Plugins, usb and serial control - help please

General HouseBot discussion. Any issues that don't fit into any of the other topics belong here.
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shoei600
Member
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Mar 19, 2006 2:26 pm
Location: London, UK

Plugins, usb and serial control - help please

Post by shoei600 »

Hi all,
I feel I may be missing someting obvious, that everybody else has read a document that I can't find.
I also have a CM11A on usb too, and would like to try the powerline plugin for it. Please tell me where I could download it along with lots of other plugins that could be useful?

I also want to control devices via rs232, but everytime I configure a generic device and add properties, it doesn't show in my device list and I can't find a way to get it in. Also how do I then create a hardware interface to allow it to communicate on com2? I am only provided with three options. (Ocelot, CM11A and Modem/Phone status)

Scripts - I do a little programming but I am not familier with VB scripts, does anybody have any housebot specific guidlines that would allow me to make the leap? Do I need to use scripts to send specific strings instead of the generic serial device?

My apologies if these question are obvious to most but I'm going around in circles fast.
Many thanks in advance.
Richard Naninck
HouseBot Guru Extraordinaire
Posts: 1121
Joined: Tue Sep 28, 2004 7:49 am
Location: The Netherlands

Post by Richard Naninck »

You have lots of questions. I guess the first thing to do is get the basics running.

Did you select the Generic Serial Device when installing HouseBot. If not, consider re-installing HB to select this feature. In the help directory of HB, you can find different help files on these subjects.

In the scripts section of this forum, you can find many examples to get you going. My ELK M1, Receiver and Plasma scripts all handle the generic serial device and should give you good examples on how to set it up.

I guess the CM11A should be the same as a CM11A using USB. In the hardware device list you just need to point it to the correct COM port. There is not more you can do. I have a serial CM11A, so I may be wrong here.

COM ports are set in the hardware device list. The bad thing about USB is that when you unplug it and replug it again, it may take another COM port. If so, your HB Server is searching for the wrong COM port and will produce errors on start up.

Hope this helps a bit. If you get the basics to work, your other questions can be answered more easy!
shoei600
Member
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Mar 19, 2006 2:26 pm
Location: London, UK

Post by shoei600 »

Hi Richard,
Thanks for coming back.
I had installed the generic serial device, but I have since re-installed Housebot and it has now offered me a generic serial hardware element. I understand it from here and I think this will just about allow me to do all that I need for now.
I had bought a usb firecraker x10 rf interface only to find its not supported in Housebot. Searching the forums somebody had suggested trying the Powerline usb, but this does not work either. The radio buttons just will not allow the user to enable the device, even though the firecracker works with its own software.
Kind regards and many thanks.
James.
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