Homeseer Board

[upstatemike]

Been reading through a bunch of posts on the Homeseer Board and one thing that struck me is... A LOT of posts describing problems never seem to get resolved and many of them go with no response at all. This is a big contrast to what we usually have here and I was wondering if anybody has any insight about why this is? Do most of these folks get their problems solved by tech support and just never update their posts? Or should I be concerned that there are just a whole bunch of problems that are going for weeks and even months without being addressed?

Every time I think I want to play around with HS2.1 the message board generates enough doubt and concern to make me put it off until I can devote a lot of time to troubleshooting. Of course there will never be a point when I have that much time on my hands so I'm hoping somebody can reassure me that the lack of closure on the message board is not due to actual issues with Homeseer or its plugins.

 

[WayneW]

HST has stated that they do not have the time or intentions of monitoring their message board. I cannot speculate as to what really happens with the unanswered posts, but I suspect that many of the older long term helpful users that built HS into what it is today are no longer reading or posting as much. Hopefully Rupp can give some insight as to the status of help desk tickets and if they are still as backlogged as they once were.

 

[Jim Doolittle]

A lot of the HS2 issues are isolated. I still browse the board and reply when I can be of help but I am not much help when I haven't seen hardly any of the issues others report even though I might be running same build of HS2.

It does seem that in general, the HomeSeer Board has fewer users that respond back at a later data commenting whether issue was resolved. Maybe the issue gets resolved and they move on to the next thing on their HA todo list...

 

[Gemini]

Strange you should mention this today. I just now reverted BACK to HS1.7. I bought and installed 2.0 when it was first released. From that point on it seems I was always trouble shooting and having to fix something that ceased to work.
With 1.7 ,I start it and it works....always!
I was just browsing the update board for 1.7 this morning as that will be going away pretty soon and I just wanted to be sure I had all the plug-ins that I thought I might ever use or need.
Even with my fairly simple set up, it is still (IMHO) the best of the two.
I hope that HS or someone will continue to host the files that I might need if I ever have a catastrophic failure.

 

[jwilson56]

Strange you should mention this today. I just now reverted BACK to HS1.7. I bought and installed 2.0 when it was first released. From that point on it seems I was always trouble shooting and having to fix something that ceased to work.
With 1.7 ,I start it and it works....always!
I was just browsing the update board for 1.7 this morning as that will be going away pretty soon and I just wanted to be sure I had all the plug-ins that I thought I might ever use or need.
Even with my fairly simple set up, it is still (IMHO) the best of the two.
I hope that HS or someone will continue to host the files that I might need if I ever have a catastrophic failure.

Well I recently upgraded and 2.1. has been stable for me....

John

 

[huggy59]

I have been running HS 2.1 for a few months now. It took me forever to go to 2.0, let alone 2.1, waiting for it to get stable, and I upgraded my 1.7 config and had all kinds of problems where HS 2.0 would die and/or lock up the machine.

Eventually, I threw away my old config and started from scratch, and things improved. However, ever since I went to 2.x I've had problems with something causing loss of time with HS 2.x. That is, when I run the HS Speaker app, it slows my machine down and the clock loses time. Severely if I run Speaker. If I'm not running that speaker app on the HS machine, it is manageable, but loss of time still occurs. If I don't run HS at all, no problems at all.

I have been able to recreated it every time with every version of HS 2.x and with varying hardware on different machines. I have opened help desk tickets on it, and after 6-7 emails back and forth, it got bumped up to Rich or someone else and then HST gave up on me and the issue.

As many of you know, I have been an HS user since back when it only cost $20 or so, and have been through 3 or 4 support board changes over that time. I had quite a system at my last home, all centering around HS 1.7. At this new home (new to me) I have not had the desire to put a wiz-bang HA system together, because I'm just not happy with HS as a core product any more.

I think their support board has evolved into a place for 3rd party and inter-user support, not so much HST support. That's not necessairly a bad thing. However, with the policy changes and the new software and the loss of many of the older DIYers/hackers like me and the ones on this board, and with the addition of the later users and newer HAers, it just isn't the same crowd, and therefore not the same atmosphere that it once was.

I think this started back when they put the Help Desk ticket system in place on their web site. But whatever, I agree, there are less and less "this is the fix" posts and more and more "how do I do this or fix this" posts.

I think you have the right idea, stay with what works and keep looking for something better. I believe I'll be jumping off the HS bandwagon as soon as I decide which way to jump, and can afford the time and materials I need to make that jump. And at the moment it's toward Linux and probably misterhouse. Cause it's tried and true and it runs. Or so the story goes. I'll keep you posted

 

[upstatemike]

I think this started back when they put the Help Desk ticket system in place on their web site. But whatever, I agree, there are less and less "this is the fix" posts and more and more "how do I do this or fix this" posts.

I have heard from HST folks directly and now agree that there is a distinction between the Help Desk situation and the Message Board environment. As you point out, there is a lot of traffic on the board but maybe the scale has tilted so there are more people asking for help than there are giving fix it advice. Hopefully the help desk has a better closure rate and the stability of the product is actually better than you might think from looking at the 0 reply posts.

 

[gregoryx]

I spent a LOT of time with HS uh... seven? eight? nine? years ago.

I was one that posted a bit, both questions and answers.

I saw it changing before HS2 came out and my patience waned. HS staff become non-existent on the old board and very different toward those on the beta from the way it had been previously. I stuck with 1.6 for a long time... then played with HS2 (not 2.1) then started moving as much as I could over to MLServer and Elk.

Cool as HS was for years - a poured a LOT of time into CD-Changers/SlinkE/CDJ/NowPlaying web interfaces that Ron Depping and others initiated, as well as many other UI stuff - it's not where I'd put my time now.

I now have HS out of the picture - one less thing to deal with.

There are many things I miss it for - mostly stuff Michael McSharry wrote - but it's not worth the headache for me.

Cinemar staff works the board as well as the users do now. Updates and responses to users remain professional and as balanced as I think can be given the mixed audience. So long as it stays that way, I will be quite pleased.

FWIW and all...

 

[deranged]

I recently upgraded to HS 2.x and my experience so far has been less than thrilling. My HS 1.7 setup was rock solid, and it just ran. Other than a couple of minor tweaks to some events I never even looked at HS or the configuration for over a year. No reboots and no attention required and if it wasn't for Crystals voice, I might have forgotten HS was even running.

Well, I decided to upgrade to HS2.x and after almost bashing my screen several times while attempting to use the web interface I have finally become more accustomed to it.

The increase in speed was nice, and after getting used to the layout I did find some things easier to see and use. There are more event options now then in 1.7 that I did like.

All that said, I did run into problems. I posted in the HS forums with really no answer. And opened a HS Help Desk Ticket, after a few weeks on working back and forth we seem to have the problem resolved for me anyways. Not a complete resolution for everyone but one that I will work with.

So I guess I am guilty for not updating the forum.

Though at this point I put more time in the past 9 weeks of running HS2 then I think the entire time I ran HS 1.7. Am I satisfied......, that is yet to be seen.

If for whatever reason I had to rebuild my HS configuration from scratch, I would toss the whole HA setup out the door.

My time and patience is needed elsewhere at this point.

StevenE

 

[DavidL]

Thanx, GregoryX, truly appreciated.
We also thank you for all of your time spent helping others and pointing out areas of the product that can be improved.

We hope to continue to meet your expectations.

 

[upstatemike]

I have not forgotten about MLServer. I just have a need for the Homeseer Phone/Way2Call functionality and that has kept Homeseer in the picture as I consider my options.

I also have never resolved my touch screen strategy which is another factor delaying any deep exploration of MainLobby.

 

[gregoryx]

Funny... I would probably still be using HS if the Way 2Call serial still worked. B) $250 wasted there. B)

"touch screen strategy"?

What are you considering? What are the factors?

 

[upstatemike]

Touch screen requirements:

Must be surface or table mount. I can't accomodate anything flush mount or "in wall".

Prefer single cable solution such as POE.

Will mainly be used for viewing door cameras in response to doorbell or other trigger. Maybe some audio zone control.

Must be inexpensive enough to use in several locations.

Best description is: "a generic equivalent to the HAI OmniPro touch screens that could be used with MainLobby, CQC, etc."

 

[gregoryx]

Aesthetics?

 

[tech-home]

HST has stated that they do not have the time or intentions of monitoring their message board. I cannot speculate as to what really happens with the unanswered posts, but I suspect that many of the older long term helpful users that built HS into what it is today are no longer reading or posting as much. Hopefully Rupp can give some insight as to the status of help desk tickets and if they are still as backlogged as they once were.

Haven't been on the HS board for awhile seems like I missed a lot. Speaking of Rupp does he officially work for HS now?

I saw post where he was helping with tickets.



Brian
http://tech-home.com