A new computer for HS2

[Barry Gordon]

There is something I don't understand. Its relative to the migration of devices and events. I understand the issues with plugins and scripts, BUT events and devices? All of the events and devices are represented in a machine readable form (the HS 1.7 xml file). Why should one want/need to labourously hand generate them into a fesh DB (mdb). If HS2 can not convert that to its new DB format as a straight forward task then there is something fundamentally wrong. Its a simple transliteration problem (not even translation, just a change in the representational form).

I have, as I suspect most others also do, a single machine that has all the physical connectivity to my house. I have no problem moving between HS 1.7 and HS 2.0 on the same machine (either direction as often as I need to). My plan is to start with a fresh build of HS 2.0 (1.7 is running fine) after a copy all of the Homeseer folder into another folder (Homeseer1). When I have HS2, running in the Homeseer folder, reasonably for events and devices, I will copy that into a folder called Homeseer2. I will then add plugins and scripts. My advantage is that I wrote all of my own plugins (except for 2 for which I have workarounds) and scripts. I do not plan to convert the scripts or plugins to .Net until all is very stable.

My greatest concern is with the new Speaker application. I only want to run it on the main system as the house already has ampifiers and speakers integrated with the HS server. I hear an awful lot of static relative to the performance of that app, or should I say its performance/reliability.

Comments? Experiences?

[JeffCharger]

I had good success in converting from 1.7 to 2.0.


I put on a new machine, and knowing that I could wipe it out and start over if things went astray, I first copied my 1.7 version over and verified that all functioned properly, then I did the transition to 2.0 overtop of it. It worked fine.

[Bkphillips]

I didn't mean to sound like starting over is the only way, it's just that I picked this as my solutuion for starting fresh when the very first public release hit, and it seemed to pay off in the long run. NOT EVERYTING converted over when I did copyover upgrade effect to a very long living stable 1.7 box. Let me emphasize MANY things got fuggered up when I did this, I did not have the luxary of moving between HS 1.7 and HS 2.0 on the same machine. My machine was just a pure wreck in effect.

I'm sure that there have been fixes to the upgrade process along the way and people who started later probably greatly benefitted. But at the time, instead of backtracking, I did a format/reload. Erased a solid Win2K server for XP Pro, since it was what was said to be the best solution and supported by HST. I might add that still today small changes here and there get overwritten as the versions climb, so those customizations are still tricky.

Everyone who attempts the upgrade has an expectation that you can get most of it over, this may be true, but when something breaks (and surely just being in a new envionment will cause confusion to you and your scripts, plugins, or whatever) working with less confusion is surely easier to troubleshoot that trying to sort out the whole enchilada.

The conversion has had a few big people frustrated to tears because they were trying to preserve all their old work just to get back to where they USED to be, and in the long run they ended up taking days off work to sort it all out, me included.

Jeff & Barry - what version did you start your swap at?
Wazel, I'm just puzzled by your story.....

[Barry Gordon]

I have not yet done the swap to production. The last round of testing on a machine not connected to the "house" was with build 2003.

[JeffCharger]

BK, I think my switch was with 1997..but I'm not entirely sure.

I don't want to mislead people - I took the lazy way to upgrade knowing that I was starting with an empty machine so starting over would have been easy. I think the "right" way to install 2.0 is to do as others have done, start fresh, install 2.0 and build it slowly.

I merely wanted to tell people that it's not the only way. I took a chance and it worked for me.

[Hunter Green]

I'm actually in a very good place to start with a clean build. I've had HomeSeer since back when it was $40, when Rich was the entire business, and I've been moving the same folder with the same install, upgrade after upgrade, around all that time. I've got little crufty bits of html and script includes and stuff in places I probably can't even find.

However, my .xml file is very simple. In my new house I have nothing but Z-Wave. My entire system is a Z-Wave USB controller and an MR26A I don't really even use. I have about a dozen events, most of them just simple scenes, plus my old Network Monitor and a few scripts to do icon stuff. Plus a few ASPs in the html directory.

I could rebuild my system pretty easily particularly by having the old and new both up at the same time. But by the same token, my .xml file is pretty clean. So I could go either way.

By the way, the new computer is here. Hope to get started on a squeaky-clean Windows install tomorrow evening.

(P.S., my new, custom built house, moved in a year ago: )

[JeffCharger]

Hunter, very nice looking place. Congratulations!

In my opinion, it sounds like you might as well start from scratch - it won't take that long. There have certainly been fewer problems reported from those who started fresh.

[Hunter Green]

Status Update

Got the server set up and working. Got HomeSeer 2 installed and running, and all my devices and non-script-related events over.

Having the usual X-Wave USB interface problems, same as before. Very frustrating. Z-Wave is such a powerful and promising technology held back by a few simple things.

Haven't hooked up the MR26A yet.

Conceptually, I'm liking what I'm seeing about HS2. The first three things on the "what's new" page, I'm happy to say are all things I was advocating years ago. The implementation is mostly good too, though I have a few picky things, but that's for another day.

I am unable to get a HS event to play a WAV in an event, but maybe I'm doing it wrong. Hard to say with certainty because the help page is broken, even IE can't play it.

Next up, playing with the Speaker client.

[wpiman]

I'm actually in a very good place to start with a clean build. I've had HomeSeer since back when it was $40, when Rich was the entire business, and I've been moving the same folder with the same install, upgrade after upgrade, around all that time. I've got little crufty bits of html and script includes and stuff in places I probably can't even find.

However, my .xml file is very simple. In my new house I have nothing but Z-Wave. My entire system is a Z-Wave USB controller and an MR26A I don't really even use. I have about a dozen events, most of them just simple scenes, plus my old Network Monitor and a few scripts to do icon stuff. Plus a few ASPs in the html directory.

I could rebuild my system pretty easily particularly by having the old and new both up at the same time. But by the same token, my .xml file is pretty clean. So I could go either way.

By the way, the new computer is here. Hope to get started on a squeaky-clean Windows install tomorrow evening.

(P.S., my new, custom built house, moved in a year ago: )

I like that room- sort of a modern cabin feel.

Been there a year and the stickers are still on the windows? Hehe- it took me a good 1 1/2 to get them all.

My wife's grandmothers house was all solid laquered pine like that. Built in the 50s- she had a fire and the thing burned in minutes. I am sure the laquer these days is fire resistant. :-)

Is your lamp crooked? The one on the right? I bought the same one- had to bring it back twice before I got a straight one.

What we need to do is come up with a geneticly altered mouse that can pull wires through existing walls. That would be a seller.

[Hunter Green]

Been there a year and the stickers are still on the windows? Hehe- it took me a good 1 1/2 to get them all.

That picture is from right around when we first moved in. But that one sticker is still there, yeah. That's the garage, and the lawnmower is in the way of that window.

My wife's grandmothers house was all solid laquered pine like that. Built in the 50s- she had a fire and the thing burned in minutes. I am sure the laquer these days is fire resistant. :-)

It's polyurethane (three coats), no stain, but I'm sure a proper fire would take it down. I don't think it'd be significantly faster than sheetrock, though. We were going for a log home, couldn't make the money work, so we went for a house that just looked and felt like a log home on the inside, but cheaper to build and easier to maintain; which we managed after ten years of trying. I also had almost all the lightswitches put in as Z-Wave right up front, so when we moved in, I went around with my remote and started already automated. Only had to do one switch install myself so far.