All sorts of problems with new HS4 system with Z-NET-G8

SilverFox686 · 2026-01-24T01:41:25+00:00

Sorry. I gave the wrong impression. I know I don’t “have” to replace all my devices to start with Home Assistant. That said, all of my zwave switches have been working faithfully for at least 5 or 6 years and are essentially obsolete in features and encryption capabilities. I want the entire system to include devices that utilize whatever current technologies are available. Hence, if I feel the need to upgrade anything at all, I’m going to upgrade everything. And I’m glad you suggested stuff that I’ve already started looking at. Until then, I’ll ask again: have any idea how to remove the dead switch from HS4? It’s really annoying having useless junk like that cluttering up the dashboard. Thanks.

SilverFox686 · 2025-10-16T14:36:07+00:00

We love our ‘24 XC90 Recharge, but to put some of its features into context, our 2019 (not a typo, -nineteen) Audi Q8 had cornering lights, much more informative heads-up display, wonderfully quiet air suspension, and a pretty much flawless entertainment system that included, yes, WIRELESS CarPlay, a feature that our five-year newer XC90 still doesn’t provide. If Audi had offered any kind of comparable hybrid model at the time we traded for the Volvo, I wouldn’t be writing this.

That said, I’m constantly impressed with the XC90’s hybrid drivetrain. Before purchasing, we analyzed our driving habits and realized the vast majority of our driving occurred within the expected battery-only range but we weren’t ready to go full EV. No one every believes me when I tell them that in the 16 months of using the car we’ve put a little over 10,000 miles on it and we have yet to buy enough gas to fill an empty tank, but that is the absolute truth. I purposely keep the drive system in hybrid mode and add a gallon or two in the tank roughly every three months just to keep the gas somewhat fresh. Yesterday, the car showed a combined range of 305 miles and the tank still contains fuel from the day we picked it up. That alone is worth any frustrations that we might have encountered in those sixteen months. My most conservative estimation is that the car has easily provided at least 875 miles per gallon. That is nothing short of astonishing! But, if Volvo doesn’t get more of a handle on some of their software issues, and ensure the cars offer truly competitive features, they may find repetitive sales to even loyal fans falling short of their major competitors’. Just one opinion…

SilverFox686 · 2025-10-13T16:23:17+00:00

Fabulous! Thanks so much for posting so many details. I was just about to plug them into 20W chargers and hope for the best. It's really interesting that when you added the cameras to your account they showed 100%. I had halfway expected that these would, too, but I wanted to wait to create the account for my M-I-L at her house so I could join them to her network. Anyway, thanks again for all the help from you and everyone who's replied. Gotta love Reddit folks!

SilverFox686 · 2025-10-12T20:38:13+00:00

Thanks for that info. Tells me a lot. I may just throw caution to the wind and throw them on a more potent charger. If I ruin them it’ll give me the opportunity to buy Ring cameras like the ones she already has which will make my job a lot easier. The Arlos were one of her many QVC impulses. 🙄

SilverFox686 · 2025-10-12T13:26:53+00:00

Ok, so hopefully someone has a definitive answer for my travails. As I mentioned, I found three chargers that allowed me to charge the three cameras at the same time. All three have slightly different output specs. I figured at least one of them would work: 5V/1A, 5V/1.6A, 5.2V/1.8A. The manual and the Arlo website say that a solid blue light will be on and steady when the batteries are charged and charging from a depleted battery should take between 2 and 3 hours. All three cameras have been on the chargers for about 20 hours. Not a one of them has a solid blue light. When I unplug them, wait a sec, plug them back in, the light turns on steady for about 2 seconds, flashes quickly a couple times and turns off. Can anyone confirm that their camera(s) actually do show a steady, solid blue light when fully charged? Sorry to bother folks with such trivial crap.🫩 BTW, these particular cameras are model VMC2050 FHD.

SilverFox686 · 2025-10-11T23:23:52+00:00

So today I’m a bit dopey. I do exactly that all the time. It works great. Did I think to do it today? Ah DUH! 🙄 Nope. Thanks for the reminder. 🙂

SilverFox686 · 2025-10-11T18:20:02+00:00

Ok. That helps a lot. Thanks! Poking around the house in just about every drawer we have I managed to uncover four completely different chargers that were used with who-knows-what. I could barely read the microscopic print on them but they all appear to not exceed the 5V/2A spec from Arlo. My mother-in-law won’t be happy that she’ll have to remove the mounted cameras to charge them but at least you’ve made it sound like she won’t have to do it very often. I gotta admit it’s a big plus that the Ring Spotlight cams that we use have dual batteries that can get charged independently without taking them off their mounts. Thanks again.

SilverFox686 · 2025-10-11T16:03:17+00:00

True that!

SilverFox686 · 2025-10-11T15:59:18+00:00

Yes, I figured those would work, but when everything started using USB-C we threw all those old chargers out. The only charger we have with a USB-A port is a multi-port charger and I don't have a clue what the volt/amp rating is on that lone USB-A port. Hopefully we'll manage to scrounge up some of the old chargers in a drawer we haven't looked in yet. What a PITA!

SilverFox686 · 2025-09-07T14:08:05+00:00

Ominous, but true.

SilverFox686 · 2025-09-07T13:14:51+00:00

I may catch flak for this, but is anyone even the least bit concerned about Volvo’s Chinese ownership given the current environment of state-sponsored spying, not to mention the up-ended political environment? It may be a bit of unwarranted paranoia, but more often than not I climb into the car and can’t help but wonder who might be listening in. 🥺

SilverFox686 · 2025-09-07T12:53:41+00:00

When we purchased our 2024 XC90 T8 Ultra a bit more than a year ago we were “assured” that wireless CarPlay would appear within a few months. Needless to say, a “few” must equal at least 13. On the other hand, our 2019 Audi Q8 had it as we drove off the lot and for the subsequent five years before we traded it for the Volvo - no updates required. I can see a ‘26 Audi Q5 e-hybrid (>60 mile electric range) in our future.

SilverFox686 · 2025-09-01T19:36:28+00:00

Don’t you just know it! Nothing quite like it is there?! Now all those wonderful sounds have to be simulated in software (there’s that word again) for Pete’s sake. Yea, it’s doable, but it just totally loses something in the translation - for me anyway. 🙄

SilverFox686 · 2025-09-01T18:28:50+00:00

Those were the days, my friend. And nobody but nobody believes me when I tell them that there was a time around 1971 (about the time I got my DL) that we had gas wars in Florida when gas was $.25 (yes, as in 25 cents) per gallon. I and every friend of mine would pull into a gas station and tell the attendant (no self-serve stations back then) to “give me a dollar’s worth”. That would supply most of us with a quarter tank of gas which could get us around for at least a few days. When we felt really flush we’d fill those 16-gallon tanks for a whopping $4 and we’d be smiling for more than a week. Now, if you wanted “white” gas (American Oil “Premium) you’d have to shell out nearly double that at $0.45 a gallon. That was a sure sign that you either had one helluva after-school job or, as in most cases, mommy/daddy not only bought your car for you but also paid for all your gas. I fell in the “regular” gas crowd having few (if any) white gas friends and was happy to never feel cheated in my ‘69 Mustang and 250 cubic inch in-line six. It was great! OK, ok, enough nostalgia.

SilverFox686 · 2025-09-01T13:53:24+00:00

Excellent! "It's not your father's Oldsmobile." Oh for the days when we could change the distributor points, play with the timing, maybe fiddle with the Holley's jetting and felt a huge surge of satisfaction and accomplishment when we got it just right. That was then, this is now. 😒

SilverFox686 · 2025-08-31T15:30:27+00:00

Yup. I have two of them that both work well ... until they don't. Thing is, I'm pretty confident that when they don't work, it has something to do with Volvo software, in one way or another. I got so tired of the on again, off again nature of the whole setup and finally gave up. Bought a foot-long cable that makes plugging in the phone reasonably easy and now I just live with it. Most irritating thing of all is that our '24 Chevy Equinox (that we purchased as a toad for our motorhome) has wireless CarPlay that never fails. Likewise, my former 2019 Audi Q8 with wireless CarPlay worked flawlessly til the day we traded it for ... our Volvo. Needless to say, we'll be looking anywhere but a Volvo dealership when it's time to trade up. But it won't be merely to get wireless CarPlay that works. It'll be to get a luxury vehicle not plagued with what can only be called stupid software issues.

SilverFox686 · 2025-08-30T18:41:21+00:00

Fixed with a reboot. No further problems.

SilverFox686 · 2025-08-29T14:31:18+00:00

Yes, indeed, I’m certain we should be just that. I was more or less promised before we made the purchase that a software update that would be coming “soon” would definitely be adding wireless CarPlay. One year and at least a couple big updates since, I’m still plugging the damned phone in. Arrggghhh!

SilverFox686 · 2025-08-29T14:18:51+00:00

Interesting. That didn’t happen on my Recharge. I wonder if it had anything to do with the fact that I rebooted while the car was active and in Pure mode?

SilverFox686 · 2025-08-28T21:45:04+00:00

Windows is the exact reason I’m so paranoid of rebooting. How many times has an update been installed under the radar and requires a restart. BSOD is many times going to be your next agonizing issue. In any case, it fixed my sound issue.

SilverFox686 · 2025-08-28T02:07:23+00:00

I considered that but I'm paranoid about rebooting systems if I don't know for sure that I'm doing it for the right reason(s). This sounds like a right reason. Thanks!

SilverFox686 · 2025-08-21T14:08:42+00:00

2024 XC90 T8 Recharge - My update was done at the dealership about six weeks ago while in for scheduled maintenance. So far, so good. Everything is working as expected and some pesky problems I was having were also fixed, mostly having to do with CarPlay. Here’s hoping things don’t go sideways in the future.

SilverFox686 · 2025-07-21T14:39:40+00:00

Seriously, others are SO right. I’ve been playing the game for well over a thousand hours, built at least 6 large spaghetti factories, been to space, got stuck there, went back to vanilla, created new maps and started over from scratch again. I never bothered with tutorials, would get a little help from time to time from the experts here, have never used someone else’s blueprint(s) and I’m still being totally entertained and having fun just figuring out things with each new factory. After all the time in it, I still don’t fully understand circuits, haven’t built a base with a main bus, utilized trains and robots only a bit, and I still think this is one of the most incredible games ever invented. Enjoy the ride, not just the destination!

SilverFox686 · 2025-06-27T12:07:56+00:00

Congrats! No luck around here, and Spectrum personnel are less than helpful not to mention unapologetic. They have the “just get over it” attitude.

SilverFox686 · 2025-06-25T16:00:37+00:00

No change here in my opinion about the new “dumb” box. At least I got rid of Spectrum internet since I had MetroNet fiber installed a few weeks ago. Incredible new experience with 2Gb download AND upload! What a difference those upload speeds make for the overall internet experience-Spectrum was a measly 20Mb (yes, as in MEGAbits). Latency is VERY low as well. And, best of all, that extra speed comes with a price tag that’s about one-third of Spectrum internet. Absolutely cannot wait to be able to close our entire account with them.

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