User:Purps

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Revision as of 17:11, 4 February 2013 by Purps (Talk | contribs)

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Introduction

Hello all. My name is Matt and I live in England. Have been playing with LMCE for a number of years now. I would class myself as a user, but always keep to help any way I can. By profession I am a mechanical design engineer in the space industry. In my spare time I enjoy metalwork, woodwork and various other little electronics/DIY projects. Any remaining free time is spent with my extremely patient and long-suffering girlfriend with whom I live. We have now bought our first house together, so now the LMCE-related carnage can _really_ begin.

I have started a blog for all my major projects, which of course, includes LMCE http://projectsofmatt.wordpress.com/

I will try to save progress reports and other ramblings for the blog. My wiki page will serve as a snapshot of my setup.

Software

My current installation is based on the 1004 RC. It is fantastic. Don't bother with 810 any more.

I would highly recommend the use of Clonezilla for backing up LMCE at appropriate intervals i.e. whenever you get something working! Clonezilla saves a partition of your choice as a compressed file which can in turn be saved to any connected hard drive. Then, you can attempt to get the next thing working without fear of ruining your life/relationship. If the worst happens, just pop the Clonezilla live CD back in and restore the relevant image back. To use, I found Clonezilla to be very intuitive; my only other advice would be to name your backups with as much detailed information as possible. You won't always necessarily want to restore the last image you made, as you may find a problem that goes back further.

Network

It is highly advisable that you adopt the recommended network setup and use 2 NICs in your core. This means that a) things are a lot more likely to work straight out of the box and b) when things DO go wrong, you are far more likely to receive support. In my experience it is definitely worth it.

Yes, we need a diagram here, a picture is worth a thousand words and all that....

My external network looks a little bit like this...

Virgin Media Cable Modem -> NIC 1 (eth0) on Core

And my internal network...

NIC 2 (eth1) on Core -> Netgear 8-port Gigabit switch

Connected to this switch you'll find...

  • All of the MDs
  • "Normal" computers requiring Internet access
  • IP Cameras
  • IP Phone
  • Wireless Access Point (WAP)

Note: If you have a spare wireless router laying around, it can be used as a WAP (this is what I have done using the much loved Netgear WGR614). Just connect it up to a switch (your internal network) via one of the LAN ports (these are the ports that you would normally plug your computers into, NOT the port that you would usually plug your Internet cable into). In the router's admin page, make sure DHCP is DISABLED, and then set it up in the normal way. Your SSID should NOT be your name or give any clues as to where you live, use the strongest encryption you can (I use WPA2) and it makes a lot of sense to set up an access list (MAC filter). This allows you to specify exactly which MAC addresses are allowed to connect, making your WAP very secure. Finally, and this is important if you wish to access the router's admin page again (perhaps you'll want to add a friend's MAC address for example), you must assign a new LAN TCP/IP. This wants to be in the 192.168.80.X format, and should not be an address that is already in use. I used 192.168.80.254.

Storage

The two internal hard disks in the Core are each dedicated to their respective jobs (OS and cameras). For the storage of all media, and to serve as a backup drive for our other computers, a D-Link DNS-323 NAS drive is being utilised. It has x2 HDD bays, only one of which is currently occupied with a 2TB disk, and I will add another in the near future.

This NAS is plug'n'play with LMCE. If you want to password protect the NAS volume, achieved via the NAS admin page, you must fill out the appropriate boxes in web admin also.

Core/MDs

This section talks about the main bits of hardware in my home that make up the principal elements of any LMCE system.

Core (PA)

Main hardware includes...

  • Motherboard - MSI 870-C45 AMD 770 ATX Socket AM3 Realtek GbLAN controller
  • Processor - AMD quad core processor
  • Memory - 4GB
  • Power Supply - Corsair 400W
  • Graphics card - ATI Radeon X300SE 128MB PCIe
  • Hard disks - 80GB for OS, 500GB for cameras.
  • NIC - Realtek RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (non-gigabit, used for external network)
  • DVD Drive - Only used when I reinstall.
  • Z-Wave controller - Seluxit viaSENS Home Controller, this is the recommended interface.
  • Z-Wave inclusion remote - Aeon Labs Minimote
  • UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) - APC Smart-UPS 1400. Powers the Core, modem, switch, cameras (cameras use PoE, which keeps plugs in the same place).


Following installation, I carried out the following on my Core to make it work/get it the way I wanted it...

  • Swapped Network Interfaces in web admin -> Advanced -> Network -> Network settings, to put eth0 on the external network.
  • Changed password to something more secure in web admin -> Wizard -> Basic info -> Users.
  • Made use of the folder lock feature in order to stop my desktop backup from appearing in the orbiters.


MD (Living Room)

Main hardware includes...

  • Case - Jetway JC200. Smallest mini-ITX case I could find with space for slim DVD drive.
  • Motherboard - ASUS AT3IONT (atom board)
  • Memory - 2GB (512MB dedicate to GPU)
  • Power Supply - 100 W fanless picoPSU (included with case)
  • DVD Drive - Samsung SN-T083C slot-loading drive.
  • Mouse/keyboard - Rii wireless mini-keyboard with integrated touchpad
  • Display - LG 42LH400 42" Full HD LCD TV (controlled via RS232).
  • Speakers - B&W speakers driven by tube amp.


Also carried out the following...

  • After the initial installation, switch off MD. In web admin under "Media Directors", select "auto" for "Hardware Acceleration" and "vdpau" for "Deinterlace settings". Then click "Update". Switch MD back on.
  • Changed from "H" to "S" in the "PowerOff mode". This suspends the MD when switched off, rather than power it down completely.
  • Installed libdvdcss2 and w32codecs to allow DVDs and DivXs to be played (sudo apt-get install libdvdcss2 w32codecs).


MD (Kitchen)

Kitchen will be redone in near future, but the intended hardware will soon be installed for testing purposes

Main hardware includes...

  • Motherboard - TBD ASUS AT3N7A-I
  • Memory - 2GB (512MB dedicated to GPU)
  • Power Supply - 100 W fanless picoPSU.
  • Display - 22" ViewSonic VX2239WM, 1080p LCD, HDMI, integrated speakers.


Also carried out the following...

  • After the initial installation, switch off MD. In web admin under "Media Directors", select "auto" for "Hardware Acceleration" and "vdpau" for "Deinterlace settings". Then click "Update". Switch MD back on.
  • Changed from "H" to "S" in the "PowerOff mode". This suspends the MD when switched off, rather than power it down completely.
  • Installed libdvdcss2 and w32codecs to allow DVDs and DivXs to be played (sudo apt-get install libdvdcss2 w32codecs).


MD (Bedroom)

  • Motherboard - TBD (atom, fanless?)
  • Display

Foehn & Hirsch 42" Full HD LCD TV


MD (Bathroom)

Still thinking about the best way to do this. bongowongo is talking about remodelling his bathroom, so this has prompted me to give this a little more thought. The number one concern I think (apart from having electronics in the wettest room in the house!) is condensation, on both the screen and the containment unit itself (one would assume that the monitor would have to be covered in some way; having it exposed cannot be a good idea).

I have done some research on off-the-shelf units, and in summary, they are extremely expensive for even the smallest screens. Most are not even full HD. The reason they are so expensive is that they are specialist items, and have to be rated to work in wet conditions without causing harm to the user. They also feature extras such as heaters and waterproof remotes etc. In addition, they are usually self-contained i.e. you get a sealed-for-life lump, which you then install into your wall.

Having had a good look at the various features found in these units, I want to put together a quick and dirty list along with some thoughts about the various items...

  • A self-contained solution is definitely what we want (for reasons that will be explained), as per the off-the-shelf products, but seeing as we're building it ourselves, there's no reason why the wall couldn't be chased out, TV installed, and then sealed up afterwards. This will make the assembly much less bulky.
  • It makes sense to locate the MD itself away from the bathroom, along with the amp if you intend on using one. No point exposing equipment to the moisture if it can be avoided.
  • Arguably one of most important features I think is the heater; the high-end units all tend to utilise heaters, which makes a huge amount of sense. By keeping the air temperature inside the unit at a higher level, water vapour in the air is less likely to condense. The heater assembly would have to consist of both a heater and some kind of adjustable thermostat. At first I thought something could be built, but then realised a solution already exists; now, this is just a thought, but why not use one of those reptile habitat heaters. They are mains powered, the thermostat can be adjusted, the heating is gentle, and they are relatively inexpensive. Maybe the heater and monitor could be both be plugged into a single z-wave module. With regards to the temperature level, I've no idea, but the maximum operating temperature of many monitors is 35 to 40 degrees C, so slightly below that might be a good start.
    • Another thing to think about - would the heat generated by the monitor in a sealed unit be enough to ward off the dreaded condensation? Need to perhaps get a thermometer inside a test unit and see what happens, although they don't tend to kick out too much heat.
  • Using standard components where possible is a must, that's what DIY is all about (and saving £££ of course)
    • Computer monitor, 22" - 24" with 1080p and HDMI are very common now ~£100 (or use a TV, maybe you already have one you'd like to use, although I do find that low-end monitors are generally thinner and of better quality than low-end TVs). Consider speakers also, some monitors have speakers, but are generally crap compared to TV speakers, but may be good enough, OR you may have your own speaker solution - we'll discuss speakers later)
    • Monitor mount, standard fixed mount would be fine ~£10
    • Reptile habitat heater/thermostat ~£30
    • zwave plugin module ~£30
    • separate speakers/amp perhaps ~£?
  • I would like to propose the following method of construction...
    • remove tiles where necessary and chase out wall
    • Chase in cables for video, audio and power
    • Fix wooden frame around perimeter of chased-out section, flush with un-tiled wall
    • Fix heater mat/element and thermostat in place
    • Attach monitor/TV screen in recess
    • Bond perspex into place
      • Few words about the perspex; firstly, lot cheaper than glass, and easier to work with. I have also found anti-fog versions, although that will of course increase the £££ (and I have no idea if it would be worth it). Anti-fog films are also available that can be applied. The thickness of the perspex should be the same as the tiles; this means that when finished the perspex will be flush with the tiles (remember we said the wooden frame would be flush with the stripped back wall). The perspex should be stuck in place using some kind of mastic/no nails product, maybe both i.e. normal bathrooom mastic/sealant around the outside and a no-nails product around the inside. Final thing; obviously the mastic/sealant/no-nails will look bloody awful when looking through the perspex, so why not mask off a rectangle the size of monitor (talking about on the inside surface of the perspex here) spray paint (white or cream or whatever colour your bathroom is), peel off masking, leaving a coloured opaque border. This would hide the mastic/sealant/no-nails.
  • Regarding the speakers, there are a few options:
    • Just use the onboard speakers if present, obviously the cable will have to be run back to the MD. Your first reaction might be that this wouldn't work because the speakers are in a sealed unit, but I'm not so sure, perhaps it would work better than you think. Would need to test.
    • Following on from this, have you ever seen those products designed for laptops that sucker on a window or other flat surface, effectively turning the object into a speaker? Well why not attach on of these to the inside of the perspex. Again, would need testing.
    • Use a pair of water-proof speakers, attached to an amp (amp doesn't have to be anything special, and could be located with MD).
  • Orbiter - personally, I don't like the idea of having something integrated into the wall, because making it waterproof and touch sensitive could be a major challenge. Although one option would be to purchase a waterproof tablet or phone (that Motorola one for example) and integrate that, but still, I think I would rather keep it mobile. The other option is a water proof case. If you have more popular device such as iThis and iThat, then you will find that water-proof cases exist that fit perfectly. If however like me you don't have an iAnything, you may be interested in the hundreds of generic waterproof cases, which are essentially waterproof bags. But I quite like the idea of that, just stick your mobile phone or N800 or whatever in a bag and just use it when you need it, rather than have something permanently installed in the bathroom.


To begin with, it might be an idea to construct a standalone, self-contained unit to test all of this out with. You know, have a few baths and showers with it resting on the toilet, see how it all holds up.

MD (Study)

This MD is running on a virtual machine on my standard desktop computer, which is running a lean, mean Ubuntu 10.04 + Fluxbox installation., built up from a minimal command line install. It has a second VGA screen (my larger main screen is on DVI) which I have set up as a separate X head, and is dedicated to this MD. The MD runs UI1, and performs well enough for what I need. See here for details of the orbiter. I created the virtual machine like this.

MD (Workshop)

Gash machine built from old bits.

MD (Garage)

Gash machine built from old bits.

Orbiters

Every MD features an on-screen orbiter. In addition to the on-screen ones...

Mobile Orbiters

  • Main mobile orbiter

Nokia N800 running its own orbiter software. Superb in my opinion; cheap, good battery life, and the orbiter software is fantastic.

  • Mobile phone

HTC Desire HD running darrenmason's AndroidTouchOrbiter (thank you!). I also use this device a lot for (secure) outside access via SSL when I am out and about.

  • Ubuntu netbook

My little netbook, running a lean, mean Ubuntu 11.04 + Fluxbox installation., built up from a minimal command line install, which I use for surfing and tinkering with LMCE. It is running Web Orbiter 2.0 in Google Chrome. I never use this in fullscreen mode (press F11 in your browser if you wish to do this) as I prefer to just have it on standby in a tab. Therefore the resolution of the Orbiter is set lower than the resolution of the laptop screen. Same for the Ubuntu laptop.

  • Ubuntu laptop

The lady's Ubuntu laptop which we generally use for surfing, work, etc wherever we happen to be. It is running Web Orbiter 2.0 in Google Chrome.

  • Nintendo DSi

My mate's DSi, running Web Orbiter 2.0 with a resolution of 480x320 (iPhone) in the standard browser. This resolution allows for all text to be read relatively easily, but does mean a lot of scrolling about is required. I wouldn't use it personally. Might be worth playing with other resolutions/skins to make it more usable.

Other Orbiters

  • Kitchen fridge

Storage Options Scroll Tablet PC mounted to a wooden backing, attached to the fridge via a powerful magnet. Runs darrenmason's AndroidTouchOrbiter for controlling the kitchen, and also displays our combined calendars (we are Google slaves). Also useful for looking up receipes, etc.

  • Hallway wall

Nokia N800 mounted to the wall in the hallway. Mainly used for setting/deactivating the alarm. Also useful for controlling the lights when you first arrive home, although much of that is automated of course. My intention is to dissect this orbiter at some point and mount it in a wooden frame.

  • Study desktop

My main desktop, which has another Web Orbiter 2.0 set up on it in much the same way as the mobile Ubuntu netbook and laptop. It is for controlling the virtual MD on the desktop machine (I find the on-screen controls on the MD itself to be a bit "twitchy"). See MD (Study) for more details.

  • carPC

I am currently in the process of building a mini ITX carPC for my Mk1 MX-5 (called the Miata over the pond), running a lightweight Ubuntu + LXDE installation. The last component I need to get is the touchscreen, but the rest of it is very much finished, although I do intend on upgrading the speakers and adding an amplifier (a necessity due to the lack of head unit). The system is capable of utilising CDs/DVDs (audio, video, data), USB sticks/flash cards, and also features an aux-in for any personal music player that my passenger might have on their person. The system is also capable of FM radio, MP3 playback, video playback, digital TV, Internet browsing, SatNav, vehicle diagnostics.... and controlling LMCE (Web Orbiter 2.0 in Chrome). I thought this would be useful from the point of view of opening/closing the garage door, switching on/off the lights, checking the house on long journeys, etc.

Home Automation

This section looks at the remaining hardware in my home, relating specifically to home automation.

Lights

  • Duwi dimmer switch (Living Room)

2 wire in my case (more common in Europe), check your current switch/dimmer first REMEMBER TO ISOLATE THE LIGHTS AT YOUR FUSE BOX - ALWAYS TEST THE LIVE (BROWN or RED) WIRE WITH A TESTER LIKE THIS FIRST!!! Bear in mind that you only count the wires connected to the switch itself; if like mine your earth is connected to the backbox, then this doesn't count as a wire. Very pleased with this device, superb build-quality, great tactile response, easy to set up. This is my second dimmer switch, after a very bad experience with the ACT HomePro ZDW232 as explained here. In my opinion you should avoid these dimmers like the plague. They are the cheapest, but it shows. Spend a little bit more and get the Duwi, which is comparable in price. Anything else I have found has been prohibitively expensive.

Security

Very important. Having been the victims of a burglary, this is an area that perhaps you should consider concentrating on first. You just don't think it is going to happen to you... until it does. And it's a horrible feeling.

Cameras

Note: As mentioned in both of these camera pages, I had to manually edit some of the scenarios before they would work, as they were pointing at the wrong camera for some reason. I also found that some scenarios were not automatically generated, and had to be added manually. Go to into web admin, click on "Show devices tree" at the bottom of the left-hand pane, then click on "My Scenarios" (again, bottom of left-hand pane), click on "Security Scenarios", and then at the bottom of the right-hand pane, press the "Add My Scenario" button. This opens a new window. In the new window, type a "Description" (this will be the scenario's name), select a "Scenario Type" ("Security Scenarios" in this case), leave "Design Obj" blank, and for "Template" select the "Security - View Camera" option. Then select all the rooms you want to add the scenario to. Press the "Save" button. This new scenario should appear at the bottom of the security scenario tree/list - click on it. Scroll down to the "Scenario Commands" section, and under "Devices" select "[Local Orbiter]". Wait a sec. Then under "Command" select "Goto screen" button. Press the "Add" button. Press the "OK" button. Enter "15" into the "#159 PK_Screen (int)" field, and press the "Save" button. Press the "OK" button. A new "#2 PK_Device (int)" field should appear. Enter the Device # of your camera. Press the "Save" button. And that's it!

Note: All of my cameras make use of Power over Ethernet (PoE), despite not being models that support it! Nor do I have any switches/hubs that "spit out" PoE at the Core end. To see how it is achieved, take a look at "Tool Time" at the end of this page for a Howto video explaining the required steps (inspired by b4rney on the forums, thank you mate!). Powering devices in this way is very useful in that you only need to run a single Ethernet cable for both data and power. Brilliant for cameras, especially outdoor ones. Also useful if you want your cameras to be on a UPS, as PoE allows all of the power plugs to be in the same place.''

Sensors

Finally working (thank you hari!). Just purchased some additional contact sensors to celebrate, so I can experiment with rigging multiple doors/windows with a single unit, will report back.

Smoke detector planned

Lighting

My living room lights are set up to come on at sunset. This is achieved in web admin via "Events handler"->"Respond to Events" by selecting "Sunset" under "New event". Enter a description also. Click "Add", and use the wizard of your choice to select the required device and command.

When we are away for extended periods, I have the living room lights turn off late at night, and then switch on the bedroom light for a short period before they get switched off also. This is just to give the impression that somebody is in.

Telephone

Siemens Gigaset C475 IP on sipgate.co.uk

Climate

Watch this space!

Tool Time

This section comprises of a selection of Howto videos and photographic guides for various DIY projects that can be carried out around the home, in order to achieve that seamless, perfectly integrated LMCE installation. My aim is to always stay away from technical jargon as much as possible, and to try to use standard/simple tools and components that aren't going to break the bank. You can always get hold of me on the forums or in IRC (irc.freenode.net #linuxmce) if you fancy a chat.

Howto...

Planned

  • Howto: Construct a rear mounting MD casing for any TV screen with a VESA mount (with slot loading DVD drive).
  • Howto: Mount a TV on the wall with MD hidden behind (with a slot loading DVD drive).
  • Howto: Make a wall-mounted orbiter (inspired by Techstyle's framing idea). Surface mounted or recessed (flush fitting)?
  • Howto: Install a new back box (e.g. for z-wave light switch) and make good the wall (having destroyed it in the process).
  • Howto: Chase wall channels, embed cables and make good the wall.
  • Howto: Build a single/double bed with integrated "stowable" flat screen TV and MD. LMCE-controlled motor perhaps.
  • Howto: Build a waterproof/water-resistant bathroom MD
  • Howto: Build a waterproof/submersible orbiter, based on Nokia N800? Make it float?
  • Howto: Make your own ceiling/wall speakers using (decent!) multimedia speakers (if, like me, you are not a complete audiophile, this avoids having an external amp to hide away).
  • Howto: Build your own charging cradle/stand for your mobile orbiter (avoid switching it off all the time).
  • Howto: Make your own cat6 patch cables
  • Howto: Make any device Power over Ethernet (PoE)
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