I need a way to restart my 4 Tuner Tablo, but safely. Read the Remote Restart thread, last post was in 2016, and found my solution. Just need a couple more details.
Other thread mentioned using a smart outlet or similar, but to me that seems pretty brutal. Another thread about swapping hard drive, mentioned use of the blue button and waiting until light becomes solid before removing hard drive.
My plan is to use an X10 appliance switch to control a relay with a 110vac coil. Relay contacts would be connected in parallel with blue / reset switch on the Tablo. Use X10 fob to turn relay on, which closes contacts thereby “pressing” the switch.
Here is my problem. When I press the switch, sometimes light turns solid right away, other times it takes a lot longer. The fastest I can cycle the x10 appliance switch / relay is about 4 seconds (using a triggered macro off computer). Average is around 7 seconds using X10 fob by itself…
My drive is connected externally, through a powered hub with its own power supply feed. Not particularly worried about drive corruption, but if is an issue I can add additional relay that is able to disconnect USB data + and - lines inside the hub. PITA yes, but doable.
So, what will happen if blue switch is pressed and held for 4 and 7 seconds? Past experience has reset occurring at some point, but I cannot find the reference now.
FWIW, a smart outlet is able to control the relay as well. Relay is a Settler brand, p/n AZ2280-1C-120A. I was going to use the NO contact pair so applying power to coil closes lines going to blue switch on back of Tablo.
Yup, X10 has been around for a few decades, mid-late 70s I think. You wouldn’t believe the pile of x10 hardware that had accumulated when moved to the new house. What a pain that could have been to set back up. Glad I remembered to label placement of each device. Soon I see Insteon bridge being put in place. Modernise the works and all.
OCD? Nah, more along lines of detail oriented cheapness. I already have the hardware, might as well use it. I would never use a remote reboot capability for nefarious purposes.
Back on task now. I looked closer at my switch modules, and figured out how to get a true momentary connection. Not worrying any longer about factory reset danger to my Tablo.
Thanks for the link. All I found pointed toward the lite and previous methods.
I’ve used the remote smart power switch (TP-Link) reboot approach dozens of times over several years. Flawless, never a problem. (Did it once during a recording, and of course interrupted that.) It’s essentially like a temporary power failure, and the Tablo seems well enough designed to handle that. Of course if any form of reboot were done during the nightly database download/cleanup that could cause a big problem.
Glad if you are having fun, but this seems an over-engineered solution to me, and I would caution that too-long a “press” on the blue button can factory reset your Tablo and wipe out your database of recordings, station preferences, etc.
“Too Long” was my biggest worry - certainly didn’t want to cause harm to Tablo. A relatively simple mod of the X10 module negates the possibility. And I won’t have to use the 2nd relay.
I really didn’t want to interrupt power. Bad experiences already. The current power method precludes this method as I have started using a centralized 12vdc power supply and distribution. I didn’t think to incorporate switches into it. Using blue button is easiest way for me, at least for the present. Button in App / Web Page would be great but not available yet.
I thought something along those lines as well. There is / was a sequence. Factory reset had to press until flashed faster? Alternate db I thought was to hold until some other event with the light.
Then the doc linked earlier contradicted that. I am not sure what I have read / remember accurately anymore.
Maybe that is why I need PVR / DVR / NVR / Tapeless Voice Recorder devices in my daily life.
From using the backup.sh script, you can see it is created… and as it is basically a dedicated computer withe a filesystem drive. ideally a reboot might nice, but not necessarily.
