Sharing a look at my X10 on Home Assistant

[lviper]

I just wanted to share a few pics of my HA setup that includes X10 stuff.

These pics show 2 pages of my frontend webpage. I have circled the lights on the one page that are x10. The second page are all my door and motion sensors which are all x10.

[lviper]

Home Assistant has a nice feature called HADashboard which is basically a way to control you HA from a tablet or phone. I finally got mine setup this week on a Fire 7 tablet. Now I just need to mount it on the wall.

Hadashboard is just a webpage and I use an app called Fully Kiosk to display it full screen.

[petera]

A couple of cameras would fit in there nicely if you were that way inclined. As you can see it looks quite impressive and is very modular. Quite straightforward adding other technologies to your project as you go along too.

Great to see you got it all up and running.

Edit. Just saw your camera screens now. Definitely finishes it all off nicely.

[lviper]

I have done more with HA in the past few weeks then I have done in all the years I've been running automation stuff.

I started with AHP Pro and a CM15a. Moved on to another program called Home Control Assistant with a CM11a and W800USB. Add in the XTB-IIR and I had a flawless system. Just hated the fact I couldn't have my MS16a trigger my Sengled Zigbee smart bulb unless I used IFTTT.

In came HA a short while ago and everything is now working with each other and it's fast!

[petera]

Looks like you've found a "keeper" with Home Assistant. How did you go about installing HADashboard.

[lviper]

Looks like you've found a "keeper" with Home Assistant. How did you go about installing HADashboard.

Yes, this is a keeper. HAdashboard I'll admit was a bear, but I slowly followed the instructions here.
https://appdaemon.readthedocs.io/en/latest/DASHBOARD_INSTALL.html

Once I had my test dashboard up and running I took off with what I have now.
I want to go back and split things up in to modules. That way I can include certain common things in other dashboards to different devices and resolutions as well as rooms.

I'm just lucky it's slow at work which has afforded me a lot of play time.

[petera]

Looks like you've found a "keeper" with Home Assistant. How did you go about installing HADashboard.

Yes, this is a keeper. HAdashboard I'll admit was a bear, but I slowly followed the instructions here.
https://appdaemon.readthedocs.io/en/latest/DASHBOARD_INSTALL.html


Once I had my test dashboard up and running I took off with what I have now.
I want to go back and split things up in to modules. That way I can include certain common things in other dashboards to different devices and resolutions as well as rooms.

I'm just lucky it's slow at work which has afforded me a lot of play time.

Home automation is a labour of love and requires patience. Try fail, read up, ask questions and try again.

Clearly you stuck with it and im impressed at your results. Once you find a platform you're comfortable working in it's worth sticking with it. Patience is king. There's no quick fix here but the results were definitely worth it.

Unlike yourself I'm back in the thick of it work wise so I'll revisit HADashboard. Might be worth while doing a write up on how you succeeded with HADashboard install. I'll be watching out for your progress.

[Tuicemen]

Nice to see your screen shots it does help one see the possibilities of HA.
HA does need some work on its front end to attract newbie users. The initial install provides no inspiration however post like this do!

[petera]

Just curious to know what method you used when installing Home Assistant. Was it Docker, Python Virtual Environment or Hass.io. I was looking at the Pip installation and if that's what you used you definitely conquered Everest. Doesn't look too easy. You may want to share that experience while it's still fresh in your mind when you get a chance.

[lviper]

I install HA following the Raspbian install instructions on the home assistant site. I believe that's the virtualenv method. I do remember running pip commands. I'll make an attempt at writing down my steps as best as I remember them.

[petera]

I install HA following the Raspbian install instructions on the home assistant site. I believe that's the virtualenv method. I do remember running pip commands. I'll make an attempt at writing down my steps as best as I remember them.

How did you install AppDaemon when installing HADashboard. Doesn't look like its for the faint hearted but the results are very impressive. I believe HADashboard is not really suitable for use outside of the home. I'm looking forward to giving it a go.

[lviper]

How did you install AppDaemon when installing HADashboard. Doesn't look like its for the faint hearted but the results are very impressive. I believe HADashboard is not really suitable for use outside of the home. I'm looking forward to giving it a go.

I followed the instructions I linked to in my prior post.
https://appdaemon.readthedocs.io/en/latest/DASHBOARD_INSTALL.html

The very first step said refer to the AppDaemon install at
https://appdaemon.readthedocs.io/en/latest/INSTALL.html

Since I had installed HA using the manual HA install on a raspberry pi here which uses the virtual environment method
https://www.home-assistant.io/docs/installation/raspberry-pi/

I installed AppDaemon using the pip method. I followed all the steps but I did skip the optional steps. Just wanted to see if I could get it running first. Then I could always revisit the optional steps I skipped. Basically I copied the sample config file entering my info and skipped down past the test app to the Running section for PIP3. I saw what they say I should see when starting it so I moved down to the instructions for starting at reboot. I then went back to setting up my first test dashboard.

I also added the disable_apps: directive since I wasn't worried about running apps right now and hadashboard didn't need it.

Here is my appdaemon.yaml file. I removed the secret stuff because I didn't use the secrets.yaml. I put my url and key directly in the file for simplicity. I may change that later.

Code Select Expand


pi@RPi3bplus-HA:/home/homeassistant/.homeassistant $ cat conf/appdaemon.yaml
appdaemon:
  threads: 10
  disable_apps: 1

  plugins:
    HASS:
      type: hass
      ha_url: https://redacted.duckdns.org:8123
      ha_key: redacted
hadashboard:
  dash_url: http://192.168.10.205:5050
  access_file: /var/log/dash_access



[Tuicemen]

How are you handling HA's inability to see x10 commands sent from other devices?
Mochad is capable of seeing PL & RF commands not just sending, something HA on the surface appears not to utilize.

[petera]

How did you install AppDaemon when installing HADashboard. Doesn't look like its for the faint hearted but the results are very impressive. I believe HADashboard is not really suitable for use outside of the home. I'm looking forward to giving it a go.

I followed the instructions I linked to in my prior post.
https://appdaemon.readthedocs.io/en/latest/DASHBOARD_INSTALL.html

The very first step said refer to the AppDaemon install at
https://appdaemon.readthedocs.io/en/latest/INSTALL.html

Since I had installed HA using the manual HA install on a raspberry pi here which uses the virtual environment method
https://www.home-assistant.io/docs/installation/raspberry-pi/

I installed AppDaemon using the pip method. I followed all the steps but I did skip the optional steps. Just wanted to see if I could get it running first. Then I could always revisit the optional steps I skipped. Basically I copied the sample config file entering my info and skipped down past the test app to the Running section for PIP3. I saw what they say I should see when starting it so I moved down to the instructions for starting at reboot. I then went back to setting up my first test dashboard.

I also added the disable_apps: directive since I wasn't worried about running apps right now and hadashboard didn't need it.

Here is my appdaemon.yaml file. I removed the secret stuff because I didn't use the secrets.yaml. I put my url and key directly in the file for simplicity. I may change that later.

Code Select Expand


pi@RPi3bplus-HA:/home/homeassistant/.homeassistant $ cat conf/appdaemon.yaml
appdaemon:
  threads: 10
  disable_apps: 1

  plugins:
    HASS:
      type: hass
      ha_url: https://redacted.duckdns.org:8123
      ha_key: redacted
hadashboard:
  dash_url: http://192.168.10.205:5050
  access_file: /var/log/dash_access



Yes you can refine that AppDaemon.yaml file now that you have it up and running. Don't forget your security password setting and careful with SSL settings. Hope to have a go at an install over the weekend so fingers crossed 

[bkenobi]

How are you handling HA's inability to see x10 commands sent from other devices?
Mochad is capable of seeing PL & RF commands not just sending, something HA on the surface appears not to utilize.

I am very interested in this as well.  I use MS16A motion sensors in HG to trigger scripts and turn on/off various lights.  Without the ability to receive and act on X10 RF commands, I'm going to be stuck and HASS won't be a viable option.  Also, I have several switches that send X10 PL commands that must be interpreted and utilized to turn on other lights (similar to the RF issue) and some that directly turn on/off lights (meaning HASS must update status).  I see so much good in HASS but this basic issue will be critical for actually implementing it.

I don't know the answer, but from a quick search the following thread seems to indicate mochad_dispatch (mochad->MQTT) seems to be the only available solution.  Seems kinda clunky though.

https://community.home-assistant.io/t/need-help-getting-x10-working/8180/22