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[kevinv]

Hi All,  unfortunately I've got a lot of experience with X10-  we just bought a new house (3 electrical panels ... ugh)  and I am trying to determine if I should go the X10 route again fully or not.

One thing that would help make my decision is if there is any active and easy and good solutions to control x10 devices from linux.  I think I want to avoid the active home controller and write my own controller in C (probably).   What I am looking for is the device level interface that will send and receive commands to/from maybe the active home controller (used only as an interface) that I can call from the command line etc...

Thoughts?

[dhouston]

What I am looking for is the device level interface that will send and receive commands to/from maybe the active home controller (used only as an interface) that I can call from the command line etc...

What do you mean when you write active home controller? CM15A, CM11A,

[kevinv]

My bad-  something USB... CM15A   "Active Home Pro" I guess 

[dhouston]

When the CM15A was introduced, there were a half-dozen Linux users who tried to reverse engineer the protocol but I think they only managed part of their goal. Although they could send/receive commands, I don't believe they were able to read/write the EEPROM for macros, timers, etc. You can try this web page...
http://www.linuxha.com/USB/cm15a.html

There may be other Linux users here who have more recent knowledge.

[kevinv]

I don't want to use the CM15 for anything like that really...  I would use any device that can communicate X10 between the power lines and USB.   

I was thinking I'd just use the CM15 for an "adapter" between USB and power line.   

Maybe there is a better option-  what are people using for mating custom linux code to the power line?

Thanks!!

[Brian H]

There maybe some information on Linux and X10 on this web site.
http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/LinuxTutorialX10SmartHomeNetworking.html

I have also seen mochad mentioned.
http://code.mios.com/trac/mios_mochad-x10

[dhouston]

If all you want is to use the CM11A as a PLM (Power Line Modem) to send/receive PLC (Power Line Commands) then mochad might be all you need. The author used to post here but I haven't seen anything from him in some time now. The link Brian cited will get you started.

[kevinv]

Thanks all,  been trying to install mochad on ubuntu but it isn't going well and the user community seems small...   I may take a look at homeseer and see if that would provide something reliable and void of a  ton of hacking.

Thanks!!!

[bkenobi]

Lots of people use mochad so there's going to be lots of info available.  I chose to go with HomeGenie since it will use the CM15A as a controller and can run on a Raspberry Pi so I don't have to run a full PC as the controller.  I've been using it for a couple years and it does everything I need it to.

[kevinv]

hmmm  Home Genie looks linteresting.

What do you use for a power line modem with HomeGenie?

I cant find the active area on the interwebs for mochad...   but anyway-  maybe your HomeGenie is better... I'd like to check into it!!

[bkenobi]

I use a CM15A.  I was looking for something that would use the CM15A (since I had a couple, one of which modified for improved RF), would run on an embedded type system (Android, embedded Windows, RPi, etc), and must include a real programming interface (no more of the AHP style "programming").  I initially looked at Domoticz, HomeSeer, etc, but they didn't really have everything I wanted.

• runs on Windows, Linux, Mac, etc (anything that can run Mono)
• can use CM11 or CM15 (and I think one more)
• multiple systems so you can combine different technologies seamlessly (X10, Z-Wave, Insteon, etc)
• can be programmed with a simple Wizard language (similar to AHP's linear style programming) or in any of several standard languages (C#, Python, etc)
• has a free Android app which I use but a new paid app which is apparently much better is new within the last couple months
• has a really good/active forum
• open source so the source can be tweaked and recompiled if needed (i.e., add a new technology interface)

I've had a few issues over the last couple years but have been pretty happy with the author's help.  He has either solved or pointed me in the right direction for pretty much all issues I've had and they have been resolved.

[kevinv]

Well this is very interesting!   I just re-imaged a box with Ubuntu and am trying to install home genie...   It would be pretty cool if it works for me!

[bkenobi]

If you need help getting things up and running, post a thread over at the HG forums.

http://www.homegenie.it/forum/

[kevinv]

Thanks!!  I may do that!   A quick jump start would be nice.   Excited to try it next week more when I get back in town!!!