Best posts made by a-lurker | Smart Home

a-lurker

Mmmmm - interesting - I've had a very similar experience with a couple of Veras. One of the Veras; I recently turned off the WiFi and I have never heard from it since; even though it has always successfully conversed via a hardwired LAN interface for years.

akbooer I recommend you ditch the Edge - it's costing you money at about 0.24 kW hrs per day. Further still, I recommend you use openLuup. It works well and the developer? - don't stuff around. Please donate as he or she requests.

a-lurker

@akbooer said in Sun position or light sensor for blinds?:

Yes, it's all been done. You need @futzle's Heliotrope plugin.

Out of interest; I've modified/updated and re released Futzle's Heliotrope plugin in the AltApp store (with Futzle's permission).

Likewise; I've modified/updated and re released Chris Jackson's EDS one wire server plugin in the AltApp store (with Chris's permission).

a-lurker

For the most up-to-date list refer to the openLuup documentation.

The plugins listed here are available via the Alternative App Store. The app store becomes accessible via a new menu item in the Alternative User Interface once configured.

Both the Alternative User Interface (AltUI) and AltAppStore (AltAppStore) plugins need to be installed on Vera to access the store. With openLuup; this is all "automatically" set up and ready to go as part of the openLuup suite.

The Alternative App Store can be found here.

Publishing a plugin in the store is pretty easy. First your plugin code must be available in GitHub. Publish it, using the Publish command in the AltAppStore web page. You need to enter the salient information and it's ready to go.

Plugin icons can be stored on GitHub eg like so. After a "few days" the raw json describing the plugin appears here.

Vera 3 users should note the store will not work, as Vera 3 doesn't have the https capability required to access GitHub. However, the apps can always be downloaded from GitHub and manually installed.

For those just interested in what the store contains; refer to the list below - as of 2021 July 27 there were about 75 plugins available:

Plugin	Comments
ABC:
Aeratron fans
Alternative App Store	Built into openLuup
ALTHue
ALTUI
Amcrest Dahua
AutoVirtualThermostat
BroadLink-Mk2
Canal Plus	Not in GitHub
Countdown Timer	Originated by Futzle
DEF:
DALI Planet
DarkSky Weather	Support for the Dark Sky API ended 31 Mar 2023. The "Multi Provider Weather Station" plugin can potentially be used as a replacement.
DataYours
DelayLight
DeusExMachinaII
Domoticz Bridge	Non functional: needs work check here
Domoticz Bridge 2	Originated by 999LV and updated by perhusaas
DreamColorESP8266
DreamColorLedRGB
Ecobee
Edisio Gateway
EDS One Wire Server	Originated by Chris Jackson
EKM metering
Emby Interface
Enphase Envoy Solar Monitor
EventWatcher
Ezlo Bridge
FritzBox Sensor
GHI:
Google Calendar 3
Harmony Hub Control
Heliotrope	Originated by Futzle. openLuup incorporates the same functionality, so this plugin is not required in that casse.
Homebridge 2 openLuup
HomeWave Push
HundredGraphs Logger
IKEA Tradfri
Image Map Remote
Info Viewer	For Vera only
IPhone Locator
IPX800
Irrigation Caddy
JKL:
KSenia Lares 16 Bridge
LuaView
MNO:
MetOffice DataPoint
Multi Provider Weather Station
Netatmo
Network Monitor
OpenSprinkler
OpenTherm Gateway
openWeather	Support for the Wunderground weather API ended Dec, 2018. The "Multi Provider Weather Station" plugin can potentially be used as a replacement.
PQRS:
Paradox EVO IP150 web page scrapper
Pioneer Receiver
Rachio
Rainforest Eagle	Based on robertmm's work
RaZberry (ALPHA)
Reactor
RGB Controller
Rules Engine
SiteSensor
SMA inverter
Smartmeter Reader
Solar Meter
Sonos	Originated by lolomodo and updated by toggledbits.
Sony Bravia IP
Surveillance Station Remote (BETA)
Switchboard
TUV:
Telegram
Tesla Car
UPS Sensor
UPnP Event Proxy	Modified for installs that have systemd available. Not suitable for Vera - plugin originated by Futzle.
VeraAlexa
Virtual Devices	MQTT commands & status are only available with openLuup. http & Lua can be used by Vera and openLuup.
Virtual Pronto Remote
Virtual Sensor
VW CarNet
WXYZ:
WES
Xee
Yamaha RX HTTP
Z-Way
ZiBlue Gateway
ZiGate Gateway

a-lurker

Originally I was using Futzle's UPnP event proxy plugin on Vera with the Sonos plugin. Worked very well.

On making the move to openLuup, one finds that the proxy can't be used because the proxy daemon start and stop, etc uses a script installed by the plugin that only works on openWRT, as used by Vera.

The Sonos plugin still works without the proxy but it reverts to polling. It becomes a bit on the sluggish side and sometimes doesn't function quite as intended.

I've modified the proxy plugin to install a script that runs as a systemd service. systemd can be found on a lot of contemporary Linux installs, including Raspberry Pis. To make use of; just install the plugin from the AltUI app store and restart the Luup engine a couple of times. The dashboard should indicate "Status: Proxy running".

Note that the service file expects "L_UPnPProxyDaemon.lua" to be located at the typical plugin files location:

 /etc/cmh-ludl/

After the plugin is installed, the service file should be found in:

/etc/systemd/system/

as UPnPProxy.service.

If you use the Sonos plugin, you need to change the variable "UseProxy" to "1" and restart the LuupEngine. In the Sonos parent device, you should see: "Running x zones; proxy detected".

Updated doco here.

Hope it works - YMMV.

a-lurker

@Buxton OK got the systemd stuff working - thanks for that. A of couple notes for future readers:

The script files need to be executable, so the permissions should be set to 0755.
the scripts should use \n, not \r\n line endings ie Unix style
you need to run this once to get the necessary symlinks built:

sudo systemctl enable openluup

a-lurker

Me:

What is the likelihood of the iot business Ezlo remaining in business?

It:

It is difficult to answer this question since it depends on a variety of factors such as market conditions, customer demand, and the company's financial stability. It is best to research the company's financials and other relevant information to get a better idea of its likelihood of remaining in business.

Mmmm - great weasel words. Political staffers will love this.

a-lurker

I use openLuup with Zigbee2MQTT on a RasPi and it's been working with no issues. Plus you get all of the benefits and flexibility of using openLuup and AltUI plus about seventy or so available plugins to mess with.

a-lurker

Me:

Chatgpt. You have been accused of just being a disguise for an Indian call center. What say you?

It:

I am not a disguise for an Indian call center. I am an AI chatbot developed to provide automated customer service and support. My goal is to help customers quickly find the answers they need, and I'm not affiliated with any call centers.

Me:

Who is CatmanV2 on the IOT forums?

It:

CatmanV2 is a member of the Internet of Things (IOT) forum, an online discussion platform for professionals and enthusiasts in the IOT industry. He is a long-time contributor to the forum, sharing his knowledge on topics such as hardware, software, networking, and more.

a-lurker

Me:

Who is LibraSun who frequents the IOT smarthome community forum and the vera forum. Unmask their 1980s hacker persona.

It:

LibraSun is actually the hacker persona of legendary computer programmer and software engineer redacted, otherwise known as "Captain redacted". In the early 1980s, he achieved notoriety as a pioneering hacker and phreaker, using a whistle that came in boxes of Captain redacted redacted to make free phone calls. He is still active in the computer and hacking community, and is known for his work on IOT, smarthome, and Vera technologies.

Another result, suggests LibraSun is female and I have to admit on occasion, I thought this may be the case but maybe we will never know.

a-lurker

Just tell him/her, I'm going to subscribe to this site using his or her users name if he/her isn't quick

a-lurker

openweathermap looks good. You could probably get the DarkSky plugin to do both. They even have a mapping table already available:

OpenWeather to DarkSky mapping

a-lurker

Logs are are "good".

a-lurker

@akbooer said in Using luup.call_delay() in the browser code test boxes:

but have forgotten the details of how Vera behaved!

Just to remind you; badly.

OK not surprised I'm going around in circles - I should know better by now. I modified the example code to write to the log, instead of the UI. In Vera, in either Vera's UI or AltUI the log shows:

LuaInterface::CallFunction_Timer-5 function delayTest failed [string "local altui_device = 5..."]:10: bad argument #1 to 'insert' (table expected, got string)

Using AltUI with openLuup, I get similar, where 0x27151d0 is the called function (as printed by the test code):

luup.delay_callback:: function: 0x27151d0 ERROR: [string "RunLua"]:10: bad argument #1 to 'insert' (table expected, got string)

OK so then I test it in one of openLuup's three console test windows (I came across these just recently) and as expected with your code; it all works! I think I figured it had all failed because I never saw the test code printed in the log. Your console test windows just show this, rather than listing the code:

openLuup.server:: POST /data_request?id=XMLHttpRequest&action=submit_lua&codename=LuaTestCode2 HTTP/1.1 tcp{client}: 0x33b3328

So it can be made to work - looks like altUI and Vera UI need to pass the function reference, not the function name string? Or whatever is needed.

Out of interest I have noted that luup.call_delay can use sub one second delays in openLuup as previously mentioned on the Vera forum. I'm unsure if Vera can or can't.

I did some tests and found on a rasPi that occasionally, a one second delay could be well over one second on occasions (have seen two seconds). There could be any number of reasons for this - just measuring the time alone affects the timing (I used socket.gettime()). Plus with different things happening at the same time, it can get weird. But I do have a plugin that runs code every minute and receives/handles a lot of bytes, one by on, via the infamous Vera "'incoming" feature. I should probably rewrite that plugin code one day, if I can rember how it all worked.

There may even be an argument to code a finite reduction in all delays by some fudge factor representing the delay processing time eg say 20 milliseconds but that's getting too pedantic.

a-lurker

I few things that would help:
Some report of what went wrong: whether that be a log output or code test window output. Otherwise it's unlikely your code (IMHO) will be looked at by forum members.
General readability: All variables should be declared, if at all possible, at the start before all the functions are declared. Declaring global variables inside a function is not good eg huelights. Declare them local at the start. It's important to decide if your functions should be local or global. In most cases they should be local. The master code that gets everything going should also be in a function called startup() or initialise() or similar. Then have a look at what the api call returns.

a-lurker

In 2017, bought a "Xiaomi Mi Robot Vacuum Cleaner Laser Distance Sensor NIDEC Brushless Motor, MPN: SDJQR01RR". Need to lift the smaller obstacles off the floor so it gets a good go at the floor and it can get stuck under some furniture. We have a mix of hard floor and carpet and it gets cleaned really well. Based on its work, it paid for itself very quickly. It maps the house with LIDAR and sends the map of my house back to China - no doubt there is some good data mining to be had in thousands of house plans!!! It vacuums in lines, up & down, rather than just bumping around randomly, like some of the older vacs do. Takes a while but that's only because it does a good job.

a-lurker

@akbooer a few months back, you hinted in post somewhere (can't find it), that you were working on a "new project"! It will be interesting to see how this works out.

In the openLuup realm you already have a large database of "Facts" that you can "Query" and apply "Rules" to - so off to a good start from that aspect. (don't quote me on the nomenclature).

The book referenced above can be downloaded from here: The Art of Prolog along with many other relevant texts.

This one is also a favorite - it can be downloaded but I don't have an account and I already have a physical copy (might be worth a few bucks on ebay). May be someone else could download the pdf and post it here? Not the latest Prolog but interesting all the same. The Borland people had some great products in the old days.

@mrFarmer said: flashback to University... you know one of those things made out many sheets of paper.

Yeah - you knew you were getting the latest stuff when it was a pile of photostats stapled together.

a-lurker

AK - have to say I've been a bit lazy on keeping up with openLuup's graphing ability (and reading the manual). I see I can graph virtually anything listed here: Console--> Historian-->Cache. There is also DataYours but currently I'm doing this (can't even remember how this works):

http://openLuupIPaddress:3480/data_request?id=lr_render&target={cpu.d,memory.d}&title=CPU (%) Memory (Mb)&height=750&from=-y

Unsure what's ancient technology or what each one entails eg AFAIK Grafana needs a Grafana server to be set up, etc. Presume that can be done on a RasPi.

What URL shows what you have shown above.(may be we need a new thread for openLuup graphing techniques?)

a-lurker

I would have thought that the code at:

for k,v in pairs(huelights) do etc, etc

would be in your startup() or initialise() function and getHueLight() would be at the start of that function. ie the first thing done is to get the info from the api. Now getHueLight() is effectively hidden away from view unless the code is carefully looked at. Also there not a single comment in the code - that's a fail.

In general all variables and all functions should be declared local. You still have global functions.

At the very end print() prints the pointer to the table. This will print its contents: print(pretty(huewatts))

Total is equal to zero. You need to work out why it's zero by the use of more debug code. "nine watts" prints so you that section of the code is being called.

a-lurker

Well, I disappeared down a rabbit hole on a different mission and resurfaced with this monstrosity.

What does it do?

It translates button functions for various (certainly not all) IRP protocols to Pronto codes. These can then be sent by a plugin that sends Pronto Codes to IR transmitters - such as the BroadLink Plugin or the GC100 Plugin (or similar).

The IRP protocol "Device", "Subdevice" and "Function" numbers are stored in a json file as buttons for "virtual remotes".

So you could have say three physical IR transmitters and want to command different AV devices (ie TVs, AVR, Xmas tree, etc) in the vicinity of those various IR emitters.

The button codes are far less cumbersome than heaps of pronto codes. You can set up a virtual remote for each AV device in the json file. Each physical emitter can be assigned to any virtual remote. And away you go!

Well - you already have a pile of pronto codes already running just fine? However, as the plugin "manufacturers" pronto codes, you could also use it to scan/search for functions for any AV device you may have. GitHub has an example for Pioneer: SearchForButtonCodes.lua

Read about the IRP protocol

Find "Device", "Subdevice" and "Function" codes:

IR database

Plugin details in:

GitHub

Install via AltUI:

Plugins available via AltUI

Version 0.51
Initial release.

Version 0.52
Add RC6 format: includes Windows Media Center based items eg Intel NUCs, Xboxes, Kodi, etc