OK y'all, about a year and a half ago, I announced I was all but abandoning Home Server SMART Classic, Home Server SMART 2013 and WindowSMART, turning them over to the open source community. My hope was that folks in the open source community would go hog-wild and it would allow me to spend more time with my family.

Unfortunately the response from the open source community has been underwhelming. I might even employ the oxymoron that there was thunderous silence. In a year and a half's time, I got only three inquiries, and only one was even remotely serious. Which meant that these applications, into which I invested so much heart and soul, were going to die on the vine. I couldn't let that happen.

So a few months ago, I withdrew them from open source and resumed development. Not wishing to take time from my family, development has been very slow, but I've been doing a little here, a little there.

At long last, I am ready to present to you beta versions of

* Home Server SMART Classic
* Home Server SMART 2015
* WindowSMART 2015

If you're still running WHS v1, then Home Server SMART Classic is what you want. It's the add-in folks have come to love in the five years of its existence. If you're running WHS 2011 (or its business companion products) or Server 2012 Essentials (including R2), then Home Server SMART 2015 is where it's at. And since I made a promise that HSS was and always would be free, they are still free. No advertising or pop-ups. Just a small link in the applications to make a donation if you'd like (of course, donations are always welcome).

With HSS, I've also updated the shareware version, WindowSMART 2015. If you bought a license for WindowSMART in the past, this is a free update.

Please do bear in mind these are BETA versions. They are mainly bug fixes. Quite a few folks reported issues with question marks being reported for drives; hopefully this update resolves those problems for you. One big change you'll notice is I took out the Boxcar functionality. A couple years ago, Boxcar was bought by another company and last summer they abandoned the old Boxcar platform and came out with something completely different. So I removed Boxcar since it no longer functioned. You can still use Pushover (iOS/Android), Prowl (iOS), NMA (Android) and Toasty (Windows Phone).

I may make changes to the beta builds rapidly, so I put them out on a shared OneDrive. You can get them here - https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=1 ... lder%2cmsi

Current version of all builds is v3.3.4.7 (4/7/2015).

Please provide your feedback! *ESPECIALLY* if something that was working in an earlier build gets broken. If you upgrade and something stops working, please try rebooting first before making a bug report. Sometimes the old DLLs don't get unloaded from memory until a reboot is performed.

The files are:

HomeServerSMART2013.wssx -- installs HSS 2015 (yes the installer name shows 2013) on WHS 2011, Server 2008 R2 Essentials, 2012 Essentials, 2012 R2 Essentials
InstallHomeServerSMART.msi --- installs Home Server SMART Classic on WHS v1
WindowSMARTInstaller_x64.msi --- 64-bit installation of WindowSMART 2015
WindowSMARTInstaller_x86.msi --- 32-bit installation of WindowSMART 2015

You'll also see two "lightweight" versions of WindowSMART. You can probably ignore these. These are intended for business customers who deploy WindowSMART to embedded systems like POS terminals and cash registers, and use Microsoft System Center to monitor the alerts raised by WindowSMART.

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Matt Sawyer
Owner, Dojo North Software, LLC

HP EX490, 4GB, E5300, 15TB - Server 2012 - Sharing and Streaming
HP EX487, 4GB, E5300, 13TB - Server 2012 Essentials - Backups

I posted release candidate build v3.3.4.8 last night. Squashed a few more bugs.

_________________
Matt Sawyer
Owner, Dojo North Software, LLC

HP EX490, 4GB, E5300, 15TB - Server 2012 - Sharing and Streaming
HP EX487, 4GB, E5300, 13TB - Server 2012 Essentials - Backups

Glad to see you back working on this great Add-in, Matt! Thanks so much.

You wanted some feedback so here goes.

Installed v3.3.4.7 last night. I am running an EX-495, with 5 drives in an eSata Sans Digital TR5M-B enclosure, along with 3 USB drives in a Mediasonic enclosure.

The previous version of Home Server Smart, would not show temps for my 4 drives in the 495, or my last usb drive. Additionally, the last 2 usb drives are identified as the same drive, as far as make, model, serial number. However, the USB drives do show they are different units (drive11, drive12).

I have tried rebuilding the WMI database several times but always had this trouble.

With v3.3.4.7, I did have temps indicated on the 495 internal drives, but my USB drive reports were unchanged. Last 2 usb drives identified as the same make, model, serial etc.

HSS also reported cabling errors on ALL Sata/eSata drives, internal or in the port multiplier enclosure. I chose to ignore the errors, as I have had these before despite changing many cables, etc. (Can't change cables for internal drives).

Last night, I had my eSATA drives drop offline in the port multiplier. This is a problem for the MSS servers using eSATA, and there are a couple of large threads here where we tried to diagnose why this is so, However, we never really were able to determine this problem, but I think it is a chipset driver problem, where the drives will drop offline and not recover until a reboot. Without hi-jacking this thread, suffice it to say, there will no newer drivers for the SIL 3531 controller, so it's a problem I have accepted, and live with. Besides, it only happens about once a month, and is easily remedied with a reboot.

I only mention this as I believe this problem is associated with too many things accessing the controller and introducing interrupts. In the past I was able to get the problem to occur by reducing the times sofware (like HSS) or formerly PerfectDisk (don't use it any longer) would access the controller. I even set HSS to only access the drives every 60 min as when I had it set to 5 minutes, I would have dropouts more frequently.

I am not sure if the dropout last night was because of this new version or not. I downloaded v3.3.4.8 and will give that a shot now. I would desperately like to have good S.M.A.R.T. reporting, running 12 drives in my system. However, HSS is not alone in my problems. All other HD monitoring programs I have tried (HD Sentinel, Active Drive monitor, HSS) all have problems with my setup reading S.M.A.R.T information including temps. Of course, these don't report exactly the same, but none of them will report all the drives correctly. There is always 1 or 2 that's missing some data.

With all these problems I have dealt with, this probably won't be too valid a feedback for your new versions, but wanted to let you know. I will post again after I try Glad to see you back working on this great Add-in, Matt! Thanks so much.

I will post again after trying out v3.3.4.8.

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HP EX495 | Q9550s| 4GB | Sans Digital TR5M-B |Mediasonic Probox HF2-SU2S2 eSATA/USB2.0| WHS 2011 | |Stablebit Drivepool |FlexRAID 2.0| [12x2TB]

I've had a ton of trouble with two different eSATA enclosures on my EX490. I'm not sure why, and this was under both WHS v1 and Windows Server 2012 R2. I tried upgrading the SiI drivers, but I'd still get a bunch of ultra DMA CRC errors. I wound up moving the 4 x 2TB enclosure to a different computer with a USB 3.0 card (the Vantec enclosure supports both eSATA and USB 3). Since I've done that, I don't get the drop-offs or CRC errors anymore.

I could never pin the problem to Home Server SMART or WindowSMART, or even a competing product HD Sentinel. I'd still get CRC errors and random drop-offs either way.

Now moving on to the USB drives...all external USB enclosures have something called a "bridge chip." The job of the bridge chip is to translate USB signaling into either IDE (legacy drives) or SATA commands. There are a handful of USB bridge chips out there that don't send back the SMART data, and there's nothing that can be done about that, short of buying a new enclosure. The gentleman, Janos Mathe, who develops HD Sentinel, has a fairly comprehensive list of the VID/PID pairs of USB bridge chips that don't expose SMART data.

To Mr. Mathe's credit, while he is my competitor, he also makes the best SMART product out there...because he supports many common RAID controllers, even when the disks are participating in hardware RAID arrays. My software MAY support disks in a RAID controller IF they are configured as standalone disks, rather than an array. In your case, it sounds like you've tried HD Sentinel and Home Server SMART, among others. If you're consistently not getting results from those two USB drives, and you want results, you may need to replace the enclosures. If HD Sentinel can't get the SMART data from them, nothing will.

If you don't mind, please enable the SmartInspect debug logging. This is done from the Advanced tab of Settings. Apply the setting, then click the Service Control tab and hit Restart Service. Turning logging on/off requires a service restart because the service only checks if logging is enabled when it initially starts. Once you do that, let the server steep for a bit, then use the Report a Bug function. This zips up the debug logs in an encrypted zip file and sends them via encrypted FTP to me.

Your feedback is very much appreciated!

_________________
Matt Sawyer
Owner, Dojo North Software, LLC

HP EX490, 4GB, E5300, 15TB - Server 2012 - Sharing and Streaming
HP EX487, 4GB, E5300, 13TB - Server 2012 Essentials - Backups

Thanks for the information, Matt. Well, with V3.3.4.8 I got temps and data for all drives!

However,

My USB disks are showing the same drive (Make, model, serial) and I assume S.M.A.R.T. data for each. But they show the correct drive letter and space available for each one at the bottom.



I checked the HD Sentinel Web site for my Mediasonic enclosure, but didn't see it listed. It only lists a newer USB 3.0 model, and indicates that is compatible with a minimum version. Still think we're making progress. But I worry, as what you're doing to get more directly to the drives, might cause my driver to hiccup and we know it doesn't like that! But I'm not the only one using your super add-in, so can't expect anything tailored to my situation. Probably going to have to buy another USB enclosure in the long run.

I did enable the debugging, just letting the server steep now. Will probably send it tomorrow to you.

Thanks again for all your help.

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HP EX495 | Q9550s| 4GB | Sans Digital TR5M-B |Mediasonic Probox HF2-SU2S2 eSATA/USB2.0| WHS 2011 | |Stablebit Drivepool |FlexRAID 2.0| [12x2TB]

In the Settings, please try deleting the Stale disk data. Every now and then I see a case where someone removes a bad disk and replaces it, but the old disk data is shown--at least when it comes to the name, model and serial. Deleting the Stale disk data resolves this. You can delete the Stale disk data from the Advanced tab under Settings.

I just checked on my EX490, which has a pair of almost identical Seagate USB disks and they are both reported correctly.

My question is...are they the same model of disks? I know you said when you click between them, the serial number appears to be the same. When you click on each one, the serial should change. But more importantly, we'd want to see if the SMART data changes. If you put the disks into service all around the same time, the power-on time may be the same. So you'd need to look at the raw data for attribute Raw Read Error Rate, as this usually varies from disk to disk. Some models of disks show all zeros unless there's a problem, whereas others fluctuate.

I would definitely try deleting the Stale disk data, then clicking Query Disks to perform a full refresh.

Before you send the logs, please close the Dashboard, then re-launch the Dashboard, delete the Stale disks then click Query Disks. I ask that you do this because the UI also generates a debug log, albeit a smaller one. But this way I would have some UI information to look at.

Please let me know when you send the log in. I'll be on the lookout for it. It may take some time to comb through it...you've got a LOT of disks!

_________________
Matt Sawyer
Owner, Dojo North Software, LLC

HP EX490, 4GB, E5300, 15TB - Server 2012 - Sharing and Streaming
HP EX487, 4GB, E5300, 13TB - Server 2012 Essentials - Backups

Thanks for the logs. I just checked the FTP Server and your log submission is there.

Is the MediaSonic a multi-bay enclosure? I can see the Windows PNP designations for the disks and can tell drives 10, 11 and 12 are all different, yet the Windows API reports back the WD EADS disk for all three. I've seen this problem on some multi-bay enclosures where various SMART utilities, including HSS and WindowSMART, will report the same data for all disks. Usually whichever disk is sitting in the first slot.

I do have a Vantec enclosure where no SMART utility will report data for the first disk except for HD Sentinel; bays 2, 3 and 4 all report normally. So there are obviously some fickle intricacies with various USB enclosures, particularly when it comes to USB port multipliers.

_________________
Matt Sawyer
Owner, Dojo North Software, LLC

HP EX490, 4GB, E5300, 15TB - Server 2012 - Sharing and Streaming
HP EX487, 4GB, E5300, 13TB - Server 2012 Essentials - Backups

I deleted the stale drive settings as you directed. (It said there were 7 stale drives. Not sure why, only new disk is the system drive, which, btw, is the only Seagate drive in the server. Sadly no changes in the USB drive listings in HSS.





No, they are not the models of disks. One is a Samsung, the other two are WD Greens. I also perused the debug data, and my 3 usb drives in the Mediasonic enclosure are correctly identified there, but not in the HSS drive listing. See below:






The logs you got were before I deleted the stale drive data. I will send another one after executing your directed procedure above.



Yes, it has 4 bays, with just 3 drives and one empty. I have tried different combinations in the bays, but nothing has worked. The model is in my signature.

Thanks again for all your help. I hope this will help others mainly. I don't want you spending all your time on just my crazy situation.

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HP EX495 | Q9550s| 4GB | Sans Digital TR5M-B |Mediasonic Probox HF2-SU2S2 eSATA/USB2.0| WHS 2011 | |Stablebit Drivepool |FlexRAID 2.0| [12x2TB]

I just installed version 3.3.4.9 on my WHS2011 which has 6 drives of various sizes, 2 in the main Dell Vostro 200 unit and 4 in a Rosewill RSV-S5 eSata enclosure. The card that connects the Dell to the Rosewill is a HighPoint RocketRAID 622 2 eSATA Port PCI-Express 2.0 x1 SATA 6Gb/s RAID Controller. I have data showing up for the 2 drives in the main Dell unit but not for the 4 drives in the enclosure.

After I installed the HHS add-in and noticed the drives were not showing up I did a Delete Stale Disk Data which deleted 1 drive of stale data but did not change the 4 drives in the enclosure so I Reset Everything, restarted my server and still have the same situation.

I've included a screen shot.

Thanks.

Unfortunately we've never had any luck with the RocketRAID controllers. HighPoint uses a proprietary, non-public API. I've emailed their support and asked if I could get the APIs to issue SMART commands to the drives and they declined to release the APIs to me.

_________________
Matt Sawyer
Owner, Dojo North Software, LLC

HP EX490, 4GB, E5300, 15TB - Server 2012 - Sharing and Streaming
HP EX487, 4GB, E5300, 13TB - Server 2012 Essentials - Backups

Thanks for responding.

I know less than nothing about API's so I will be of little help.

This came just at the right time for me. I'm going back to your page to show some modest financial appreciation. Thanks!

Hi msawyer9

Loaded your add-in for WHS - HS Smart Classic and my dashboard lit up like Christmas trees. Bad Sectors.

Thanks it was timely

Enjoy your coffee (although I have no idea how much coffee is in Michigan)

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Jamey Davis (learning)

HP MediaSmart EX495 - Intel Celeron CPU @2.2GHz - 2GB of RAM installed (4GB sitting outside the machine - ouch!) - 6.5TB storage (1.8TB Hitachi (x 3) additional to 1TB base) - my baby.

Thank you Jamey for the donation! It's very much appreciated. But more importantly, I'm glad Home Server SMART alerted you to trouble before you started losing data!

_________________
Matt Sawyer
Owner, Dojo North Software, LLC

HP EX490, 4GB, E5300, 15TB - Server 2012 - Sharing and Streaming
HP EX487, 4GB, E5300, 13TB - Server 2012 Essentials - Backups

Awesome, thanks for taking the time to resume development. I wonder what your plans are for Server Smart and Windows Smart going forward? Are you still working on them?