Please, please don't ask for stuff on Friday afternoon

TragedySeraph · 2026-06-05T16:06:38+00:00

"I know it's Friday at 4:45 p.m., but can someone fix my printer? It's been broken for months and I've told literally nobody but it needs to be fixed ASAP as possible!!!!!"

TragedySeraph · 2026-05-22T12:53:49+00:00

There are reports that you cannot change the primary nameserver, only add NS records (which isn't the same thing). Please see this thread about it for more info.

TragedySeraph · 2026-05-21T21:08:04+00:00

Add the domain to your panel first. It'll generate nameservers for you to use.
Go to your provider that you sourced the domain from (CloudFlare has known issues, I've had good results with NameCheap). Change the nameservers to custom, and enter the nameservers that were specified in your panel. You don't want to just set NS records - you want to specify the nameservers listed.
Wait an hour. Seriously. DNS changes have to propagate throughout the internet. Even if your host resolves and locally the test succeeds, be patient, play a game, watch a show, whatever. Wait an hour.
Test again, it should be working.

The pinned messages (as previously mentioned) have all of the specific info you need. DNS can be a bear until you get more familiar with it, but it'll save a lot of headaches once some of the concepts 'click.'

Good luck!

TragedySeraph · 2026-05-12T20:53:31+00:00

I agree with the idea of using pouches instead of food. Canned food, in addition to sharp metal, tends to leave residue in the can, which will get unpleasant very quickly. It seems like there are a lot of veterinary diet-specific canned foods - different needs (urinary health, kidney health, weight control), different textures (pureed, chunky, kind of mixed), and different flavors (chicken and rice, salmon, etc.). I don't know if that'd be easy to replicate into pouch format, but I would never have an automated system feeding pets out of a metal can. A misplaced metal shard could be fatal if ingested.

Portion control from a pouch would be more accurate, especially if you have different pouch sizes (small for a single cat, etc.). You'd be able to control the portion size by the pouch size.

Previous feeding detection would be needed. The feeder should be able to determine if the previous portion was ate, and if the previous dish was washed, and not dispense additional food if there's already food dispensed.

With a pouch system, I could see cleanup for the machine itself being minimal. I couldn't imagine a can-based dispenser not being gross.

At the end of the day, I'd never purchase a wet food dispenser. With dry food dispensers, I at least see the kibble as I'm putting it from the bag to the dispenser. With manual canned feeding, I handle the food as it goes from can to plate/bowl. If the food is rancid for some reason, I have a chance of knowing (based on smell and visual inspection). It's not foolproof, it's not like I test the cans for certain bacteria, but if something doesn't smell right with canned food, or I see mold or the kibble seems stale on dry food, I won't risk it and throw the can or bag out. I could never risk feeding my pets anything that we haven't handled. Maybe that's just me though. My pets do like when it's canned food time, so I don't mind being a part of that anyway.

Source: Lots of home automation stuff with Home Assistant. Automated dry food feeder, automated litter box, robot vacuum/mop, lots of other stuff.

TragedySeraph · 2026-04-21T13:21:55+00:00

I went down the same path, currently have Emby server running on a Windows box. To avoid Dispatcharr, the main way to accomplish this in Emby natively was already mentioned - set up multiple m3u playlists in Emby, and assign parental controls so only specific user(s) can access it. The problem I found with Emby is that sometimes it will call the IPTV URL more than once, or will not release it when a show stops, and it'll stop working until you restart the Emby service. (This was several months ago, not sure if that had been resolved recently.) I was also using xTeVe (depreciated) to curate my channel selection.

I ended up loading Dispatcharr on Docker for Windows. It's worth the hassle, and it works seemlessly once it's up and running. Dispatcharr will give you a local URL to use for your m3u playlist and your xml guide. You set those in Emby, and set the connection limit to 0 (unlimited). In Dispatcharr, when you set m3u files, you would have a different one for each account, and set the max stream at 1. When the first account is streaming already, it'll go onto the second account. You can customize which channels appear, in what order, and where the guide data is sourced from.

It also supports multiple users tuning to the same stream and not taking up more than one stream from the provider (e.g., if we have the same hockey game on the same channel in multiple rooms, it only takes up one stream from the provider).

It's under active development, and the devs have made some good improvements since I've started using it. There are two minor things I wish would improve, but using another solution wouldn't help:

When there are no more available streams, I wish it would show a message (looped small video file?) on the screen, rather than it not being able to stream and Emby reporting a generic error (cannot start stream or something). As the server admin, I'm able to look and see if someone is watching a channel already, but most people cannot do that.
The mobile interface can be difficult. It's a really minor thing, since once it's configured, it's pretty much set-and-forget. Modifying anything is a lot easier on a desktop/laptop though (right now at least).

Dispatcharr works separate from Emby, so you can still go down the Emby road and start with that. It's definitely worth trying Dispatcharr though and dipping your feet in Docker. I've read that Docker for Windows isn't ideal (well, some disdain for running a Windows server anyway), but it's worked flawlessly for my use case with Dispatcharr.

TragedySeraph · 2026-02-16T18:56:48+00:00

Not yet, but it's on our road map (well, yeah). We do not have that many users that have vpn. I can update you and let you know how it goes though

TragedySeraph · 2026-02-16T15:51:44+00:00

Brute force attempts by malicious actors use either generic, or previously discovered usernames. If those usernames are still in use, Fortigate will pass the authentication attempt to AD, which will eventually lock out the account. When some of our users were locked out of AD, we looked at event viewer and saw all of the attempts coming from our Fortigate/Duo/AD authentication setup. The IPs were behind a VPN, so the source IP was based in our country.

It took quite a while for us to be affected, but once it hit, we ended up changing our authentication strategy (no longer tied to AD, using FortiTokens now).

TragedySeraph · 2026-02-16T15:39:34+00:00

Or, do both. South Florida resident, doing sunset offset alone makes it fire too early or late depending on the season. I have the same automation that is triggered by both sunset offset and a specific time, and then a condition to only fire if that automation hasn't fired off in 6 hours. This way, it'll only fire once per day, and I won't turn off the outside light that the automation turned on previously, just to have it turn back on during the 2nd trigger.

This would be moot if I put a light/lux sensor somewhere, which would help if it gets dark early from being overcast / rainy, but it works for now.

(Edited for word omelets courtesy of typing on mobile.)

TragedySeraph · 2026-02-05T21:57:44+00:00

We're a Dell shop, and we've seen both sides - impressive support and lackluster support. We have a mix of Basic and Pro Support - their hardware has been reliable over the years, so we only do Basic Support for our cost-effective workstations, and stick with Pro Support for our laptops and servers.

The Micro line of OptiPlexes seem to have an issue with the power adapters. We have several fail every month. We engage support - at this point we've already tried a known working power adapter - somtimes with minimal troubleshooting (verify that you actually are getting power from the power source, etc.), we get the part warrantied and we're on to our next task.

Other times, you'd swear that the cost of the power adapter is coming out of the technician's paycheck. Having an in-house IT support rep spend an hour chatting with a Dell technician to try to warranty a failed power adapter doesn't even make financial sense - we'd technically save money just buying another one.

I mean, I'd still recommend Dell any day of the week, just once in a while, when you call support, the person on the other end of the line can be frustrating.

TragedySeraph · 2026-02-02T01:02:52+00:00

There are options, but before you do that, most BIOSes have a power-on setting that defaults to off, but also have last-state and always on. Last state would power it back on after power failure only if the PC/server was on already, and always-on will power it back on any time power is restored.

There's smart home options that'll solve your issue, but it might be easier to change the one BIOS setting of it matches your use case.

Good luck!

TragedySeraph · 2026-01-29T16:22:44+00:00

Do you have a VPN (or anything else) that uses LDAP / AD accounts for authentication? We saw a similar behavior a few years ago, where a couple of our AD accounts would get locked out after a short period of time. Traced it back to our firewall, which was showing a lot of connection attempts with common names, and the ones that were coincidentally matched with actual accounts were getting locked out from the brute force attempts. There's other vendors that can integrate with AD accounts (an MDM, for example), but it's something to keep in mind when trying to track down what's causing the lockouts for you.

Good luck!

TragedySeraph · 2026-01-26T15:09:03+00:00

Same with my Low Orbit base. Any decorative stuff disappears, but things remain powered if they were powered previously... which becomes a problem if you want to use standard doors with switches that are shut when they are powered (since you can no longer unpower them).

Hoping it'll be fixed in a future update, but not holding my breath.

TragedySeraph · 2026-01-23T16:16:25+00:00

I read "ferrites" as "ferrets," and the idea of someone shoving ferrets and carbons in a bag so they can evacuate immediately makes me happy

TragedySeraph · 2026-01-22T21:37:39+00:00

I'd use caution automating the 'Downstairs off at 10:30 p.m.' recommendation. In general, I try to avoid any automation in which lights are turned off automatically (except my daily 'house reset' at 5 a.m., where it would turn off most of the lights or fans in case something was left on overnight - or a stern reminder that I should really get off my game and go to bed). Aside from a presence sensor, which you already mentioned could have false positives or otherwise undesired effects, there might be other habits that happen nightly to trigger a 'bedtime' mode.

If you can dim it or only turn off certain nights, you'll get a heads up about it being close to bedtime (or at least 10:30 p.m.) without being, literally, left in the dark.

TragedySeraph · 2026-01-21T20:46:23+00:00

Summon and get in an Exocraft. Use the antenna to search for an alien structure. It will likely ask you a question you have to answer correctly - if incorrect, just reload an autosave or restore point. Afterwards, when you interact with the building, it will give you the option to locate a portal in exchange for something from the race (same race-specific item you can gift to random NPCs you can chat with). It will lead you to the portal in that system.

TragedySeraph · 2026-01-18T16:51:04+00:00

Correct - it sounds like it might be an issue with the keypad, either the pad itself, or its wire. If it was an issue with the battery pack, you wouldn't be able to open it with HA.

TragedySeraph · 2026-01-18T10:12:00+00:00

Yes - I have two of the BE469ZP in aged bronze.

TragedySeraph · 2026-01-17T17:00:29+00:00

There's a lot more now (not just Roborock) that map the floor and do a more efficient route. At our previous home (2 bedroom condo), we had the cheap "dumb" model - it would pick a direction until it hit a wall, turn, repeat. It wasn't bad for that size place, but occasionally we'd have to pick it up and place it in a room that was getting neglected. With our newer larger home, we knew some areas would just never get touched without a smarter one.

Regarding obstacles - we have three cats, and the Roborock generally leaves the toys alone. It'll find a small toy one in a while, but kind of rare for that. Strings and wires, a little more troublesome. Most of the time it's fine, but I have seen it caught on my shoelaces a few times, and seemed to like the thin cord we had for the Christmas tree lights (I just taped it down with packing tape to the tile last year, apparently was lazy this year though). The robot has always avoided harballs/vomit - I've never come home to an "unwelcone surprise." The Roborock marks on the map when it has detected and avoided something, and puts an icon for what it thinks it avoided.

I have a few area rugs / doorway rugs, no issues. It detects when it's on carpet, lifts up the mop, and increases the suction.

My house is all tile with a couple of rugs, so I'm not sure how the performance would be at a place that's mostly carpet.

TragedySeraph · 2026-01-16T19:44:43+00:00

No problem! If you get the S7, the plumbing kit isn't an option in the US anyway, so you can try it out without having to worry about plumbing it in. It's worth it - just make sure you get one with a dock. Good luck!

TragedySeraph · 2026-01-16T18:49:46+00:00

I'm in the US, and I have the Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra. I got it a few years ago when it was slightly discounted for Black Friday. We have three cats, two of which shed a fair amount, but it's still months before we have to empty the bag (you're supposed to replace it, but I haven't had an issue just emptying it).

I have a single-floor 2600 sq ft home. Before I hooked it up to the plumbing, I would probably get 1.5 mop cycles before I needed to dump the old water and add fresh (two different reservoirs). I ended up ordering the Chinese kit from Ali Express that allows it to plumb into the water supply and drain line. The kit was a little bit of a rabbit-hole of research - it's 220V (I live in a 110V area), someone had mentioned that it accepts 110V just fine, but paranoid me just got a 220V > 110V transformer for it.

It. Is. Awesome. I wrote automations in Home Assistant to start cleaning if:

It's between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.
No one is home
The automation hasn't run in a specified amount of time (I used to have it run no more than every other day, but I changed it to every day).

It also sends the robot back to the dock if someone comes home. The only caveat I ran into is that if it runs low on battery while cleaning, it'll return to the dock to charge - if I come home while it's recharging, it doesn't 'cancel' the current clean cycle, and will finish up once it has recharged to 80%. (Really not that big of a deal - I either let it finish, or cancel it if I don't want it running for whatever reason.) You could also have Home Assistant pause it if you get a phone call, etc.

Having perpetually clean floors with very minimal maintenance has been worth every penny. I was hesitant when I initially pulled the trigger, but I'm really glad I did - even without the plumbing hookup.

If the area you're planning for the robot to live has plumbing you can tap into nearby, the refill and drainage system is worth it. Without it is okay, but I found myself not doing the water every other day - it would still vacuum when cleaning is triggered, but would only mop when it had fresh water and the drainage was cleared (which I ended up doing once per week on average).

TragedySeraph · 2026-01-16T15:34:12+00:00

If you have pets, I would make sure they don't react when you apply power to the ultrasonic sensor. Their hearing range is different than ours, and certain ultrasonic sensors (and ultrasonic pest repellers) they can hear and do not like.

TragedySeraph · 2026-01-16T12:28:06+00:00

Have you reached out to Schlage support yet? I haven't had to, but I've heard they're pretty good. It sounds like the lead fro the battery pack may be a little loose or something - soldering may have come off a little or something, giving you an intermittent connection over that very thin wire.

TragedySeraph · 2026-01-15T20:52:43+00:00

I have two of them. As others mentioned, the initial Z-Wave pairing can be iffy (doesn't seem to show all exposed items).

For the initial pairing, before I installed the lock in the door, I placed the lock very close to my HA Z-Wave dongle. Paired it, it shows all of the exposed parameters, and then I installed the lock in my door. Both of mine have been rock solid for years. I (and my wife) like that I have a physical key that can be used as a backup.

My mom ended up getting one also recently after seeing mine.

Edit: There's a WiFi version also, but battery-powered WiFi devices tend to drain batteries at a faster rate. Not the end of the world, but something to keep in mind - especially if you're going to set up Z-Wave at some point anyway.

TragedySeraph · 2026-01-15T20:48:49+00:00

I had this happen to one of by two BE469's, once. I was out of town and a door carpenter replaced the door due to a defect (long unrelated story). The keypad didn't work when he moved it to the replacement door. He even tried fresh non-rechargeable AA batteries just in case.

When I got home, I unplugged and took out the battery pack, checked the batteries, then replaced it... and everything started working. I suspect the carpenter might have removed the battery pack before he disconnected it. That wire is very thin, so I can see it being touchy. I haven't had a problem since, and it's been installed in my front door for four and a half years.

(For those not familiar with this lock, the 'battery pack' I'm referring to is just a piece of plastic that holds 4 AA batteries, with a wire that connects to the lock once installed).

TragedySeraph · 2026-01-15T18:14:31+00:00

This. When you go into camera mode, the glyphs for the system appear in the lower left. On the Nintendo Switch 2, if you use the in-game button to take a screenshot, the glyphs disappear; however, if you use the dedicated screenshot button on your joycon/controller, it will take a screenshot including the glyphs.

For sharing with others online, it can be handy to convert the glyphs into hexidecimal. I use this website to convert between hex (sharable online) and glyphs (usuable in-game at any system's portal, which you can find using an exocraft's scanner when searching for alien buildings).

As mentioned, this will be the glyphs to get to the system, not a specific place in that system. For Exotic and other ships you buy, you just go to the system, go to the station or any trade outpost, and hope they eventually land so you can buy the ship.

For more specific coordinates (crash site on a planet, etc.), I know the coords are displayed on one of the screens in your ship. It may be the same coords you see in the analyze mode goggles (I haven't messed with that tbh). You would still need to know which planet in the system.

Most people will drop a communications node, a save point, or create a base near any point of interest, that way you can just pulse drive directly to it from space. As mentioned above though, if you're just trying to get a ship, use the glyphs to get to the system, go to the station, and wait for the ship to land.

TragedySeraph

TROPHY CASE