Re: Re: xAP control of X10 Extended commands via Homeseer

[Kevin Hawkins <lists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Jon,

I have both plugins installed too - a couple of people have
previously mentioned instability issues but most we have tracked down to
another plugins interaction - many people have written plugins that
use/abuse HomeSeers X10 legacy device modelling to try and achieve other
functionality - and there were some V1 carryovers too.   There were some
issues with a PIR plugin too - (DooMotion from memory) where the
constant updating was interacting - we were looking at it but the trial
version expired and we never got a licence to debug further.  There are
device updates that reflect in teh HS interface and others that are not
displayed too (eg updating an existing value with the same value).  Do
try the two plugins and see if one works better for you.

Re the bucketloads of xAP messages.  I am aware that your HS install
has squillions of devices - (Surely you must have run out of device
codes haven't you ??) and if you xAP enable these then each time they
change state they will send a xAP message, and J's plugin xAP enables
them by default which is far from ideal for you.   Some devices can
update very frequently - eg perhaps electric consumption, temperatures
etc Also periodically (every 10 mins I think) they will send an 'info'
xAP message.  If you were to 'wildcard' query them all from xAP they
would all respond too.   I would recommend you to disable xAP on all
devices except those that you intend to monitor or control via xAP.  Get
the message volume down and then start switching things on as needed .
Devices created from xAP (rather than native HS devices) will always
need to be enabled though or you will lose control of them.

xAP network traffic is relatively insignificant as it is just one
UDP packet per message (no TCP overhead) so having lots of messages
(several hundred per minute) isn't an issue. However the devices that
process these messages have to be able to handle the volume in realtime
or risk missing something.  The speed of a PC comes into play here, as
well as other running applications, inparticular xAP ones as they each
then process any incoming messages at an identical  time. . Are you
running Viewer on the same PC as HS ?    Running on a separate fast PC
will improve things here . The current Viewer can struggle when it has
scrolling lines to display in high traffic  - a  way around this is to
select a little used device in the LH tree and then the scrolling is
reduced , now when you switch back to all devices (or better still just
you focus device)  it will redraw its list.

Actually there is a new release of Viewer which is much much faster
and it's landing literally any day now. So that issue will go away .
There is a new hub too alongside the new xFX release already posted.
The main feature here (aside from speed) is the support for longer
UID's. You will notice that the HS plugin actually subdivides itself
into several virtual devices, each with their own heartbeats etc ,
based on device code . This wouldn't have been  necessary if longer
UID's had been available then.  Much neater.

K



Jon wrote:
> Kevin,
>
> Sorry, I should have answered your first post better.
>
> I do also have Michaels xAP plugin installed (but disabled)  and tried
> it before downloading James offering.
>
> I was hoping to support a home grown plugin first!  That said, I did
see
> a post somewhere on the HS message board about xAP conduit stability
> issues (I cannot find it ATM) and wanting to change to Michaels
plugin.
>
> With conduit, I am seeing so many xAP messages, probably due to my 486
> devices being constantly updated that the xAP viewer cannot cope at
> times. As usual, I'm probably pushing things to their limit.
>
> I'll wait until James replies before going down a different route.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jon
>
>
> --- In xap_automation@xxxxxxx, Kevin Hawkins <lists@...> wrote:
>
>> HI Jon - sounds ominous ... HS runs for me pretty much 24/7 but
>> maybe you're using an aspect of the xAP plugin that I'm not. There
is
>> also Michaels xAP plugin for HS - a very different UI but he uses
it a
>> lot and it fully supports BSC.
>>
>> K
>>
>> Jon wrote:
>>
>>> Hi James,
>>>
>>> Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, things are going from bad
to
>>>
> worse
>
>>> at the moment.
>>>
>>> For some reason, Homeseer crashed totally in the night and
refused
>>>
> to
>
>>> restart getting stuck with a VB.NET script exception:
>>>
>>> 07/05/2007 04:03:59 ~!~Warning~!~VB.Net script exception,
>>>
> re-starting:
>
>>> Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
>>>
>>> As soon as I remove hspi_xAP2.ocx from the root of Homeseer
and
>>>
> restart,
>
>>> the problem disappears. This is totally reproducible. If I
>>>
> re-install
>
>>> the plugin, restart Homeseer (as many times as you like) and
this
>>>
> error
>
>>> occurs. Remove the ocx and the problem is cleared.
>>>
>>> Until this is sorted, I am able to go any further.
>>>
>>> FYI, I was using your last option by placing the X10 app in
the X10
>>> target field. If as you say uses the old x10-request schema
then I
>>> assume this is the reason why extended does not work.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>>
>>> Jon
>>>
>>>
>
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