Evaluating HG - Issues

[Devrope]

Hi, I'm currently evaluating HG and I have a few issues.

First, I really like HG, the GUI, scripting, and that it's .NET (I'm a .NET developer myself).
I was going for OpenHAB but I don't like Java and the memory hog..

My setup is running on Windows Server 2012 with the Tellstick Interface Module.

Issues:

• The web server/service seems really unstable, when I added a password it all just locked up, had to restart the service,
  and even then it took several minutes before it was responding again. Also happened several times before, don't remember what I did then.
• Whenever I restart the service all my lights are ON, even though they're not in reality, but that messes up the Energy Monitor.
• When trying out the Generic IP Camera, it doesn't work. In the log I see that it prepends the url with part of the HG installation path?!
• Whenever I "F5" in the browser (and sometimes random) I get "EventStream Disconnected" and it all just locks up for a while.
• The power consumption is doubled everywhere? When I sum up the "VM Watt" I entered for my lights,
  it's only half of what is shown in the Energy Meter and in the Group menu.

Questions:

• Is it possible to add "virtual devices"? Say if I have a computer always on and want to add its Wattage to the Energy Monitor.
• What's the easiest way to control a light by motion, but only when the sun is down?
• How can I force a dimmer to a certain level when using "Smart Lighting"?
• Where do I change the language in the GUI?
• Can you offset the Sunset/rise? It's too often that it's too dark way before sunset.

I'm not giving up on HG yet, it does look promising for what I want in my home, but please help.

Also, I already made a custom program for HG, to read weather data from CumulusMX, if anyone's interested I can share the code.

/Roger

[kevin1]

Lot of concerns and questions... which HG version are you using?  I have been using r505 for a while, but also have some frustrating issues.

-ip camera, I use it all the time with ip cameras.  Actually HG will display regular images with the widget as well (I have one showing animated gif weather radar).  First advice is to make sure the camera image displays in browser as image (no html text around it).  Then use that URL in the widget and it should work from my experience.
-lights show as on-under the light features you enable polling and it will correct this I think.
-dimmer level-under the light features you can select level memory and it may do what you like?
-virtual devices-yes HG can have virtual devices.  I use them for arduino devices I have.
-smart lights/dimmers - maybe read this thread than ask questions there: http://www.homegenie.it/forum/index.php?topic=241.0
-language-I believe HG uses the browser settings for this
-sunset-you could tweak the code in the wunderground module, not sure if there is a better/easier way

[Devrope]

Thank you, I'm using the latest, r515, only one I've tried so far.

IP-Camera:
I was getting the dreadful "The server committed a protocol violation. Section=ResponseHeader Detail=CR must be followed by LF" so I added useUnsafeHeaderParsing to HomeGenie.exe.config (see http://stackoverflow.com/questions/8424144/how-to-set-useunsafeheaderparsing-in-code/8523437)

Lights On:
I don't see any Polling option, but I'm using Tellstick outlets and they don't report their state, so I guess it wouldn't help me. I'd like an option to set everything as it was before the restart.

Will look into the other light things, thanks, still trying to understand how it all stick together, not that obvious

The main concern for me is stability, because if HG locks up, the house goes dark.

[bkenobi]

HG supports many protocols, so some of this depends on what HA system you are using.  I use X10 which does not support polling of module status.  I believe all other systems allow for the controller to request module status.  If you are on X10, you will either have to send a command to put the module in the stat you want or just assume the the controller is correct.  This is primarily an issue when HG restarts, when the power is out for some period of time (depending on when it comes back on), or when local switches actuate the module (X10 does not send a command to the controller when the local switch is used so things are out of sync).

If you want to control lights with motion, I'd recommend one of the Smart Light APPs.  Gene built one in to HG (Smart Lights) and later updated it (I don't recall if it has the same name or something different).  I updated the original version to do a few more things (Advanced Smart Lights).  The primary difference between the two is that Gene's code uses a light sensor to determine day/night whereas min uses the Solar Altitude APP based on latitude/longitude.  If you have a luminescence sensor, you might want to use Gene's code.  I added a chime and an override switch too, so if that's something you are interested in using, it might work out better.

Another way to offset sunrise/sunset is to use the Solar Altitude APP and use one of the other values.  HG has a single value for sunrise/sunset whereas that app has several.

[Devrope]

@bkenobi

I use Tellstick and they behave like X10, no polling. How do you solve the startup issue?

Regaring ASL; where do I find the latest version?

Thanks

[bkenobi]

I don't worry about the state personally.  I know that X10 will be out of sync, so I just send the command even if HG thinks the module is already there.  For example, I have most of my modules controlling exterior lighting.  I use the scheduler to turn all lights off at dawn and at 1030PM even if they might be off to begin with.  I also have some turn on in the morning and off at dawn.  If I turn them on/off locally, HG won't know that.  However, there is no down side to turning off a light that's already off.

In your case, you are trying to use HG for power usage.  This is more complicated when you can't poll for the state.  I have a power meter reader that I have partially incorporated into HG that reads actual power usage.  I can't say how much each module uses, but I'm not really worried about that since lights don't use that much energy compared to a furnace, heat pump, water heater, etc.

As for startup synchronization, there are a couple commands in C# (and probably other languages) that allow you to launch on startup, shutdown, etc.  If you wanted to run a set of commands to resync, that would be a good way.  As I said, I don't personally worry about it, but if it was an attic fan, pool pump, sump pump, or something critical, I would certainly do something.  Then again, I probably wouldn't use this type of a setup for something that could fail in an unsafe manner.

[Devrope]

Thanks, guess I'm trying to get it perfect when it's not really possible.. Better to get something running at all.
And where could I find the latest Advanced Smart Lighting you made?

[bkenobi]

I haven't updated the code in a while.  The most current version is in the thread posted above, but later in the thread.