My father, clippermiami, unexpectedly passed away this weekend and on top of everything else we need to figure out is his homebrew Vera setup of automated lights, security cameras and locks & alarms. We have no idea where to even start to tackle this project (I came across the link to this forum by pure chance) so any help would be greatly appreciated. I don’t even know what questions to ask to get the info I need. His widow (my mother) and my sister and I are totally in the dark on this, please help in any way you can.
Sorry for the bad news. If you have access to his email address (maybe the same as the email he used for his forum), you could easily take over and control his Vera with this URL - nexus.getvera.com. If you don’t have access to his email address, you can always call Vera Tech Support and send them the picture of the back of your Vera. They will create a new access for you.
Sad, sad news.
Hes been around here for along time and has quite a complex setup and several new things in the works. Unfortunately you will likely never be able to full take over where he left off due to this being more of a passion and hobby then set and go thing. I too would not know a very good place for you to start. Anything you can read or pickup is going to be helpful and the basics of what vera is and how to login would be the best place to start. All his logic and “Automation” is done in the PLEG plugin using devices, conditions and actions. PLEG is not a fast learn but being that everything is setup that’s a start.
Good luck and condolences.
Ask as many questions as you need.
EDIT: also I will add that he used Imperihome app on his andriod phone so basic control of the house should be found there. He used geofencing or knowing where he was based also on his phone app “VERA Proximity”. Alarm (DSC Alarm) functions were all setup to be controlled by imperihome. So using his phone in a normal fashion might be the easiest way to take over everyday use. He also mentioned that there was tablets and other users that had imperihome on their phones.
I’m assuming your already have basic control over the house using the other imperihome installed phones.
very sorry to hear that news. I didn’t know him. but i always fear my family would be in the same situation if i ever passed away unexpectedly.
I have tried to always maintain manual control where ever possible. so along those lines, have you considered just unhooking the vera unit and going back to pre-automation?
this sadly may be the easiest solution for your family.
My condolences. Such sad news. As others have already mentioned here, his setup was quite complex with a dual vera. Do you have anything you are seeking to take control of that you don’t currently have? Cameras are likely displaying on a PC under a program called blue iris and should be recording to its hard drive.
Lights, Locks and Alarm should be accessible from the Vera.
If you have access to the one of the 2 veras UI screen Look into the “scene” section and you will see the automation there.
Sorry to hear about your loss. My wife tells me she will just unplug Vera. Our light switches still work manually. The battery devices will just run out of juice. She will continue to open the garage door with her old-fashioned remote, and the computer for the cameras will be shut down. She will miss all of the phone notifications but she lived without them for many years.
My condolences to you and your family.
Very sad to hear of clipper’s passing.
As said by others, an picture of the bottom of his Vera’s showing the serial number sent to support@getvera.com with an explanation of why needed, should give you the credentials to the Vera account and enable you to access both of them.
I can confirm he used a Windows computer (one that is on 24/7) to control the camera’s using Blue Iris. The login for that Windows machine hopefully one of you knows. There are ways to reset the password on a Windows machine using a Linux Live file system (either CD/DVD or USB stick) Which is easy to google but may need a techie relative to accomplish.
If I recall correctly he mentioned earlier there are several tablets around your house used as wall controllers. They run Imperihome if I am not mistaken. I also believe he had First Alert ZCOMBO smoke/CO detectors hooked up to Vera for alerts and monitoring.
Most zwave switches and the like will still function even of the Vera controllers are powered down and/or removed. However the sensors etc do need a zwave hub like Vera to function. If you would like to retain the cameras but not zwave, the Blue Iris software has an app for Android and iOS to view and control the camera’s directly without the need for a Vera.
Really sorry to hear this. @clippermiami was a welcome contributor to this forum for several years. He came up with some interesting ideas from time to time that caused me to really have to think. My condolences.
Others have already offered ideas about password recovery. Unfortunately, most of the citations of what products were in use will likely be meaningless to you.
I’d suggest that you post specific questions about what you want to accomplish in this thread; ‘How can I stop this light from turning on all the time?’ and people will be able to tell you what part of the system is likely performing that action. This way you can learn what’s what or what you want to remove.
As I recall, he’s got two Vera devices, at least one was a Plus model(see picture below) that does the home automation. As others have described, there is a computer that does the camera monitoring and recording.
My heart goes out to you and your family.
If you give us a general idea where you live one of us might be able to come by if you want and take a look…
Miami, FL if I am not mistaken.
My condolences to you and your family. I also live in Miami so when I saw clippermiami’s posting that he was also from the area I thought it was pretty cool that there was someone else on the forum from here. Though, I should say we never actually chatted about it.
While I cannot offer any kind of continued support, if you would like I can probably find an afternoon to stop by and see if I can make heads or tails of things.
Where in the area do you live? I’m in Kendall. Let me know if this is something you’d find helpful and we can work out the details.
How do we know this is this member’s “daughter”? :-\
Andrew will find out when he knocks on the door?
Quick update: thank you everyone who has offered condolences and basic entry help. I think his system is hosed and I’m not sure what to do. One of his Vera plus boxes is completely unresponsive and the other keeps flashing the Wi-Fi and service lights (the Wi-Fi is working but I guess it’s not communicating with that box) He has a Vera lite in the garage that is also completely unresponsive. I’ve found a few portals but I honestly have no idea what I’m looking at. I was able to add widgets to another tablet (the one in the kitchen took a nose dive) but figuring out code is beyond me and of course this was accomplished before the system tanked. Every screen is complaining about various Veras and UI5,6 & 7 and I can’t see any of the cameras. I’m super stressed over this because my mom and my sister just keep asking me questions I don’t know how to answer.
Have you tried removing the power plug from each of the troublesome Vera’s for about a minute and then plugging them back in? That may do the trick. I’d suggest try one at a time. To the best of my knowledge he upgraded to 2 Vera Plus units a little while ago. The Vera Lite in the garage may just be a test box.
As far as the camera’s go, he uses Blue Iris on a Windows computer. Have you looked for one that you know to be running 24/7? If so, that is most likely where the Blue Iris camera software runs on. You can access these camera’s without needing Vera via eg a webbrowser. Blue Iris has apps for both Android and iOS if needed.
Your best bet may be AndrewGarfield as he also lives in Miami and may be able to do some hands on debugging.
If you can take some pictures of the error messages or post the exact wording of the error messages here we may be able to deduce what’s going on and perhaps offer suggestions to resolve the issue.