Basic Home Automation via xAP BSC enabled devices (updated 9-01-2008) (1 Viewer)

[Arn01805]

I'm trying to figure out if the follow is going to work and what should be the approach to establish this.

my Setup:
1. Server computer (Windows XP) with tv-server engine and homeseer 2. Attached to homeseer is a cm11 interface for my X10 devices. I installed the xAP plugin in homeseer for communication over the ethernet network to my client computer. Homeseer will be the master controller for my X10 devices, I want to use patricks plugin on the client computer to raise events within homeseer and control the X10 devices from there.

2. Client computer (Windows Vista) with mediaportal en TV-Client. I want to use the Plugin from patrick to remote control homeseer on the server computer.

So my questions:

1. Is my plan going to work?
2. I played around already with the plugin and homeseer, but don't know how to start and setup communication between them. Is there a short howto?

 

[patrick]

I'm trying to figure out if the follow is going to work and what should be the approach to establish this.

my Setup:
1. Server computer (Windows XP) with tv-server engine and homeseer 2. Attached to homeseer is a cm11 interface for my X10 devices. I installed the xAP plugin in homeseer for communication over the ethernet network to my client computer. Homeseer will be the master controller for my X10 devices, I want to use patricks plugin on the client computer to raise events within homeseer and control the X10 devices from there.

2. Client computer (Windows Vista) with mediaportal en TV-Client. I want to use the Plugin from patrick to remote control homeseer on the server computer.

So my questions:

1. Is my plan going to work?
2. I played around already with the plugin and homeseer, but don't know how to start and setup communication between them. Is there a short howto?

Hi,

1) Your plan sounds very good and like it should work

2) Well in theory if everything is setup and working, communication/discovery should be automatic.
-Make sure there are no firewall issues between the two computers (even windows firewall).
-I do not think this should be an issue for your setup but make sure that if there are more than
one xAP app running on a single computer that there is a xAP Hub running before the xAP app.


HTH,
patrick

 

[Jean-Marc]

Very basic questions...

Hi Patrick and everybody...

I have some very basic questions about this plug in and I thank you to help me to understand better to be able to use it!

- I have (not yet in fact) X10 devices with a CM11 connected to the computer
- I install the plug in
- I install a Xap plug in

1° Do I need anything else?
2° Is a software (ei: homeseer or other ) mandatory?
3° What Xap exactly does? Is it a kind of bridge between the software I mentioned into my point 2° and the MP GUI?
4° Practicaly, how can I write macros thru MP? Is there a wiki? Or the macros must be written into a software and then the plug in only permits to launch them?
5° Is it possible to write scenarios for example that would dim or put on/off some lamps in conjunction with a music playlist to create different "ambiances" (ie: romantic, or hard rock, etc..)?

Thanks a lot for your help!!

 

[patrick]

Hi Patrick and everybody...

I have some very basic questions about this plug in and I thank you to help me to understand better to be able to use it!

- I have (not yet in fact) X10 devices with a CM11 connected to the computer
- I install the plug in
- I install a Xap plug in

1° Do I need anything else?
2° Is a software (ei: homeseer or other ) mandatory?
3° What Xap exactly does? Is it a kind of bridge between the software I mentioned into my point 2° and the MP GUI?
4° Practicaly, how can I write macros thru MP? Is there a wiki? Or the macros must be written into a software and then the plug in only permits to launch them?
5° Is it possible to write scenarios for example that would dim or put on/off some lamps in conjunction with a music playlist to create different "ambiances" (ie: romantic, or hard rock, etc..)?

Thanks a lot for your help!!

Hi!

1. You will need a xAP connector for X10 like the one here:
http://www.edjo.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk...0/x10_main.htm

2. homeseer is not mandatory.
Only the xAP X10 connector from 1 above is required

3. The xAP protocol is similar to UPnP.
This way my plugin does not care, or know, that you have an X10 device,
it only knows you have an xAP Basic Status and Control Device.
The Connector from 1 above translates the xAP and communicates
with the X10 device(s).

4. With my plugin you can basically only control the other xAP devices.
There is a file runner "device" that you can add to execute any
file you want, so you could have a batch file or whatever.

5. Not with my plugin, unless you can do something with the file runner.
MP is not setup for that and though I could do things like that through code,
MP changes so much that I do not have the time to try and chase that horse.
Maybe some day I will check out code for the amazing work and-81 has done
on the MCE replacement plugin that does this...


HTH,
patrick

 

[PTCoder]

Hi patrick, just one simple question...
Are you planing on making a "floorplan" type control?
I know i can use floorplan on the MP integrated browser, but being HTML based it becames kind of slow!
Thanks

 

[Jean-Marc]

Thanks Patrick for your explanations!

Point 4 is not clear for me, and point 5: what a pity, but may be it is possible to do that thru a software (homeseer) and then just control with MP?

 

[patrick]

Hi patrick, just one simple question...
Are you planing on making a "floorplan" type control?
I know i can use floorplan on the MP integrated browser, but being HTML based it becames kind of slow!
Thanks

Hi,

I had not planned on it. I thought about something like it once but
the thought of making a configuration for it kind of scared me off.
I have never used xAP Floorplan from Mi4.biz, so I am not really familiar with how it is done there.

patrick

Point 4 is not clear for me

I thought you were talking about macros for the home automation plugin.
There is a macro type "device" that allows you to set several devices
to a predefined state/level with one "click". So you could have a BedTime "device"
that could turn the lights off in several rooms.

and point 5: what a pity, but may be it is possible to do that thru a software (homeseer) and then just control with MP?

I am not sure. I have never used homeseer

HTH,
patrick

 

[Jean-Marc]

Thanks Patrick for your explanations and for the time you spent to answer...and of course for the nice job you did with this plugin.

 

[Kaoh]

Hey Patrick,

With the X10 setup fully working thanks to your plugin and just using a new universal remote control that also drives my MP I came up with the following request:
Can you listen to actions from MP in your process plugin?
So that we can setup something like
If ACTION_REMOTE_SUBPAGE_UP followed by REMOTE_4 followed by REMOTE_1 the device set with nr 4 turn on
Or some other way offcourse.

Using the OnNewAction event from the MediaPortal.GUI.Library.GUIGraphicsContext class you should be able to recieve actions. You "only" need a creative way to connect some sequence of actions with a device and status change.

This would allow us to use a IR remote to manage our devices without using the screen all the time, and without having to be in the proper MP mode.

Would be an excellent addition, kind of makes the plugin a IR to X10 extender also.

 

[patrick]

Hey Patrick,

With the X10 setup fully working thanks to your plugin and just using a new universal remote control that also drives my MP I came up with the following request:
Can you listen to actions from MP in your process plugin?
So that we can setup something like
If ACTION_REMOTE_SUBPAGE_UP followed by REMOTE_4 followed by REMOTE_1 the device set with nr 4 turn on
Or some other way offcourse.

Using the OnNewAction event from the MediaPortal.GUI.Library.GUIGraphicsContext class you should be able to recieve actions. You "only" need a creative way to connect some sequence of actions with a device and status change.

This would allow us to use a IR remote to manage our devices without using the screen all the time, and without having to be in the proper MP mode.

Would be an excellent addition, kind of makes the plugin a IR to X10 extender also.

Hi Kaoh,

Good idea. I will have to think on it though. I do not like relying on too
many things internal to MP as it is so often changing.
But that said, it sounds like a good idea, just have to figure out a way
to do it so that it would not be difficult to configure, save, wire to the existing code and
easy to update code if something changes

patrick