My Haipad Android tablet that I bought to be able to easy control my home, the few times something is needed to be done manually has been working good. But I’m usually never satisfied with that. So I have, from day one, actually been searching for a firmware upgrade without success. Finally there was one published by the manufacturer.
http://www.haipad.co.uk/haipad-m9/
The upgrade went well but I did not expect it to be completely “empty”. Only Android in and some few apps was available.
I did not see any applications in the marketplace until I logged on the mail client and access my google mail. Then all the apps in the Google Android Marketplace was visible again.
On the plus side the WLAN connects way much better from far longer distance than before and is much faster.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
My Z-wave adventure
I promised to write the story about where my Z-wave adventure begin. I have learned that the need for more energy effective homes exists global but the needs are different. Luckily now we can use one and the same device to complete the diffrent needs that we have. In the part of the world where I'm living we have snow and ice during the several month of the year. My target was, in my opinion, simple. Have a warm car when I like. Budget, no more than 200€. (A webasto solution is about 2000€).
First attempts was a timer. Problem was that I need to be able to start the heater also on hours when the timer is not programmed.
Next attempt. One of those power sockets that you can control with a remote. It said on the package that it was IP44 protected. It lasted one night outside in the cold. And the second issue was that it could not inform me if the signal had actually reached the power socket.
Then, I don't remember know exactly how it was, I stumbled upon the Vera system from mios.com. It seemed to be very easy, affordable and reliable. It also had a very large user base on the forum that tipped about both this and that of very cool things that you could do. It was not only a system for turning on and off lights but a complete gateway and bridge between various devices in and outside of your home.
Couple of days later I had the white box and the power sockets in my mail. Next morning I had a warm car exactly when I needed it and it has worked very well the whole winter.
The outdoor IP 44-class power socket has been very reliable between all the different temperatures we have had. The signal seems to never have any issue to reach it.
I can start and stop it from my mobile. I can have different programs for different outside temperatures (not implemented).
It did not take long until my wife also asked for it. I had prepared by buying two power sockets so it was very easy to copy the configuration.
Now the configuration has grown to other areas in the house but the main idea and usage is still there, and we are prepared and waiting for the first snow to come.
Picture owned by http://desktopwallpaper-s.com/42/-/Winter,_snow/
First attempts was a timer. Problem was that I need to be able to start the heater also on hours when the timer is not programmed.
Next attempt. One of those power sockets that you can control with a remote. It said on the package that it was IP44 protected. It lasted one night outside in the cold. And the second issue was that it could not inform me if the signal had actually reached the power socket.
Then, I don't remember know exactly how it was, I stumbled upon the Vera system from mios.com. It seemed to be very easy, affordable and reliable. It also had a very large user base on the forum that tipped about both this and that of very cool things that you could do. It was not only a system for turning on and off lights but a complete gateway and bridge between various devices in and outside of your home.
Couple of days later I had the white box and the power sockets in my mail. Next morning I had a warm car exactly when I needed it and it has worked very well the whole winter.
The outdoor IP 44-class power socket has been very reliable between all the different temperatures we have had. The signal seems to never have any issue to reach it.
I can start and stop it from my mobile. I can have different programs for different outside temperatures (not implemented).
It did not take long until my wife also asked for it. I had prepared by buying two power sockets so it was very easy to copy the configuration.
Now the configuration has grown to other areas in the house but the main idea and usage is still there, and we are prepared and waiting for the first snow to come.
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Dovado Router and 3G modem
I installed a dovado dova router with 3G modem connected to the USB port. To the dovado a wireless PTZ camera. Everything is connected to no-ip.com where the default address is used to reach the dovado and the ports there after is used for the cameras. The set up works very well but it took two evenings to figure out all the details.
With a vera connected to this I would not have needed the extra step with no-ip and this configuration is know a bit depending on no-ip.com service. But a nice experience. And the 3G part seemed to be super easy to set up and worked great all the time.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Raspberry Pi XBMC installation
I finally got my Raspberry Pi and since the idea was to run the XBMC on it from the beginning I searched on the net for the best way to do the installation.
Found http://www.raspbmc.com that had a very easy way of doing it. But one thing that happened during the installation is that the Raspberry Pi restarts and then the screen goes black. I did the mistake several time to cold start it at this point but you should just wait for a long time. It took some 15-20 minutes for me and then the installation is read!
Another thing I have noticed is that you seem to be little bit limited with the USB devices. If you hook on too much devices you lose e.g the mouse.
The general experience is really good!
Found http://www.raspbmc.com that had a very easy way of doing it. But one thing that happened during the installation is that the Raspberry Pi restarts and then the screen goes black. I did the mistake several time to cold start it at this point but you should just wait for a long time. It took some 15-20 minutes for me and then the installation is read!
Another thing I have noticed is that you seem to be little bit limited with the USB devices. If you hook on too much devices you lose e.g the mouse.
The general experience is really good!
The POWERLINE saga (final?)
I found a reply on the Western Digital network forum today (some month after my question) there it was actually a great point.
I plugged in 2 of my Western Digital powerlines to a near by socket.
One of them I connected to my PC with ethernet.
I connected one network cable between the both power lines.
Then they all show up under the Local Devices on your computer. Where the red circle is.
Then press the Privacy tab and
Instead of the Unknown network name you should add something else
This seems to work now!!!! And the speed currently is an amazing 50 Mbit / s where it before was less than 20.
If going back to the private tab it show the default one.
I plugged in 2 of my Western Digital powerlines to a near by socket.
One of them I connected to my PC with ethernet.
I connected one network cable between the both power lines.
Then they all show up under the Local Devices on your computer. Where the red circle is.
Then press the Privacy tab and
Instead of the Unknown network name you should add something else
This seems to work now!!!! And the speed currently is an amazing 50 Mbit / s where it before was less than 20.
If going back to the private tab it show the default one.
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