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Topic:
RTI status polling
This thread has 25 replies. Displaying posts 1 through 15.
Post 1 made on Friday September 12, 2014 at 12:39
aag
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Is it possible to have a computer polling the status of the various outputs of an XP-6 controller? The idea is to render the home automation system aware of what goes on in the home theater, so that it can tune the settings of appliances that cannot be hooked directly to the RTI.

I was therefore wondering if the states of the XP-6 ports can be interrogated by SNMP or any other protocol. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated!
Post 2 made on Saturday September 13, 2014 at 13:20
ralliart329
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You could send IP strings to the PC to help track what's happening, you could use relays on processor to PC to see what's happening, send rs232 to PC several ways to do this. Guess need more specific
OP | Post 3 made on Sunday September 14, 2014 at 15:50
aag
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Dear Ralliart, thank you for taking the time to help me. I need to feed the status into a server system called IP-Symcon (www.ip-symcon.de) which is based on PHP and is therefore very easily extensible. Hence anything that can be sent over an Ethernet cable (e.g. TCP/IP, UDP datagrams, or SNMP polls) can be digested by the server.

It is unclear to me, however, how I can get the XP-6 to send this kind of signals to a TCP/IP host. What would you advise to do?
Post 4 made on Tuesday September 16, 2014 at 10:06
ralliart329
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Ok, their is a driver called two way strings. This allows you to create custom IP strings to be sent to a specific IP address. It also allows you to be able to list strings for the XP processor to listen for and respond to or publish two way feedback on a remote based off of. The driver can be used to do this IP or rs232. Hope that helps, driver on Rti dealer site listed as two way strings.
OP | Post 5 made on Wednesday September 17, 2014 at 06:47
aag
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Thank you very much, truly appreciated. I am just an enthusiastic customer, not a dealer, hence I cannot access the RTI site. I have now asked the dealer who installed the system at my place, and he will email the two-way driver to me.

Frankly, it's a major pain that RTI is so territorial about driver support. When I bought the system I was told that I could tweak it to my liking, but now it turns out that for every little thing I have to ask a local dealer - even if my programming skills are superior to his.

Fortunately, the help by RemoteCentral members is great. But I would have opted for a different system if these complications had been clear to me.
Post 6 made on Thursday September 18, 2014 at 17:18
ralliart329
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That's shame because in reality RTI makes all dealers sign agreement to not provide software to clients. He should have been up front with you about this and maybe chose a different system. Also if he is good with RTi, making it so you could customize channel icons, lighting scenes, and basic macros right from the remote is doable.
OP | Post 7 made on Friday September 19, 2014 at 06:36
aag
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Dear Ralliart, how expensive is it to register with RTi as a dealer? I presume that one would have to go through some online courses, pay them some royalties, etc., all of which may be painful but less so than ditching the system and installing something completely different. My intention is not to start selling audiovisual control systems (I am a medical doctor by profession, and I am entirely happy with my career), but simply to find a way to do the things that I want with the hardware that I have legally purchased...
Post 8 made on Friday September 19, 2014 at 17:05
Total Control Remotes
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On September 17, 2014 at 06:47, aag said...
Thank you very much, truly appreciated. I am just an enthusiastic customer, not a dealer, hence I cannot access the RTI site. I have now asked the dealer who installed the system at my place, and he will email the two-way driver to me.

Frankly, it's a major pain that RTI is so territorial about driver support. When I bought the system I was told that I could tweak it to my liking, but now it turns out that for every little thing I have to ask a local dealer - even if my programming skills are superior to his.

Fortunately, the help by RemoteCentral members is great. But I would have opted for a different system if these complications had been clear to me.

The dealer who told you that tweaking the system is something you can do sounds like he was a hack. Any RTI dealer knows that software dissemination is not something that should be done under an circumstances. There are no royalty payments to become an RTI dealer. However, a proper business license related to the industry, tax ID and supplier account is needed.

After getting information like that from your dealer, it is certainly understandable that your programming skills are superior to his. Also, if you had had pursued another option, like C4, Elan, Crestron, AMX, Bitwise (list goes on) you would be in the same exact position.
OP | Post 9 made on Sunday September 21, 2014 at 02:31
aag
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Thank you for your reply, which is very useful for me. I hadn't realized that all these companies implement the policy of castrating their customers, treating them like idiots, and preventing them from servicing their systems by themselves.

Before RTi, I had used Prontos for 15 years, and I programmed everything myself - setting up a complex and well-functioning system and enjoying the full control that I had over it. Everything worked as I wanted it to work. The only reason why I have moved away from Pronto is that Philips has discontinued its development.

I do not appreciate being patronized by RTi - but I guess that legally there is little I can do about that. Come to think of it, I may consider exploring this issue with an attorney though. Maybe it's not so clear whether RTi's policy of not sharing the software would stand a legal challenge.

Matter of fact, I do have a licensed business and a tax ID. It's a medical practice though :-) . We'll see whether I can make it plausible to RTi that I treat patients and will also sell AV equipment...
Post 10 made on Sunday September 21, 2014 at 21:34
ralliart329
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Ummmmm.... First RTI asks for no royalties. Any AV company who takes a free course and signs the contract stating they won't sell under retail and won't share the software basically becomes a dealer.

As for not sharing software being a legal issue and how they just can't do that... So should I be able to go out and my all my own medications without a prescription just because I know how to administer them? No!

Trust me many things like this or even the dealer having to share a clients program with them for a system they bought has all been taken to court. RTi, crestron, AMX, savant, élan and dozens of others have every right to make their software available only to the dealers who install their products and not to the client who uses the programmed product. Sorry
OP | Post 11 made on Monday September 22, 2014 at 06:36
aag
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I do miss my Pronto though. Those who needed a system integrator's help could have it, while the DYI guys could have their way as well. It's really a shame that Philips has discontinued it!
Post 12 made on Monday September 22, 2014 at 18:48
Oz AVI
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On September 21, 2014 at 02:31, aag said...
I guess that legally there is little I can do about that. Come to think of it, I may consider exploring this issue with an attorney though. Maybe it's not so clear whether RTi's policy of not sharing the software would stand a legal challenge.



If you continue to think about it a little more, you'll probably dismiss the idea of using an attorney and Do It Yourself because you will think that you know more than they do!
OP | Post 13 made on Tuesday September 23, 2014 at 07:15
aag
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Point duly noted. I will stop thinking - nothing good has ever come out of it anyway. According to Woody Allen, the brain is just "the second most-important organ".

I finally got my two-way driver, so I may be able to set things up the way I wanted. The idea is to set a flag on my home-automation server to indicate that the AV system is running. The server (an Arch Linux virtual box) controls the lights with a Python script, which is in turn is triggered by motion detectors. In essence, I want to prevent the lights from coming up while we are watching the movies. Call me presumptuous, but I suspect that accomplishing this task does not require the skills of Albert Einstein.

Last edited by aag on September 23, 2014 07:25.
Post 14 made on Monday October 6, 2014 at 09:33
Total Control Remotes
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Call me presumptuous, but I suspect that accomplishing this task does not require the skills of Albert Einstein. |

If Mr. Einstein is an authorized RTI dealer, then the answer to that is yes, it does.
OP | Post 15 made on Saturday October 25, 2014 at 02:21
aag
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57
Anyway, I resolved my issue - without the help of any Nobel Prize winners.

The RTi uses the 2-way driver to broadcast a little UDP string "RtiSystemOn" to the LAN. The string is picked up by the IPS server and triggers the following PHP script preventing the movement-triggered lights from going on whenever the AV system is running. When the system switches off, the string "RtiSystemOff" is broadcast, which resets the flag and reactivates the movement triggers.

<?
// wenn das Skript von einer RegisterVariable-Instanz aus aufgerufen worden ist
if ($_IPS['SENDER'] == "RegisterVariable")
{
    // bereits im Puffer der Instanz vorhandene Daten in $data kopieren
    $data  = RegVar_GetBuffer($_IPS['INSTANCE']);
    // neu empfangene Daten an $data anhängen
    $data .= $_IPS['VALUE'];

    // wenn das Trennzeichen ; in $data gefunden worden ist
    if (strpos($data, ';'))
    {
        // $data in durch ; separierte Datensätze zerlegen
        $datasets = explode(';', $data);

        // alle nicht durch ; terminierten Datensätze ausgeben
        for ($i = 0; $i < count($datasets) - 1; $i++)
        {
            echo "empfangener Datensatz: ".$datasets[$i]."\n";
            switch ($datasets[$i]) {
                      case "RtiSystemOn":
                            SwitchOffLights;
                         setvalue (21140 /*[ProjectorNiche\RtiSystemOnOffState]*/,True);
                         break;
                   case "RtiSystemOff":
                         setvalue (21140 /*[ProjectorNiche\RtiSystemOnOffState]*/,False);
                         break;
                   case 2:
                         echo "i=2";
                         break;
                }
        }

        // $data auf den Inhalt des letzten (unvollständigen) Datensatzes setzen
        $data = $datasets[count($datasets) - 1];
    }

    // Inhalt von $data im Puffer der RegisterVariable-Instanz speichern
    RegVar_SetBuffer($_IPS['INSTANCE'], $data);
}

#---------------------------------------------
function SwitchOffLights($SchalterID)
    {
    ENO_DimSet( 18516 /*[EnOcean Aktoren\EltakoDimmaktorEingang]*/ , 0); //Dimmer Eingang setzen
   IPS_sleep(400);
    ENO_SwitchMode (58057 /*[EnOcean Aktoren\EltakoSchaltaktorTreppe - in Gruempelchammer]*/ , false);
   IPS_sleep(400);
    //ENO_SwitchMode (58057 /*[EnOcean Aktoren\EltakoSchaltaktorTreppe - in Gruempelchammer]*/ , false);
   //IPS_sleep(400);
    //ENO_DimSet( 18516 /*[EnOcean Aktoren\EltakoDimmaktorEingang]*/ , 0); //Dimmer Eingang setzen
   //IPS_sleep(400);
    ENO_SwitchMode (33468 /*[EnOcean Aktoren\BlaueDeckenlampeSchalter]*/ , false);
    echo "function SwitchOffLights executed";
    }

?>

 
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