Controller not responding after lost of current

[Steve Hammond]

Last night, we had a lost of current for just a few minutes before it came back. Since then, our controller (HC250) is not responding. If I try to connect to it with the mobile app, it is not connecting, I cannot ping it from a computer, almost none of the wall buttons work. It looks like it lost its configuration or something like it. I manually restarted the device and the IO expander, but it does not help either.

Anyone can suggest me a path of investigation?

Thank you

[Steve Hammond]

The controller does not even appear in the Composer Media Edition.

 

and I do not know why I cannot rehister my Composer HE software:

 

[msgreenf]

Time to upgrade. Hc250 loses all online services Jan 2026 anyway

[Time2Jet]

The controller does not even appear in the Composer Media Edition.
http://media.invisioncic.com/r242699/monthly_2025_01/image.png.872362d8710cd6d54f93ad1d784bf75d.png
 
and I do not know why I cannot rehister my Composer HE software:
http://media.invisioncic.com/r242699/monthly_2025_01/image.png.ad763f87a21cdb9d85a6e1b6a3405855.png
 

Have you tried power cycling the controller?


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[Steve Hammond]

27 minutes ago, Time2Jet said:

Have you tried power cycling the controller?

When I wrote I have reset the device, it was a power cycle. Tried this a few times, but did not helped so far. That is what I do generally and it does reboot correctly, but not this time. 

[Steve Hammond]

30 minutes ago, msgreenf said:

Time to upgrade. Hc250 loses all online services Jan 2026 anyway

Which online services? As far as I can tell, our setup does not have any online configuration. It's solely controls things locally for lights and the home theater. 

[msgreenf]

1 minute ago, Steve Hammond said:

Which online services? As far as I can tell, our setup does not have any online configuration. It's solely controls things locally for lights and the home theater. 

Mobile app, online music, bsckup, remote access 

[Time2Jet]

When I wrote I have reset the device, it was a power cycle. Tried this a few times, but did not helped so far. That is what I do generally and it does reboot correctly, but not this time. 

Have you rebooted the network? Are there any lights lit on the controller?


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[Steve Hammond]

4 minutes ago, msgreenf said:

Mobile app, online music, bsckup, remote access 

if that's the case, it will be time to move on away from Control4. Very expensive solution for what it does for us. 

[msgreenf]

Sadly that is the case. The hc250 was end of support a few years ago and now it's eol. You likely could get your system back online w new hc250 used from eBay but it wouldn't make sense because of labor and short lifetime left

[Time2Jet]

if that's the case, it will be time to move on away from Control4. Very expensive solution for what it does for us. 

What OS are you on? Can you upgrade to an EA controller? You can find used EA1’s very reasonable right now.


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[Jakelay]

Sorry you are dealing with this Steve.  I have a few used EA1’s and an EA3 that I purchased 2 years ago that I’d be happy to sell you for whatever market price is. I never used them but they were part of a package with some other equipment so I have just been storing them. I wasn’t really looking to sell them as one could always use a few backups but it looks like you could possibly use some help so I figured I would offer.

Also, there are a bunch of remote programmers on this site that are helpful and do a fantastic job and can get you back up and running remotely.  Typically the cost is much less than you would find from a local installer. Some have already responded to your post
 

Feel free to PM me if you are interested in any of the controllers I have.

[Steve Hammond]

@Time2Jet I'm on the latest OS2 version. That's the best this controller can do anyway. 
 
Upgrading the controller to a newer version (EA as suggested) but not the latest CORE may be an option if the price is right. I remember a few years ago when the CORE were brand new, my local dealer told me that my project was too big for a base model CORE1 and suggested a CORE3, if I remember well. But when he told me the price, I just went away! I kinda ask if they were able to provide a newer generation of controllers from upgrading customers, but I never got a yes or no on that question. They probably prefer selling hardware first then services…

That said, I do not know anything on C4 controllers so I cannot by myself decide or make a clear choice on what is the minimum requirement for my setup. I'll need an expert to evaluate my setup I guess. As said previously, my local dealer told me the CORE1 would not be enough, while in my head I was clearly thinking that even the base model of the newest controller 2 or 3 generations up would be powerful enough to drive the project. Like a computer, say you replace a Pentium for even with the based CORE2-duo, and you should see some improvements.

@Jakelay don’t know where you are, but if in the US, shipping to Canada with customs and everything else may not be too cheap. But thanks for the offer. 
 

What are the expected selling price of an EA3 for example?

thank you all for your help and comments!

[Steve Hammond]

7 hours ago, Time2Jet said:

Have you rebooted the network? Are there any lights lit on the controller?

The lights on the controller look normal to me. I also rebooted the router and connected my laptop wired to the switch the controller is and everything is working fine. 

[msgreenf]

If you are running it on a hc250 you can run it on a core1

[Steve Hammond]

1 hour ago, msgreenf said:

If you are running it on a hc250 you can run it on a core1

I just read the email again, he suggested to me to install a CORE3 without any specific reason, but he mentioned that an EA3 would be the minimum for our project size. It was 2 years ago, my memory is not that good!! 

[Andrew luecke]

Or EA1.

But at this point, you'd probably want to do it properly and use a Core 1 or better. The EA1 V1 was released 7 years ago and doesn't support things like H.265 or Apple music.

[Time2Jet]

The lights on the controller look normal to me. I also rebooted the router and connected my laptop wired to the switch the controller is and everything is working fine. 

Having a Dealer look into this is best practice.

Having some LED activity is promising, but not 100% certainty that you can recover it.

There are a few further steps that can be attempted. ie: A Network Reset and/or a Factory Restore.

Perhaps one of us dealers here can give you a hand. My experience is that mist here are very reasonable. It’s worth the try.


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[Steve Hammond]

12 hours ago, Time2Jet said:

Having a Dealer look into this is best practice.

Having some LED activity is promising, but not 100% certainty that you can recover it.

There are a few further steps that can be attempted. ie: A Network Reset and/or a Factory Restore.

Perhaps one of us dealers here can give you a hand. My experience is that mist here are very reasonable. It’s worth the try.


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I went back to the rack where it is installed today, and saw that on the controller, there is a blinking orange light for the WIFI, that looks suspiceous to me, I do not beleive it was ever there before. The devoce is wired to a local Ethernet switch. So maybe it lost some config and went back to factory setings or something similar. 

I will contact my current dealer tomorow, in the week end, there is no one working for the C4 support. 

[Steve Hammond]

Finally, my local dealer told me that they cannot see the controller online. I'm waiting for a truck roll to come my way with a technician so they can try rebooting the device.