So after a forum hiatus of about 3 months I’m back trolling for new goodies. Seems like MCV hasn’t really progressed much at all in that time!
I’m still running version 1.1.1036 on my Vera 2.
Where’s the next real update boys and girls?
.1047 is official, but they buried the announcement of it in a thread of the beta release of 1047.
In my mind, for most people, including myself, that is one of the biggest problems with the Vera system - its all buried. Specifically beyond the very basics, how to unpack it, how to plug it in and other fairly superficial thing, all the meat and potatoes on using this system is (literally) buried in the catacombs of this forum.
It is my thought that the average new user has access to very little structured and organized information about Vera.
It is like taking a box full of widgets and then throwing the contents into the middle of a big room. Now where did I put that darn 3/8" hexagonal widget I saw while walking through the room a few weeks ago? Good luck finding that me thinks.
Yes there is a wiki of sorts. Trying to use the wiki is only a touch better than the forum. Very unorganized and structurally not very well thought out.
The whole MCV operation has the flavor of a bunch of really smart college kids enjoying the heck out of putting together some really cool hardware, and personally knowing quite well the ins and outs and nuances of the platform themselves - but because of tunnel vision of the whiz kids, they perceive that everyone out there that they sell to also has an innate understanding of the system. Why document in an organized fashion when everyone using it should know the system as well as they do? Why else would they not provide reasonable documentation to the people that buy this complex system.
Too me a (severe) lack of organized documentation of the hardware and the software and programming platforms is the achilles heel of the Vera system.
Anyone see that bull that wandered into the china shop?
~ John
[quote=“J_Wave, post:3, topic:167038”]In my mind, for most people, including myself, that is one of the biggest problems with the Vera system - its all buried. Specifically beyond the very basics, how to unpack it, how to plug it in and other fairly superficial thing, all the meat and potatoes on using this system is (literally) buried in the catacombs of this forum.
It is my thought that the average new user has access to very little structured and organized information about Vera.
It is like taking a box full of widgets and then throwing the contents into the middle of a big room. Now where did I put that darn 3/8" hexagonal widget I saw while walking through the room a few weeks ago? Good luck finding that me thinks.
Yes there is a wiki of sorts. Trying to use the wiki is only a touch better than the forum. Very unorganized and structurally not very well thought out.
The whole MCV operation has the flavor of a bunch of really smart college kids enjoying the heck out of putting together some really cool hardware, and personally knowing quite well the ins and outs and nuances of the platform themselves - but because of tunnel vision of the whiz kids, they perceive that everyone out there that they sell to also has an innate understanding of the system. Why document in an organized fashion when everyone using it should know the system as well as they do? Why else would they not provide reasonable documentation to the people that buy this complex system.
Too me a (severe) lack of organized documentation of the hardware and the software and programming platforms is the achilles heel of the Vera system.
Anyone see that bull that wandered into the china shop?
~ John[/quote]
You know its a myth that a bull in a china shop would destroy it! See this myth-busters clip 
Yeah I see a reminder to upgrade to version 1.1.1047 every time I log into my Vera2.
…Just one problem: The 1.1.1047 release of the firmware has a huge reboot bug in it. When I load it on my Vera2 device, the device reboots every 45min to 60min. As I mentioned previously in my posts to this thread: [url=http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php?topic=4218.0]http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php?topic=4218.0[/url]
I just figured in the 3 and 1/2 MONTHS since this was found, Micasaverde would have done SOMETHING to move towards a more stable version.
It occurred to me the other day when I tried to upgrade my vera to something newer than 1.1.1036, and crashed my system, I need a home controller I can RELY on, because:
When the system crashed, my thermostat was relegated to 55deg, my outdoor Christmas lights were still on at 9am, the lights in my kids’ bedroom that normally turn themselves off after 20min were running mercilessly all day long, and the pump I use to drain rain water off my pool cover was draining my pool dry.
It’s one thing to be minorly inconvenienced every now and again by a phantom light turning on at 3am… it’s another thing to rely on a system for life and safety issues which is more than a bit unreliable. Some of this I completely understand, but 3 and a half months without so much as a viable major update to their system while their website, which touts a miracle device with endless possibilities to simplify your life (read “Bull$hit”) continues to be updated, compounds the issue by generating a larger annoyed user-base, which will inevitably complain further about the system, crushing the word-of-mouth business that Micasaverde so badly needs.
So my .02 of advice: Yo, Micasaverde, get yo Shiznit together and release a firmware that works for God’s sake!
Thank You for your time.
{/Rant}
“Just one problem: The 1.1.1047 release of the firmware has a huge reboot bug in it.”
I heard that was also a myth.
JOD.
[quote=“JOD, post:6, topic:167038”]“Just one problem: The 1.1.1047 release of the firmware has a huge reboot bug in it.”
I heard that was also a myth.
JOD.[/quote]
Myth Busted!! …It happens to me every time I upgrade my unit to 1.1.1047. MCV confirmed it was an issue and acknowledged they were going to resolve it in version 1.1.1048. Just another promise that they never fulfilled. (Maybe I’m just as “special” as my wife contends, and it only happens to me and my unit, but that doesn’t make it a myth to me, just a huge pain in the a$$)
See this post… Micasaverde’s own folks confirmed the problem and their fix is to downgrade to 1.1.1036. Which is a great short-term fix. But 3 and a half months isn’t “short-term.”
[quote=“mcvvalyb, post:10, topic:166437”]Hi,
We found a temporary solution to stop the rebooting of the Vera box, for this please go to Advanced → Firmware and insert the next link into “URL for MiOS custom firmware:” text field
http://download.mios.com/backfirebetafirmware/wl500gP_Luup_ui4-1.1.1036-1.squashfs
and press the Download button and wait for the box to rewrite it’s firmware. After it is done please refresh the page pressing and holding CTRL key and press the F5 key in this time too. After this, your Vera box should act normally.
Be sure that this won’t be the final solution and we’ll work on the last firmware to solve this issue, but until that it looks like this is it… Please send us your feedback. Thank you.[/quote]
[quote=“FrankHill73, post:7, topic:167038”][quote=“mcvvalyb, post:10, topic:166437”]Hi,
We found a temporary solution to stop the rebooting of the Vera box, for this please go to Advanced → Firmware and insert the next link into “URL for MiOS custom firmware:” text field
http://download.mios.com/backfirebetafirmware/wl500gP_Luup_ui4-1.1.1036-1.squashfs
and press the Download button and wait for the box to rewrite it’s firmware. After it is done please refresh the page pressing and holding CTRL key and press the F5 key in this time too. After this, your Vera box should act normally.
Be sure that this won’t be the final solution and we’ll work on the last firmware to solve this issue, but until that it looks like this is it… Please send us your feedback. Thank you.[/quote][/quote]
Huh, interesting… I wish I knew this… I think my box has been rebooting every 45min for 3 months straight.
[quote=“J_Wave, post:3, topic:167038”]It is my thought that the average new user has access to very little structured and organized information about Vera.
It is like taking a box full of widgets and then throwing the contents into the middle of a big room. [/quote]
Wow, hit that nail on the head. I just started with this system and feel like I’m a pretty smart guy when it comes to electronics (I fix late model auto computer problems), but this thing’s got me up nights with only one controller and two switches! Huge learning curve.
Hint: If you think you have this issue, you can go into advanced settings, and view the “uptime” of your device, you’ll find that it’s almost always less than 45min, rarely more than 60min, and NEVER more than 75min (N-E-V-E-R) if you’re in my shoes.
This applies to 1.1.1047 (possibly others) but not to 1.1.1036
[quote=“osbornauto, post:9, topic:167038”][quote=“J_Wave, post:3, topic:167038”]It is my thought that the average new user has access to very little structured and organized information about Vera.
It is like taking a box full of widgets and then throwing the contents into the middle of a big room. [/quote]
Wow, hit that nail on the head. I just started with this system and feel like I’m a pretty smart guy when it comes to electronics (I fix late model auto computer problems), but this thing’s got me up nights with only one controller and two switches! Huge learning curve.[/quote]
Ahh yes. And here in lies the rub… Micasaverde has such a beautiful website promising the automated home of the future: with a few clicks of the mouse and a little Vera magic, your house too can do your bidding from far off remote locations, magically monitor your electricity usage to lower your cost of living, and make your life so much more automatic, so much… simpler. Just $199.99 and all this can be yours.
*sigh
[quote=“osbornauto, post:9, topic:167038”][quote=“J_Wave, post:3, topic:167038”]It is my thought that the average new user has access to very little structured and organized information about Vera.
It is like taking a box full of widgets and then throwing the contents into the middle of a big room. [/quote]
Wow, hit that nail on the head. I just started with this system and feel like I’m a pretty smart guy when it comes to electronics (I fix late model auto computer problems), but this thing’s got me up nights with only one controller and two switches! Huge learning curve.[/quote]
I think I may be in the same boat. the family has been complaining that WiFi cuts out for them regularly. I just check my uptime and it’s currently at 45 minutes (and i haven’t rebooted it). This sucks.
-GT
Alright, let’s get some input… Can anyone running firmware revision 1.1.1047 confirm an uptime greater than 60min?
…ANYONE?
how exactly does one check uptime? I’ve looked in advanced tab and dont see any such information
From your main vera home screen, select “Advanced” → “Net & Wifi” Tab → Click “Advanced Configuration” → In the upper right-hand corner of the web page, you should see something similar to the following:
* OpenWrt Kamikaze 7.09
* Host: MiOS_xxxxx
* [glow=red,2,300]Uptime: 10:50[/glow]
* Load: 0.15, 0.07, 0.04
This will be your router’s uptime result. Currently, mine shows an uptime of 10hrs and 50min. This is about right, considering I’ve plugged my Vera device into a timer which powers the unit down and powers it back up around 3am every day. I’m running firmware 1.1.1036. I contend that if you’re running 1.1.1047 of the firmware, your “uptime” will be a figure less than 60min.
I’ve had pretty good stability with my Vera 2 on 1.1.1047. I’ve ocasionally had to reboot it myself, but I haven’t had the automatic reboot problems that many have. To answer your question, I can confirm my vera has been up for many days/weeks at a time.
Currently:
root@MiOS_10881:~# uptime
10:29:19 up 7 days, 10:52, load average: 0.02, 0.05, 0.00
But I manually rebooted it this time last week when I was troubleshooting a DNS issue that turned out to be my fault.
It would be great if MCV could identify a common theme among those that are experiencing these issues. Perhaps we can help… My setup (again, I’m not suffering reboots) is pretty standard. Here are some points:
[ul][li]Vera is not acting as a router[/li]
[li]wifi is turned OFF (perhaps this contributes to stability?)[/li]
[li]I have a largish z-wave mesh. So z-wave complexity shouldn’t be a factor [/li]
[li]Vera is plugged into a UPS with very clean power, though the AC/DC conversion should buffer any power quality issues, doubt this is a factor[/li]
[li][/li][/ul]
From your main vera home screen, select “Advanced” → “Net & Wifi” Tab → Click “Advanced Configuration” → In the upper right-hand corner of the web page, you should see something similar to the following:
* OpenWrt Kamikaze 7.09
* Host: MiOS_xxxxx
* [glow=red,2,300]Uptime: 10:50[/glow]
* Load: 0.15, 0.07, 0.04
This will be your router’s uptime result. Currently, mine shows an uptime of 10hrs and 50min. This is about right, considering I’ve plugged my Vera device into a timer which powers the unit down and powers it back up around 3am every day. I’m running firmware 1.1.1036. I contend that if you’re running 1.1.1047 of the firmware, your “uptime” will be a figure less than 60min.[/quote]
Thanks for the reply, all i get is a popup window which says “the webpage can not be found” will it work if vera is set to automatically configure?
I will have to disagree with this on your. Everyone from this community who knows any MCV team members, knows this.
Beside this, I would like to announce that the problem causing the reboot in some cases, was solved. Also the one with “Lua Failed to start” and others.
We will try to release a new official firmware as soon as possible.
Thanks!
It should. I know there were some releases of the firmware which did not include the web GUI files. This would result in the “Web page not found” message you speak of.
There is another way of verifying uptime which involves using SSH. If you know enough to know what “SSH” is and how to use it, then you’ll know how to use it to get into your Vera and check your uptime. For reasons which I’m sure Ovidiou and other Micasaverde support folks will appreciate, I won’t outline that procedure here in this thread.
I will have to disagree with this on your. Everyone from this community who knows any MCV team members, knows this.
Beside this, I would like to announce that the problem causing the reboot in some cases, was solved. Also the one with “Lua Failed to start” and others.
We will try to release a new official firmware as soon as possible.
Thanks![/quote]
I have to be honest here and say that from an outsider’s perspective, there is some merit to what J_Wave says. Internally, the Micasaverde operation may be staffed with very capable and professional adults who make a living programming for Micasaverde and running the business, however (and please don’t take this as an insult, but rather view it as a constructive criticism) from where we stand as end-users, there seems to be a whole lot of smart people coding without a clear direction or cohesive branding strategy. It shows in the sporadic releases of firmware updates. It shows in the disparate divide between what the Micasaverde web site markets the Vera product to be vs. what the reality of it is. It shows in the random bug tracking system. and it shows in the lack of cohesiveness in your wiki documentation. If I didn’t know better, (and honestly I don’t) I’d say you were one project manager short of a full staff.
On the flip-side, my interaction with Ovidiu and others has been helpful and encouraging. I am here to stay, at least for the time being, but as a Vera owner and a member of the micasaverde community, I’d like to see a little more organization to give us hope that the business will survive the long haul. The original reason for me to open this thread wasn’t simply to rant and rave, but rather, it was to get some micasaverde and community feedback and find out what’s been going on for the last 3+ months.