!!! JUNK !!! (***SOLVED***)

[dem5867]

I agree 111% , HSbuddy is fantastic do you think when we get to see "HS MOBILE" it will be even close.. Notice I haven said anything about the 3rd party programmers ,, they appear to put a whole lot more effort in there software than Homeseer does ... That's the issue HS3 didn't fall off the 10 best lists because the reviewers have anything against Homeseer it fell off because it's nowhere close to HS2 .. I'be been doing service for 50+ years and never have I seen a company use bugzilla for anything but bugs , yet they use it for suggestions and if you put in a bugzilla they instead of transfering the bugzilla info to a ticket they contact you and tell you to email service to put in a ticket ,, so your doing the inputting of info twice or more .. That's what I want to spend my day doing bug reporting to several places instead of adding devices , writing scripts and events just to have it all wasted after a power failure ,, I'm going to love to see how tomorrow goes I have a power company shut down at 9am..

I presently have a new issue that I'm sure HS is going to say I only have and that's I shut down HS3 and a couple of minutes later it just restarts itself for just the hell of it.. That's why I can manually do the update I have to shutdown HS# to install the exe and dll yet HS3 restarts and deletes the files before there moved !! Yet it's not a homeseer issue ,, I don't even have HS3 set to startup during windows startup I start it manually !! Oh , that must be one of those undocumented features like the one that reboots your system after an update so it can finish the update , ya Right !!

I actually find this funny and interesting having used both Home Assistant and OpenHAB.

Funny the Home Assistant guy says his parents can't use HS because of too many clicks. Well I really doubt his parents know YAML and can edit all of the configuration files to do anything. Everything is YAML based direct code editing. The Web interface is pretty but only for control currently. I like HA and still have a system running. However it is not a "production" stable system and I know that.

As for the phone interface, I agree. It's horrible. But if you use HSBuddy instead then it's great! HomeSeer should just buy HSBuddy and the mobile app and then they would have a great mobile solution.

[randy]

I presently have a new issue that I'm sure HS is going to say I only have and that's I shut down HS3 and a couple of minutes later it just restarts itself for the the hell of it.. That's why I can manually do the update I have to shutdown HS# to install the exe and dll yet HS3 restarts and deletes the files before there moved !! Yet it's not a homeseer issue ,, I don't even have HS3 set to startup during windows startup I start it manually !! Oh , that must be one of those undocumented features like the one that restarts your system after an update so it can finish the update , ya Right !!

You probably should disable HSSentry as it is designed to restart HomeSeer automatically if it is stopped for any reason. Alternately you can manually stop the HSSentry process through task manager and leave it enabled in settings. When you restart HomeSeer HSSentry will be started as well.

[dem5867]

HSSentry (Software system monitor) as it used to work and is design to be a watchdog so if HS3 stalls the software will restart it is not supposed it's not supposed to restart the software after one shuts down the system correctly.. Saying that Homeseer may have changed the way it works because of the random shut down that has just recently appeared to started happening yet maybe they should let us no they changed the way it works.. Having worked with many hardware and software watchdogs I happen to understand the way they should work.. Two things 1st I've have had it turned on since I 1st. started using HS3 some 3+ years ago and this has only started very recently.. @nd I did just check my still up and running HS2 system and I have it turned off which most likely because it was an issue.. Saying that I just turned it off on my HS3 system and it still restarted... I wish it did it when just starting the PC them I might thing it's an issue with my windows load or something ,, yet I as stated above manually start HS3 after system startup and on occasion I've forgot (Age thing I'm sure..) to start HS3 only hours later to be at a remote location and not be able to see ny hs3 system , in witch case I remote into that PC and start HS3 again manually !! Thanks for trying ,, I am grateful that others are here to help.. If you haven't notice my complaints are pointed at the lack of Homeseer involvement years ago Homeseer would have censored this post shortly after it was started ,, notice I've even put the heading as !!! Junk !!! and nobody from homeseer has comment or censored this post,, I'm think none for the staff ever looks at this forum any more.. It's one for the reasons reviers have dropped HS3 from the top 10 list.. It's really sad when you go from number 1 to off the list without stopping at any other of the numbers (2-10) before falling off.. I've been in contact if HS they just don't seem to care ,, I want to once again proud to tell people that I use HS and it's the best HA software one can buy and I would love to see them at the top of the best 10 lists,, but I just don't see them trying.. Having a bugzilla system that the help system sends you to to be told to re input the same info in an email so somebody can translate it into a ticket is just not a good thing for so many reasons biggest being what the chances the the info will get translated in the spirit I wrote it in , and it's just another waste of my time.. As I stated before and has been noted by others the ticket system is just another black hole.. The bugzilla and ticket system should work in concert.. Bugzilla is the issue system and ticket system are used to assign and monitor bug progress.. Having worked of tons of high end companies (ever hear of HP , Best Buy or the US Navy..) I happen to know a little about bug and ticket systems.. I don't get paid 6 figures (Plus all the other beanies of being a road (field) service engineer.) because I don't understand how service should work !!! I'm trying to be a Jon Taffer (From Bar Rescue..) and trying to get Homeseer back up there on the top 10 lists as they once were thus the title !!! JUNK !!!. I'm not doing it because I want to junk 3+ years of working with there software only to junk it and start all over with an unknown.. They step up to plate and start showing that they care about there customers I'll be the 1st to report that they are doing so...

You probably should disable HSSentry as it is designed to restart HomeSeer automatically if it is stopped for any reason. Alternately you can manually stop the HSSentry process through task manager and leave it enabled in settings. When you restart HomeSeer HSSentry will be started as well.

[ATTACH]69209[/ATTACH]

[randy]

The behavior of HSSentry was changed last year after Rich discovered it was not catching all failures. This was announced in one of the beta threads. The way it works now is much better. It will start HomeSeer if it stops for ANY reason, including being told to shutdown.

HSSentry will remain running when you deselect it in setup until you manually stop the service or reboot the computer. Just look at Task Manager and you can see if it is 47nning or not.

HomeSeer decided not to delete posts (unless they violate the terms of service) several years ago. As this forum is designated as a user to user resource, HomeSeer do not participate much, but they do participate regularly. This forum is not for support, they request that you email support@homeseer.com. While Bugzilla has not been officially deprecated, HomeSeer requests emails to support lately. I don’t think Bugzilla is checked any longer.

[tome10]

I've only had HS for 3 years now, and I've had power failures, improper shutdowns, and i've yet to experience any DB corruptions. I run a Hometroller with an SSD. Maybe you're running a normal HD and its writing speed is susceptible to corruption?

[macromark]

Pull the plug a couple of times see how the HS db holds up !! The db crashing is a major issue....

I not a developer but I have been a HomeSeer user for many years too. Currently I'm running a HomeTroller S6 PRO that's approx 3 years old. This thread was brought to my attention and I decided to do a little informal testing to see I'd run into the same issues.

First order of business: I copied the entire HS3 folder to my PC. Normally, I do have a UPS protecting my equipment rack downstairs but for this, I bypassed that and literally pulled the plug on the unit... waited a moment and then plugged it back it. I then started a timer on my phone and went back upstairs to monitor the start-up. At about 40 seconds, I loaded VNC and watched the progress. At 2:00 (give or take) the progress bar started moving on the HS3 start up screen. HS3 finished booting at 2:35 seconds.

I then repeated that procedure. 9 more times. Start-up times from fully off to HS3 fully on averaged about 2:35 but I did have one start up that went to 2:57. There were no HS3 database errors in the log. However, I did manage to screw up the MeiHarmonyHub plug-in after the 10th outage! No other plug-ins complained though. Restoring to the backed-up folder fixed the broken plug-in.

Anyway, this was my experience with MY equipment. It doesn't prove anything but it does offer some doubt about this being a "major issue". If you haven't already done so, please submit a helpdesk ticket. Perhaps one of our guys can help.

[dem5867]

Well since I always use the latest betas and just noticed it lately there was had been an issue with the way it's was working until the latest updates.. It also don't make sense that the programer would not put the code in the software to see if the close button was pressed ,, I'm not the best programmer even I can do that.. Small note I hate to bust there bubble yet it still doesn't work all the time I've noted that I've lately have had HS3 just shut down and not restart,, the shutting down all thought has just started recently ,, and not that I have a handle on it yet it appears to happen once in awhile shortly after a (it appears to be random..) some plugin updates ,, I would love to be able to see it shut down it's appears that it is not a clean shutdown, I have a script that keeps track of good and bad shutdowns I'll have to check I don't think the bad number has been running away so it don't happen often,, I didn't notice it happening (I just thought that I just forgot to start HS until I found one time the DB got corrupted.. which is my biggest issue with HS3..) The updater clearing the updater folder at startup and hssentry restarting HS is a problem because you can not install failed plugin updates manually no more because you have to shut down HS to copy the exe and dll files I'm on a slow system and most times even though it's only one or two files most times the update folder gets cleaned before I have time to copy that one or two files.. I will not say all the time bet most times I at least read what the beta is going to update , I must have missed the info on hssentry.. I like the idea of the feature they should just think thru the close button not telling the sentry that it was a clean close,, all that has to be done is have the base program set a flag in the sentry to let it know it was a clean shut down.. I did just do a search on hssentry thru the message board (another thing that's iffy the board search engine that's why a lot of people are posting to use google to search the message board a double edge sword for homeseer because when you do a search via google you get all the complains about homeseer (I'm sure some are just junk ,, yet some may stop me from purchasing HS3 if I was running in demo mode.. Any how I did see (maybe you were the replier) a post about having two nics, which the permis seems good but in use it's not, the primis is to isolate the hardware the is networked from the outside world , yet now a lot of devices now using clouds and doing firmware updates via product websites just isn't as good as it seems !! Thanks for the info on hssentry that puts that issue in the minor column.. Wow ,, maybe I can blame my apparently dead nic the hssentry,,, just kidding , the on board nic just crapped out on me about a mouth ago ,, I've seen it more on board sound cards and anytype (on or off bd.) of video cards fail , yet I can count the number of nics I've seen bad on one hand and I been doing pcs since the XT days and have work with thousands of network machines.. Thinking back I had a MIT professor who got a virus on my companies supplied pc so he would disconnect the network cable for the schools network system and only connect it when he needed the internet ,, at the time it was a great idea and one of the reasons I thought the 2 nic was and router system was a good idea,, maybe not such a good idea today.. I'm thinking maybe with 2.435 maybe they fixed some of the 2 nic issues and that's why I only noticed it just recently.. Ya , I'm thinking the 2 nic idea is going to get the toss !! Bummer because at the time it just seemed like such a good idea just goes to show as I've gotten to say to many engineers "Looked great on the black board just doesn't work as good in practice." !! I guess I'm going to have to break out another 16 port switch (Funny I have a nice one that's going to be great for the job ,, it will be good for WAF also, I sure if you have one of those you understand the issues having something sitting in the box for sometime (to be used latter just don't seem to work as good as in use does ...))..

I'm not sure if am a camper in the non-censor message think.. yet saying that I didn't think it was good when they did censor things on the message board I felt maybe they were hiding something, yet on that note at least one knew one was being heard,, I guess the verdict is still out for me on that one ,, I'll have to give it more thought ,, I worked for a company that censored stuff and I wasn't on board with them doing it,, so maybe it's a not a good thing and most of the schools I did multi system network installs censored !! If we ever meet ask me about the nuns ,, I still think they did the wrong thing even today,, most of the company I worked for at the time did not agree with me or the woman that agreed with me ,, the nuns all agreed with what they did but the non-nun personal seemed to be split on the result.. So I'm thinking not to be a hypocrite I need to lean to the non censor side.. Bummer I don't like having to rethink things and now you giving me at least 2 things I have to rethink. Don't let it happen again !! (Just kidding sometimes we all need to be shown maybe we should rethink things,, it keeps us young..)

And yes I will I have no choice but to take and few of the not so nice things I said about homeseer.. [Because of you !!! , stop it ! I don't like being nice !! {not really the case it takes me a long time to go off 3 years with the DB issue..}].. Boy it would be great if somehow it was the dual nic causing the DB issue,, OK maybe not so nice, I would have to put my tail between my legs and eat crap.. I guess it would be better to eat crap than have the DB issue..

As far as bugzilla the Homeseer web site help page sends you there to report bugs (Rich appears to still monitor it..).. I'm still not sure if I like ticket systems, a few companies I've worked for used them (Mostly call centers.) and the Shipyard was the worst they never got things right {The call center would call you with a ticket for a printer ,it would end up being a ups or monitor just not a printer,, yet even the private companies I worked for that used ticket systems just didn't seem to always be able to get the right info to the service group saying that it wasn't always there fault sometimes the customer were not sure , able or just clueless to what there issue was.. I always liked some form of direct communication with the customer ,, yet even that didn't always work.. I always like the customers that called in one issue and really had many knowing it,, I never did it but had some bosses can me out on it ,, yet some bosses wanted me to just fix the complaint and leave, we charged $250+ just to show up at one's door so one could go broke only reporting one issue at a time. I've always been a customer advocate ,, if the company I was working for was screwing the customer I let the powers to be know about it..

I'm going to run backups tonight just incase the planned power shutdown tomorrow doesn't go well.. I hope it does, the DB crashing is just such a pain to recover from..

Thanks of the info..

Dave

The behavior of HSSentry was changed last year after Rich discovered it was not catching all failures. This was announced in one of the beta threads. The way it works now is much better. It will start HomeSeer if it stops for ANY reason, including being told to shutdown.

HSSentry will remain running when you deselect it in setup until you manually stop the service or reboot the computer. Just look at Task Manager and you can see if it is 47nning or not.

HomeSeer decided not to delete posts (unless they violate the terms of service) several years ago. As this forum is designated as a user to user resource, HomeSeer do not participate much, but they do participate regularly. This forum is not for support, they request that you email support@homeseer.com

[dem5867]

Ya that's what rich said ,, but I did do a google and as I stated it appears that I have not been the only one to have this issue.. I hoping it's my issue (I would not be happy about it yet at least I would know..).. This is a second machine that I've have had the issue on one and Intel this one is an AMD the two pcs are completely different builds one had a big cache spinning hard drive this one has a SSD , there both mini all on board systems the intel a Dell FX160 this one a ASUS AMD home build , there both 1.6ghz.. I know this one had the write caching on and I'm not sure the Dell had the write caching on but I would bet it does. yet my HS2 has write caching on,, that is a dual xeon that's like a 3ghz. Dell server which I ended up with because nobody wanted to put the effort to figure out what the real issue and if we or Dell couldn't fix it in 2 or 3 times we just pulled it and tossed it (Charging close to a million for the complete system and charging 10k+ or more for a service contract on the equipment one kind of haves to do that..). Saying that one of the other differences is that dell is running W2K server and one would hope one gets something for paying so much more of server.. If tomorrows planed power company shut down doesn't go well ,, I have enough pieces and parts to build an mostly off board system.. I know I have processors yet I'm not sure I have a mother board to match the processors I have yet I should have the only thing I may have to reuse is the memory and I would like to reuse the SSD yet I do have both 3.5 an 2.5 drives in stock some 5400 rpm and some 7200k rpm.. I hope one or two is 7200 rpm ,,I do have one 10k rpm drive I pulled last year to put a bigger 10k rpm drive as a replacement ,, it's still in the case something I started doing about 5 years ago so I didn't have to put up with customers drives,, I liked it so much I do it with my systems now I have a 2tb drive going the machine I'm type this on in the next day or 2 and I will leave the 1tb drive in the case it's just so much easier for many reasons , mostly because instead of marking it I know where and what machine it was used in..

Macromark I believed we have spoken before when I had a sales issue.. I'm super glad you {It could have been anybody home Homeseer.} replied to this post it reinstills that maybe Homeseer does care.. Which although I don't like to have to do it, yet makes me have to take back some of the things I said about HS not caring and just taking our money.. Rich has asked me to put a ticket in I will if tomorrows planned power company shut down doesn't go well.. I don't care how , even if I have to replace the system I'm running it on , I would love to cure this on going issue for me and it appears maybe some others, so I can once again be proud of my homeseer system and be able to leave feedback on those reviewers that pulled HS3 off there top ten HA program reviews that states there full of it and that HS3 still is still the most powerful and easiest HA software there is and I know I've been using HS since HS1.xx and the only thing I've ever seen that seems to even be close is the HA software Motorola took over and made free and that just appears to be really hard to get going I know I tried.. Ya other than the DB issue I am having there's some bugs yet most are minor and there are workarounds.. I've worked with multi million dollar software packages and they have bugs also it can't be helped with all the lines of code and so much different types for hardware it's a wonder that software works.. I always liked going to mac shops to repair there macs , most times somebody would comment how macs never have problems ,, you do know how much I wanted to say "If that's so why am I here ??"

I want to thank you for taking the time to try it on one of your pcs and for getting back to me.. You don't know how much it means to me , even if it is my issue I so glad you took the time ,, that's what makes a company great not just good,, is personal that goes out of their way to help,, my customers (Ok most of them, you can't please everybody, some people just can't be pleased.) I can count the ones that I couldn't help or that for some unknown reason just didn't trust me {All my bosses and people that know me would tell you "I don't lie !!" if I don't know something I will find it out or have somebody that knows get back to you..} I can count on one hand.. I'm sure there's a few that I don't know about even with them you wouldn't need to take your shoes off to count.. Ya I should have keep on it and keep reporting it every time it happen, yet of the most part unlike my HS2 system just runs and runs I don't think it's ever locked up and gladly I only have power failures maybe once or twice a year if that much , most are caused be my trying to had the right breaker to shut off to work on something.. This system and my hs2 system {Witch at one time did have a UPS on it , stopped using it that system always restarts fine.) even survives most power glitches and brownouts so much better than any of my other systems ,, just a small dropout resets the machine I'm typing you this on.. Small note I keep on stating that I am on "this machine like it's my HS3 system,, it is not.." As my hs2 system is my hs3 system is on a box that is only used for HS3..

Small note : I'm surprised that homeseer doesn't hire a high schooler to monitor this board , for issue reporting and to keep up with the updater ,, I sure there a whole other bunch of simple tasks they could do in the office.. Somebody did that for me and it started what has been a great career for me ,, it help open doors at other companies.. One other very small suggestion the updater should have a new plugin section so one does not have to go thru the whole updater to find new plugins..

Thank you.

Dave

I not a developer but I have been a HomeSeer user for many years too. Currently I'm running a HomeTroller S6 PRO that's approx 3 years old. This thread was brought to my attention and I decided to do a little informal testing to see I'd run into the same issues.

First order of business: I copied the entire HS3 folder to my PC. Normally, I do have a UPS protecting my equipment rack downstairs but for this, I bypassed that and literally pulled the plug on the unit... waited a moment and then plugged it back it. I then started a timer on my phone and went back upstairs to monitor the start-up. At about 40 seconds, I loaded VNC and watched the progress. At 2:00 (give or take) the progress bar started moving on the HS3 start up screen. HS3 finished booting at 2:35 seconds.

I then repeated that procedure. 9 more times. Start-up times from fully off to HS3 fully on averaged about 2:35 but I did have one start up that went to 2:57. There were no HS3 database errors in the log. However, I did manage to screw up the MeiHarmonyHub plug-in after the 10th outage! No other plug-ins complained though. Restoring to the backed-up folder fixed the broken plug-in.

Anyway, this was my experience with MY equipment. It doesn't prove anything but it does offer some doubt about this being a "major issue". If you haven't already done so, please submit a helpdesk ticket. Perhaps one of our guys can help.

[dem5867]

I'm using an SSD also.. Boy I wish it was that simple.. thanks for the input.. I don't know if a Hometroller can be compared to a PC.. I did turn off the write caching and have a power company shut down tomorrow (Ok today..). I had it on a Dell with a spinning drive an had the same issue that's why I moved it to a completely new machine and are having the same problem.. You unknowingly bring up a good point I should post the system report that Homeseer recommends be posted ,, maybe me and the few others that appear to be having the same issue have something in common,, like one of the same plugin or something.. I've turned off the write caching and there's a planned power company shut down today ,, If it don't go well I will post the report..

I've only had HS for 3 years now, and I've had power failures, improper shutdowns, and i've yet to experience any DB corruptions. I run a Hometroller with an SSD. Maybe you're running a normal HD and its writing speed is susceptible to corruption?

[billt]

The behavior of HSSentry was changed last year after Rich discovered it was not catching all failures. This was announced in one of the beta threads. The way it works now is much better. It will start HomeSeer if it stops for ANY reason, including being told to shutdown.

Now that's a good example of the problem that the OP's complaining about; a fairly significant change hidden in a post on a beta thread! Bad communication and no consistent central point of documentation.

I have had a couple of instances of db corruption in the past, although not recently despite MS best efforts at uncontrolled reboots.

Don't have the unreliability either, up for 56 days on 3.0.0.368, but our power is generally reliable as is the hardware.

[ShimmerNZ]

I can relate to the db corruption issue as have had it occur on a couple of occasions over the last few years. Issue for me was not power related(I do use a UPS for it) but having to kill the process for other reasons. The auto backups were no use. For whatever reason they were replicas of the same corrupt file. I have since the first occurrence created an event to auto backup on a regular basis to a different directory that way I have my own self maintained archive should I need to revert. The issue is real, it's a pain in the ***. When it happens to you it's hella frustrating.

p.s. still using AS400 (with UPS)

[ServiceXp]

I not a developer but I have been a HomeSeer user for many years too. Currently I'm running a HomeTroller S6 PRO that's approx 3 years old. This thread was brought to my attention and I decided to do a little informal testing to see I'd run into the same issues.

First order of business: I copied the entire HS3 folder to my PC. Normally, I do have a UPS protecting my equipment rack downstairs but for this, I bypassed that and literally pulled the plug on the unit... waited a moment and then plugged it back it. I then started a timer on my phone and went back upstairs to monitor the start-up. At about 40 seconds, I loaded VNC and watched the progress. At 2:00 (give or take) the progress bar started moving on the HS3 start up screen. HS3 finished booting at 2:35 seconds.

I then repeated that procedure. 9 more times. Start-up times from fully off to HS3 fully on averaged about 2:35 but I did have one start up that went to 2:57. There were no HS3 database errors in the log. However, I did manage to screw up the MeiHarmonyHub plug-in after the 10th outage! No other plug-ins complained though. Restoring to the backed-up folder fixed the broken plug-in.

Anyway, this was my experience with MY equipment. It doesn't prove anything but it does offer some doubt about this being a "major issue". If you haven't already done so, please submit a helpdesk ticket. Perhaps one of our guys can help.

Wow, I have to say you must be the luckiest man in the world. I can 100% guarantee a corrupted HS3 db after the 2nd attempt on my system.

When HSSentry was not seeing HS on the correct adapter (before we had a solution for multiple adapters) and would kill HS3, the db corrupted every single time, it was a 1 to 1 corruption cycle.

[MrMxyzptlk]

Homeseer is NOT for newbies! Homeseer is NOT professional software (straight from the main devs mouth), Homeseer is buggy at times, Homeseer is the (combine all the following), BEST, MOST DIVERSE, CONFIGURABLE, home automation software out there.

Trust me! I have used literally EVERY home automation software / hardware system over the last 10 years in an attempt to find Nirvana...there is NO SUCH THING.

Some are BETTER, but may cost $100,000, some are more stable, but you are locked into their hardware and limited devices, some are less expensive, but don't work well at all...

[deanrparry]

Homeseer is NOT for newbies! Homeseer is NOT professional software (straight from the main devs mouth), Homeseer is buggy at times, Homeseer is the (combine all the following), BEST, MOST DIVERSE, CONFIGURABLE, home automation software out there.

Trust me! I have used literally EVERY home automation software / hardware system over the last 10 years in an attempt to find Nirvana...there is NO SUCH THING.

Some are BETTER, but may cost $100,000, some are more stable, but you are locked into their hardware and limited devices, some are less expensive, but don't work well at all...

Are you the guy from fibaro forum? I recall seeing this alias before

[randy]

Now that's a good example of the problem that the OP's complaining about; a fairly significant change hidden in a post on a beta thread! Bad communication and no consistent central point of documentation.

I have had a couple of instances of db corruption in the past, although not recently despite MS best efforts at uncontrolled reboots.

Don't have the unreliability either, up for 56 days on 3.0.0.368, but our power is generally reliable as is the hardware.

I agree! That is a very good example of something HomeSeer doesn't do well - documentation. This is something they appear to be attempting to improve upon, but it is still far short of ideal. Especially the change logs.

I have had a single db corruption in 2015 due to a computer crash. This was a hardware problem, not a power interruption. I have never had one due to power failures. My system is running on server grade hardware with a substantial UPS, so it is virtually impossible for HomeSeer to have a disorderly shutdown. I did have a problem of unwanted Microsoft updates restarting the O/S after initially switching to Windows 10. I cured that within a few months by shutting down the Windows Update Service. Even with the unplanned shutdowns from Windows update, I never experienced a database corruption. Over the last year I have seen the HomeSeer log database corrupted twice, though I have no idea what caused it.

I did set up a test instance of HomeSeer in 2015 on another computer and tried at least a dozen times to corrupt the database - without success.

After reading Mark's post above, I was motivated to try it on my production system again, since it has been 3 years. My production system is on a SuperMicro server with a Samsung 850EVO SSD. I did a hard shutdown (immediate, not orderly) several times this morning by remotely powering off the server, then powering it back on via IPMI.

On the third try, my system reverted to a default data file of HomeSeerData.hsd (I use a custom database filename). As a result, all of my devices, events and configuration were gone. Going back into setup and selecting the correct data file put the system back to normal. In the screenshot below, you can see a lingering database journal file at the time I shut it down. You can also see the newly created HomeSeerData.hsd with a timestamp of 1 minute later than the journal file. Prior to shutting the system down, there was not a HomeSeerData.hsd file. This screenshot was taken when HS was running on the newly created, blank, default named database file. When I reverted to the correct database file, the journal became active again. I assume the journal data was being incorporated into the database as it should have been.



So, at least in my case a disorderly shutdown caused a problem. It did not corrupt the database, but it did substitute a default on the third try. I was able to repeat this, though HS survived the shutdown far more often than it failed.

I would need to do further testing to see what happens when one is using the default data file name. It is possible the data file could be overwritten under the same circumstances as my test. I may test that at a later date.

I will also add that there are three viable backups in the data directory 1045Home_3.hsd, 1045 Home_5.hsd and 1045Home_2.hsd should the database actually have been corrupted. I did verify that the primary and the three backups were all viable.

I will post back after I have a chance to test my system with a default database filename. I am going to try enough to see if if I can identify a pattern.