Hometroller S6 Just Died

Wondering if anybody has any tips or tricks for troubleshooting a Hometroller S6? It lost power earlier today and when it rebooted there was no video. I tried going in via VNC and I got a black screen there as well indicating that the system was running but not generating any video. I unplugged it for awhile and when I tried again got only a power light... no drive activity, no network activity. 
 
Anybody seen this and have a suggestion how to troubleshoot it? Could it be a failed SSD? 

Maybe a failing power supply?
 
Read Amazon reviews about video going out and overheating.

1 - check power supply first
2 - take it apart and have a look at the motherboard for bulging caps
3 - buy a refurbished on and put your memory and drive in to the refurbished one
4 - send to Gigabyte for repairs?

I didn't realize Homeseer sold stuff on Amazon so I didn't think to look there for reviews! I'll check to see if the symptoms look similar.
 
Also didn't know Homeseer sold refurbished units. I'll have to dig deeper into their store to find that.
 
Good suggestions, Thanks!

Also glad I never put all my eggs in one basket so the functions that run on Stargate are still working. I don't think I will ever retire that thing!

I think it is just a relabeled Gigabyte Brix computer (or previous generation to the Brix with an Intel Celeron). 
 
Apologies that is the Homeseer SEL.  The Homeseer S6 is a Shuttle Slim PC.

Thinking today it is running embedded Microsoft Windows 8.X. Old one was running Windows Embedded 7.0. Previous Hometrollers were running Windows Embedded XP.
 

 
Here always DIY built my Homeseer computers from the initial Homeseer in the late 1990's.
 
One old Foxconn D525 computer is still going running W2003 Standard 24/7 now for years which is one of two old Homeseer computers.  Another one is a core duo (lite) running on a BCM Motherboard with an external 19VDC brick power supply.   BCM motherboard are a tad expensive and made to last forever.   Also have an old Shuttle Nettop which is still running today.

The main reason I went with the S6 is the embedded Win 7 plus all of the drivers already included in the image. I could probably grab a spare laptop and run HS on that except I would have to figure out how to lock down standard Windows 10 to never look for updates or bug me about them and I would also have to hunt down Win 10 drivers for my Way2Call Modem and find a free copy of VNC server and get my AT&T voices working on Win 10.
 
The goal is to have a controller that works less like a PC and more like my Stargate. In other words an appliance that just runs for years without a reboot or any other maintenance.

The goal is to have a controller that works less like a PC and more like my Stargate. In other words an appliance that just runs for years without a reboot or any other maintenance.
 
This has been Homeseer's goal since the first Hometroller.  There are many folks still running HS2 versions of the Hometroller.  Just keeps on ticking.
 
There is work being done to create an autonomous HSPhone plugin that'll run in Linux or Windows and specific to the Way 2 Call device.
 
Relating to Windows 10 automatic updates it is an issue.
 
Here went to tinkering with Windows server 2016.  It is lighter than Windows 10 and always confirms or does requests for updates.
 
The Linux Homeseer box is very appliance like and doesn't require much maintainance. 
 
Been off on a MQTT bender here and not touched the two Homeseer 3 boxes in months.  The two boxes just keep working. 
 
You get reminders of updates and it is up to you whether you want to update or not.  
 
Personally Linux does a better job of memory and utilization than Windows 10. I like the eye candy of Windows 10.   That is my personal opinion.
 
Here have two Homeseer boxes running ...one lite on an ARM CPU and one heavier on an Intel CPU both running Ubuntu Linux 64 bit.
 
The big box with more memory runs Oracle Virtual box instances of Windows 2003 Server (tight, small and fast). 
 
That VB runs now 6 instances of SAPI voices / speaker dot exe.

BTW my Leviton HAI Omni Pro 2 is old now and getting a tad long in the tooth. It continues to maintain and run the heartbeat of the home automation / security just fine. Homeseer is an addendum to these functions.

I have nothing against Linux. My music server is Linux and I haven't touched it for years. The only issue with Homeseer and Linux is a lot of plugins are Windows only. I would have to run my list of Plugins against the Linux list to see what can or cannot live on a Linux box.
 
My biggest requirements are:
 
AT&T voices
Way2Call
Elk Plugin
Brultech Plugin
Weatherflow Plugin
ISY Plugin
JowiHue Plugin
The UltraJones Plugin that controls Lifx bulbs
Maybe the Sonos plugin for awhile longer
Probably a Squeezebox plugin

Understood.
 
Yes many plugin authors are getting requests these days from Zee2 users about having their plugins run in Linux and
 
many run in Linux mono except for some nomenclature stuff.
 
That and you can run these plugins remotely which is a new feature introduced by Homeseer 3.
 
An example would be to run the Homeseer 3 plugin.exe like so in a windows command line:
 
plugin.exe server=IPOFHOMESEERSERVER.
 
I have tested a few of these and the author of the plugin has tweaked the plugin nomenclature so that it speaks in Linux mono and Windows.
 
It sounds like your Windows base works for you just fine and most important is that your plugins run in Windows.
 
Many users have gone to using the Intel Nuc for their Homeseer Windows server these days.
 
It is very close to being appliance like utilizing passive cooling, hardly any power and really no moving parts.

So it looks like my options are:
 
1 Try to troubleshoot and fix the failed S6. Not enthusiastic as I am not really equipped for doing that.
 
2 Purchase a bare bones Shuttle box like this one https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06WXXD247/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1
and move the RAM and SSD over hoping they are not the problem.
 
3 Use the laptop I just freed up from moving Blue Iris over to a proper PC. This means getting all the drivers for Way2Call etc working on Windows 10. Could really chew up a lot of time!
 
4 Get another PC like I got for Blue Iris to use for Homeseer. Same Windows 10 issues... any advantage over the laptop? Would the extra horsepower serve any purpose for Homeseer? Cost is about the same as the bare bones Shuttle option.

Door #2
 

 
I have used a laptop to run a Cumulus weather station.  It ran 24/7 for a few years.  Old last model IBM T something or another.  Workhorse with just a bit of memory.

Use Windows 2016 standard server. Much nicer than Windows 10.

First step is to find a free VNC server to put on the box before I can build Homeseer back up. I'll have to work on it slowly as time permits and can't really set it up for an extended period in a place where I can conveniently work on it directly. 
 
TightVNC and UltraVNC look promising. Anybody know which is better or want to suggest something else?

What was on there before?

Hometrollers ship with RealVNC server installed which is not free.

I am not understanding what you are doing.
 
Are you building a new HS3 box? 
 
Are you using the old SATA card from the S6?