Upgrading HS3 to HS4 with Homebridge-Homeseer4-plugin

[rotunnoe]

Hi All. I currently have an HS3 Windows system running along with the newest version of Homebridge (v1.1.6) and the Homeseer4 plugin. Its working perfectly. I did however prepurchase the HS4 upgrade last year and now that HS4 is finally out of beta, I was thinking its time to upgrade. I’ve installed HS4 in a new folder on the same computer (C:\Program Files (x86)\HomeSeer\HS4) as we’ve told by HomeSeer that both HS versions can exist on the same computer, just not both running. When I turn off HS3 and run HS4, everything seems to work however the Homebridge won’t start. I don’t know if it has anything to do with the fact that HS3 is still installed (but not running). Has anyone else come across this problem?

[kenm]

Can you post the messages from the homebridge console when it won't start? Are you sure you have ASCII and JSON remote interfaces enabled in HS4?

EDIT: Also make sure HS4 has the user configured that you use for homebridge.

[rotunnoe]

Hi Kenm. Thanks for your reply. I have confirmed that both the ASCII and JSON remote control settings are both checked and I have confirmed that the username and password that I use for bridge in HS3 is in HS4. The error I get is from the Node.js command prompt. When I type in the "hb-service start" command it tells me that it failed to start the homebridge service. I'm curious if the fact that HS3 is still installed may have something to do with this.

[kenm]

Instead of trying to run it as a service, try starting it in the foreground so you can see the messages coming out. Open a cmd prompt and type "homebridge". Ctrl-C to break out of it.

EDIT: I have HS3 and HS4 both still installed and I'm running homebridge fine. The message output should tell us a lot.

EDIT2: Type "hb-service logs" and look at the messages.

Ken

[rotunnoe]

Cool. I’ll give that a shot and let you know. Thanks


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[rotunnoe]

Hi Kenm, The error shown in the log is below.

[11/7/2020, 11:30:04 AM] [HomeSeer] TypeError: Cannot read property 'status' of undefined resulting in problem creating new HomeSeerAccessory. This may be the result of specifying an incorrect HomeSeer reference number in your config.json file. You specified reference 4752, Check all reference numbers and be sure HomeSeer is running. Stopping homebridge.

(node:20776) UnhandledPromiseRejectionWarning: TypeError: Cannot read property 'status' of undefined
at HomeSeerPlatform.accessories (C:\Users\homeseer\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\homebrid ge-homeseer4\index.js:169:72)
at processTicksAndRejections (internal/process/task_queues.js:97:5)
(node:20776) UnhandledPromiseRejectionWarning: Unhandled promise rejection. This error originated either by throwing inside of an async function without a catch block, or by rejecting a promise which was not handled with .catch(). To terminate the node process on unhandled promise rejection, use the CLI flag `--unhandled-rejections=strict` (see https://nodejs.org/api/cli.html#cli_...ejections_mode). (rejection id: 1)
(node:20776) [DEP0018] DeprecationWarning: Unhandled promise rejections are deprecated. In the future, promise rejections that are not handled will terminate the Node.js process with a non-zero exit code.
[11/7/2020, 11:30:05 AM] [Homebridge UI] Homebridge Config UI X v4.32.0 is listening on :: port 8581


It appears to me then when HomeBridge is running with HS3, it will successfully process my "Platform accessories." For example

Initializing platform accessory 'Guest Bathroom Door'...
Initializing platform accessory 'Guest Bedroom Door'...

With HS4 it doesn't get that far. The error is displayed and HB is automatically terminated.

[kenm]

The first thing I'd recommend would be to check your config.json using https://jsonlint.com/.

Also, what kind of device is at dev ref 4752?

[rotunnoe]

Kenm - I found the answer. It was in the error log... reference 4752. Apparently it didn't exist in HS4 so I restored the latest HS3 backup in HS4 which restored the 4752 reference. Thank you for your help. I didn't know I could run homebridge manually so I could retrieve the log. That helped invaluably.

[kenm]

Happy to help. Glad you got it worked out.

Ken

[Steve Q]

I started using HomeBridge with HS4 several months ago. I’m currently still using HS3 on a dedicated Dell mini computer as my primary home automation controller. I also have a dedicated computer running HS4. For me, The transition from HS3 to HS4 is going very slowly. The amount of device and event editing required is daunting. I’m not very motivated because the new HS4 features are not that attractive for me. So, I have now set up HomeBridge to run with HS3. It is mostly working very well, but I have a few questions. Is there another forum/site where I can post questions for the plugin author?

Thanks, Steve Q

[kenm]

If you just have some general use questions, we may be able to help here but otherwise here's what the author's github page says:

Please don't post issues on the HomeSeer forums - while I occasionally check there, you will get a quicker response raising your issue in the "Issues" section of github at www.github.com/jvmahon/homebridge-homeseer4

Before adding an issue, please see the instructions here: https://github.com/jvmahon/Homebridg.../Issue-Posting

[Steve Q]

Thanks. I will look on GitHub. I really like HomeBridge. My questions are about the JSON config file.