AnyPi PiX10Hub Installer Discussion

[HA Dave]

My failed again when adding devices. Now all I get when I try to access the HA Bridge is this:

[Moose]

Well, I thought that I might just start over from scratch. I quick formatted my SD card and tried to reload the image. This is the 2nd chip in a row where, after one use, the SD card is reported as bad!! Anyone else stumbled on this? Is Etcher killing the chips?

[bkenobi]

Is Etcher killing the chips?

I would have said no, but it appears that Etcher has in the past potentially had a similar issue to yours.

https://github.com/balena-io/etcher/issues/1426

[Moose]

Update- I tried all sorts of techniques to evaluate the SD card including cleaning and formatting and could not really find anything wrong with it. I played with this program as well...   
https://www.partitionwizard.com/disk-recovery/sd-card-repair-tool.html
It is free. I repartitioned, reformatted and checked all the memory sectors and could find nothing wrong, even though Windows kept finding fault.
I went ahead and reimaged the SD card and installed. so far, it seems OK. HG and HA-bridge are running.

[Tuicemen]

My failed again when adding devices. Now all I get when I try to access the HA Bridge is this:

looks like the HA-Bridge service has stopped for some reason you can restart it with sudo systemctl start ha-bridge.service

[Tuicemen]

I went ahead and reimaged the SD card and installed. so far, it seems OK. HG and HA-bridge are running.

glad to see your running again it is possible to use windowsdiskimage writer however you'd have to unzip the image prior to writing.

[HA Dave]

February 14th 3:40 PM. I have a working PiX10Hub. 

I have done nothing else (with great thanks to Tuicemen and the many other Pi experts here and at other forums) other than add 3 modules with on/off control via Alexa. Not a great accomplishment form MY standpoint but a great accomplishment for those who worked so hard so as to make this possible for ANY (every) X10 user who wishes to bring there X10 setups into the AI world.

         

[Tuicemen]

You realy shouldn't group me with the Pi experts, they deserve all the credit for this. With out their input I doubt I would have stuck with this.
Glad to see your making head way.
Don't get discouraged there are so many cool things that can be done with HomeGenie and HA-Bridge. Alexa control is just a small but powerful possibility. Make a back up SD card of your setup so you have something to fall back on if you mess something up while playing arround.

[HA Dave]

Glad to see your making head way.

Not making headway. I am done. I entered every module/switch into the HomeGenie/HA Bridge that I had used in Homeseer. Had Alexa discover them and was up and running.

Don't get discouraged there are so many cool things that can be done with HomeGenie and HA-Bridge. Alexa control is just a small but powerful possibility.

HomeGenie does seem to have lots of "programming possibilities" available.... as does Homeseer (which it will be replacing). But I don't believe either have the many advantages that can only be achieved with some cloud processing. I am a big fan of the cloud for serious automation-integration.

When adding all the switches and modules (into homegenie) I realized.... I had no-longer even remembered the names of some of these devices. Or even the group names in one case. As many of the devices are triggered by events (like a Harmony remote button-push). Or just a part of a larger group.   

Make a back up SD card of your setup so you have something to fall back on if you mess something up while playing around.

I picked up (Amazon delivered) an extra 16gig memory card... just for that. But to be honest... I don't know how to make a "back-up" other than to flash a new setup and run with that.

But back-ups are BIG in ALL my set-ups. (I mean... I have a gassed-up and ready snowblower in my garage right now.... smack in the middle of global warming!) So now I have a Homeseer pi and an piX10Hub (both are Pi's). I haven't decided which one to make "the spare".... but HomeGenie does seem a little more user friendly than Homeseer.

But I feel confident now that I (or ANYBODY) can assemble the PiX10Hub so I don't have to give a failure of either Pi unit a 2nd thought. Although.... the two units don't play well together... so it will be "either/or". Plus.... I once lost bunches of stuff because of a lighting strike in the backyard. So.... it's comforting to know I have "spares".

[racerfern]

But I don't believe either have the many advantages that can only be achieved with some cloud processing. I am a big fan of the cloud for serious automation-integration.

You should be able to integrate Alexa into most HS. Are you limited on the plugins of the Zee S2?

[HA Dave]

But I don't believe either have the many advantages that can only be achieved with some cloud processing. I am a big fan of the cloud for serious automation-integration.

You should be able to integrate Alexa into most HS. Are you limited on the plugins of the Zee S2?

The limit is two plugins.

But I already have integrated Alexa... into everything. I know Alexa isn't exactly what the old programs were/are. It [Alexa] doesn't really lend itself into many of the exact individualized programming of tasks (AKA control) that stand alone software can. But Amazon is building a very impressive AI base to power an automated setup.

I'am extremely dependent on HomeSeer. I would have never been able to keep my automation going without your old Zee S2. And it's still running like a champ now. I haven't even had the nerve to even try the new beta download... because of the effort and costs involved with any failure(s).

A lighting strike about a decade ago..... and X10 closing their doors... has made me think more than once about keeping my setup flexible. A cheap Pi unit, a few hours work, and an Amazon Echo, and a smart phone..... can bring any old X10 user into the modern age. Or... I believe... many old users of various flavors of Home Automation... with a solid alternative to pricey units.

Right now I am using so many different kinds of units and stuff.... if I was pinned down to say what system/brand/flavor my Home Automation was built around.... I'd have to say Alexa. But with that in mind..... I am thinking of adding a google unit. 

[racerfern]

Check your email.

[bkenobi]

There are 3 main methods for making backups that have been covered here many times...

[Tuicemen]

Users that are having issues with SD cards may wish to use a USB stick.
Seems Buster has added the ability to use a USB to boot and run the OS. Althought the 3B+ and up have this ability built in most older Raspi boards can be updated with a simple command line that involks a USB Boot mode.
Pi Board that can be programed with this are:

• Pi Compute Module
• Pi Compute Module 3
• Pi Zero
• Pi Zero W
• Pi A
• Pi A+
• Pi 3A+

See this link for the command to enable this and further info:
https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/hardware/raspberrypi/bootmodes/msd.md

I find using a USB stick is a bit slower to boot but HG and the Bridge seem to be quicker.
Still better would be to use a portable Hard Drive with external power supply
Of coares the real benifit would be for users of a pi 4 version using USB 3 and a SSD

[Tuicemen]

I've posted installers for current builds of HA-Bridge and HomeGenie for the Raspi Buster OS. http://forums.x10.com/index.php?topic=30714.msg186582#msg186582
These are not intended as updates for either software.
I've also been running the PIX10Hub software suite on a Linux mini PC for several years now and have Installer scripts for a Linux system as well if anyone is interested.