Am reading this with interest, but also with a tear in the corner of my eye, because you've consistently been such an integral and immensely helpful member of the Vera community. It's always bittersweet when another Vera must die a natural death, but this also means other more viable platforms are gaining new wings.
Thanks for posting!

"Hi, I'm Troy McClure, famous from such posts as 'How to Send Data to Google Sheets from Rule Machine', and 'Creating Zero-CSS Animated SVG Backgrounds for Hubitat Dashboard Tiles Using Hidden iFrames', and other esoteric topics nobody wants to read."
But srsly, I did expect more response when I recently released my very first full-fledged HE Device Driver which pits you against an AI bot in the game of TicTacToe on a gameboard created out of 12 button Tiles.

@toggledbits sure won't miss my MSR antics, but I do! What's the point of beta testing if you cannot first crush the everlivin' life out of something while probing its deepest, darkest recesses.

Indeed, first thing I inquired about after joining HE Forum a few years back was "Can this thing tie in with X10?" (A: Yes and, more pointedly, no.)

I would love to visit here more often, but must confess you guys are so awesome you've left me nothing to BREAK!

With their awesome new X10 switch!

I'm hopping in my 1980s time machine to go see whether this is exactly what I think it is.

(Srsly, tho, I love(d) X10 and did everything humanly possible to keep that old equipment perking along with Vera, and almost succeeded.)

• Libra

P.S. Just got banned for the 9th time from Hubitat Forum, so had a little extra time to throw shade.

P.P.S. The boilerplate 5-star reviews for this brand-new product come from bots with names like Avery, Phoenix and Owen (two from Mateo!). Sheesh.

Welcome to our HE users! This new Q&A section is for you...

@CatmanV2 The newer models of course would be called the DS222+ and DS223 (they are numbered from year of release and the plus indicates something to do with the CPU - that you want! - so do your research comparing one versus the other).

@CatmanV2 I bought my Synology DS218+ a couple of years ago after intense research into all available NAS models on the market. Chose it specifically because of ideal size to cost ratio, plus ability to function as a platform for (a) Plex Server (transcoding .mkv files) for several households, (b) Docker containers (which I only installed to test/run/enjoy Reactor MSR), (c) automatic cloud backup of entire Google Drive.

Everything else, including HA now in Docker, has been gravy. I did add the max RAM it could take (I do this with ALL hardware though, not because it needed it), and upgraded my old HDs with a matched pair of Seagate (I think?) SSD drives.

Quiet, fast, expandable, excellent I/O, amazing apps right out of the box, spot-on network awareness ... far from "just a NAS".

@ArcherS said in Considering changing to HA - but what installation method?:

I have not tested any USB devices (e.g. Zwave stick) since I do not use it. As far as I have understood it both should work with USB devices.

From all I can find on the Web, it seems that getting ZW/ZB dongles to work with the Docker version of HA remains problematic in 2023, particularly if Docker is running on something like a Synology NAS (on DSM7+), where topics like "USB Drivers" and/or "TTY Passthrough" rear their ugly head.

It sounds doable, but not nearly as straightforward as the OS or VM installs. So be mindful of this potential roadblock if you aim to attach USB sticks. Breadcrumbs I've discovered along the way: Add 'packages.synocommunity.com' as a source in Package Center so that your Syn NAS can install various DSM-specific 3rd party apps. Specifically, the SynoKernel USB Drivers.

A year later, I find this thread, and wanted to report that I too have installed HA under Docker on my Synology NAS, and the process was like butter!! Seems with every revision "they" make HA easier to install and maintain. It's like having your own candy store! Can't wait to give it a serious trial.

@CatmanV2 I just installed HA stable under Docker on my Synology NAS. Will kick the tires a while.

Lately every automation conversation I've had ends with "Dude. You should really get Home Assistant."

Something tells me you are in the majority with that sentiment. But no question that better documentation is sorely needed. I'm probably the worst person to nominate for the job, but heck, I wrote much of Vera's docs so I've at least got that pedigree, lol.

I just installed VS Code and a few Groovy-related extensions. Definitely not past the n00b mark myself.

I know this Forum has never focused much on SmartThings or Hubitat, thus not surprisingly I find virtually nothing here concerning the Groovy programming language or creating drivers/apps for those platforms.

I'm curious: Is there any interest at all for co-authoring a "Definitive Guide to Coding Drivers & Apps for Hubitat" among our motley crew?

@CatmanV2 in my particular case, yes, the answers were swift and disturbingly authoritative. Where both Googling and my fellow local history buffs (on FB) had failed, Bard was somehow able to conjure up definitive and verifiable answers regarding street name origins. Until then, my theory had been that certain names were borrowed from the developers' families, which is common. Bard was able to name the developers, the time frame in which the subdivision had been developed, and for whom each street was named (their wives, duh).

I suspect Bard is pulling from "deeper" sources (like scanned books in the Google Library) which aren't always available in their entirety – or prove challenging for laypeople – to plumb. Either way, the results tickled my fancy, and immediately reminded me of your earlier post, so I had to run back and report.

For what it's worth, I've been putting the finishing touches on a much-updated version of my DP Apps spreadsheet -- specifically intended for HE users, at least for now -- and invite you all to take a gander http://bit.ly/hedb23 at the PDF one-page version.

Corrections and edits welcome (esp. for the HOMEKIT column, just added yesterday)! Thanks in advance, especially because I'm not a big dashboard user myself, but somehow accepted this role as "keeper of the list" as it were.

Google just ok'd my application to test out their new AI bot called BARD, and guys, it's pretty amazing. Was able to get answers to a handful of questions (about my hometown's history) that had flummoxed Google for years. If you get the chance, check it out.

Interesting, when I asked it, "Who founded the home automation company Hubitat?" it got the answer completely wrong, lol, naming two randos I've never heard of.

Shocked to find FORTAN occupying the #17 slot! And there's Groovy down at #34.

So close! Hilarious... This made my day, thanks!!

Love all this! Can't wait to see if ChatGPT can unmask my 1980s hacker persona...

Concur on all points.