HS2 outlasts Hardware<Upgrade to HS3 time is NOW

[Guest]

WoW,
So My hardware finally melted down(RTC fail soldered in battery). But HS2 setup since 2005 was working ROCK solid for a decade or more.
I had a FitPC-II running HS2(see sig) ,140 or so devices, as many events.
X10, Cm11a & serial ports(Edgeport Serial(4)/usb, USB-IRT ,ACRF & W800RF
a weather plug in , Jon's plugins , HAI RC-80 Thermostat, stuff not a whole lot but when its down(as it is now) Lower WAF ratings than TRUMP's current approval numbers

I have old posts on here from then with pic's 2005 & 2010 which is a testament to Homeseer IMO. Truly set it and forget it under most and certain circumstances. In a static system.
But I digress,

So I got a BeeLINK BT3 PRO ,SBC, Quad Core / Windows 10 w/4 Gig Ram ,32G SSD New Hardware.

I copied the HS2 folder to a thumb drive & still have original 2.5" drive from the dead Fit_pc. I plugged it into a SATA to USB3 Interface converter and the new hardware can access it AOK. So i'm covered for copy's of my HS2 install thumb & original.

I just purchased the upgrade software ON SALE $96 i think with discount,so I went and grabbed a z-wave usb stick.(have an old Z, multi sensor I never used laying around so why not up G it}. with the coins saved.

I'm looking for input on how to go about it?
Should i get the old HS2 going on the new hardware first, or Build the HS3 straight away and bite the bullet... YOI?

Thanks Folks,
22v10

[Pete]

Welcome back to the forum 22v10!

Here the upgrade in Hardware / version of Homeseer was never really sync'd. (historically up until Homeseer 3).

Still have the hardware (and it's working still) with Homeseer version 1.7 running it on it.

It was a Seiko point of sale computer with many serial ports on it and a backup battery built in to it. On the original product it sold with w point of sale slip printer at the time in the late 1990's and it still boots up today. I do not know why I saved it.

For Homeseer 3 here left Homeseer 2 running and DIY'd a new hardware build (documented here on the forum). Well two builds, same computer with identical specs; one for Windows 7 and the other for Linux Ubuntu.

Typically here on the forum we never write about politics or religion as it not a nice automation mix.

The WAF is always written about. Over the years here automation has turned in to a personal hobby and like other hobbies here they are accepted as is with little or no approval these days (WAF stuff). Must be my age.

[Uncle Michael]

I'm looking for input on how to go about it?
Should i get the old HS2 going on the new hardware first, or Build the HS3 straight away and bite the bullet... YOI?

I'd recommend that you get your HS2 setup running again. The conversion to HS3 will be slow with a steep learning curve. Having HS2 running will provide a reference for the functionality you want to replicate (or improve) and it will allow you build your HS3 system without the pressure to replace HS2 as quickly as possible.

[Guest]

Cheers Pete,

Glad the Homeseer forums are as great as usual.
Looking forward to getting up wih the HS3 Tech

[bdickhaus]

I agree with Mike. HS3 is not just a simple version upgrade. They redesigned it from the ground up. Get your HS2 system running again, and then tackle the move to HS3. I ran parallel systems for two years.

Bill

[Guest]

Wow, Your not kidding..

I see why now you both recommend, the "GO slow" approach.
I loaded up HS3 on the New hardware.

Very different indeed
I got the CM11a & x10 going, 2 lamps basic kick the tires deal.
My AC-RF though not sure about it..I did install the RFXcom plugin
got it configured sort of..
Security panel ok
added two door window sensor's DS12a's (actually my Gate & Truck)
Both work very fast.
Events...gonna be awhile to figure it out
Speaker client isn't working locally ?? //EDIT// enabled media player in Apps & features//Worked

First impressions... I like it.!
Lots to learn, fazoul.. but I don't mind building it from scratch because I didn't really document any of the HS2 setup it just worked.
This time I want to document better the Config and add some HS touch stuff
. I have an EcHO NIB waiting to be added , some Sonof gadgetry too.

I'm thinking i need to purchase the RFXcom plugin, I only have the ACRF one on the HS2 setup.

Thanks for the motivation..
& FWIW. LOL wife is glad the remote works the lights again.

[oregonbob]

HS2 hardware died, move to HS3

Your case sounds exactly like mine. My hardware died and I did same as you, new machine, Win10, HS3.

So far I see no advantage from moving to HS3 except that it will better support new versions of Windows as they come along. I liked HS2 much better as it just worked. I was new to z-wave and deeply disappointed in z-wave range/operation. I could only recall all the hype about how great z-wave is...not my experience. I also use X10. Mostly my X10 works OK.

Beware of old posts on forum that are HOW-To move from HS2 to HS3. None of them still work. You just have to do it all by hand and plan on it taking many, many hours of frustration. That has been my experience.

So keep your HS2 running while you begin learning HS3.

[Guest]

Check list is moving along... HS2 to HS3

Alrighty then..Its what I'm doing for-sure. Slow and Steady.

So far So good, I did have a few Phantom stoppages of HS. but the system seemed ok. A peek in the event viewer showed that dam windows Update
rebooting and no auto restart in my HS3 setup but I will implement one.
probably use the auto-login and launch threads on here.

Added Zwave to my setup via the SmartStick+ Z-Wave USB Interface
And what do you now it works great with an old multi sensor I bought when they first came out, Aeon Labs v1.18 Temp/Humidity/Lux/Motion.
Polling is a little long. but it reports and if I press the wake/listen button 3 times real fast the light stays on and i can tweak on it..
Need to learn the best method to use it. The motion sensor is pretty good too.

also got a New web page with the Hikvision DVR camera channel 1 snapshot working.
I used this string in the custom page 2 url.
http://192.168.1.102:8181/ISAPI/Stre...ls/102/picture
I get a nice big image too 704x480
You have to authenticate the first time it opens the page (pop-up)
then it works every time after.

Making progress.
Rfxcomm& w800
is working with all 10 DS12a's Lightning response times too.
Gonna have to update my sig now..
HTH
YMMV
22v10

[reidfo]

I'm thinking i need to purchase the RFXcom plugin, I only have the ACRF one on the HS2 setup.

I think ACRF2 was the only plugin that I had to abandon going to HS3. Oh, well other than the thermostat plugin I released but then threw the crummy thermostats in the trash later.

RFXCOM does for me everything and more that ACRF2 did. I have used it with both my W800 and RFXCOM RfxTrx433. Works great.

I ran my HS2 and HS3 systems side by side for a short while, until I was comfortable with HS3. Then I shut down HS2 and started fresh with HS3, writing down on paper the events I wanted to keep, plugins I had, and also saving a few scripts.