Tellstick Net XBMC plugin

[henkepenka]

Hello,

I am about to write up a plugin for xbmc and Tellstick Net where you can control the lights automaticly at start, stop, pause, resume, and end event. The settings are made on a website where you create username and password. This username and password should then be used in the plugin settings.

Just now I´m waiting for a public api key from Telldus, and I´m expecting to get it today.

The reason for this thread is to see if someone is willing to help me test the plugin in before I go public with this. Right now the plugin only works with on/off light, but I will implement dimmers, projector screens and curtains aswell.

Answer this thread if you are interested of testing this plugin and I will send you the plugin as a zip file and give you the link to the website.

Best Regards
Henrik

[Nautilus]

Hi, as XBMC user I'd be interested in this kind of plugin. Thus I'm also glad to volunteer to test it. I have Tellstick Net and mainly Nexa controllers (a few others as well)...

[henkepenka]

Hi, as XBMC user I'd be interested in this kind of plugin. Thus I'm also glad to volunteer to test it. I have Tellstick Net and mainly Nexa controllers (a few others as well)...

Thats perfect!

However, I´m still waiting for a public api key from Telldus. I will contact you when I get it.

Best Regards
Henrik

[henkepenka]

Hi, as XBMC user I'd be interested in this kind of plugin. Thus I'm also glad to volunteer to test it. I have Tellstick Net and mainly Nexa controllers (a few others as well)...

Ok, I have got my public key to the api now.

Can you send me an email to henkepenka@gmail.com and I will reply with the zip-file and instructions.

Best Regards
Henrik

[Nautilus]

Hi, as XBMC user I'd be interested in this kind of plugin. Thus I'm also glad to volunteer to test it. I have Tellstick Net and mainly Nexa controllers (a few others as well)...

Ok, I have got my public key to the api now.

Can you send me an email to henkepenka@gmail.com and I will reply with the zip-file and instructions.

Best Regards
Henrik

Thanks Henrik, I will test it latest during the weekend and get back to you here...

[Nautilus]

Hi,

I got it installed yesterday and it worked right away (as soon as I realized I need to go to the registration page from the HTPC running XBMC as well). I checked also this morning that it still works and I don't need to go to the web page again. So at this moment no issues on my setup, the functions I selected are executed consistently. Is there something specific you'd like me to try for further testing?

Not sure if this is doable but one feature request came to my mind right away It would be nice if you could activate a schedule (by giving a start/end time) for when the lights are controlled and when they are not (outside the schedule). This I thought this morning when there was not such a need for the lights to go on for example when pausing / stopping the program. Maybe even sunset / sunrise activated schedule...

In any case, I'd say this is a very nice plugin for any XBMC and Tellstick Net user, delivers just the functionality I was looking for and expected based on your description. Very nice work

[rb33]

Hi,

Is the xbmc plugin for windows? Or is it for linux? Can I test it?

[Nautilus]

Rb33: It's XBMC plugin that works at least on Windows - I'm not sure if XBMC on other platforms requires the plugins also be re-written.

There is one potential "issues" I noticed today when I logged into the service from another computer. Seems that all but one of the settings I've configured have disappeared (i.e. back to default "Nothing"). Only the first device at "movie start" is still on, but it is also "Nothing" for other movie actions. Have I perhaps caused this myself (can it be something to do with logging in from another IP than previously)?

[henkepenka]

I have now been testing the plugin and it seems to work as expected. I have therefore desided to publish it here for you to download.

It all works so that you log on to a website where all your devices are listed. There you can define what should happen for each device when a movie starts, pauses, resumes after pause, stop and shutdown. There are five different events. If you have devices that can be dimmed, you will be able to choose what percentage lamp should light otherwise it's on / off.

On this website you will also choose a username and password, which is then used in the plugin in XBMC.

To reach the settings in XBMC you have to go to "System" - "Setting" - "Add-ons" - "Enabled add-ons" - "Services". There you will find the plugin TellStick Controller. Select it and then select configure. Enter your username and password you selected on the website.

Once this is done it should only be to start a movie and the lights will be dimmed and switched on / off as you chose them to do.

The website for the settings can be found here: http://bit.ly/SMe0pR
Pluginnet, download here: http://bit.ly/QwCOUC

Please send an email to henkepenka@gmail.com if you have problems or find any bugs. Please also contact me if you have suggestions for improvements?

Regards
Henrik

[henkepenka]

Hi,

Is the xbmc plugin for windows? Or is it for linux? Can I test it?

It should work for all systems. It´s tested on windows, at2 and linux... All you need is an internet connection.

Mvh
Henrik

[henkepenka]

Rb33: It's XBMC plugin that works at least on Windows - I'm not sure if XBMC on other platforms requires the plugins also be re-written.

There is one potential "issues" I noticed today when I logged into the service from another computer. Seems that all but one of the settings I've configured have disappeared (i.e. back to default "Nothing"). Only the first device at "movie start" is still on, but it is also "Nothing" for other movie actions. Have I perhaps caused this myself (can it be something to do with logging in from another IP than previously)?

Ok, that sound strange. It should´nt be a problem to switch computer, all the settings should be there. I will investigate this further.

Best Regards
Henrik

[rb33]

Hi, can you send me the code and the instructions so I can try? I'm also interested in adding support for the regular tellstick, have you written the code i Python? In that case I might can helt you out with that part

[Nautilus]

Rb33: It's XBMC plugin that works at least on Windows - I'm not sure if XBMC on other platforms requires the plugins also be re-written.

There is one potential "issues" I noticed today when I logged into the service from another computer. Seems that all but one of the settings I've configured have disappeared (i.e. back to default "Nothing"). Only the first device at "movie start" is still on, but it is also "Nothing" for other movie actions. Have I perhaps caused this myself (can it be something to do with logging in from another IP than previously)?

Ok, that sound strange. It should´nt be a problem to switch computer, all the settings should be there. I will investigate this further.

Best Regards
Henrik

Yes, it is a bit strange - I see you've made some updates (priority, dimming settings), maybe it somehow relates to those? I by the way noticed that the dimming option is not always associated correctly. On some devices that I have configured as non-dimming the percentages are available and then on some that are dimmable there is only on/off options. Have you thought about releasing the sources for the web pages as well? It'd be nice to see what you have done there...

As potential improvement ideas it would be nice if you could set a time when the plugin is "disabled" (i.e. in XBMC of course enabled but it would not perform the any actions). I guess if you have a dedicated Movie room you are pretty much always looking for the same functionality but in my use for example I'd set it off for the when then sun is up. Or better yet, if you would be able to set a few different scenes and when you fire up XBMC or start a movie / tv-show there would be a prompt that which scene you want to choose. Or that you could tie a different scene to a certain time, or to certain content type (e.g. movie vs. tv-show vs. music etc).

Also, I thought it might be nice if you could get a context menu (or assign hotkeys) somewhere in XBMC where you could manually control the lights (i.e. you could control the lights with your remote when in XBMC). This is actually something that maybe could be extended from this project, that you'd be able to control the lights directly from the computer without going to a web page - do you know if there is something available for this already with Tellstick Net?

But these are more just brainstorming / random ideas that came to my mind. I think the current functionality is already excellent and it provides the things that I've been looking for to use with XBMC since I got the Tellstick Net...

[Nautilus]

I by the way noticed that the dimming option is not always associated correctly. On some devices that I have configured as non-dimming the percentages are available and then on some that are dimmable there is only on/off options.

Hi,

today I noticed that these devices with incorrect "dimming association" (i.e. device not dimmable but shows as dimmable in plugin settings page) do not work. Before this change it was working great. The device in question is self learning on/off by Nexa (EYCR-2300).

[henkepenka]

Hi,

I´m about to launch a huge update to the XBMC Plugin.

In this release you must create scenarios (Movie, TV, TV-Show and so on). When you start XBMC you get a dialogbox where you choose scenario.

I have rebuild the website totally, so I have a new database structure. Therefore you have to login to the webpage and create scenarios and what should be happening with your lightning.

http://www.googleandroid.se/xbmc/tellstick/

If you have any question, don´t hesitate to contact me here or send an email to: henkepenka@gmail.com.

I would be happy to hear your reactions!

Best Regards
Henrik