Basic Home Automation via xAP BSC enabled devices (updated 9-01-2008) (3 Viewers)

[2hype]

Alright, I have read and read and I am still a little confused on what I would need to purchase to get this plugin to work. I am interested for now in just some simple turning on and off lights.

Do you need to purchase the Homeseer software to use this plugin? Is any X10 device compatable with Homeseer?

I always look at smarthome.com . Are INSTEON Products a no go? How do you know if a X10 product is axp compatiable?

I was looking at Homeseer and it seems that it cost 200 for the software, 100 for a controller and 40 for a light switch. Do I need to spend 340.00 just to get light to turn on off through media portal?

Are any of the other starter kits from smarthome.com compatiable?

I finally got my media portal finished with the exception of X10 controller. I was going to start off with just a light or 2 and see where it goes from there. I just need a little guidance to get my head around what exactly needs to be purchased to get this setup.

Thanks,

 

[ronsonol]

Hi, you dont have to worry about X10 products being compatible or not with xap. What is important is the tranceiver/controller that hooks up to the computer. They make a xap bridge for the x10 device called cm11 - its an older product that uses a serial connection(comport) to the PC. Using the xap bridge, it can communicate with Patricks BHA plugin, or the x10 plugin included with MP.

The other x10 transceiver/controller, a newer model, called the cm15a makes a USB connection to the PC. So far, there is no xap bridge, so it won't work with Patricks BHA plugin, nor will it work with the default x10 plugin that is included with MediaPortal.

Just last week, I took the original source code for the x10 plugin, and hacked my way through it to make it work from within Mediaportal - so it is now possible to control your X10 devices with the USB model cm15a inside of MP. Find it in the automation/plugins in the download section.

The interface is not pretty, but it does work well. My hope is that someone will come along soon, and pick up on this.

As for starter kits - if your looking to spend a little and see if you like it - I would recommend you actually just go to x10's website, they have starter kits on sale all the time from $50 US + $10 to ship within Canada, so for $60 you will be able to control a couple devices at a minimum, or tack on some extra modules and control more.

So, other than the actual hardware purchases you don't need to spend money on anything else!

 

[2hype]

Thanks for the reply.

I went to X10.com and checked out there starter kits. They all seem to have the new cm15a controller (USB). The only one I could find with a serial connector is the Firecracker Kit.

Is there much of a diffrence between a usb and a serial controller? I am not much of a programmer. Took it 5 years ago and got a networking job so I pretty much forgot all the languages I learnt so I would perfer not to have to poke around the code to get this to work with Media Portal.

http://www.x10.com/automation/ck18a_s_ps32.html

Would this kit work fine with the plugin.

It sounds like this x10 plugin does not require another peice of software in the background like homseer to work correct?

Thanks in advance,

 

[ronsonol]

Yes, I beleive the firecracker is also called the cm17, which is a serial based connection - and should work with the original X10 plugin that is included with MP.

However, this plugin is very basic, as is the one edited to work with the cm15a I mentioned earlier, so I see no benefit to buying the old hardware. Unless you can find a cm11(for the xap bridge) to use with BHA plugin, I'd go for the usb cm15a device, and just use the updated plugin. As with any plugin, no coding necessary, just follow the readme's and go.

 

[2hype]

Didn't read the first post careful enough. Missed the part where you mentioned about the plugin for cma15 products. I was thinking I would need to get a serial connector since usb was not supported. So it looks like I dont have to go the firefly route.

Thanks for your help. Next step purchasing some X10 Gear. I am assuming to install the X10 Hardware all I really need to do is get a controller and plug it into a wall outlet. Plug the controller into the computer via USB. Change My electrical wall switch to an X10 Switch and it will send the commands over the electrical. Hopefully I am on the right track.

Thanks again,

 

[patrick]

Just last week, I took the original source code for the x10 plugin, and hacked my way through it to make it work from within Mediaportal - so it is now possible to control your X10 devices with the USB model cm15a inside of MP. Find it in the automation/plugins in the download section.

The interface is not pretty, but it does work well. My hope is that someone will come along soon, and pick up on this.

Hi ronsonol,

Would you mind if I looked at your code for the USB model and tried to add
support for the cm15a inside the BHA plugin?

Thanks,
patrick

 

[ronsonol]

Hi Patrick, the code is included with the release off the downloads page.

The code just calls the command line tool from x10 - was easy enough, and works seemless. I did try to work with the sdk from x10 and reference the dll, but that's a little to advanced for myself.

I also never figured out how to display real time status, but I know it can be done. This is definately one of the stengths of your BHA plugin. Since it wasnt included in the original plugin - it was easiest this way.

I did use your plugin and use the file runner, but when the devices are displayed - you don't see a on/off/dim option. Only a 'on' to run the file.

 

[patrick]

Hi!

Uploaded v0.2d to the first post in the thread.
some bug fixes plus added support for the ahcmd.exe command line
tool for X10, mainly this is for X10 CM15A USB Device Control.
Should be able to change the state/level and monitor status.

Thanks to ronsonol and his code for this!

NOTE: I do not have a CM15 so this may or may not work. If not
please post the BHA.log to to paste-bin and also tell me the the
exact command line that works so I can compare it to what is being sent.

Make sure you have the ahscript X10 commandline tool installed (ahcmd.exe).
http://x10dispatcher.com/Downloads/ahscript_setup.exe

If you do not want to use the CM15A USB Device Control plugin you can
just remove the plugin file from plugins\BHAPlugins\BHAAhCmdLine.dll

Changelog
v0.2d (05/19/2007)
- added hover_BHA.png for Home screen image
- Fixed Level Device level change bug
- Fixed List View bug when page up and down
- Added BHAAhCmdLine plugin to allow use of ActiveHome ahcmd.exe command line
tool for device control and status updates (specifically added for X10 CM15A USB Device Control)

Thanks,
patrick

 

[ronsonol]

Patrick, thank you so much for this.

I've quickly given it a run through, and found a couple of things.
I've created two devices to test, one dimmable, and the other just the on/off type.

On the BHA screen in MP, you'll see that the little icons to control the device are indeed different.

For the dimmable device, I see an (up arrow, down arrow, and a bullseye dot).
The Up arrow calls the Bright command, and it will turn the device on fine that way. The down arrow, instead of calling the Dim command, calls the Off command. And the bullseye dot does nothing. So, not able to Dim.

For the standard on/off device, I again see three icons (the on, a striked out dim option, and the bullseye) The first calls the On command, good, the second should do nothing, but calls the off command. And the third(bullseye) send nothing.

I also noticed that the very first time I tried to turn a device on, the ahcmd program crashed, with the windows report poping up. But have not seen it again.

I also cannot seem to save/make changes to the deivce once its created, such as assigning pictures, location, categories.

I'll play some more, and report in.

Many thanks,
Ronsonol

 

[patrick]

Wow, thanks for the fast update!

Are you seeing the status of the device, such as on/off/level, in the plugin inside MP?

I wonder if I am doing that wrong b/c the toggle(bullseye) will not send any
command if the current status/state is unknown b/c it does not know which
way to toggle.

Also the "unknown" level state is -1 and when the dim(down arrow) is selected
and the dim amount is less than zero it defaults to send the off command
instead of trying to dim to a negative value.

The on/off/dim/bright buttons always try to send some command in the hopes
that the device is really there but the state has not been reported yet.

(it could take up to 3 minutes to get the device state as the default to poll is 180 seconds.)

Can you run the ahcmd to query the device state and level with:
queryplc A1 on
queryplc A1 dim
and post the result to see if I am using and then parsing the result correctly
or if I am even using the correct command(s) ?

I also cannot seem to save/make changes to the deivce once its created, such as assigning pictures, location, categories.

I will see if I can find anything, but I can change and save the device settings with no problem.

Thanks again!
patrick