Interesting Z-Wave Issue: Devices pair but then don’t show in the app

Hi, I’m facing an interesting Z-Wave pairing issue.

A little backstory:
I work in the home automation field and have a gen 2 SmartThings hub that I pair and un-pair devices to it many times.

Issue:
Started with a ZigBee Yale lock, paired and unpaired to the old hub a few times without an issue, then connected it to a new hub and it worked perfectly, then disconnected it from the new one and tried pairing it with the old hub. The audible setting on the lock says device network connected, and it shows a “device rejoined” event in the hub event list, but the app does not show anything at all.

I thought that was an issue with the lock or there’s a limit on the pairing/unpairing for ZigBee, however this week, I faced the same issue again with a Z-Wave Fibaro Wall Plug. There’s a hub event showing that the device has rejoined the network, but there’s nothing on the app.

This is the event list screenshot:


I tried using a custom DTH, no luck, without a DTH, no luck, new app, no luck, old app, no luck, excluding the device, hub says excluded, but still no luck…

Not sure if someone has faced this issue before or even paired and unpaired a device so many times that caused such an issue… but it seems to be that there’s a limit or a bug with SmartThings on the number of times you can re-add a device to the network.

SmartThings email support can’t help me, so thought you guys might be able to…

Thanks in advance!

I haven’t seen anything regarding zigbee devices, but there have been quite a few reports of something similar with zwave, and usually Fibaro, Since July this year. Often with devices which had previously been paired and then rejoined. So something odd on the platform side.

Not sure if these are all exactly the same problem, but they all have similar symptoms, they all started recently, and many of them are for devices which previously worked fine. :disappointed_relieved:

Fibaro Dimmer 2 Sync Pending

Fibaro dimmer 2 not working (no response) (August 2019)

Lights stuck on with Fibaro 223 Double Switch

Cannot reset Fibaro Relay FGS 212

Does the Fibaro 2 dimmer work?

FIBARO Dimmer 2 (FGD-212) Problem

@Kianoosh_Karami

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Also, there is no limit on the number of times a device can be re-added to the network for either zigbee or zwave. I’ve worked with zigbee Sensornets where the same device might’ve been readded hundreds of times. As long as you reset the device each time, it doesn’t have any memory of its previous joins.

Thanks @JDRoberts for your quick response. As I mentioned, I work in this field and I use Fibaro modules all the times. They updated the way you reset your modules and added some sort of a lock on the B-button on the module, so it’s very difficult to reset it or have it put in pair mode, however I’m familiar with it now and I can confirm that this is not the issue I’m facing right now.

I know for sure that there’s no limitation on the number of pair/unpair per device, but how could you explain this issue, specifically that there’s an event log saying that the device has rejoined but it doesn’t show on the app?

Also, do you think there’s any device network ID in the screenshots I attached that I can manually create a device with the same network ID and have it connect? Cuz I tried and failed so many times…

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I would recommend to exclude the Z-Wave device and add it again if possible.

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Done, no luck. I can PM you with my account details to take a look if you’d like.

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@Kianoosh_Karami something more, the plug’s LED changes to green, meaning it is connected successfully to the network… same with the Yale ZigBee lock, it says connected successfully, but nothing shows on the app.

Hi @Hiato. A member of my team just reached out to you via your support ticket. I believe we know what is causing the behavior you are running into and should be able to get you up and running.

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I’m not sure if I have the same issues, but mine relate directly to the newer smartthings app, the older classic app shows my 33 devices, the newer one shows only 23… drives me mad

Hi Michael, appreciate the quick response. I tried the instructions mentioned in the ticket but still no luck. I will update it with the same.

Hi Mike, the issue has been fixed once I re-published the custom DTH. Thank you so much.

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Sounds like you’re running into the stale DTH issue: FAQ: My lock/device does not pair or appears to pair but it won't show up in the mobile app or IDE - stale DTH

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I found what I needed to do. I had to place the device directly on top of the hub in order to get it to detect it. Hopefully this helps someone else.

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