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composer HE bug after upgrade to 3.4.1.701303


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dealer did update to 3.4.1.701303, since then cant log into composer HE. Its running the latest version, says its ready to connect, then when connected, states cant connect to director 192.168...etc

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Same issue here -- my dealer recently updated my system to 3.4.1.  I followed the instructions found here (requires login) to install ComposerHE 3.4.1.701307.  The instructions have a link to a patch that claims to fix the installation (but didn't work for me).  It wasn't until I got my dealer involved again and after he called support, that we found out the install is still broken.  It would be nice if the instructions page were updated to mention this...

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16 hours ago, sparky7 said:

Same issue here -- my dealer recently updated my system to 3.4.1.  I followed the instructions found here (requires login) to install ComposerHE 3.4.1.701307.  The instructions have a link to a patch that claims to fix the installation (but didn't work for me).  It wasn't until I got my dealer involved again and after he called support, that we found out the install is still broken.  It would be nice if the instructions page were updated to mention this...

That's an old patch from 2018 due to certificates needing replacing, no where does it mention it's for 341, the 341 fix hasn't been released yet.

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Any update on that ETA @C4 folks? Really getting frustrating - just spent thousands on integrating your system and I'm stuck bothering my installer for inane stupid tweaks I want to make to my house 🙂

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19 hours ago, Araziel said:

Any update on that ETA @C4 folks? Really getting frustrating - just spent thousands on integrating your system and I'm stuck bothering my installer for inane stupid tweaks I want to make to my house 🙂

Same.

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9 hours ago, Shoe said:

If your dealer was paying attention to your needs for HE they maybe wouldn't have installed 3.4.1. Doesn't seem smart to install bleeding edge for a new customer.

It was a new system still being configured and apparently auto update was on. Assuming it can be disabled you can be sure it will be in the future. 
 

But that’s also a shame because systems like this really should be kept well updated for security reasons. 
 

Hopefully they have a retrospective on how this missed QA. 

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3 hours ago, dblessing said:

But that’s also a shame because systems like this really should be kept well updated for security reasons. 

Lets not get all Karen on this situation. This kind of thing happens. Your dealer updated to something without letting it bake. Not a great deal of people are using HE, honestly. Small issues are rather common in all systems with incremental updates. This forum is mostly integrators and it's not a Control4 owned forum. You might not get a tremendous amount of sympathy since most people here are going to point to your dealer as the one making the mistake. Your dealer is going to be making the updates until there is an auto update feature.

So, lets point out the issue with auto updates. If the rest of us were auto updated the issue you are experiencing would be a bigger problem. As it stands only handfuls of people are impacted. Its nearly impossible to avoid issues in patching systems especially when you 1) have a small development team 2) have a priority on feature development 3) have multiple hardware revs etc.

I'm not making any excuses, but I work on software and this kind of thing just happens. It's why enterprise software and systems are NOT auto updated and usually run some revs behind for stability.

I had a system deployed recently. I noted to the dealer to not install 3.4.1, but they are a skilled dealer so they were already aware of the issue.

 

BTW: You can check the release notes on the updates to see if there are security related items included.

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35 minutes ago, Shoe said:

Lets not get all Karen on this situation. This kind of thing happens. Your dealer updated to something without letting it bake. Not a great deal of people are using HE, honestly. Small issues are rather common in all systems with incremental updates. This forum is mostly integrators and it's not a Control4 owned forum. You might not get a tremendous amount of sympathy since most people here are going to point to your dealer as the one making the mistake. Your dealer is going to be making the updates until there is an auto update feature.

So, lets point out the issue with auto updates. If the rest of us were auto updated the issue you are experiencing would be a bigger problem. As it stands only handfuls of people are impacted. Its nearly impossible to avoid issues in patching systems especially when you 1) have a small development team 2) have a priority on feature development 3) have multiple hardware revs etc.

I'm not making any excuses, but I work on software and this kind of thing just happens. It's why enterprise software and systems are NOT auto updated and usually run some revs behind for stability.

I had a system deployed recently. I noted to the dealer to not install 3.4.1, but they are a skilled dealer so they were already aware of the issue.

 

BTW: You can check the release notes on the updates to see if there are security related items included.

That's really not necessary, is it? I'm allowed to be frustrated that I can't access HE for a system I just paid high 5 figures for. Also, I'm a software developer so I understand how development processes work. Yes, bugs happen and I hope C4 team learns from this and all cases.

I also realize that this is a community forum and not C4 owned. And I appreciate the discussion. 

 

3 hours ago, msgreenf said:

If your dealer told you the os auto updated he lied 

Thanks for the info. I'll have to discuss the situation with my dealer more. Maybe he did and didn't think too much of it since we were still in the configuration phase. 

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11 minutes ago, dblessing said:

I'm allowed to be frustrated that I can't access HE for a system I just paid high 5 figures for.

Sure you are. We are also allowed to comment on it, right?

I'm surprised you are a software developer, but if you are you would probably be aware of the ways you can use Composer Pro with your system rather than be blocked from using HE. So you can keep venting or google your solution.

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I have a tremendous amount of empathy for technology professionals -- especially those supporting forward-facing roles.  How many times has a producer, after a massively profitable week, called a supporting tech department with thanks because no technology issues presented?  Unfortunately, the answer is very few.  The reality is a ton of very talented people are focused in the background permitting us to be unconcerned about critical infrastructure.

I think this is a very good opportunity for those of us who are impacted to reach out to the business leaders / senior management of SnapOne and let them know that Composer HE is a critically important part of our decision to select C4, a catalyst for C4-branded product purchases, and a post-sale source of enjoyment.

There seems to be a misconception that Composer HE serves under-capitalized DIYers who are buying castoff items on eBay.  SnapOne leadership would be making a massive commercial mistake if it subscribes to this fallacy.  The reality is that the high income, HNW / UHNW client base that can afford professional grade home automation systems often have common traits of impatience, a desire for operational control, and privacy.  I have zero interest in being made dependent on a contractor's W2  employee when I want to make a minor adjustment to the environment of my own home.  Yes, there are times when I may elect to delegate.  But if a system forces me to wait or makes me hostage to someone else's schedule, that system will be in the rubbish bin -- fast.  Composer HE is a competitive advantage for C4 over Crestron and Savant.  Composer HE has provided a real-life introduction to programming for my kids and provided pride of ownership for me.

Let me be clear, I like the dealer model.  And my dealer has zero interest in programming many of the very useful tasks that we as a family have experimented with -- especially as staffing gets more difficult.  All of these additional functions have led to thousands (or tens of thousands) of dollar spend on products -- which my dealer likes.

There are several improvements that I would like to see to Composer HE.  None of these suggestions involve granting HE the ability to alter bindings or add devices.  Leave that to the dealer.

Specifically (and please help me out so I can send a comprehensive list):

  1. edit and modify existing lines of programming code (currently revisions require an entire line (except compound conditionals) to be deleted and reentered in entirety)
  2. project-global search and replace (a version of Detective Suite); currently, I use a PDF version of the full system report in Adobe Acrobat to find specific lines of code
  3. the ability to see but not change bindings
  4. a copy and paste feature that targets selected lines of code
  5. a search feature in the Variable Agent

In closing, I suggest that SnapOne look at the success premium brands have enjoyed by encouraging subsets of its user base better understand the workings of their products.  Rolls Royce offers Factory Days that literately delve under the hood with a mechanic.  MBUSA and Porsche offer track experiences.  Range Rover has several company sponsored off-road adventures.  This is not only fun for some owners but permits better appreciation of the car and strengthens the relationship between owner and dealer.

My fear is that the Composer HE outage is less of an unplanned bug fix and more of a deliberate strategy to gauge the utility of the software.  If you ask a tech user if he/she would object to removing a feature, most will instinctively object.  Much more effective is to quietly turnoff the feature set and see if anyone notices or complains. 

I am eager to hear thoughts from others ....

 

Edited by BDavisNJ
replaced a duplicated word in #4
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30 minutes ago, BDavisNJ said:

My fear is that the Composer HE outage is less of an unplanned bug fix and more of a deliberate strategy to gauge the utility of the software

Your fear is unfounded IMHO

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3 hours ago, BDavisNJ said:

My fear is that the Composer HE outage is less of an unplanned bug fix and more of a deliberate strategy to gauge the utility of the software. 

This is an absurd level of over thinking and paranoia for something that has been identified as a defect with a fix in testing and an acknowledgement from C4 product management. Are you two the same person or related?

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26 minutes ago, ziggy said:

Anyways, any update on the fix ? SO I can log back into my HE composer

 

Last update from C4.

 

On 1/31/2024 at 11:57 AM, Darin, PM C4 CX Platform said:

Composer HE's patch build will be a regular update that your notified of on launch it is in beta now and should be out to production relatively soon. I'm not sure of the exact ETA though.

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4 hours ago, BDavisNJ said:

I have a tremendous amount of empathy for technology professionals -- especially those supporting forward-facing roles.  How many times has a producer, after a massively profitable week, called a supporting tech department with thanks because no technology issues presented?  Unfortunately, the answer is very few.  The reality is a ton of very talented people are focused in the background permitting us to be unconcerned about critical infrastructure.

I think this is a very good opportunity for those of us who are impacted to reach out to the business leaders / senior management of SnapOne and let them know that Composer HE is a critically important part of our decision to select C4, a catalyst for C4-branded product purchases, and a post-sale source of enjoyment.

There seems to be a misconception that Composer HE serves under-capitalized DIYers who are buying castoff items on eBay.  SnapOne leadership would be making a massive commercial mistake if it subscribes to this fallacy.  The reality is that the high income, HNW / UHNW client base that can afford professional grade home automation systems often have common traits of impatience, a desire for operational control, and privacy.  I have zero interest in being made dependent on a contractor's W2  employee when I want to make a minor adjustment to the environment of my own home.  Yes, there are times when I may elect to delegate.  But if a system forces me to wait or makes me hostage to someone else's schedule, that system will be in the rubbish bin -- fast.  Composer HE is a competitive advantage for C4 over Crestron and Savant.  Composer HE has provided a real-life introduction to programming for my kids and provided pride of ownership for me.

Let me be clear, I like the dealer model.  And my dealer has zero interest in programming many of the very useful tasks that we as a family have experimented with -- especially as staffing gets more difficult.  All of these additional functions have led to thousands (or tens of thousands) of dollar spend on products -- which my dealer likes.

There are several improvements that I would like to see to Composer HE.  None of these suggestions involve granting HE the ability to alter bindings or add devices.  Leave that to the dealer.

Specifically (and please help me out so I can send a comprehensive list):

  1. edit and modify existing lines of programming code (currently revisions require an entire line (except compound conditionals) to be deleted and reentered in entirety)
  2. project-global search and replace (a version of Detective Suite); currently, I use a PDF version of the full system report in Adobe Acrobat to find specific lines of code
  3. the ability to see but not change bindings
  4. a copy and paste feature that targets selected lines of code
  5. a search feature in the Variable Agent

In closing, I suggest that SnapOne look at the success premium brands have enjoyed by encouraging subsets of its user base better understand the workings of their products.  Rolls Royce offers Factory Days that literately delve under the hood with a mechanic.  MBUSA and Porsche offer track experiences.  Range Rover has several company sponsored off-road adventures.  This is not only fun for some owners but permits better appreciation of the car and strengthens the relationship between owner and dealer.

My fear is that the Composer HE outage is less of an unplanned bug fix and more of a deliberate strategy to gauge the utility of the software.  If you ask a tech user if he/she would object to removing a feature, most will instinctively object.  Much more effective is to quietly turnoff the feature set and see if anyone notices or complains. 

I am eager to hear thoughts from others ....

 

Though I can’t subscribe to your idea of this being a planned outage, your points about the perceptions of HE and value to the platform and customers are well said and dead on I think. 

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