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Author Topic: PI beginer guide to Installing HomeGenie for X10  (Read 17602 times)

Tuicemen

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PI beginer guide to Installing HomeGenie for X10
« on: August 08, 2018, 12:37:27 PM »

Petera and others have touched on HomeGenie installs in other threads but the info is hard to find and the threads may be confusing for the PI newbie
This guide is for the totally new PI beginner.
PI boards run Linux and for so that in itself is intimidating however HomeGenie (GH) takes that into account (I think)
I'm not going into installing setting up the Pi operating system as I assume you've done that and most likely you now have a desktop displaying this guide will not be for installing into a lite version of Debian but the full desktop version as many newbies first load.
It has been said any Home Automation setup needs to be setup on a OS without the desktop environment in order for best performance. Although that maybe the case if your Setup includes several other protocols but we're just worried about X10.(for now)
HG isn't actively being worked on however being open source it has been forked (code used for another project) HGBE this is basically HG with some added features and is still not ready for the PI (my opinion)
For this reason I'll walk you through the HG install.
The install
1: Fire up your PI and open the desktop
2: find the terminal window( linux version of the Command Prompt) and open it.
3: copy this line of code and paste to the terminal window and hit enter on your key 
Code: [Select]
wget https://github.com/genielabs/HomeGenie/releases/download/v1.2-stable.30/homegenie_1.2-stable.30_all.deb
this will download HG but not install it it goes into the downloads folder but you don't have to worry about that.
4: once done do the same for this line
Code: [Select]
sudo apt-get update this updates the PI OS so you have the latest drivers and such. sudo tells the PI to use heightened privileges
5: next do the same for this line
Code: [Select]
sudo apt-get install gdebi-core this (my understanding) gets and installs the extractor for the HG file you first downloaded.
6: now to extract and install HG. simply add this line to the terminal window and hit enter on your key board
 
Code: [Select]
sudo gdebi homegenie_1.2-stable.30_all.debOnce that is finished you can close the terminal window.

OK I'm done but where is HG?
HG is a web based program there is no shortcut to it.
to access it you need to open a browser. Since you have installed the desktop PI OS one is installedand should be on your task bar. Just open it and point  to 127.0.0.1 or localhost since you most likely have not installed any other web based server application you don't need to specify a port which would be 80. (8080 if you have installed something else in which case your browser entry will be 127.0.0.1:8080 or localhost:8080)
now that your there you can book mark it.
Since HG is a server you can access it from another device on your network you just need to know your Pi's IP. and the port HG is using. Type this into a browser on any device and you have HG displaying.

But what is all this stuff displaying in HG?
HomeGenie preinstalls a bunch of demos to help with understanding what is capable.
This I feel is confusing at first. Luckily you can remove that stuff However I'm not going to recommend that untill you have HG doing what you want with your X10 stuff.

Ok so tell me how to setup x10.
I know your itching to get something usable working so first you have to tell HG what X10 interface your using.
1: At the top of the HG web page is a tab called configure then settings click X10 interface options in the new screen that appears.
2: click on device port and select your interface I use the CM15a so I selected CM15 Pro-USB.
3: select all house codes you wish to use You can come back to select more at any time.
4: on the right is a button labelled Disable click on it to enable X10
there is no save, this is actively engaged. go to the top and select configure again.
This time we're going to create a group so your x10 devices are separate from the demo stuff so we click on groups to open the groups page
At the bottom right is a button "Add groups" click it and add the name you wish for your new group and click ok this adds your new group to the groups list. On the right for each group is arrows up and down if you wish HG to open to your X10 group and not the demo group move it up.

Click on the group name you created to open the configuration of it.
The new window allows you to change the wallpaper of the group. HG comes with several but you can add your own .
Now to the good stuff at the bottom right is the actions tab.
Click on the actions tab then add module
Now scroll down to find your first X10 module to add to the group and continue doing this till all are added. then click the X in the add module screen to close it.
now click the home tab (top left) to open the group view and control (test) your X10 devices.

Updated code for a more recent stable HG build
 >!
« Last Edit: January 13, 2019, 12:38:32 PM by Tuicemen »
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Tuicemen

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Re: PI beginer guide to Installing HomeGenie for X10
« Reply #1 on: August 12, 2018, 09:29:04 AM »

So HG is now Running with X10 control, How do I create macros?
HG has an incredible powerful macro builder which allows you to use it's built in wizard or actually build one with C#, java script, Ruby, Python etc. however since this thread is for newbies we'll stick with the Macro Wizard.
1:With HG displaying your X10 page showing your X10 modules click on the actions tab (lower right) then click macro wizard.
2: the macro wizard will now record all device clicks(on/off dim) these are what will happen after a trigger. the wizard doesn't record the trigger. yet.
3: After you have recorded all devices you wish to actives click save (bottom center tab) this opens the macro screen.
4: with the macro screen open your in the summary tab to enter a name for your macro a description for what it does etc.
be sure to specify a Program group It will make finding the macro easier if you wish to modify it later.
5: click on the program tab this will display all modules you added to the macro via the wizard.
here you can click the capture tab to add RF actions or add additional devices. you can also remove devices or change the order in which they fire. If you need additional help click the hep button to the right
6: with all your actions set click on the trigger code tab, this allows you to set the trigger which will start the macro.
If you wish the macro to be triggered on a X10 RF event click capture then send the X10 code from a remote once that displays click the stop button in the RF screen that is showing.
If you wish to trigger via PLC click the add condition and find the module you wish to watch for in the pop up and its status.
 If you need additional help click the hep button to the right.
7:once you have all your conditions added you can select the trigger options.
8: you can now go back and view your macro info and other settings to double check every thing If it looks good click the actions tab(bottom right ) here you can test run or save Once the save successful message appears your set.
clicking the back tab(Bottom left)should take you to the program list which you saved your macro to. clicking Home will return you to your X10 group screen. You want to click the back tab.
9: Now that your in the program group that your macro is located you need to tell HG to use this macro so it needs to be activated to do this click on the triangle to the right of your macro. once this changes to a check mark the macro is active and when GH sees the trigger your macro will run.
10: Click the home button to return to your X10 screen your macro is set.
 >!
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HA Dave

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Re: PI beginer guide to Installing HomeGenie for X10
« Reply #2 on: August 12, 2018, 06:48:47 PM »

UN FREAKING believable!!!!!

That set-up (thanks to your directions Tuicemen was super quick... and no effort. A little copy paste... a little wait here wait there (not long). I connected the (secondary) CM15A, added 3 modules (switches actually)…. and it WORKS.  I still have a lot to learn.... but that will be another thread.


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Tuicemen

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Re: PI beginer guide to Installing HomeGenie for X10
« Reply #3 on: August 12, 2018, 07:08:24 PM »

UN FREAKING believable!!!!!

That set-up (thanks to your directions Tuicemen was super quick... and no effort. A little copy paste... a little wait here wait there (not long). I connected the (secondary) CM15A, added 3 modules (switches actually)…. and it WORKS.  I still have a lot to learn.... but that will be another thread.
Glad to see you now have it working.  >! here are some links to help you further customize your setup though you may already have them others may wish them too.
HomegGenie currently active forum- https://homegenie.club/
X10 Home Genie help documentation(though intended for windows setup most info can be done for the PI easily) Don't let the title fool you it is an expansion on the X10 Pi for dummies documentation by other HG users - https://www.dropbox.com/s/8ybc1im6yvsn8a5/HomeGenie%2C%20HA-Bridge%2C%20Broadlink%20RM%2C%20and%20X10%20living%20in%20Harmony.doc?dl=0
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Re: PI beginer guide to Installing HomeGenie for X10
« Reply #4 on: August 20, 2018, 11:37:39 AM »

I'm locking this thread and will clean it up so newbie don't get lost in all the none relevant responses and any additional info I plan to add to this step by step beginner guide.
CO's please refrain from posting to this thread unless relevant to the guide!
 >!
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Re: PI beginer guide to Installing HomeGenie for X10
« Reply #5 on: August 20, 2018, 03:17:30 PM »

If after installing HG  and an attempt to open localhost loads another program like HA-Bridge the installer should have detected port 80 was in use and installed to the next available this is usually port 8080.  However it could be somethine else. a quick way to discover ports in use is to open a terminal window and past
Code: [Select]
sudo netstat -tulpn | grep LISTEN then hit enter. ;)
This will display ports currently in use and since the installer auto starts HG the port it was assigned to will display as in use.
If you feel HG is not running paste
Code: [Select]
sudo systemctl status ha-bridge.service into a terminal and hit enter, this will tell you if the service is running or failed.
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Re: PI beginer guide to Installing HomeGenie for X10
« Reply #6 on: September 28, 2018, 10:56:02 AM »

I updated my OP to install  HG(1.2-Beta.2)1.1-stable.527
This version has the updater in HG fixed so you don't need to backup, uninstall HG, then reinstall, then restore.
It will save a lot of work should Gene continue to update HG.
However you should do Backups regularly anyways, at least if you make a configuration change.  ;)
« Last Edit: November 03, 2018, 07:47:57 AM by Tuicemen »
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Re: PI beginer guide to Installing HomeGenie for X10
« Reply #7 on: November 03, 2018, 07:53:24 AM »

I edited my posts to reflect a install of the last stable release of HomeGenie. there are a few issues with the beta versions and Gene has slowed down on posting updated so For this reason I recommend newbies not update to a beta release.
for others that are comfortable beta testing maybe use another PI so your Setup isn't compromised current beta is 16 but I found several of my addon programs failed to work on this version.
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