:28 PM: debug createChildDeviceEvent('001788613AE9/10', [name:hue, value:63, descriptionText:Color has changed, displayed:false])
c8025c31-ad5c-4d4a-90b9-c6ba9b6296db  10:00:28 PM: debug super_connect 1 may not reachable by Hue bridge
c8025c31-ad5c-4d4a-90b9-c6ba9b6296db  10:00:28 PM: debug createChildDeviceEvent('001788613AE9/10', [name:switch, value:off])
c8025c31-ad5c-4d4a-90b9-c6ba9b6296db  10:00:28 PM: debug createChildDeviceEvent('001788613AE9/10', [name:colorTemperature, value:6536, descriptionText:Color temperature has changed])
12075a3a-5cfe-4743-8708-5c66cc9d18ff  10:00:28 PM: info postEventToEndpoint: event successfully posted.
12075a3a-5cfe-4743-8708-5c66cc9d18ff  10:00:28 PM: debug Property Change Event motion: inactive (source: DEVICE)
c8025c31-ad5c-4d4a-90b9-c6ba9b6296db  10:00:28 PM: debug checkBridgeStatus()
c8025c31-ad5c-4d4a-90b9-c6ba9b6296db  10:00:28 PM: debug poll()
b12302f8-e8ff-4af4-a699-5d0a081cdc9b  10:00:18 PM: debug Not parsing XML message:
<s:Envelope xmlns:s="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/" s:encodingStyle="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/encoding/">
<s:Body>
<u:GetVolumeResponse xmlns:u="urn:schemas-upnp-org:service:RenderingControl:1">
<CurrentVolume>
26
</CurrentVolume>
</u:GetVolumeResponse>
</s:Body>
</s:Envelope>
b12302f8-e8ff-4af4-a699-5d0a081cdc9b  10:00:18 PM: trace Extracting current volume
c1cd522f-4235-4a24-9732-e6c78a242feb  10:00:19 PM: debug Sensor checked in 7.561 seconds ago
b12302f8-e8ff-4af4-a699-5d0a081cdc9b  10:00:18 PM: trace sonosAction(GetVolume, RenderingControl, /MediaRenderer/RenderingControl/Control, [InstanceID:0, Channel:Master])
b12302f8-e8ff-4af4-a699-5d0a081cdc9b  10:00:18 PM: trace getVolume()
b12302f8-e8ff-4af4-a699-5d0a081cdc9b  10:00:18 PM: trace doPoll
12075a3a-5cfe-4743-8708-5c66cc9d18ff  10:00:14 PM: info postEventToEndpoint: event successfully posted.
12075a3a-5cfe-4743-8708-5c66cc9d18ff  10:00:13 PM: debug Property Change Event switch: on (source: DEVICE)
12075a3a-5cfe-4743-8708-5c66cc9d18ff  10:00:13 PM: info postEventToEndpoint: event successfully posted.
12075a3a-5cfe-4743-8708-5c66cc9d18ff  10:00:13 PM: debug Property Change Event motion: active (source: DEVICE)
c1cd522f-4235-4a24-9732-e6c78a242feb  10:00:11 PM: debug Creating battery event for voltage=1.8V: Arrival Sensor - Lily battery is 30%
c1cd522f-4235-4a24-9732-e6c78a242feb  10:00:11 PM: debug Creating presence event: Arrival Sensor - Lily presence is present
6bdce76f-2812-4094-8ece-4d03e8445ede  10:00:06 PM: debug Not parsing XML message:
<e:propertyset xmlns:e="urn:schemas-upnp-org:event-1-0">
<e:property>
<LastChange>
<Event xmlns="urn:schemas-upnp-org:metadata-1-0/AVT/" xmlns:r="urn:schemas-rinconnetworks-com:metadata-1-0/"><InstanceID val="0"><TransportState val="PLAYING"/><CurrentPlayMode val="NORMAL"/><CurrentCrossfadeMode val="0"/><NumberOfTracks val="1"/><CurrentTrack val="1"/><CurrentSection val="0"/><CurrentTrackURI val="x-sonos-htastream:RINCON_347E5C72C5D701400:spdif"/><CurrentTrackDuration val=""/><CurrentTrackMetaData val="<DIDL-Lite xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:upnp="urn:schemas-upnp-org:metadata-1-0/upnp/" xmlns:r="urn:schemas-rinconnetworks-com:metadata-1-0/" xmlns="urn:schemas-upnp-org:metadata-1-0/DIDL-Lite/"><item id="-1" parentID="-1" restricted="true"><res protocolInfo="x-sonos-htastream:*:*:*">x-sonos-htastream:RINCON_347E5C72C5D701400:spdif</res><r:audioInputIcon></r:audioInputIcon><r:streamInfo>20</r:streamInfo><dc:title> </dc:title><upnp:class>object.item</upnp:class><r:episodeNumber>0</r:episodeNumber></item></DIDL-Lite>"/><r:Nex...[TRUNCATED]
6bdce76f-2812-4094-8ece-4d03e8445ede  10:00:06 PM: trace Current status: 'playing', coordinator: ''
c1cd522f-4235-4a24-9732-e6c78a242feb  9:59:51 PM: debug Creating battery event for voltage=1.8V: Arrival Sensor - Lily battery is 30%
c1cd522f-4235-4a24-9732-e6c78a242feb  9:59:51 PM: debug Creating presence event: Arrival Sensor - Lily presence is present
f861276e-5a85-4e5a-83bd-b9ea17ccd5cf  9:59:36 PM: info ||| NST Manager (v5.6.0) | API Device Data HAS Changed (POLL(ASYNC))
f861276e-5a85-4e5a-83bd-b9ea17ccd5cf  9:59:36 PM: info ||| NST Manager (v5.6.0) | Updating Structure Data (Last Updated: 180 seconds ago) | Updating Device Data (Last Updated: 180 seconds ago) (async)
c1cd522f-4235-4a24-9732-e6c78a242feb  9:59:33 PM: debug Creating battery event for voltage=1.8V: Arrival Sensor - Lily battery is 30%
c1cd522f-4235-4a24-9732-e6c78a242feb  9:59:33 PM: debug Creating presence event: Arrival Sensor - Lily presence is present

If you read this far, I am impressed…and thank you…

Scott

16

Hello again jkp,

Yes, I do have automations and a few pistons that change levels. All of the pistons that change levels either haven’t fired in months or are on pause. The automations, for the most part, just turn lights on or off, not too many of them adjust levels. I will recheck them though. Perhaps there is something I overlooked.

As for what else is connected to Hue, I have IFTTT, hue iOS app, HueLabs, Alexa and hue Android app under Cloud connected apps.

As for home network apps (and I’m not entirely sure what they all are), I see huelabs-2, iftttv2, hue-alexa-smarthome-skill-v1, Echo, Hue 3#my iPad, that long string of characters (the ST connection) and Hue 3#Google Pixel.

I can deactivate any of them but most of them haven’t been “seen” in hours (aka well before 10pm), except for Alexa Cloud app and hue iOS app, both seen around the 9:45pm range.

Again, my apologies for the constant barrage of questions but I have no ideas of my own on this and really appreciate the information I have received thus far.

Thanks,
Scott

17

Hi JDRoberts,

Please correct me if I am wrong.

I was under the impression that if I disconnect the ST hub and it still happens, that would mean that ST is not the culprit. If I disconnect the Hue Bridge and it doesn’t happen, does that mean that Hue is not the culprit or that the issue is with something outside of ALL of my smart devices?

Thanks!

18

is your live logging window still open since before 10pm? if so, if you look at the top of the log window, it will list each individual device that receives logs and you can click on the bulbs to get a more narrow log for that device. if you closed it, then they are cleared

19

did someone arrive home at 10pm?

there was activity with the lights at that point

I do not have arrival sensors so not sure what to see in the logs.

20

No. That is a ST presence sensor that, apparently keeps polling for, well, presence. My daughter has been home since noon and her ST sensor hasn’t moved since yesterday when she came home from school. Even if she arrived home, the automation should just pop up an alert in the app. A similar thing happens when she leaves - an app alert. That’s it.

I do still have the logging window open - well, I saved part of it to an HTML file so i didn’t log it infinitely. I see the Hue bridge at 10:00:28 PM setting the light level to 1.

Seeing all of these SONOS speaker messages, and “Not parsing XML message” entries, I’m wondering if maybe my speakers are at least part of the issue. Looking at my devices listed, I have room called TV Room that controls my Hue bulbs…however, at one point, i also had a SONOS speaker called TV room. Eventually, I grouped the speakers as part of my surround sound set up but it looks like the device is still active and writing messages to the log (??). This was not something done this week but, instead, maybe a month ago.

I guess I’ll have to trap the logs again tomorrow night too to try and use those tabs at the top like you suggest. They don’t seem to function consistently in my saved off HTML file.

If you have any other wild hairs, throw them my way.

Thanks jkp!