Thinking Home Community

A handful of interested people are now testing Thinking Home v2.2.

The new features include:

1-Wire
Device Status
Searchable Gadget Guide
Schedule Sets

In addition to X-10 and INSTEON, 1-Wire devices are now supported. These include temperature sensors, switches and counters. They don't use A/C wiring or RF; they have their own cable. Much of the hardware is ready to plug-in and use. There are also many offerings for the tech hobbyists.

So far, device status has been fairly limited. The CM-11 controller info window has shown what the controller knows about devices on its house code. Status is now tracked much more thoroughly and can be useful in web pages, voice commands and other ways. "What is the temperature of the water heater?" -> "The temperature of the water heater is 120."

The Gadget Guide grew by a couple of dozen models, just from the 1-Wire additions. To help find something quickly, type a little of the name or part number and the list quickly filters down to what you want.

Schedule Sets enable you to have one schedule for normal use, another for your favorite holiday and yet another for vacation. One click on the popup menu and the whole thing is swapped out.

We're listening.

Have been exercising TH 2.2b11. The "Store Schedule" under "Controller" appears to be what I would want. Again the downside is problems under the "Installed Hardware" where I get numerous "Failed to store schedule...." followed by "Error -48".

I watch the "console log" and the "TH Log" while I work the keys to see relationships. Doing a minor tinkering with an event in the "Schedules" window sure generates console log output.

I sure would be nice to be able to confirm what my CP290 is actually holding at any one time.

My history .... please indulge me ... I seem to always relish a story:


CP290

I have been using X10 and a CP290, purchased in 1986 from Smarthome. I originally used Powerhouse on a original 128K Mac (upgraded to 2MG memory, hung on a hard drive and running system 7). Powerhouse was upgraded and renamed Mousehouse (by swingsoftware.com, later mousehouse.net) and I found it did the job; but, became obsolete as the Mac OS migrated from OS 7 to bigger and better things. The 128K Mac was replaced by a MAC II vx, the last of the 24-bit/32-bit machines; that was upstarted by a Mac II 7500 and OS 9. We kept the older ones around for games the kids loved and, of course, Mousehouse, working on the lighting control. (Mousehouse V 2.0 is now listed on http://www.mousehouse.net, advertised in their manual as for OS 7 or 8.) The most difficult part was the Rube Goldberg serial connector arrangement between CP290 and what ever Mac was being used.

Mousehouse had the ability to upload the contents of the CP290, some way, so that it was logically readable and printable. This way there was no mistake on exactly what was stored in its innards.

By accident I came across a reference to Thinking Home and started with v 1.1.7. This was a good replacement for Mousehouse as I didn't need to keep OS 9 active. What I loved about Thinking Home was a very responsive Bruce Lawton, who took a lot of time to coach me through understanding how things work. What patience!

End of history:

Displaying the contents of the CP290 would bring joy to my heart and eternal gratefulness ... at least until the CP290 goes down the road.

Does the "Store Schedule" under "Controller" force the entire schedule to load? For the short time it seems to be working I suspect it doesn't. I was under the impression the CP290 had a more paced transfer rate. The old serial transfer rate for the older machines was very slow....something like a teletype machine. I am not positive...just stuff I vaguely remember. Jamming at higher speeds caused transfer problems.

Correction please!

It kicks off the same sequence as the automatic storage or the manual Try Again button. In each case, it could be hindered by communications problems. A buggy serial driver, Network prefs sniffing the port, third party apps opening the serial port at the same time, and excessive X-10 traffic observed during the storing process are just some of the things that can interfere.

FWIW, the first thing in storing the CP-290 is to clear the memory. Since there is no command to do this, we change and restore the house code prior to storing events. This clears everything first and results in a reliable schedule.

_________________
Bruce Lawton
Thinking Home Guru
Always Thinking, Inc.
http://www.alwaysthinking.com

I assume you are using house code "M", as that occasionally appears in the TH log.

Chaos, military style:

1. I unplugged the CP290 and remove the battery overnight. Using my G4 desk top with 10.4.11, I could not get v 2.2b11 to do anything with the cold turkey CP290. The correct house code never got loaded. I started up v 1.1.7, not messing with any USB connections. It loaded the CP290 straight away. Worked as intended. It does take time to do so ... perhaps 45 seconds. I also realized that v 1.1.7 had the ability to transfer from the CP290 back to a new G4 1.1.7 file. Worked perfectly, transferring in about same time as the G4 to the CP290. I printed this file (file:CP290 1.1.7).

2. I harped this wish earlier for v 2.

3. Not messing with any USB connections, I cancelled 1.1.7 and brought back 2.2b11. I kept getting numerous "The controller failed to respond", "Failed to store schedule....", and "Error -48". However for a short spurt the progress wheel spun, indicating something was trying to get to the CP290.

4. I printed out the "Schedule" window. Not messing with any USB connections, I cancelled 2.2b11 and brought back 1.1.7. I transferred the contents of the CP290 to a new 1.1.7 window. I printed this (file:CP290 2.2b11).

5. Printing out the "Schedule" window, prints out the events as they are apparently stored in the internal data base. This may not be in the same ordered as shown in "Schedule" window, if the events have been sorted. There were 38 events printed which agreed with the count in the "Schedule" window.

6. The printout of the 1.1.7 new window (file:CP290 2.2b11) did not have any of the events that were loaded by the 1.1.7 earlier. All events shown came from 2.2b11. Surprise! This is what should be expected. Thus, the very fast short spurt of the progress wheel pushed the contents of the 2.2b11 onto the CP290.

7. However, only 32 events were in the CP290 (file:CP290 2.2b11) instead of the expected 38 events. I was able to determine that the missing six events where the first six events stored in the 2.2b11 data base, by their positions in the "Schedule" printout.

8. From this one-time experiment I conclude 2.2.b11 is trying its best to load the CP290. The CP290 was fed the data too fast at the start, or wasn't quite ready to receive it, or I have no idea what happened.

tealeaf

I have been using the CP-290 for nearly as long or as long as you. Fine tool in its day, but IMO time to kiss it goodbye. I just did, got the Activehome, and am delighted. This software, of course, helps.

If you keep the 290 what I was doing was just using one of my old Macs (which like you I have kept around, although not all of them) as a dedicated controller for the 290. Much simpler. I never found a reliable connecter for the 290 under OS X. Out of curiosity, when you say that you have been manipulating it from your G4 "without messing with any USB connection," what ARE you connecting via, even if booting OS 9 on the G4?

Anyway, every dog has its day. I used Classic on the G4 to modify my schedules, etc., as the old software ran fine, but then to connect I just transferred the file over to the old Mac laptop and ran directly to the 290 via the mini-DIN 8 serial port.

Then of course Leopard came along and broke Classic. I use Sheepshaver, with great success, to run a bunch of old software on Leopard, both on the G4 and on the Intel Mac Pro, and under Snow Leopard on the Intel. BUT the old 290 software won't run at all in Sheepshaver. Also got tired of not being able to have desktop unit control on the newer machines (what Bruce calls the desktop remote functionality.) And it will only get worse as Apple goes forward with changes, which are inevitable and mostly for the better. So I made up my mind.

Good luck whatever you do. I would retire the old girl.

A new round of test versions is now ready and includes, among other things, improved comms for the CP-290. That hardware rarely dies.

_________________
Bruce Lawton
Thinking Home Guru
Always Thinking, Inc.
http://www.alwaysthinking.com

The change to standard time will get TH some interest if not a workout.

v 2.2b14: I'm using a CP290, of course. The "status" in the Installed Hardware - Devices window is a nice touch. I had not noticed that before. Ditto for adding version in log file when starting TH.

There is probably more esoteric stuff but CP290 doesn't tickle TM enough to show it.

091101 - 1113 hours - PDT


Thinking Home 2.2b15

I'm using a CP290, a Keyspan dual USB Twin Serial Adapter (USA-28XG Keyspan Driver v 2.5 dtd 1/22/08 through a powered FriendlyNET USB HUB-4G on G4 w/ 10.4.11. The CP290 is disconnected from G4 for normal use.

1. In the "Schedules" window new event button (the clock) was not responding. This was somewhat frustrating but then I determined that TH was updating the controller. I did not obviously catch that. Sometimes the updating seems faster than others, this time it was very slow. Would the spinning wheel be better replaced with a flashing "Updating" at that location? See item 3 below.

2. Log file showed "While storing schedule '.....' 2 events were omitted." Curious! Which two were omitted? Why? Where are they in the order of things (in the DB)? Darn it....Where are the events actually stored on my computer? I thought I located them once but am not able to find it lately. I hate black box's. I know some people would monkey with that file but what the heck, if they mess with it and break something, that is their problem, and they can start over. That is also the reason, a long time ago, I requested ability to make a backup of those events....and a restore option, optimally by schedule. A safety! I know I am fussy! And probably irritating! Blahhh!

3. "Activity" window has two sections upper = "In Progress" and lower = "Upcoming." What ever is appearing in the "In Progress" window doesn't stay around very long. What exactly is supposed to be appearing there? I know what the "Help" window says but can't the message stay around long enough for stupid to read it. A couple of seconds longer, perhaps. Please!

When there are numerous windows open simultaneously, action can be occurring anywhere, and the eye has too many places to be looking for movement as changes occur. Some of us are a little slow to get it, but I am a subscriber!

4. The "Upcoming" window seems to gather events from several separate schedules. Weird! I would think that only the pertinent events for the stored Schedule should be shown, or, at least those of the high lighted Schedule in the "Schedule" window. What is the criteria for choosing entries for the "Upcoming" window?

5. Golly, I wish the windows were numbered or better identified so with brevity I could reference them. Dancing around with verbal location tends not to be too consistent, and at best, confusing to the reader...writer also, me thinks.

6. Perhaps the column headings in Schedules window should be all left justified, not just "Name." Not everyone will be opening the window to extreme limits. I am a minimalist but like a lot of real estate to do it in.

091101 - 1605 PST


I'm using a CP290, a Keyspan dual USB Twin Serial Adapter (USA-28XG Keyspan Driver v 2.5 dtd 1/22/08 through a powered FriendlyNET USB HUB-4G on G4 w/ 10.4.11. The CP290 is disconnected from G4 for normal use.


Beating a dead horse.

I have been fascinated with TH 1.1.17 as it seemed to run easier, when it did, than TH 2. My frustration was why didn't it work all the time. The Warning box would appear containing:

"The interface is not responding. The serial port being accessed is specified in the Document Settings. This document is set to use a different port than set in the preferences. See the Apple Help for more details."

"Apple Help" ?

I just developed a soft spot on my head from repeated hits on the door frame. I was matching the port in the TH 1.1.17 preferences with what the Mac OS System Preference Network showed. However, in several cases I could not load a Schedule into the Interface without the above Warning box stopping me cold. Selecting the Interface status from the Interface pull-down got me the same Warning box. This was no help at all.

I finally looked at the Warning box message and started wondering about the term "Document Settings". What was that exactly and how can I gain access to it. Eureka! Good old BBEdit to the rescue. Opening up the data document showed that the first item was the port id. I wondered why the port was stored in the document as it was not readily accessible and securely hidden. This was something not different that trying to guess the outcome of a craps roll. Ackkkk!!!

Changing the port id in the document, saving, and rerunning 1.1.17 resulted in "All Systems Go!"

I have been screwing around with system ports in System Preferences Network thinking the Mac and external serial/usb wiring was particularly flaky ....no no no no. Data my friends! That is the culprit! Perhaps we may add a little unusual System Analysis in development.

Looking into the extracted CP290 contents as loaded by TH v2.2b15 shows what I would describe as garbage near the start of the file.

Example:

"Mathi</string>
</array>

<!-- ordered fallback list for fantasy style - fallback entity has to be postscript name -->"

The above looks like a memory leak, but what do I know...just guessing.

Starting at the back of the file and looking forward the data resembles closely the contents of a data file created by TH v 1.1.17; but, in a more abbreviated form.

If the port id'ed in the data file matched the port id in v 1.1.17 preferences (under Interface) then it is possible to access the "Interface Status" dealing with the Interface Clock synchronization. The port id is shown there also. When the port id as shown in the data file does not match the port id in the preferences this window doesn't show. Therefore, a unsuspecting user is.....

Just beating a dead horse!