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Ready to buy Composer HE


mkaiseraz

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Dealers tend to avoid talking about it. What happens is a client will get HE and with HE you have a lot of power to program things on your own. In doing so dealers find less than kind people when they break their programming and then proceed to blame the mistake on the dealer for a free house call.

Not saying you will do this. But this is usually what happens. We have a clause that states when you buy HE you assume responsibility of programming your home and if any issue come by its a charge to appear no matter the situation.

 

HE is alot of fun and If you get a tech willing to teach you you can have a lot of power over your system. But with that power comes the ability to dick it all up too. 

Just be sure to make backups before you make changes. 

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I personally don't think you can do too much damage with HE. You can't change connections. The worst thing would be properties and if you have backups set up it should be an easy restore. But, that said I do think there should be a clause that any HE alterations are chargeable.

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For the most part, HE is safe. You can inadvertently program loops or misuse the 'while' condition that could crash your controller into an infinite loop (better to not use it).  Saving a copy of your project before making new changes can prevent these scenarios.

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1 hour ago, mkaiseraz said:

Thanks for all this experience, guys. I'm a retired software engineer, so I think I can handle this. I appreciate why many cannot. :)

And while I appreciate that you are what you are, it likely means your chances of doing 'damage' is higher than most :D

 

That said, your system, you're free to get HE - and mess it up, then pay to get it fixed ;)

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Im a software programmer as well.

However keep in mind programming is extremely simple but you must understand its not a line based thing. Everything is recationary and hidden in places.

If you have later then 2.10 you will have a program overview of all logic however anything pre 2.10 you will have to hunt down all the clauses. 

 

Talk with your dealer they can get you the software.

however @Cyknight is right. Engineer's have the highest potential to tinker it out of working order. So tread carefully.

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I will, I promise. I do have a question about backing up. When I do, HE presents me with a dialog box containing a bunch of checkboxes that appear to be what should be backed up. But the dialog appears for only a second, then is replaced by another with only two options (Project Data and Personal Information), both checked. Is everything being backed up?

Thanks.

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1 hour ago, mkaiseraz said:

I will, I promise. I do have a question about backing up. When I do, HE presents me with a dialog box containing a bunch of checkboxes that appear to be what should be backed up. But the dialog appears for only a second, then is replaced by another with only two options (Project Data and Personal Information), both checked. Is everything being backed up?

Thanks.

This is normal, initially all possible options show up, but after a second it automatically hides irrelevant options (for example, most people won't have zwave, lots of people don't have stored media (saved favorites etc from streaming media don't fall under this))

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Yea it preloads all backup options. Then cross checks with the director and populates the boxes and hides ones that do not apply. Their may be times when it says it cant or wont backup z wave devices. 

Basically let it do its thing then click save. It will save to your defined location as a C4P file. 

This is basically a ZIP folder that contains a snapshot of your director. So lets say you break the hell out of your system you can import and overwrite your broken state with the c4p project to bring it back to that snapped state.
 

Also make a habit of doing a backup after a control4 tech appears too. As they may have changed something you have no power over and it could screw up things if you import a old C4P that predates your tech's visit.

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My dealer is beating around the bush as well, been trying to get him to get me the updated version when he updated my system. I used to get it from one of my dealers staffers, but he quit and started a Savant company. Anyone available to help me out on this? I don't know of any other way to get an updated version, it doesn't show up on my customer portal.

Thanks.

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  • 1 year later...

I’m running into the same issue.  Can someone tell me how I can buy Composer HE?  I just don’t understand why this isn’t available to directly from C4 if dealers do this.

My alternative is to just sell all my C4 gear and switch to crappy Logitech 😕

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Check the remote dealer forum.  Any C4 dealer should be able to sell you a license.  It use to include a year of 4Sight.

 

IMO, if your dealer drags their feet on selling you HE, find a new dealer.

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  • 11 months later...
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