The End is Near for HomeSeer 1.7x

[jhimmel]

I feel good - not gassy at all - and my HomeSeer 2.1 is working great.

 

[JohnBullard]

My Homeseer 2.x installation is also doing very well!

 

[Aaron]

I'll upgrade (or downgrade) to v2.0 when they offer it free to 1.7 users.

I wouldn't hold my breath on this one. I guess some users expect the HomeSeer tech team to work day in and day out and give it away free.

See, I try and be nice and keep things on a polite and professional level and then you taunt us like that? I guess some people at HST think that their paying customers (guinea pigs) should do all the troubleshooting and beta testing for them.

Aaron, you shouldn't hold your breath because apparently HST thinks the only time you deserve an upgrade discount is while the code is still very alpha/beta phase and totally unproven. I understand that most everybody is finally happy with 2.1, nearly a YEAR after HS 2 was released and nearly a year after the upgrade discount expired.

We really want EVERYONE to move to HS 2.1. If you cannot move, please open a help desk ticket and we will do our best to help you get your system moved. It is SO much better than 1.7 I really don't know what you're waiting for.

Regards,
Richard Helmke
HomeSeer Technologies LLC

Rich, if you want to see if people will move to HS2, how about bringing back the $39 upgrade, now that the product appears stable?

WayneW,
You are 100% right... if they want long-time loyal users to upgrae make it attractive. Paying $40 to test alpha/beta code... not even Microsoft does that!

I never upgraded for 2 reason:

1) 1.x code was buggy as hell for a long time and I delt with it, did not feel like paying $40 more and dealing with that again!

2) I have lots of custom ASP/VB code and some scripts that would not port directly over without a at least some rewrite, according to HS's initial statements.

3) Spend $40 for what? What was I getting... "new code" that gave me NO NEW FEATURES... at least nothing I needed. They gave no better front-end, thay gave no script wizard or even wizard type enhancement, nothing was worth $.

and from what I can tell... there is still not much, % wise, that can be called a new or greatly enhanced feature.

$40 so I could run the same code ported to .NET... whoopie!

 

[Rupp]

Aaron,
There's really only one major change in the way events are handled and even the old way works with a warning. So your ASP pages and scripts should work just fine.

 

[jwilson56]

Are there any paid plugins that do not run on HS 2.0?

I have yet to get Slink-e to work with HS2.x. Although not a paid for plugin it is none the less included and essential to my setup. My help ticket went totally ignored.

Time to find another HA solution and chawk HST as a dream turned to a bad nightmare.


As for backups... I just copy the entire HS directory.... reinstall the original HS file on the new system then copy the directory back over... and its all back to the same as it was. This works even on a different machine upgrade. Of coarse this won't get you any new plugins but for me what I have now works and I will stay with it for now (at least until my Slink-e dies). I also have a life that takes priority over debugging new code.

John

 

[Rupp]

John,
Rich returned a reply on Feb 22 and you never replied back.

Check for errors in the log when HomeSeer starts. Also, make sure the IR page is enabled on the web site tab in the options.


Regards,

Richard Helmke


I would bump that help ticket again. Rich was just working with a guy this week to get his SlinkE going. Plus HomeSeer put that SlinkE Code on a public site for anyone who wants it so if there is interest it available for the open public.

 

[jwilson56]

Rupp, the answer given in that response would only serve a novice user.... which I am not.... that is like asking if your computer is plugged in when it failed to boot.

Trust me the plugin would not work for me. I spent several hours trying. In fact it would not even show my devices properly. Right now I do not have the time to play around with such buggy code. As for handing it off to others to fix.... I am sure no one will take to time to look at it unless they own a Slink-e. Maybe this late fall I will take one more look into it but for now what I have works.

I have seen a few people say that 2.x is better than 1.7 but they never say why. I see no functional improvements and as for the speed.... a copy of 1.7 on a 3GHZ system flies so I am not sure speed is not an issue. I have a distributed speaker system so the remote speaker app is not of use to me. So what else can be said for improvements?

I am not bashing you or anyone else... but I grow tired of a 'few' people singing praises out to HST even when the majority condem their behavior towards their long time user base. I like most people do not like a gun pointed to my head. If it were not for the user base support I would have given up on HST a long time ago. If you weight the pros and cons HS2.x does not fair well against HS1.7

John

 

[GLT]

Gee I really love HS but ....

Anybody been on the message board there now? Nothing compared to the old activity....

Guess controversial posts like mine are now deleted by the "new" moderator...

(I complained about the "phone home" feature and compared it to MS who at least fixed part of the problem:

http://news.com.com/2100-7348_3-6082334.html

and my post and others were summarily deleted.)

BUT, when looking at other "great" programs mentioned here and elsewhere I am struck with their lack of features and compatibility. Most don't support the hardware I already have (ocelot/ W800/ modem), don't support VR, or are otherwise limited.

HS is POWERFUL! (and expensive)

I agree there are few, if any, new features (speaker app?) that compel a change to HS 2.x. And early adopters surely paid more than their fair price.

Mostly I miss the community, the abilty the crticize on HS's forum, the free or low cost add ons given by the community, and the dynamic exchange of ideas.

However, if anyone can name a program that does HALF of what HS does, I'll just sit back and let Greg correct them.

Most of all, don't ever call it a "comeback", because HS will return with a few hard earned tweaks to the program and the philosophy...

Rich, I sit here with credit card in hand - give me a reason...

(i.e. 2.5 / new features / special price?)

GLT

 

[upstatemike]

However, if anyone can name a program that does HALF of what HS does, I'll just sit back and let Greg correct them.

I think ECS can do at least 51% of what homeseer can. Some might argue that CQC and MainLobby go more than halfway there as well.

 

[Micah]

I think ECS can do at least 51% of what homeseer can. Some might argue that CQC and MainLobby go more than halfway there as well.

...now you've gone and done it.

 

[Rupp]

Rupp, the answer given in that response would only serve a novice user.... which I am not.... that is like asking if your computer is plugged in when it failed to boot.

Trust me the plugin would not work for me. I spent several hours trying. In fact it would not even show my devices properly. Right now I do not have the time to play around with such buggy code. As for handing it off to others to fix.... I am sure no one will take to time to look at it unless they own a Slink-e. Maybe this late fall I will take one more look into it but for now what I have works.

I have seen a few people say that 2.x is better than 1.7 but they never say why. I see no functional improvements and as for the speed.... a copy of 1.7 on a 3GHZ system flies so I am not sure speed is not an issue. I have a distributed speaker system so the remote speaker app is not of use to me. So what else can be said for improvements?

I am not bashing you or anyone else... but I grow tired of a 'few' people singing praises out to HST even when the majority condem their behavior towards their long time user base. I like most people do not like a gun pointed to my head. If it were not for the user base support I would have given up on HST a long time ago. If you weight the pros and cons HS2.x does not fair well against HS1.7

John

John,
I'm sure Rich didn't mean to belittle you by asking that question. When you support someone using text based interaction you have to start with the obvious and work your way up. I can't tell you how many times I have failed to do this only to find out , after asking many technical questions, the user didn't have the plugin activated in the interfaces tab. My point is, Rich is willing to work with you if you are with him. I doubt Microsoft, as HomeSeer has been compared to, would try to get a discontinued product working with their software. Upgrading isn't for everyone but the longer one waits the more things change and make that transition more and more difficult. If you do not see any benefits then I agree why change. The ability to write my plugins using visual studio 2005 was the motivation for me to upgrade.

 

[Squintz]

However, if anyone can name a program that does HALF of what HS does, I'll just sit back and let Greg correct them.

I think ECS can do at least 51% of what homeseer can. Some might argue that CQC and MainLobby go more than halfway there as well.

I am one of the some who will say that. I think CQC has just about passed HS in quality and quantity. Sure there are features the HS has the CQC still does not but I think there are far more features today that CQC has the HS does not. And most of all CQC is stable.

 

[GLT]

I am one of the some who will say that. I think CQC has just about passed HS in quality and quantity. Sure there are features the HS has the CQC still does not but I think there are far more features today that CQC has the HS does not. And most of all CQC is stable.

W800/Ocelot/ VR?


Hmm... just on the CQC message board.....is HS the ONLY program that supports the W800?

If so, wonder why? (now that it is a paid plugin)

Sure works nice with my DS-10's. So I guess HS is the only program that supports those too?

OK CQC can start w/ the ocelot - THEN I'll try it try it out. You do hear some nice things about the program.

GLT

 

[Rupp]

GLT,
You do not have to upgrade to the paid version of the W800 plugin unless you want to . I still use the freebie.

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

I am one of the some who will say that. I think CQC has just about passed HS in quality and quantity. Sure there are features the HS has the CQC still does not but I think there are far more features today that CQC has the HS does not. And most of all CQC is stable.

I have only played around with CQC for a few minutes and followed some posts from CQC users.

I really wish there was a little better user interface. Of course I'm sure once you get the hang of it you can accomplish tasks easily.

I believe this one item though is what separates CQC from HomeSeer (IMHO of course). The only time I have ever had to read the directions with HomeSeer was when I wanted to create a (VB) script. Most events just required selecting the correct options with a friendly visual form.

Dean's software has come a long way though, especially with all the devices it now supports (for free!)