Error: CustomerCounter hardware (12) nothing received for more than 5 Minutes!

[mfalkvidd]

I have an MySenors 2.1.1 ethernet (wifi) gateway based on Wemos D1 Mini. The gateway has a local motion sensor presented as S_MOTION and a counter presented as S_POWER.

I set the data timeout in Domoticz to 5 minutes. I can see from my serial debug log that my sensor is sending status of the switch every 60 seconds if the PIR was not triggered (and immediately if it was triggered). My output looks like this (1452100 is the millis counter, 60.08 is the number of seconds since last send and "No" indicates that the motion sensor was not triggered):

0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;18;PING
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;18;PING
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;18;PING
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;18;PING
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;18;PING
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;18;PING
1452100 60.08 No
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;18;PING
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;18;PING
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;18;PING
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;18;PING
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;18;PING
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;18;PING
1512180 60.08 No
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;18;PING
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;18;PING
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;18;PING
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;18;PING
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;18;PING
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;18;PING
1572263 60.08 No
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;18;PING
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;18;PING
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;18;PING
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;18;PING
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0 disconnected
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0 connected
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;2;
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;2;Get Version
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;18;PING
1632368 60.10 No
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;18;PING
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;18;PING
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;18;PING
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;18;PING
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;18;PING
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;18;PING
1692451 60.08 No
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;18;PING
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;18;PING
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;18;PING
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;18;PING
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;18;PING
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;18;PING
1752537 60.08 No
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;18;PING
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;18;PING
0;255;3;0;9;Client 0: 0;0;3;0;18;PING

However, I get this in the domoticz log:

2017-10-11 22:35:30.570 Error: CustomerCounter hardware (12) nothing received for more than 5 Minutes!....
2017-10-11 22:35:31.572 Error: Restarting: CustomerCounter
2017-10-11 22:41:00.933 Error: CustomerCounter hardware (12) nothing received for more than 5 Minutes!....
2017-10-11 22:41:01.935 Error: Restarting: CustomerCounter
2017-10-11 22:46:30.138 Error: CustomerCounter hardware (12) nothing received for more than 5 Minutes!....
2017-10-11 22:46:31.140 Error: Restarting: CustomerCounter
2017-10-11 22:52:00.259 Error: CustomerCounter hardware (12) nothing received for more than 5 Minutes!....
2017-10-11 22:52:01.261 Error: Restarting: CustomerCounter 
2017-10-11 22:57:30.399 Error: CustomerCounter hardware (12) nothing received for more than 5 Minutes!....
2017-10-11 22:57:31.401 Error: Restarting: CustomerCounter 

As can be seen in the log, Domoticz decides that it hasn't received any information from the gateway.

Q1: Does Domoticz only count a message as received if the data is different from last time? That sounds pretty stupid, but from what I see, that seems to be the case. I tested by triggering the sensor a few times and this was the result:

2017-10-11 22:57:30.399 Error: CustomerCounter hardware (12) nothing received for more than 5 Minutes!....
2017-10-11 22:57:31.401 Error: Restarting: CustomerCounter 
2017-10-11 22:58:25.815 (CustomerCounter) Light/Switch (CustomerCounter)
2017-10-11 22:58:25.848 (CustomerCounter) General/kWh (CustomerCounter v3)
2017-10-11 22:58:28.818 (CustomerCounter) Light/Switch (CustomerCounter) 
2017-10-11 22:59:20.834 (CustomerCounter) Light/Switch (CustomerCounter)
2017-10-11 22:59:20.869 (CustomerCounter) General/kWh (CustomerCounter v3)
2017-10-11 22:59:23.837 (CustomerCounter) Light/Switch (CustomerCounter)
2017-10-11 22:59:56.850 (CustomerCounter) Light/Switch (CustomerCounter)
2017-10-11 22:59:56.885 (CustomerCounter) General/kWh (CustomerCounter v3)
2017-10-11 22:59:59.853 (CustomerCounter) Light/Switch (CustomerCounter)
2017-10-11 23:05:01.936 Error: CustomerCounter hardware (12) nothing received for more than 5 Minutes!....
2017-10-11 23:05:02.938 Error: Restarting: CustomerCounter 

So yes, it seems pretty conclusive that Domoticz is stupid. Or what am I missing?

Domoticz version V3.8153
I found this thread in the Domoticz forum that discusses the PING stuff, which leads me to my second question.

Since Domoticz does PING, can I get rid of the hardware "Data Timeout" without risking having to restart things manually? I tested by disabling Data Timeout. Domoticz keeps sending PING (I can see that in the serial monitor). Then I reset the esp. In the Serial Monitor I see no PING from Domoticz:

62795 60.04 No
122833 60.04 No
182873 60.04 No
242911 60.04 No
302953 60.04 No
362993 60.04 No
423033 60.04 No

So it seems like the PING feature in Domoticz has no purpose, since it is either unable to detect that PING failed, or detects but just ignores it? Or at least not a purpose when it comes to verifying that the gateway is alive and re-establishing the connection.

Q2: What am I missing?

[sundberg84]

@mfalkvidd - I have not look more into it but im getting the same feelins/conclusions as you are.
I had the discussion @ domoticz forum about update the time even though the value was the same as before (count the message as recieved) but this was argued against for some reason... cant remember. Its stupid!

This might be out of focus since it discuss heartbeat more but some info:
https://forum.mysensors.org/topic/2842/forcing-a-status-updated-when-sensor-value-has-not-changed/2

https://www.domoticz.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=9272#p64375

[mfalkvidd]

@sundberg84 thanks. I love Domoticz for being so easy to get started with, but I hate it for all the stupid design mistakes, like "last seen" not really being "last seen" and now this problem where PING has no real purpose. I checked the Domoticz source code yesterday and from what I can see it seems like Domoticz never even checks if it got a reply from the PING.

It might be time to bite the bullet and learn how to use a real controller like OpenHAB.

[sundberg84]

@mfalkvidd I have had the same thoughts but about HASS.

I think the Domoticz dev-team might be a litte to small and they rely on users making github push about things like this. Im no coder but got the question if I could code and try out the heartbeat function to update last seen and push it... I guess as well this is something you have to be aware of in DIY.

If you get any more insight in PING and last seen I would be happy to know the result.

[gohan]

I think "last seen" is more like "last update"

[mfalkvidd]

@gohan yes. But why then call it "last seen"?

[gohan]

I'm with you, I have no idea. It must be a French(?) thing. 😁

[zboblamont]

@gohan As in 'Merde' ?

[gohan]

Maybe I'm mistaking, but wasn't Domoticz a french project?

[zboblamont]

@gohan So was the Maginot Line..... ;)

[Nca78]

No way it's French, I think it's Dutch :p
For a real French controller have a look at Jeedom.

[ben999]

:D Easy guys or you'll end up upsetting someone :wink:

I like the idea of "last seen" as in "last time he showed up and he gave us news"... makes sense

[mfalkvidd]

@ben999 so if you look at a door, and it hasn't been opened since you last looked at it, then you didn't really see the door? That doesn't make sense to me.

[gohan]

@ben999 that would be better described as "last update" so you have an idea of how old is the data you are seeing. Personally I don't like the fact that a data point in the graph is saved regardless if there has been an update or not because you don't know when the sensor actually sent the data

[manutremo]

Irrespectively of the "interesting" design decisions on Domoticz (which I fully agree with), and the fact that almost every time a bug or improvement report is submitted the answers seems to be most frequently "please code it yourself", or even "that feature is already included in next beta" which then turns out to be just not true... even though it generally works quite well, some things are very annoying so I'm actually also starting to think on a move to openhab.

...back to the gateway part, I've been using a Wemos D1 R2 for some time and I was routinely finding myself in a similar situation where Domoticz decided that the gw was not connected anymore (though it was), and then all sensors started to (apparently) fall one by one because they failed to connect with Domoticz.

After some testing I started to have a feeling that somethig was not quite right in the gw itself but I wasn't able to identify what. I then started to replace parts of the hardware and am now using a NodeMCU v1.0. The setup seems significantly more robust and it hasn't lost connection to Domoticz for close to 3 weeks now (with the Wemos it happened every couple of weeks more or less).

What may be different between Wemos and NodeMCU that can cause this? Some firmware difference? No idea, but this is my result for the moment.

[Nca78]

@manutremo did you buy a genuine wemos ? I've not had any problem with mine, I switched to wifi gateway a few months ago and it's been very stable. I had problems before with "NodeMCU" probably because of bad components used on the board I bought.

For Domoticz like many others here I'm going to leave it, for many annoying things like the 5mns minimum delay, this "last seen" things etc, and I also developed a severe allergy to virtual switches :D

[manutremo]

@Nca78 They are supposedly genuine, purchased in a reputable store. That doesn't discard however that some component is defective and goes unstable after a certain number of hours. Maybe both types of boards can work well, it's just a matter of (bad) luck with specific units.

[gohan]

it could also be a not up to date boards definitions for the wemos... it is hard to say as a lot of development environments are not all the same :)

[manutremo]

Personally I'm using the last versions of both the arduino ide and the boards definitions. Also I would expect all of us would be seeing the same problem if that was the case, wouldn't we?

Not a big deal for me anyways, the only reason to select the wemos d1 r2 in my case is because I'm using an enclosure designed for the arduino uno which it fits perfectly... But no problem on switching to the nodemcu.