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Yes

5 (62.5%)

No, I'll build it my self or would never use it

0 (0%)

Don't care one way or the other

3 (37.5%)

Total Members Voted: 8

[petera]

Bearing this in mind I'd imagine you would get conflicts making calls to an external instance of Mochad as a separate service running as a daemon. I certainly couldn't confirm this but it would make sense.

David Wallis over at the Homegenie Club states that he has internalised the Homegenie/Alexa bridge within Homegenie. You may want to PM him or post on the forum to confirm this. It may save you a little time with this project.

Originally this was to be a single use PI project not to have another automation software installed along side it on the same PI.
The Pi was original designed and created for just that, a single project development board. I full well expected conflicts with a software not using Mochad.
I like to push my PI 3b+ as it is a bit more powerful then the other older ones available. I highly double my zero would run this and a Home automation software that used mochad with out over heating but I'll definably test this over the winter.
Ha-Bridge runs fine with HG, and in reality if you use HG, ha-bridge can make calls to it, you don't need this project or Mochad.

From what I read on David Walls HG Alexa bridge the internalizing was more to auto pull HG devices into the Bridge. Something that can't be done with HA-Bridge for HG, but could be if BWS Systems created a helper for it which he's done for HA, OpenHab, Domoticz, and other softwares.
That being said I continued to play with this and Domoticz but this time on a Raspian stretch full install (with GUI) so I can monitor the CPU usage as I add things to Domoticz.
Originally I wasn't keen on the feel of Domoticz but it is growing on me! I may just keep it on a SD card with this project to do a good comparison against HG. But that's another thread.

Yes Domoticz is another one worth trying. I have a copy aon an SD card which I spun up to test its ability with X10. Another one I found quick to configure X10 on.

I think it's safe to say now that X10 works on a Raspberry Pi. As to where a potential user can take it beyond that is entirely up to them.

It will be nice to see member's progress with X10 and its integration with home automation in general on the Raspberry Pi in the coming months whichever flavour they choose. One thing is for certain, the Raspberry Pi is a serious contender for X10's attention.

[Tuicemen]

I think it's safe to say now that X10 works on a Raspberry Pi. As to where a potential user can take it beyond that is entirely up to them.

I don't think will X10work on a PI really was ever in doubt. the doubt was how easy it is to actually setup.
The more projects which include X10 that are posted and shared about just may get others to at least attempt using a PI for X10

It will be nice to see member's progress with X10 and its integration with home automation in general on the Raspberry Pi in the coming months whichever flavour they choose. One thing is for certain, the Raspberry Pi is a serious contender for X10's attention.

I agree and this forum has some of the more imaginative members that are more then willing to share their stories.

[brobin]

I've found cards with Noobs and Raspbian but not Debian. I can d/l and copy to a card but I'm not sure which flavor of Debian to d/l. Sorry to be so dense but this will be my first SBC and I'm not up to speed.

Tuicemen refers to Debian on a number of occasions. It should read Raspbian in the case of the Pi.

Yes you'll not find Debian with noobs  Raspbian is what you want  thanks for the clarification petera

Thank you both. I thought that might be the case.

[petera]

I think it's safe to say now that X10 works on a Raspberry Pi. As to where a potential user can take it beyond that is entirely up to them.

I don't think will X10work on a PI really was ever in doubt. the doubt was how easy it is to actually setup.
The more projects which include X10 that are posted and shared about just may get others to at least attempt using a PI for X10

It will be nice to see member's progress with X10 and its integration with home automation in general on the Raspberry Pi in the coming months whichever flavour they choose. One thing is for certain, the Raspberry Pi is a serious contender for X10's attention.

I agree and this forum has some of the more imaginative members that are more then willing to share their stories.

I have learnt over the last couple of months that new concepts introduced into old systems to rescue them can meet with resistance, however when survival of the species depends on these new concepts people usually embrace the changes when they understand the bigger picture.

What I will say is my old PCs have come and gone yet my old lamp modules, appliance modules and my X10 controllers are still doing the job they were built to do. They don't care who or what is feeding them as long as they are being fed.

[Tuicemen]

What I will say is my old PCs have come and gone yet my old lamp modules, appliance modules and my X10 controllers are still doing the job they were built to do. They don't care who or what is feeding them as long as they are being fed.

Yes, I've gone through a number of PCs since starting with X10 as well, and some of my original modules are still in use today though maybe in a different location.

[petera]

What I will say is my old PCs have come and gone yet my old lamp modules, appliance modules and my X10 controllers are still doing the job they were built to do. They don't care who or what is feeding them as long as they are being fed.

Yes, I've gone through a number of PCs since starting with X10 as well, and some of my original modules are still in use today though maybe in a different location.

Still buying job lots of X10 equipment on eBay auctions. Great source for backup and spares at a fraction of the RSP. In tests over 90% of it is in good working order. Unfortunately my old PC equipment didn't fare as well. I just use plug in heaters when the room gets cold now 

[brobin]

Found a nice starter kit on Amazon for $27 delivered: Vilros Basic Starter Kit - includes Pi Zero W, Power Supply, Clear Case, header, heat sink, OTG & HDMI adapters and other stuff.  I've flashed a Raspbian image on a 16G card so I'll be ready to go once the mailman shows up on Friday.

[petera]

Found a nice starter kit on Amazon for $27 delivered: Vilros Basic Starter Kit - includes Pi Zero W, Power Supply, Clear Case, header, heat sink, OTG & HDMI adapters and other stuff.  I've flashed a Raspbian image on a 16G card so I'll be ready to go once the mailman shows up on Friday.

That sounds about right. Does the Pi Zero you ordered have the pre soldered headers.

If you follow the config instructions for installing Raspbian on the Raspberry Pi W you should be up and running quickly. No need to mess around with Ethernet either. It can all be done after you image your card and before you remove it from your SD card reader.

For Windows users a useful utility called WinSCP allows you to manage the files on your SD card while it's still mounted in Windows. Many have mentioned not seeing the file system whike mounted in Windows. Remember its the Boot and not the Root folder you drop your config files into. It's all drag and drop so it's easy to use and it's free to download.

Other tools which are useful in the Windows environment for SD card management are SD Formatter for reformatting at a low level your SD card to its original size and Win32 Disk Image. Others are using Etcher which is a catch all solution but it's entirely up to you what you feel most comfortable using.

[brobin]

Thanks for the tip on Win SCP, I'll check it out.  I used Etcher to flash the download to a new 16G card I had. 3 clicks and done. Took just 15 min to flash and verify - didn't even need to unzip the d/l.  The header supplied in the starter kit is not soldered which is fine as I'm more comfortable with a soldering iron than with programming.  Will I need the header for this project?  Or should I just put it in anyway before it gets lost.

[petera]

Thanks for the tip on Win SCP, I'll check it out.  I used Etcher to flash the download to a new 16G card I had. 3 clicks and done. Took just 15 min to flash and verify - didn't even need to unzip the d/l.  The header supplied in the starter kit is not soldered which is fine as I'm more comfortable with a soldering iron than with programming.  Will I need the header for this project?  Or should I just put it in anyway before it gets lost.

No unless you want to play around with GPIO sensors in Homegenie there's no need for it for the initial install of Raspbian and whatever home automation software you intend to install.

[dhouston]

The header supplied in the starter kit is not soldered which is fine as I'm more comfortable with a soldering iron than with programming.  Will I need the header for this project?  Or should I just put it in anyway before it gets lost.

I suggest installing it so you can later install an RTC.

[Tuicemen]

The header is not needed for this project.
If you plan on using your PI for another purpose you may require it. The RTC is also not needed for this as Alexa handles timers  and the PI gets its time from the internet as soon as it connects.
Without the internet there is no connection to Alexa.

[brobin]

Thanks all for the info about the header. I think I'll wait till there's a need as I found that there are at least two types of headers so if and when needed I can install based on the specific device.  Based on the teachings of Moore, whichever I put in now will certainly be the opposite of what I'll want in the future  .

[petera]

Thanks all for the info about the header. I think I'll wait till there's a need as I found that there are at least two types of headers so if and when needed I can install based on the specific device.  Based on the teachings of Moore, whichever I put in now will certainly be the opposite of what I'll want in the future  .

Yes when buying the Raspberry Pi Zero, the three models available are the Raspberry Pi Zero (no wireless), Raspberry Pi Zero W (wireless, bluetooth but no GPIO headers, supplied separately and need to be soldered to the board) and Raspberry Pi Zero WH (wireless, Bluetooth with headers already attached to the board).

For convenience the WH model is the best option to purchase. Soldering is not to everyone's liking and there's also the risk of damaging the board if it is soldered incorrectly.

[brobin]

The choice between male and female headers, depending on what and how to connect another device, is what I'm holding off for. Adafruit also offers M & F headers than can be HAMMERED in (WTF!? ) for those who are solder averse. That can't be good on several levels!
Having been a kit builder and tinkerer since 1962, soldering has become second nature. For things like headers, wetting the pads with a little flux can help ensure that there's good flow with no bridges or blobs (maybe that's what's in the stuff my urologist gave me ).