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    Zee S2 access failing... again

    I'm cursed. I have a ZeeS2 at a vacation house.

    I'm now getting a "Homeseer not running" error when i try to access. No idea what that means. Does it mean that the ZS2 is responding but not running? Does it mean that it is not responding at all?

    I have struggled with my ZeeS2 for a year and a half. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. I had a radio fail on my first one, Homeseer replaced the entire unit.

    I don't have a very complex system. Two thermostats, a door lock, a couple of light switches (more for repeaters), three door switches and a motion detector. My events are simple.

    About two months ago, I had more RF issues. I reset everything back to ground zero, rebuilt all my events, and things have been fine.

    For two months, this has been solid.

    Yesterday, I attempted to access the system to check temperatures to be rewarded with that "Not Running" message. I tried calling Homeseer a little after 4pm their time only to find out that they were closed for the day.

    My access to the home is through Centurylink DSL, and I have a wifi camera (Blink) on the front porch that is working just fine. The power that controls the Blink receiver is the same power that controls the ZeeS2 and controls the router.

    I'm frustrated at the instability of the ZeeS2. I suspect that I am going to be told that I have to power cycle the ZeeS2 to get it to come back online. I don't know if I had a brownout at the house, or some sort of disconnect with DSL and my ZeeS2 didn't recover well or.... whatever. The bottom line is that, for whatever reason, my controller is down. Again.

    I don't know if I need to put my ZeeS2 on some sort of timer which attempts to power cycle the box once a day at 3am in order to give this a chance to recover from a potential problem.

    I should not have to do this. There are solid design techniques (back up battery, power watchdog / brownout, power up sequencers) available that something as important as a home automation hub should be able to gracefully handle loss of power and come back online.

    I realize that I am speculating as to the problem with this. It could be that the ZeeS2 crapped out on me again. Manually cycling the power is not an easy task, given that the home is a 8 hour round trip drive for me.

    I'm frustrated with the lack of support from Homeseer, the cryptic error messages that provide little to know information about the problem, and especially how unreliable this system seems.

    I may have to switch to another technology, as I can't afford for this to not work.

    Any suggestions?

    #2
    Personally have no idea why your remote home HS3 is not working.

    Issues that can be happening are:

    1 - scrambled SD card
    2 - wireless dependencies on the ZeeS2
    3 - scrambled Homeseer 3 Zee2 databases.

    If the card or Homeseer DB's are trashed rebooting will not work.

    RF issues is a broad term.

    ZWave RF issues will not take down HS3.

    WLAN connectivity to the Zee2 can cause issues and I wouldn't use it.

    Using newer and faster microSD cards I have not noticed RW failures on the cards. I have had two Samsung microSD cards fail in the last year. This was a manufacturer defect which had nothing to do with Homeseer.

    I have seen a couple of Zee2 users filling up the default 8Gb microsd card that comes with their Zee2 and suggested an upgrade to an 8Gb card. OR you can lessen the logging on your plugins and Homeseer in general.

    Backup power or a mini UPS on the RPi should make it work for days versus hours with a regular PC. One UPS for combo router switch will also provide days of up time as the two devices do not utilize any power.

    A cold shutdown and restart (power) of your RPi / zee2 can trash your microSD card very easily. Do this more than once and it may come back. Twice and you will have probably trashed your HS3 database on the microsd card.

    Here I have a few RPi's / ZWave USB and GPIO controllers, 2 HS3 boxes (optional 3rd license) and none have had any hardware failures.

    Rewind a bit and tell us how you connect the Rpi2-3 Zee2 to the internet.

    Lets work on the infrastructure first. Your HS3 configuration is so simple that really it should never fail.

    Century link DSL = > combo modem router/switch/firewall/wap? ==> ZNet.

    Is the ZNet hard wired (via a lan cable) or wirelessly connecting to your firewall?

    Please state the specific hardware you have configured from your DSL connection to the Zee2.

    How is the RPi configured? Is it using a static IP or a DHCP IP?
    Last edited by Pete; October 21, 2017, 11:17 AM.
    - Pete

    Auto mator
    Homeseer 3 Pro - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e 64 bit Intel Haswell CPU 16Gb
    Homeseer Zee2 (Lite) - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e - CherryTrail x5-Z8350 BeeLink 4Gb BT3 Pro
    HS4 Lite - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenovo Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram

    HS4 Pro - V4.1.18.1 - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenova Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram
    HSTouch on Intel tabletop tablets (Jogglers) - Asus AIO - Windows 11

    X10, UPB, Zigbee, ZWave and Wifi MQTT automation-Tasmota-Espurna. OmniPro 2, Russound zoned audio, Alexa, Cheaper RFID, W800 and Home Assistant

    Comment


      #3
      I would be very cautious to point blame until you figure out the root issue.

      While I can certainly believe that the issue is HomeSeer related, there are too many things that can cause the software to fail that are completely out of the control of HomeSeer technologies.

      Why don’t you tell us more about your set up at the remote house? What is your ultimate objective with this configuration?
      HomeSeer 2, HomeSeer 3, Allonis myServer, Amazon Alexa Dots, ELK M1G, ISY 994i, HomeKit, BlueIris, and 6 "4k" Cameras using NVR, and integration between all of these systems. Home Automation since 1980.

      Comment


        #4
        Thank you for the help. I am very frustrated as I simply want a set and forget system and this has required entirely too much work.

        This is remote vacation home for us. The control system is pretty simple.

        Thermostats : I want to be able to control two thermostats in order to set the heat prior to us getting there, or be able to check the heat on occasion to make sure that guests turned it off after leaving.

        I have a deck light and a kitchen light that I control on and off every day to try and provide some resemblance to occupancy.

        I have a Schlage door lock that I occasionally enter in temporary combinations.

        I have some door sensors which detect opening.

        Very simple events...

        * Open the front door after dark and the kitchen lights come on.
        * If temperature drops below 40 degF, it sends me an email.
        * One thermostat is on a timer

        Centurylink DSL is poor. 10Mbps is the best we can get. It goes up and down more than I would like. (still, my blink camera doesn't fail, and it sends much more information).

        My ZeeS2 is powered using the wall wart that came with it, and it is in very close proximity to my dsl modem / router. Connected to the router with a 4' long ethernet cable.

        I was unaware that there is a uSD card in the ZeeS2. I would assume that it would be shipped with an appropriate card, and it concerns me that a simple power failure can cause catastrophic damage to the unit.

        Sorry.. I do not know if I am using static or dynamic IP. It is set as-is from the factory, whatever that was.

        I do remember one bit of oddness with this particular Zee. This was replaced under warranty, and when I received it, it appeared to have multiple user's emails in the unit.... 4 users if I recall. I reached out to those email addresses to see how that might be, and two folks replied to me. They had no association with Homeseer. It was very strange.

        Still, The part that is puzzling and more than a little annoying is that this unit was working well up until Thursday night. I made no programming changes, no updates, nada.

        I'm going to have someone power cycle it for me to see if I can get it back.

        -f-

        Comment


          #5
          Centurylink DSL is poor. 10Mbps is the best we can get.

          That should be fine.

          What is the upload speed of your uploading connection?

          Here was able to install speedtest-cli typing

          sudo apt-get -y install speedtest-cli

          [ATTACH]64021[/ATTACH]

          After it installs you can type

          execute python speedtest-cli

          and see both your uploading and downloading speeds.

          running comand sudo speedtest-cli

          Retrieving speedtest.net configuration...
          Retrieving speedtest.net server list...
          Testing from Comcast Cable ...
          Selecting best server based on latency...
          Hosted by The Fusion Network: 16.831 ms
          Testing download speed........................................
          Download: xxx Mbit/s
          Testing upload speed..................................................
          Upload: xxx Mbit/s


          Do you have remote SSH access to the Zee2?

          I am guessing you are not familiar with SSH and the Zee2 and only have the GUI port open on the firewall.

          Opening an ssh port 22 on your firewall would allow a different view of the Zee2 and allow for hardware diagnostics and networking diagnostics.

          Do you have power failures there?

          Any size UPS connected to the RPi would help.

          Power cycling the Zee2 will cause you issues and can damage the SD card and Homeseer Databases.

          I am guessing that it ships with a 8Gb MicroSD. I have seen here issues filling the card to capacity and you should probably update it to a 16Gb card.

          You can check how full the microsd card is by going to the linux command section of the HS3 gui and typing

          df -l

          [ATTACH]64019[/ATTACH]

          Note here I am using around 30% of the microsd card (went to 32Gb here cuz I ran out of 16Gb cards)

          You are not doing much with HS3 there such that it shouldn't really ever fail.

          Homeseer 3 runs on a Raspberry Pi. The RPi is very well built and shouldn't really cause you any issues.

          Baby steps...Frank...

          1 - do not cold power cycle the Zee2 - it will damage the microSD card and Homeseer
          2 - update the 8Gb SD card to a 16 Gb SD card and make a copy of it taping it to the side of the Zee2. Remove the SD card cover and leave it off.
          3 - put a UPS on the RPI such that it will never get accidently powered off *
          4 - open the firewall to allow SSH access for a bit more remote control

          * you can also connect the Zee2 to a UPS such that it does a proper shut down and startup.

          I am guessing right now that your issues probably relate to power cycling the RPi and trashing the microSD card and Homeseer build on the Zee2.
          Last edited by Pete; October 21, 2017, 03:36 PM.
          - Pete

          Auto mator
          Homeseer 3 Pro - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e 64 bit Intel Haswell CPU 16Gb
          Homeseer Zee2 (Lite) - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e - CherryTrail x5-Z8350 BeeLink 4Gb BT3 Pro
          HS4 Lite - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenovo Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram

          HS4 Pro - V4.1.18.1 - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenova Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram
          HSTouch on Intel tabletop tablets (Jogglers) - Asus AIO - Windows 11

          X10, UPB, Zigbee, ZWave and Wifi MQTT automation-Tasmota-Espurna. OmniPro 2, Russound zoned audio, Alexa, Cheaper RFID, W800 and Home Assistant

          Comment


            #6
            Thanks for the help.. you are significantly over my head with instructions.

            Uplink is about 1Mbps.

            Sadly, I don't know what SSH is, let alone if I have remote access. My only interface to that unit has been through the myhs.homeseer.com portal.

            I'll see about getting some sort of backup UPS power for the homeseer unit. If nothing else, it will at least provide power conditioning.

            I'm not sure how else to recover this unless I remove the power to it. Are you suggesting removing the SD card prior to removing power? I suspect that it needs a re-boot, but since it is non-responsive, I am not sure how to go about doing that.

            I need finer resolution on my baby steps. Are you suggesting that in order to run the speedtest and diagnostics below, I will need to attach a keyboard, monitor, mouse directly to the ZeeS2?

            Comment


              #7
              1 Mbps upload speed is not bad for your use.

              SSH access would allow a direct connect to the Zee2.

              There is no power button on the Zee2.

              You could do a proper shut down via the HS3 web gui running a script or via ssh.

              A UPS on your DSL router and Zee2 would insure that you could always get to the Zee2.

              A HS3 UPS plugin and connection to the Zee2 would do a proper shutdown if the power went out.

              I'm not sure how else to recover this unless I remove the power to it. Are you suggesting removing the SD card prior to removing power?

              No.

              A reboot would or should work unless the SD card is trashed. If the SD card is trashed even ssh / keyboard / mouse / monitor will not work.

              I am thinking here that the SD card is trashed or close to being trashed because of the powering off of the RPi.

              I need finer resolution on my baby steps.

              Understood.

              Are you suggesting that in order to run the speedtest and diagnostics below, I will need to attach a keyboard, monitor, mouse directly to the ZeeS2?

              No.

              Just mentioning speedtest and some diagnostics that can be done via the Homeseer3 GUI.

              As you are not using the HS3 web GUI then you cannot do this.

              You do not need to connect a keyboard and mouse to do these diagnostics.

              That said if the Zee2 SD card is getting trashed then it may not be booting properly any how.

              Redoing list.

              How are you powering off and on the Zee2?

              Read this article

              Adding an On/Off switch to your Raspberry Pi

              With a UPS and software you would never really need to shut off the Zee2.

              You will need to be fixing the current SD card to make sure it boots up properly. If you Homeseer directory is trashed you will need to fix that.

              BTW only time I reboot the Zee2 - Homeseer 3 lite is when I update Homeseer 3 or sometimes after I update the OS.

              I have only shut off the Zee2 computer when working on the hardware. Only working on the hardware was changing microSD card.

              Guessing here that a regular PC style UPS on your router and Zee2 will keep it going for hours and maybe a couple of days if you lose power.
              Last edited by Pete; October 23, 2017, 11:45 PM.
              - Pete

              Auto mator
              Homeseer 3 Pro - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e 64 bit Intel Haswell CPU 16Gb
              Homeseer Zee2 (Lite) - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e - CherryTrail x5-Z8350 BeeLink 4Gb BT3 Pro
              HS4 Lite - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenovo Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram

              HS4 Pro - V4.1.18.1 - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenova Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram
              HSTouch on Intel tabletop tablets (Jogglers) - Asus AIO - Windows 11

              X10, UPB, Zigbee, ZWave and Wifi MQTT automation-Tasmota-Espurna. OmniPro 2, Russound zoned audio, Alexa, Cheaper RFID, W800 and Home Assistant

              Comment


                #8
                As you probably know, a UPS would also help during thunderstorms or other power issues.

                We just had a line of storms coming through and noticed that my Insteon lighting network was not working right. Never had this sort of an issue and identified that the PLM (device that actually sends the command signals) had to be rebooted.

                As you know, HomeSeer Technologies can not control this sort of thing as it is out of their control.

                Technology is weird during power glitches.
                HomeSeer 2, HomeSeer 3, Allonis myServer, Amazon Alexa Dots, ELK M1G, ISY 994i, HomeKit, BlueIris, and 6 "4k" Cameras using NVR, and integration between all of these systems. Home Automation since 1980.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Hmmm....

                  OK... went to my cabin, and attempted to find the ZeeS2, with no luck.

                  Pulled the USB power, waited a minute, re-powered, and unit came up and is now functioning properly. Relieved, but still bugged.

                  I am going to look for a small UPS, and hopefully find one that can send a status report through to me via my network. I'd like to know if I am getting overvoltage, brown out, or lack of power, and how often it is happening.

                  Anybody know of such a device?

                  Also, I am now intrigued about the idea of making a backup SD card for the ZeeS2. Looking at the enclosure, it appears that I will need to crack open the case to get to it.

                  Does this sd card contain all the boot code as well as my system configuration code, or does some of this stay on the rasberry pi board in some sort of onboard flash?

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Does this sd card contain all the boot code as well as my system configuration code, or does some of this stay on the rasberry pi board in some sort of onboard flash?

                    The SD card contains the boot, operating system and Homeseer.

                    You will need to open the case of the ZeeS2. There is a removable cover on the SD card. I leave mine off and just tape the cover to the box.

                    There are UPS Homeseer plugins that you can use which would monitor voltage, brownouts and keep you ZeeS2 running for days should a power outage occur.

                    It is advisible to keep you router on the same UPS.
                    - Pete

                    Auto mator
                    Homeseer 3 Pro - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e 64 bit Intel Haswell CPU 16Gb
                    Homeseer Zee2 (Lite) - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e - CherryTrail x5-Z8350 BeeLink 4Gb BT3 Pro
                    HS4 Lite - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenovo Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram

                    HS4 Pro - V4.1.18.1 - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenova Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram
                    HSTouch on Intel tabletop tablets (Jogglers) - Asus AIO - Windows 11

                    X10, UPB, Zigbee, ZWave and Wifi MQTT automation-Tasmota-Espurna. OmniPro 2, Russound zoned audio, Alexa, Cheaper RFID, W800 and Home Assistant

                    Comment


                      #11
                      For a UPS, I'd recommend something from the APC line. I have one of the smaller 550VA capacity ones, which powers my cable modem, router, Hometroller S6, Z-net. It will run about an hour before the Hometroller shuts itself (and the UPS) down. Looks like the one I have has been superceded by this 600VA one.

                      This model and larger ones have an external USB monitoring interface (careful going smaller as last time I looked those didn't have the monitoring interface). There is a free software package called apcupsd that supports this functionality. However it appears that the APCUPSD HomeSeer plugin is flagged to run only on Windows. Perhaps someone can weigh in with an alternative.

                      Attached is the APCUPSD plugin view to give an idea of the information presented.
                      Attached Files

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by NMTrout View Post
                        Does this sd card contain all the boot code as well as my system configuration code, or does some of this stay on the rasberry pi board in some sort of onboard flash?
                        The SD card is the only persistent memory device on the rpi card itself. The SD card contains the operating system, all the HomeSeer software and plugins, and all the database and supporting files. You may be thinking of the zwave controller, which is on a daughter card plugged into the rpi. This contains a flash memory that contains zwave network information.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          There is a Linux based UPS plugin that uses a standard UPS NUT driver.

                          APCUPSD Plugin (3P)

                          Check relating to Linux. Folks are running it on their Linux boxes but not sure if author supports linux.

                          I utilize Cyberpower, APC and Tripplite UPS's here.

                          Favorite are my Cyberpower 1500's.
                          Last edited by Pete; October 30, 2017, 05:27 AM.
                          - Pete

                          Auto mator
                          Homeseer 3 Pro - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e 64 bit Intel Haswell CPU 16Gb
                          Homeseer Zee2 (Lite) - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e - CherryTrail x5-Z8350 BeeLink 4Gb BT3 Pro
                          HS4 Lite - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenovo Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram

                          HS4 Pro - V4.1.18.1 - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenova Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram
                          HSTouch on Intel tabletop tablets (Jogglers) - Asus AIO - Windows 11

                          X10, UPB, Zigbee, ZWave and Wifi MQTT automation-Tasmota-Espurna. OmniPro 2, Russound zoned audio, Alexa, Cheaper RFID, W800 and Home Assistant

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Hmmmmm.... what about this?

                            (I'm not entirely convinced that my centurylink connection doesn't cause some problems as it can be sporadic... this is a somewhat remote location).

                            I might purchase a small USB backup power charging module, such as a 30000maH, and effectively use that as the UPS to bridge me through power events. (Assuming I find one that can stay on a charger 24/7) I might get an in-wall zwave outlet with monitoring and Z-wave, and plug the router into that. Then perhaps once a day or so I use a programmable event to shut off that outlet for 2 minutes and then bring it back up. This way I power cycle the router, but the Zwave stays running. Plus I catch line voltage events too.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              @Frank,

                              The sporatic WAN connection would not cause Homeseer 3 to abend.

                              Cycling the router will not fix any issues relating to Homeseer 3 running.

                              The UPS would just ensure that everything was always running and up.

                              Not sure if you are using a ZNet device. This device is also a RPi. Powering off and on this device could lead to corruption of the OS.
                              - Pete

                              Auto mator
                              Homeseer 3 Pro - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e 64 bit Intel Haswell CPU 16Gb
                              Homeseer Zee2 (Lite) - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e - CherryTrail x5-Z8350 BeeLink 4Gb BT3 Pro
                              HS4 Lite - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenovo Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram

                              HS4 Pro - V4.1.18.1 - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenova Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram
                              HSTouch on Intel tabletop tablets (Jogglers) - Asus AIO - Windows 11

                              X10, UPB, Zigbee, ZWave and Wifi MQTT automation-Tasmota-Espurna. OmniPro 2, Russound zoned audio, Alexa, Cheaper RFID, W800 and Home Assistant

                              Comment

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