X10 Community Forum
📱🖥️PiX10Hub => 💬General Discussion => Topic started by: Tuicemen on March 26, 2019, 07:54:13 AM
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The PiX10Hub is now over 3 months old however some of the original contributors to the project have moved on to other Pi HA software. So I'm wondering:
- Is the Hubs developement moving to slowly?
- What is the opinion of users of HomeGenie on it since is the corner stone for the Hub?
The PiX10Hub was originally created to introduce X10 users to the world of Home Automation. I had hoped it would be more then a stepping stone but with it allowing users to easily bridge X10 to other protocols I think that is the perception of it. :(
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I started this endeavor to just turn off a few lights my wife always left on.
1K later, a Pi, Network drop, and many other things I have a full blown Home Automation system on my hands.
Lights that I can turn off, dim with remotes. Porch lights that come on at dusk and dawn and go off after daylight or when we are in bed. Cats that have their own heat lamp that comes on when it is cold. Chickens. They have a lamp as well. Wax Melters to keep the house smelling nice. Security (sort of) system. Etc. The list goes on.
What is my opinion on the 2 questions:
1. This is mostly freeware. I buy the hardware the software is free. I can't imagine it moving any faster. Not that I would know the difference. Just not sure I would care.
2. Home Genie does exactly what I planned on it to do and many other things. I love it. Easy to use (mostly) even if you don't know Linux. Easy to get support. Other than a few updates/upgrades I rarely even log into the machine. Unless I am making a programming change or adding a module.
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I had hoped there would have been more input on this by now! :( ::) :'
The Latest PiX10Hub image is now on the Raspbian Buster OS.
I know more then 5 users are running Homegenie.
Many long time users of Homegenie complain there just is not the user involvement that there once was.
Users that are still contemplating using HomeGenie with or without or the PiX10Hub will see this thread and think wow what a small user base, support must be terrible.
I'd like to show that the userbase is not small. >!
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Many long time users of Homegenie complain there just is not the user involvement that there once was.
Users that are still contemplating using HomeGenie with or without or the PiX10Hub will see this thread and think wow what a small user base, support must be terrible.
I'd like to show that the userbase is not small. >!
I so have an opinion on this. But it is my opinion only I am sure. So I will :' :' :' :' :' :' :-\
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I'm sure everyone's opinion is different and I don't expect anyone's to be the same.
Also I expect user opinions may change as they play and learn HG.
So I'm allowing users to change there choices in the poll.
>!
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I'm sure everyone's opinion is different and I don't expect anyone's to be the same.
Also I expect user opinions may change as they play and learn HG.
So I'm allowing users to change there choices in the poll.
>!
I'll bet you I could turn this into a math formula!
-:) rofl >!
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rofl yep you can manipulate the poll numbers however you want.
100% of users who bothered to vote and tried HG are happy with HomeGenie
2 people don't plan to ever use it
No one has moved onto what they think/hope is greener grass (however I know that number is incorrect).
However no one is scared to try this, I guess this forum realy only currently has 6 active X10 users as members. :(
-:) Maybe I should move on. rofl
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Well none of the choices actually matched what I did.
I have tried it on a few Pi models as a hardware user and wanted to see how it worked.
It did work fine.
I do not like Linux. Too many cryptic commands for me.
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Well none of the choices actually matched what I did.
I have tried it on a few Pi models as a hardware user and wanted to see how it worked.
It did work fine.
I do not like Linux. Too many cryptic commands for me.
I understand your setup is not primarily X10. HomeGenie tends to look like it was made for mainly X10, that is not the case. There are Programs for insteon and is capable of using the smarthome 2413s and 2413u. You can get it to work with most protocols.
Also HomeGenie is a Window Program doesn't require the Linux platform. It is able to run on multi OS platforms
What OS do you run on your Pis Windows core?
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It was in the early X10Pi Hub development. I think it was the Jessie images and we had to do things with Linux commands. To do things like updates and upgrades.
HG does look like it could now do many things like my present Insteon setup can do.
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Ya early developement did require a lot of command line input, Updates and upgrades although can be done from inside HG should still be done from the command line to avoid corupting HG. Some times the upgrade will throw a read me upor other tequired input that can mess with the process.
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I was never really a HG user. I bought a Pi and installed HG (played a bit) but that was about the end of it for me. It certainly is capable of a lot but has too much of a learning curve for an old geezer like me.
That said, X10 via AHP was a godsend many years ago because the programming/scheduling interface was easy to understand and easy to use. Then gradually things unraveled and now I'm using Homeseer because just like AHP it's easy to understand and easy to use. Not as easy as AHP but HS is darn close considering its complexity.
There are MANY X10 users on the HS forums and I'm surprised there isn't more of a crossover. It would be good for X10 and HS (of course) if there were more back and forth between the two.
The problems remain the same. This is basically an AHP and HG forum that happens to be on the X10 platform forum. I've never seen X10 contribute one red cent to any conversation here and that's pretty disappointing.
No sense in >*<
I guess this forum really only currently has 6 active X10 users as members.
(SERIOUSLY?) That's a lot of effort for...
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TBF, even when the old X10 was running the show, I can remember maybe 2 or 3 times when an employee chimed in with help. I don't know why they ever had a forum in the first place if they never intended on interfacing with customers. It allows users to collaborate and help each other, but that doesn't necessarily equate to free (to the company) tech support because some things never got answered. Authentix took over and have never stepped foot here. I'm surprised they would even allow it on their server in the first place (assuming that's where it was/is hosted). Seems like they don't care about the user base really, so why bother? :'
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Actually I know of three users on the forum here that work for Authinx.
Two use to work for X10WTI and one of those did post while working for X10WTI.
There may be more and I understand them wishing their identities to remain secret.
>!
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There's at least twelve applications I have verified that work comfortably with X10. I have no major preference for any of them. While HomeGenie was the one selected and recommended for users on this forum there are other applications that may be perceived to be easier to configure than it.
What the majority of these applications have on common is they work nicely on the Raspberry Pi platform running in the Raspbian OS with the exception of Vera which has its own controller and runs in an embedded Linux OS which you don't even have to look at.
What is apparent is that home automation is now targeted at the small board computer hardware platform and Windoze, with it's IoT offering hasn't exactly embraced this world. Contrary to the perception on this forum Linux, and particularly Raspbian is no more complex or cryptic that Windoze and does in fact give you a lot more control over your setup than Windoze ever did. And the bonus here is you get all that for FREE. Yes FREE as in beer :)%
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There's at least twelve applications I have verified that work comfortably with X10. I have no major preference for any of them. While HomeGenie was the one selected and recommended for users on this forum there are other applications that may be perceived to be easier to configure than it.
What are the other current applications (IOS and/or Android) that work with X10, besides HomeGenie, ISY, Indigo Domotics, HomeSeer, HomeAssistant, Smartenit, Vera, and Allonis' MyServer?
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There's at least twelve applications I have verified that work comfortably with X10. I have no major preference for any of them. While HomeGenie was the one selected and recommended for users on this forum there are other applications that may be perceived to be easier to configure than it.
What are the other current applications (IOS and/or Android) that work with X10, besides HomeGenie, ISY, Indigo Domotics, HomeSeer, HomeAssistant, Smartenit, Vera, and Allonis' MyServer?
OpenHAB, Misterhouse, MajorDomo, Pytomation and all the web UIs that deploy Heyu and Mochad. The list is endless. You can even write your own web UI that can exploit Heyu or Mochad or use them as standalones. Of course there's Linux MCE http://www.linuxmce.com/ Was there a reason you wanted to know.
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I tried a number of these in the past and most seemed to leverage Mochad. Although it does work, it isn't as well implemented as HG's driver. Would you say that any of the other options you listed are as fully capable as HG? The primary thing missing is RF communication in Mochad.
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I tried a number of these in the past and most seemed to leverage Mochad. Although it does work, it isn't as well implemented as HG's driver. Would you say that any of the other options you listed are as fully capable as HG? The primary thing missing is RF communication in Mochad.
Yes the RF issue has always reared its head with Mochad. I did some work on Mochad with a commercial home automation product and managed to sort out the RF “lock ups” and disconnects experienced by changing to v0.0.17 and adjusting udev rules. It’s a while since I did this but it seemed to work in that case. I’m going to revisit Mochad with Home Assistant and have a look at the Python plugin it utilizes. I imagine it’s not too far off the mark but nobody over at Home Assistant could be bothered working on it for obvious reasons.
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While looking into what HA program to use for the PiX10Hub I'll admit I didn't look at them all. However I didn't stop at HomeGenie either. What turned off of most I looked at was what extra was required for X10 and what modules were supported. Having built in drivers for X10 built in was a must. Loading and running an extra program just to get X10 still seems stupid to me. I also don't like having to load and run another program just to get support for any other protocol. If the HA program can use just drivers for a protocol the Pi will run faster executing things.
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While looking into what HA program to use for the PiX10Hub I'll admit I didn't look at them all. However I didn't stop at HomeGenie either. What turned off of most I looked at was what extra was required for X10 and what modules were supported. Having built in drivers for X10 built in was a must. Loading and running an extra program just to get X10 still seems stupid to me. I also don't like having to load and run another program just to get support for any other protocol. If the HA program can use just drivers for a protocol the Pi will run faster executing things.
What about the bridges you run. Surely they are external solutions to problems you have encountered. MQTT in HG is a classic example. Of course there's your Broadlink solution. Theres no one solution fits all out there.
There's absolutely no problem using external solutions once they are patched correctly to the target application. Mochad and Heyu work perfectly with plenty of Web APIs once the person trying to deploy them understand what they are doing.
The problem now is that no new talented up and coming qualified coders/designers would even look at X10. Prospective employers are hardly crying out for their X10 development skills. It's left to those who are either retired or are sentimental for times past. I fall into the latter category. A sucker for punishment one could say. Now time to get back to activity that pays the bills and has an hourly rate attached to it. >!
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What about the bridges you run. Surely they are external solutions to problems you have encountered. MQTT in HG is a classic example. Of course there's your Broadlink solution. Theres no one solution fits all out there.
I use one Bridge (HA-Bridge) and that's mainly due to the vast options it delivers. I'm not knocking HG programs nor any HA addon if a user wishes to go that route. As you stated there is no one solution that fit every ones need.
The problem now is that no new talented up and coming qualified coders/designers would even look at X10. Prospective employers are hardly crying out for their X10 development skills. It's left to those who are either retired or are sentimental for times past.
I don't think that is entirely true. >!