[HowTo] PtP on Homey Pro

PTP

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A lot of questions are asked about PTP. In this post a short explanation about PTP.

What does PTP mean?

PTP means Pull The plug. Make sure the power is off so not connected anymore. Pull the plug out of her!
Now don’t put it back in too soon. Some say a few seconds is enough but experiance is learning that we need to power her down for at least 10 minutes.
On the forums and on Slack u can see a lot of “11.2 minutes” power down. This ofcourse is a joke. The minimum of 10 minutes is not a joke!
Homey needs some time to cool down and make sure she can get a fresh start.

Powering up

After at least 10 minutes it is time to put the plug back in. She will be starting and loading apps. Depending of the amount of apps it can take a while.
Here i have 64 apps running so u can imagine it will take a while for all to be started.
After that it can also take a while before she can build the mesh again for Zwave and Zigbee. Have seen messages where it can take up to 20 minutes!
So patience is the keyword here. A good PTP takes at least 10 minutes and after that can take another 20 minutes.

Disclaimer

A PTP is NOT the same as a reboot from the menu!

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Thnx for the post, known info for me. I was wondering why its not possible to make a button/flow in homey tot ptp. So cache and every thing is cleared with a press of a button.

It’s not cache that’s being cleared when you wait longer, it’s hardware elements that get a proper (electrical) reset when you physically remove the power supply connector from Homey.

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Properly designed electronic hardware does not need any long power off to get reset. Especially not digital hardware. Bad software however, which does not reset all circuitry (components, I/O devices etc.), can cause a lot of random problems which could be different depending on the power off time. A 10 min power off requirement sounds like religion more than science.

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There is also a difference between pull the USB-plug (power-adater included!) OR only pull the USB-plug, as the adapter contains capacitors (i assume :grinning:).

Correct it is different,
but not for Homey as the Homey self Reset’s

  • and the Power Adapter doesn’t need the Reset

I think that Jackass means that the “capacitors” in the USB Power Adapter can still deliver a small amount of energy to Homey. So it is even better to remove the USB cable temporarily from the adapter than remove the whole adapter. The small electric flow to Homey components will stop a little earlier…

A couple of seconds… vs PtP for 10 minutes…
Even with a PtP for one minute I expect no benefit.

I have a Homey Pro 2023. When I’ve done pull-the-plug resets in the past (waiting at least 12 minutes before reconnecting), it was usually a good refresh on my Zwave network. In the couple of hours after, things are a bit unpredictable, but after that they are all working great.

Would it be a good idea to do a PTP every week?

And does it cound it I do it by connecting Homey to power via a Smart Plug and scheduling the time off? I would imagine it to have the same effect as actually pulling the plug, but wanted to double check.

There is a excellent topic [HOW TO] PtP on Homey Pro

So moved

I rarely execute PTP. I got a HP19 and a HP23. I restart the HP23 every week. Last time i did a PTP, is about a year ago. So i do not recommend a PTP every week, just a restart.

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A PtP is not the way to ‘solve’ things on a regular basis.
I also almost never use PtP, unless there’s a good reason.

If you think your zwave mesh needs a regular “refresh”, something is wrong with (a) zwave (unit)(s).

And yes, cutting the power from the power unit with a smart plug, is the same as pulling the power unit from the mains outlet.

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A PTP is however a way to solve various problems.

I’m and IT engineer and had to resort to ‘power reset’ all kind of devices; Like al HP Proliant refusing to accept a new IP adres on a ILO untit PtP, and frequently disconnect batteries from all kinds of laptops to get them to boot again.

And though 10 Mins. seem far fetched, I allways keep them powerless for at least 15 secs.

True, I just meant to point out when you have to reset/restart things every x hours just to keep it from erroring, you’d try to fix the real problem instead.

You’d know a linux machine for instance only has to be restarted on special occasions.

Yes I know about the IT issues and workarounds :wink:

Understood, and I agree. But Linux or any other software is not the issue in the cases I mentioned. It is hardware.

In case of the laptops, if it happens to often I’d replace the systemboard.

With the Ilo, the server just doesn’t really reboot the system, an Ilo doesn’t have a power button…