My Home Automation Hell

[GLT]

Why in the world would you have automatic updates enabled on your automation PC?

And why do I? How many times have I found the PC rebooting in th middle of the night without asking me?

GLT

EDiT: Just turned them off. Now I have a little red X in my tray - like I'm doing something wrong.

 

[samgreco]

Why in the world would you have automatic updates enabled on your automation PC?

And why do I? How many times have I found the PC rebooting in th middle of the night without asking me?

GLT

EDiT: Just turned them off. Now I have a little red X in my tray - like I'm doing something wrong.

My first thought too. NEVER let MS manage your updates.

GLT - You can make that notification go away too. Go to Control Panel > Windows Security Center > Change the Way Security Center Alerts Me.

 

[CollinR]

I have had very good results with the EZ-RJ45 crimping system.

Thats because you have the best system, or at least that I am aware of.

Do you use their crimper too or are you getting by with angle cutters?

Why in the world would you have automatic updates enabled on your automation PC?

Tru dat yo! Turn them OFF.


I could tell you about a really expensive story that hit very close to my pocket book. Lets just say if you build systems for others this point goess 10 fold!
Just image half your customers call complaining on the same damn day.

 

[rhughes]

Why in the world would you have automatic updates enabled on your automation PC?

And why do I? How many times have I found the PC rebooting in th middle of the night without asking me?

GLT

EDiT: Just turned them off. Now I have a little red X in my tray - like I'm doing something wrong.

My first thought too. NEVER let MS manage your updates.

GLT - You can make that notification go away too. Go to Control Panel > Windows Security Center > Change the Way Security Center Alerts Me.

I had troubles with HomeSeer locking up just by having MS notify me that updates were available. So I disabled automatic updates entirely and haven't had any issues with HS since.

 

[Dean Roddey]

a nice little addendum to my story... at 1 AM, HomeSeer decided to run every event since the last reboot... that means about 45 seconds worth of voice announcements happened at my bedside, waking up both me and my wife. not funny. and then, this morning, none of the events are firing again.

It's certainly a very efficient way to do it, just get them all over with at once.

 

[DeLicious]

as much as i enjoy being the butt of everyones jokes... i believe i can trace my homeseer problems back to a recently installed NetCam plug-in. after manually deleting the cache of pictures that it keeps, things seem to be back running smoothly. hopefully, this was the sole cause of the problem.

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

A note on checking cables. The EZRJ-45 crimping system is good (I have one myself) BUT you should never, never, never implement a cable without at least checking for continuity.

Paladin makes a really good cable checker (for $30) for RJ-45 cables. In cases of multipair (magnet contacts, etc) you should use an ohm-meter.

Troubleshooting a new system is complicated enough, make sure you at least know your cables are sound!