Another addiction

[looney2ns]

The more I work with, and am being frustrated by HomeSeer, the more I'm leaning toward springing for a Pi4+ and switching back to HA. I'm trying to get control of the extended functions in Fibaro Key Fob remotes, Aeotec Remotes and Zooz switches. A post over on the HS board mentioned EastTrigger as a useful plugin. $30 dollar later and no closer. More totally useless documentation that doesn't even include basic configuration as a topic. I'm getting the impression that the whole thing is a kludge held together with string and, if you're luck, a few pieces of baling wire. Heck, there's not even a direct access to the HS console over your own network, it takes an RDP or their "cloud" app. The Android app is half an app and doesn't offer little features like "add a device". That's really chintzy IMHO. Glad I'm using the "Pro" version, the regular version is even less capable and probably less friendly.

Same exact experience here. As long as HomeSeer has been around, it should be a polished product. But certainly isn't.
You should be able to use a plugin during the free trial period at no cost. I used 3 different ones that way.

 

[sebastiantombs]

That's true of the free plugins, @looney2ns , but there are many paid, EasyTrigger and Envisalink for example, that are $30 bucks each. I know that sounds cheap, but installing it, paying for it, and then finding out that configuring it is a by guess and by gosh operation is more than discouraging. Not to mention the available documentation is semi useless. HS may be fine if you're into scripting, but if you're not into scripting/programming it just plain sucks a big wet noodle.

As far as help from the HS board, it has been as vague as their documentation. How they can market it as a finished, full featured, product beats me. If you look at a plugin and click the "documentation" link it just takes you to HS documentation, nothing specific for the plugin. There's another link on the plugins, for revision notes, and half of them are blank pages. None of them even have a basic description of what the heck the plugin is for or what it does. How they can present their service like that is totally amazing, then they take the attitude that you're the idiot if you ask a question. I guess no one has ever scripted a way to use an extended function of a remote to turn a light on and off, or if they have they sure aren't willing to share it.

I guess a Pi or NUC is in my immediate future. I'd rather learn Linux and yaml than deal with HS at this point.

 

[DanDenver]

Yeah, I purchased EasyTrigger but ended up not using it as it did not perform the tasks I thought it would, so $30 out the door!

 

[sebastiantombs]

I have gotten EasyTrigger to run a time based daily task and feel pretty good about getting even that out of it. I also figured out how to use a single button press to turn a light both on and off using two simple "events" in HS. That effectively doubled the available operations for a remote from two to four. Unfortunately, I still can't get to the rest of the functions, twelve more. I thought EasyTrigger would list out all those additional functions but no such luck unless they're in a script. If I knew how to write a script like that, why would I need EasyTrigger?

 

[prsmith777]

That's true of the free plugins, @looney2ns , but there are many paid, EasyTrigger and Envisalink for example, that are $30 bucks each. I know that sounds cheap, but installing it, paying for it, and then finding out that configuring it is a by guess and by gosh operation is more than discouraging. Not to mention the available documentation is semi useless. HS may be fine if you're into scripting, but if you're not into scripting/programming it just plain sucks a big wet noodle.

As far as help from the HS board, it has been as vague as their documentation. How they can market it as a finished, full featured, product beats me. If you look at a plugin and click the "documentation" link it just takes you to HS documentation, nothing specific for the plugin. There's another link on the plugins, for revision notes, and half of them are blank pages. None of them even have a basic description of what the heck the plugin is for or what it does. How they can present their service like that is totally amazing, then they take the attitude that you're the idiot if you ask a question. I guess no one has ever scripted a way to use an extended function of a remote to turn a light on and off, or if they have they sure aren't willing to share it.

I guess a Pi or NUC is in my immediate future. I'd rather learn Linux and yaml than deal with HS at this point.

I think your main problem is going HS4 and not HS3. I could have helped you with HS3 scripting, but no clue on HS4 as they changed things up quite a bit. I have an Aeotec quadmote that works fairly well in HS3 but there are slight delays when pushing buttons.

I also like the use of remotesin general and I have a harmony remote in the bedroom that controls lights, shades, fan, humidifier, sonos. It works flawlessly. I had to kludge it to work but that is the fun of home automation IMO. Of course, these remotes are out of production now.

 

[sebastiantombs]

HS4, + or Pro or whatever they call it, is supposed to be the "flagship" of HS. Unfortunately, you're right in that the documentation available is for HS3 and therefor useless with HS4, + or Pro or whatever. It all come down to a very lackadaisical attitude by HS which, to me, is eliminating HS as a viable hub. They release software with no documentation, how good is that? I still can't get past having to use RDP on my own network to access it from my laptop. It's either that or the "cloud" version which just doesn't feel secure. The Android app is just plain useless for anything other than turning a light on or off.

 

[prsmith777]

HS4, + or Pro or whatever they call it, is supposed to be the "flagship" of HS. Unfortunately, you're right in that the documentation available is for HS3 and therefor useless with HS4, + or Pro or whatever. It all come down to a very lackadaisical attitude by HS which, to me, is eliminating HS as a viable hub. They release software with no documentation, how good is that? I still can't get past having to use RDP on my own network to access it from my laptop. It's either that or the "cloud" version which just doesn't feel secure. The Android app is just plain useless for anything other than turning a light on or off.

HS3 has a built in webserver that allows me to connect on my local network. No need for RDP. I do use a VNC product to remote into my HS box when I need to do updates or other configurations on the computer. Not sure about HS4, but I don't know why they would have changed that.

 

[sebastiantombs]

Apparently they are trying to move, eventually, to a cloud base which to me is self defeating. If I wanted cloud based I wouldn't need a hub at all, Alexa could handle it all.

I may try by uninstalling HS4, factory reset all the remotes yet again, and give HS3 a try because I' wasting too much time and getting too little progress or help with HS4. I just hate the idea of going through all that again only to find out that HS 3 is just as bad or that HS drops support of HS3 to promote the POS HS4.

 

[looney2ns]

That's true of the free plugins, @looney2ns , but there are many paid, EasyTrigger and Envisalink for example, that are $30 bucks each. I know that sounds cheap, but installing it, paying for it, and then finding out that configuring it is a by guess and by gosh operation is more than discouraging. Not to mention the available documentation is semi useless. HS may be fine if you're into scripting, but if you're not into scripting/programming it just plain sucks a big wet noodle.

As far as help from the HS board, it has been as vague as their documentation. How they can market it as a finished, full featured, product beats me. If you look at a plugin and click the "documentation" link it just takes you to HS documentation, nothing specific for the plugin. There's another link on the plugins, for revision notes, and half of them are blank pages. None of them even have a basic description of what the heck the plugin is for or what it does. How they can present their service like that is totally amazing, then they take the attitude that you're the idiot if you ask a question. I guess no one has ever scripted a way to use an extended function of a remote to turn a light on and off, or if they have they sure aren't willing to share it.

I guess a Pi or NUC is in my immediate future. I'd rather learn Linux and yaml than deal with HS at this point.

I used for free, for 25 days this $50 plugin, and another that I can't recall. They were not free plugins.
I enabled them from within HS. YMMV.

Rob Mason OMNI Software Plugin for HS3

HS4 users: This plugin was created for HS3 and should run on your HS4 system. However, the setup/config pages are not optimized for use on mobile devices.This plugin connects your HAI/OMNI Panel to Homeseer allowing you full control of:Areas, Zones and Units. Thermostats, Z-Wave, and Zigbee...

shop.homeseer.com

 

[prsmith777]

Apparently they are trying to move, eventually, to a cloud base which to me is self defeating. If I wanted cloud based I wouldn't need a hub at all, Alexa could handle it all.

I may try by uninstalling HS4, factory reset all the remotes yet again, and give HS3 a try because I' wasting too much time and getting too little progress or help with HS4. I just hate the idea of going through all that again only to find out that HS 3 is just as bad or that HS drops support of HS3 to promote the POS HS4.

I am pretty sure all the paid plugins for HS3 have a 30 day trial period as does HS3. So it shouldn't cost you anything to give it a try.

 

[sebastiantombs]

@looney2ns Does that OMNI plugin actually show extended functions of ZWave devices or is it another "write a script" plugin?

I went looking for HS3 software earlier this afternoon. It is no longer available on the HS website unless I'm missing something. I also added a spare 500GB drive to a second machine to load Linux on it and use a dual boot. I'll play with that tomorrow and Saturday between preparing for the Nor'Easter that's scheduled and the storm itself, assuming it actually happens. Then I'll load HA on it and migrate over to that again. Books on yaml should be here sometime this evening if I can believe Amazon.

 

[looney2ns]

@looney2ns Does that OMNI plugin actually show extended functions of ZWave devices or is it another "write a script" plugin?

I went looking for HS3 software earlier this afternoon. It is no longer available on the HS website unless I'm missing something. I also added a spare 500GB drive to a second machine to load Linux on it and use a dual boot. I'll play with that tomorrow and Saturday between preparing for the Nor'Easter that's scheduled and the storm itself, assuming it actually happens. Then I'll load HA on it and migrate over to that again. Books on yaml should be here sometime this evening if I can believe Amazon.

It simply pulls the info from the Omni Panel, and then allows there usage in HS. OR you can send commands from HS to the Omni Panel. So yes, some scripts would be required. I don't have any Zwave devices.

 

[prsmith777]

I went looking for HS3 software earlier this afternoon. It is no longer available on the HS website unless I'm missing something.

Legacy Software Download | HomeSeer

Looking for older HomeSeer downloads? You can find them here!

homeseer.com

 

[sebastiantombs]

@prsmith777 Thanks, but I think I'm retiring from HomeSeer. Too many bad feature(?) and problems for my tastes. If I have to script anyway, HS has no real advantage over HA which is less expensive. Hopefully their help files and forum will be more informative. As an example, click on the "Videos" link for HS4 on the help pages. It's more of a marketing page for HS devices than help with HS4.

I did download HS3, though, just in case.

 

[Holbs]

@prsmith777 Thanks, but I think I'm retiring from HomeSeer. Too many bad feature(?) and problems for my tastes. If I have to script anyway, HS has no real advantage over HA which is less expensive. Hopefully their help files and forum will be more informative. As an example, click on the "Videos" link for HS4 on the help pages. It's more of a marketing page for HS devices than help with HS4.

I did download HS3, though, just in case.

for the record...I know nothing of YAML. Really, NodeRed and the internal automation HA wizards does everything for me.
I do not have super fancy down the rabbit-hole automations, though.

 

[Justin Blackburn]

I have some pretty lengthy automations and yaml still isn’t very involved with mine either. I still rely pretty heavily on node red. I’m sure everything I’m doing could be done directly in home assistant, but node red is easier to me and when changing automations it’s easier to see what it’s doing. About the only time you have to code any yaml it’s when adding an automation to the configuration file. Most of the time it’s just copy/paste and change what’s relevant like username/password or MAC address for instance. HACS simplifies a lot that isn’t a native integration.

Getting started | HACS

Getting started

hacs.xyz

That lets you install repositories from GitHub that aren’t native to home assistant. I use several, but here is one example.

GitHub - magico13/ha-emporia-vue: Home Assistant Integration for Emporia Vue Energy Monitor

Home Assistant Integration for Emporia Vue Energy Monitor - magico13/ha-emporia-vue

github.com

On that repository, it tells you how to install it about half way down. They are mostly all the same steps. Home assistant has really tried to simplify so much in the last few years, and things have gotten easier. I really haven’t found anything that can’t be integrated. Some products do go through a cloud, but even then, most still have local control as well.

 

[sebastiantombs]

So, I installed another drive in my spare machine yesterday, 500GB I had laying around. Just to be safe, I took an image of the drive before I wacked the partition. Then I downloaded Unbutu LTS and Etcher. Next I created an image on a thumb drive with Etcher. Everything going fine.

Then it dawned on me, would that machine allow boot from a USB device? It's an old dual core on an Asus Pk5-E mobo. Nope, no option for a USB boot. Then I thought about updating the BIOS, checked, and sure enough there's an update. Next problem is how to update a machine with BIOS so old it won't read an NTFS written file. Went through all kinds of convolutions and got no where. I'll try copying the files to the C drive of the machine, then boot from a WIn98 version of DOS, yeah the machine actually has a 2-1/2" floppy drive in it, and see if it'll read the files that way to get the BIOS, hopefully, modern enough to boot from USB.

If that doesn't work I'll pull that 500GB drive, plug it into a USB/SATA adapter and see if Etcher will write the image onto it.

Jeesh, how'd simple things like this get so complicated?

 

[JeffCharger]

SO, I installed another drive in my spare machine yesterday, 500GB I had laying around. Just to be safe, I took an image of the drive before I wacked the partition. Then I downloaded Unbutu LTS and Etcher. Next I created an image on a thumb drive with Etcher. Everything going fine.

Then it downed on me, would that machine allow boot from a USB device? It's an old dual core on an Asus Pk5-E mobo. Nope, no option for a USB boot. Then I though about updating the BIOS, checked, and sure enough there's an update. Next problem is how to update a machine with BIOS so old it won't read an NTFS written file. Went through all kinds of convolutions and got no where. I'll try copying the files to the C drive of the machine, then boot from a WIn98 version of DOS, yeah the machine actually has a 2-1/2" floppy drive in it, and see if it'll red the files that way to get the BIOS, hopefully, modern enough to boot from USB.

If that doesn't work I'll pull that 500GB drive, plug it into a USB/SATA adapter and see if Etcher will write the image onto it.

Jeesh, how'd simple things like this get so complicated?

Sometimes the journey is the fun.....

 

[emersonvier]

I'm already bald, literally as well as figuratively

Hi, @sebastiantombs I have the addiction too, HomeAutomation, started with x10 more than 20 years ago ..., Wink, Smarthings, now Hubitat.

 

[sebastiantombs]

Well, I found out that I can burn the image directly onto a drive using a USB/SATA adapter and Etcher. I'm giving up on the idea of updating the BIOS on that machine. There is conflicting information on the Asus site regarding what is the most current BIOS> One says the version I'm running is the latest while another says there's a newer version. I don't want to risk bricking the machine, so it can stay where it is since I can get the image onto it with Etcher.