HomeSeer HS2 general information FAQ

[Squintz]

Where can i find the updated docs that you spoke of?

[Barry Gordon]

Rick, It's Barry - not Gordon. Definately not Mr. Barry as I am sometimes addressed - no comments please.

Okay how do I go about getting the latest 2.0 release. I have a test machine setup to work all my plugin and script issues and would like to get started.

Should i just watch this thread?

[Rick Tinker]

Barry,

Sorry about that - I have made that mistake before, and this time I was thinking of somebody else - a friend of mine named Gordon.

Anyway... Yes, watch this thread. Found another problem that we addressed and so it has not even gone out to the closed beta testers yet, but hopefully we will still get it out to everybody next week.

Squintz,

They will be included with the 2.0 public beta.

[firtha]

Lynx-10

Glad it works... I had a sudden 'ah s***' feeling because I have made some bug fixes to the source, but never sent the fixes back to HS.

If the version you have works, the new one should work too.

[Dirk]

I agree

John,

This was a fantastic request and we think along the same lines. In HS1 I was using MSServer/MSClient by Christian - and this worked VERY well to send messages AND images/URL's to remote locations. I feel that since many people are using their Home Automation systems for more than simply activating lights and turning devices on and off - having the ability to incorporate existing applications (security / video /etc.) and their output and direct them to their Home Automation counterparts is an exceptional idea.

Perhaps once the bugs are worked out of their BETA's - they will give some consideration to modifying the remote systems for this type of flexibility.

-Dirk

I look forward with great anticipation the release of 2.0! I have noticed many things are going to be much easier with the .net. Ability to use VR from any client machine, and speech back through that machine are awesome!

If I may, I have a request, if it is not incorporated already. Some way of sending messages, parameters ect. to remote machines. This has been done with plugin's & scripts and many rubber bands, duct tape and paperclips

The ability to natively send a message to a client machine would be fantastic. With the .net this should be pretty easy to implement I would think. I can see this for Caller ID information, Reminders, Weather warnings, security alerts, motion detected, dryer completing its cycle and the list goes on and on.

Something along the line of:
hs.sendcmd 192.168.0.105,"motion detected in the back yard",cam1.jpg
hs.sendcmd 192.168.0.105,Lightning storm approaching",Radar.jpg


Just a simple front end command for a script to handle the details of getting this information to a particular machine on the network. The graphic would be a definate plus if this is possible. If this has been mentioned I appolagize, I did go through this entire 2.0 thread and saw no mention of it.

I do not mean to weigh down the 2.0 release with little details, but this is something that would be an intergral part of the package. I can't count the number of scripts, plugins, .exe's that have been pieced together to give this functionality at the expense of debugging for hours to get it all to work.

[Rick Tinker]

The ability to send a message to a remote speaker client exists, but it is enabled in the professional edition only. This event is not enabled for apps running on that machine to receive, but it is possible.

The thing about the request is that the method to get the message from HS to the remote machine appears to be completely neglected. It would have to be via the speaker app as it already uses the GenuineChannels infrastructure that we use. Remoting that is built into .NET has no security, no encryption, and is only one way, so it is far from usable.

So, since the Genuine Channels interface exists for .NET plug-ins to communicate with HomeSeer, it is not a far stretch to make that connection over the network, which we plan on working on once 2.0 is out the door. (We want to make sure HS has the infrastructure to support it - e.g. reconnect, detection of a lost connection, etc.)

If you want to do this TODAY, then check out George Photakis' sockets plug-in - it is a network transport mechanism for sending messages that should work under HS2 just as well as in HS 1.7. Since you are talking about sending the messages to another program, this is just what you need.

[sdanks]

Hey Tink-

I have 15 plug-ins, 435 devices and 673 events, so I am the guy who is stress testing 2.0 so that you can hopefully have a smooth transition over to it.

um. I have about 30 events. What in the world does your system do with 673 events? I better get busy. Or did you put that many in there to test the limits and they dont serve a useful purpose? I'm figuring that the devices are variables and such.

[Rick Tinker]

Well, 30-40 of those are transitional events - e.g. HSTV reminders that get deleted when they run. Many relay X-10 signals like the preset dim commands that my X10-IR transceivers handle... So a couple a hundred of them are groups of events that are repeats other than an X-10 signal or a playlist being different. The rest is automation! I am up to 40 Z-Wave nodes and still have a good 15-20 X-10 devices to replace, I have sensors all over the house, a weather station... When you get done with lighting routines, security routines, wake-up routines, etc. they just keep adding up!

Since eliminating a few infrequently used events and unused devices, my production HomeSeer install has had quite the diet - now I only have:
Number of Devices: 421
Number of Events: 582

[jboyes]

A list?

Number of Devices: 421
Number of Events: 582

Rick,

Can we get a list? Wow!

Jeff

[sdanks]

I noticed another user with over 1000 events. he is listed in the profiles section and has a Homeseer railroad car I think. I guess I just need to get busy. I bought the upgrade, and now I want to take this opportunity to rework my installation into a rackmount. I have a 3.2 ghz motherboard a friend gave me but I have to pull all the other parts together to make it work. I was looking at a rack mount case. There is lots of stuff I want to do, so if I add a new event or script a day, I might catch up in a couple of years . . . I need a bigger house and a bigger playpen. Well, the bigger playpen at least. I have a coat closet under the stairs that I do all the HA stuff in.

[Michael McSharry]

For those who see benefits and needs for distributed computing I would suggest looking into technologies that natively support it. The computing paradymn and the business model for Homeseer are based upon a centralized/server architecture. Specialized clients can be developed under HS2 just as they can be under HS1, but the genral case of transparent distributed computing is not the direction Homeseer is heading. My choice to move in the generalized distributed direction was with xAP. Homeseer is part of my system, but it is just one of many siblings.

[BMXdad]

Is there a file with what is in and what is out?

I take it the All off command is gone.

[jstaab]

Is there a file with what is in and what is out?

I take it the All off command is gone.

For the All Off and All Lights On, see the following thread:
http://forums.homeseer.com/showthread.php?t=104885

[tkmyers]

Is .net version of hsp available yet?

I just purchased hs 2.0. I see here a new hsp is supposed to be available now in a .net version. I just check my current 1.7 hs/hsp installation. In the about box of HSP, it says I'm running 2.0.186, but it isn't the .net version is it? It could conceivably be, since I run the 1.1 .net fw.

[rjh]

HSP is now included in HS2, it is no longer a seperate application. Its enabled on the General tab in Setup and configured from the Phone tab in Setup.