Posts in category telldus-core

TelldusCenter 2.1.2

Today we are releasing TelldusCenter 2.1.2, and also new firmware versions for TellStick Duo and TellStick Net.

These versions have been available as beta for a while now, and have been tested by a lot of you, thanks for the help!

Changes:

TelldusCenter

  • Support for several Oregon Scientific version 3 sensors, for example THGR810, THGN801, WGR800 (wind), PCR800 (rain), THWR800 (pool thermometer) (#284)
  • Support for RollerTrol blinds (#310)
  • Support for Hasta blinds version 2
  • Report humidity for Oregon sensor 1A2D (#221)
  • Possibility to send sensor values to Telldus Live! from TelldusCenter (#186)
  • More than one controller (TellStick/TellStick Duo) can be listed in the API (#108)
  • Max one callback/second is called for identical events (#84)
  • Devices are sorted alphabetically in TelldusCenter (#112)
  • Lots of minor bug fixes
  • (Windows only) Several bug fixes for lost communication with TellStick (new driver, version 2.08.28) and hung sensor reporting on Windows (#123)
  • (Windows only) Possibility to upgrade TellStick/TellStick Duo firmware from TelldusCenter (no need to shut down the service when upgrading from there)
  • (Linux only) Possible to execute a script on events (#100)
  • (Linux only) Fixes for callbacks hangings
  • (Linux only) Error message when devices are incorrectly configured in tellstick.conf (Linux) (#119)
  • (Mac only) Fixed hanging issues (#245, #260)

Availability:
Windows, Mac, Debian packages: i386, amd64, armhf (#229) and armel (telldus-core only)

TellStick Duo firmware (version 12), changes since last stable version (version 5):

  • Support for some Oregon Scientific version 3 sensors (see above)
  • Can receive Hasta protocol, version 1 and 2
  • Checksum validation for Fineoffset (less false temperature readings) (#223)
  • Fix where some motion sensors/magnetic switches reported different codes for on and off (#235)
  • Better Oregon Scientific reception

TellStick Net firmware (version 17), changes since last stable version (version 4):

  • Support for some Oregon Scientific version 3 sensors (see above)
  • Can receive Hasta protocol, version 1 and 2
  • Checksum validation for Fineoffset (less false temperature readings) (#223)
  • Fix where some motion sensors/magnetic switches reported different codes for on and off (#235)
  • Improved the way the Oregon Scentific protocol is received
  • More precise server assignment logic allows for a TellStick Net to be placed on a certain server, which may be useful for beta testers
  • DHCP assignment fixes
  • Some minor bug fixes


Windows flasher: http://download.telldus.com/TellStick/Software/TellStickNetFlasher/TellStickNetFlasher.zip
Mac flasher: http://download.telldus.com/TellStick/Software/TellStickNetFlasher/TellStickNetFlasher.dmg

TelldusCenter 2.1.2 RC1

This is the first, and hopefully last, release candidate for TelldusCenter 2.1.2. There are only a few changes, compared to the beta versions. The only major one is concerning callbacks in Linux/Mac that sometimes stopped functioning earlier.

The only other noticeable addition is support for the Oregon Scientific pool thermometer (THWR800) in TelldusCenter.

See earlier blog posts for a list of all new features in TelldusCenter 2.1.2:
http://developer.telldus.com/blog/2013/11/25/tellduscenter_2.1.2_beta10
http://developer.telldus.com/blog/2013/10/02/tellduscenter_2.1.2_beta8
http://developer.telldus.com/blog/2013/05/23/tellduscenter_2.1.2_beta1


HOW TO INSTALL

WINDOWS

Download here:
http://download.telldus.com/TellStick/Software/TelldusCenter/beta/TelldusCenter-2.1.2_rc1.exe

MAC

Download here:
http://download.telldus.com/TellStick/Software/TelldusCenter/beta/TelldusCenter-2.1.2_rc1.dmg

LINUX

Follow the instructions here: http://developer.telldus.com/wiki/TellStickInstallationUbuntu but instead use this Apt-line:

deb http://download.telldus.com/debian/ unstable main


If you have had a 2.1.2-beta installed before, please run this instead:

apt-get update
apt-get clean
apt-get install libtelldus-core2 libtelldus-gui2 tellduscenter telldus-core --reinstall

Available for: i386, amd64, armhf (#229) and armel (telldus-core only, compiled for Excito b3 this time, please test it)

Tested on Ubuntu 12.04 (i386/amd64), Debian 7 (i386, amd64, armel and armhf (raspbian))

TelldusCenter 2.1.2 Beta 10 available for Windows/Mac

The new functions in TelldusCenter 2.1.2 beta are now available for Windows and Mac.

New functions since the old beta (2013/05/23/tellduscenter_2.1.2_beta1) are:

  • Support for wind/rain sensors for Oregon Scientific version 3 (WGR800 and PCR800)
  • Support for Oregon Scientific THGR810 and THGN801 (#284)
  • Support for RollerTrol blinds (#310)
  • Possibility to send sensor values to Telldus Live! (#186)
  • (Windows only) Possibility to upgrade TellStick/TellStick Duo firmware from TelldusCenter (no need to shut down the service when upgrading from there)

This version is already available for Linux, | beta 8, with the exception of the firmware upgrade utility inside TelldusCenter.

  • New firmware for TellStick Duo (version 12):
  • Support for some Oregon Scientific version 3 sensors (see above)

Download from here: http://download.telldus.com/TellStick/Software/TelldusCenter/beta/TelldusCenter-2.1.2_beta10.exe (windows) http://download.telldus.com/TellStick/Software/TelldusCenter/beta/TelldusCenter-2.1.2_beta8.dmg (mac)

As usual, let us know of any bugs and problems. It's still a beta.

TelldusCenter 2.1.2 Beta 8 for Linux

We're happy to announce a TelldusCenter 2.1.2 beta for Linux too.

In addition to the functions described in the previous blog post about the beta, http://developer.telldus.com/blog/2013/05/23/tellduscenter_2.1.2_beta1, we have also added:

  • Support for wind/rain sensors for Oregon Scientific version 3 (WGR800 and PCR800) (new firmware needed, it will be posted here later on, but send us a support ticket for now if you are interested in trying it out)
  • Support for Oregon Scientific THGR810 and THGN801 (#284)
  • Support for RollerTrol blinds (#310)
  • Possibility to send sensor values to Telldus Live! (#186)

A new beta with these functions will also be released for Windows and Mac.

HOW TO INSTALL
Follow the instructions here: http://developer.telldus.com/wiki/TellStickInstallationUbuntu but instead use this Apt-line: deb http://download.telldus.com/debian/ unstable main

Available for:
i386, amd64, armhf (#229) and armel (telldus-core only)

Tested on Ubuntu 12.04 (i386/amd64), Debian 7 (i386, amd64, armel and armhf (raspbian))

Known issues:
TelldusCenter sometimes still segfaults on some platforms
TelldusCenter may stop automatic update of sensors and device state

We are still working on these issues, and if you run into them, or other problems, please let us know your system setup and, if possible, how to reproduce them.

TelldusCenter 2.1.2 Beta 1 available

Finally it's time for the first beta release of TelldusCenter 2.1.2! This release is primarily focused on hanging issues and problems with lost communication with TellStick Duo. It's the same code fixes already deployed to some of you who have experienced these problems, but without unnecessary debug logging and an even newer driver version.

If you want to test it (remember that it's still a beta), download it for windows here:
http://download.telldus.com/TellStick/Software/TelldusCenter/beta/TelldusCenter-2.1.2_beta1.exe
Mac OS X (requires 10.7 or later):
http://download.telldus.com/TellStick/Software/TelldusCenter/beta/TelldusCenter-2.1.2_beta1.dmg

From the changelog:

  • Support for protocol Hasta version 2
  • Possible to execute a script on events in Linux (#100)
  • More than one controller (TellStick/TellStick Duo) can be listed in the API (#108)
  • Several bug fixes for lost communication with TellStick (new driver, version 2.08.28) and hung sensor reporting on Windows (#123)
  • Fixed hanging issues on Mac (#245, #260)
  • Report humidity for Oregon sensor 1A2D (#221)
  • Max one callback/second is called for identical events (#84)
  • Devices are sorted alphabetically in TelldusCenter (#112)
  • Error message when devices are incorrectly configured in tellstick.conf (Linux) (#119)
  • Minor bug fixes
  • New firmware for TellStick Duo (version 10):
    • Can receive Hasta protocol, version 1 and 2
    • Checksum validation for Fineoffset (less false temperature readings) (#223)
    • Fix where some motion sensors/magnetic switches reported different codes for on and off (#235)
    • Better Oregon Scientific reception

More fixes/features may be added before the final release.

New ways to script execution from signals

If you have tried to script tasks for TellStick and TellStick Duo you know it is very easy using tdtool. But tdtool is limited to only transmitting signals. What if you want to react on incoming signals from TellStick Duo?

If you want to script execution on incoming signals you either need to script in a third party application such as NexaHome or EventGhost or you need to write your own deamon and listen for callback. Both variants has it quirks. For example you need Windows for EventGhost.

What do you do if you have an headless Linux computer? Or you just don't want the complicated setup with callbacks?

From version 2.1.2 we have added the possibility to add a script to a predefined directory. Any executable script found in those folders will be executed and the parameters are sent as environmental variables. Let's first show an example. Create the file /usr/local/share/telldus/scripts/sensorevent/myscript.sh with the following content and make it executable.

#!/bin/bash
if [ "${DATATYPE}" -eq 1 ]; then
        notify-send --expire-time 3000 "Temperature ${VALUE}°C"
fi

When a sensor is detected the currently temperature will be shown as a popup in my KDE environment.

All callbacks from the C API are available.

/usr/local/share/telldus/scripts/deviceevent/
Environmental variables: DEVICEID, METHOD, METHODDATA
C API equivalent: TDDeviceEvent

/usr/local/share/telldus/scripts/devicechangeevent/
Environmental variables: DEVICEID, CHANGEEVENT, CHANGETYPE
C API equivalent: TDDeviceChangeEvent

/usr/local/share/telldus/scripts/rawdeviceevent/
Environmental variables: RAWDATA, CONTROLLERID
C API equivalent: TDRawDeviceEvent

/usr/local/share/telldus/scripts/sensorevent/
Environmental variables: PROTOCOL, MODEL, SENSORID, DATATYPE, VALUE, TIMESTAMP
C API equivalent: TDSensorEvent

/usr/local/share/telldus/scripts/controllerevent/
Environmental variables: CONTROLLERID, CHANGEEVENT, CHANGETYPE, VALUE
C API equivalent: TDControllerEvent

After adding or removing a script you need to restart telldusd.

For now, this is a Linux only feature. Patches are welcome for other platforms.

Python for TellStick

Did you know that Python can be used to control a TellStick or TellStick Duo?

Our examples show you how to interact with the library directly using ctypes but there is also three third party wrappers to ease the development.

The first one is also based on ctypes but hides the nasty details of the c-library such as memory cleanup. Please check it out: https://bitbucket.org/davka003/pytelldus/

The second one is a native wrapper. This has been merged to our repository here: bindings/python/native

The third one also provides a object oriented interface. Available on github: https://github.com/erijo/telldus-py

So if you are a Python fan, go on and write applications for TellStick using your favourite language.

New library for java developers

Are you developing your software in Java? Don't like JNI or JNA? The user jstrom just released a native wrapper for Java that talks to telldusd directly, without using the c-code.

From his post:

I've just implemented a pure java library for talking to telldusd. It is available at https://github.com/stromnet/jtelldus. The README describes what it can and cannot do.


The background of implementing it was that I don't really like the idea of having native-libraries (which the current binding is, a wrapper around the native C lib), if I can get away with writing it in pure code. Since the only thing it does is talking over the network in a non-speed-sensitive way, I cannot really see any reason to NOT write it in pure code. The only thing would be maintenance overhead, but the wrapper would still need updates if the librarie gets more functions etc.


The only quirk right now is that telldusd uses UNIX sockets... Would there be any chance of changing this/complementing with TCP sockets in the future? As java doesn't do UNIX sockets natively (not portable), I have to rely on socat for 'bridging' the sockets (more on that in github README). Not the perfect solution but..


Any input is welcome, (but please read the README first;))!


Johan

Please note that this library is not supported by Telldus.

New repository mirrors

We have now started two more repository mirrors. This makes it easier for everyone to create personal forkes and changes. We mirror our main repository on both Gitorious and GitHub.

Now it is really simple to create a personal fork on one of the sites, start hack on the code and then create a "pull request" to contribute your changes back to Telldus (which we would love if you do).

Read more: Guides/Contributing

Help us develop local access using TellStick Net, build your own firmware

We are developing the support for accessing the TellStick Net from you local network. We do not believe in predatory vendor lock-in. We are not happy with the situation that you are required to use our Telldus Live! service with your TellStick Net, even if the service rocks :).

We belive you should have the ability to use whatever thirdparty service you like, or even develop your own!

The reason for the requirement of Telldus Live! is due to the limited time we had before the launch. We simply prioritized the cloud service before the local access since we believe this is the main advantage TellStick Net has over TellStick Duo.

We have now reached a point where we really need your help and input on this. We have therefore released a custom firmware, prepared for local access only, which you can build and hack on your own.

The firmware includes all the protocols supported by TellStick Net version 3 and TellStick Duo version 5. To communicate with the device, read the [doxygen:TellStickNet.html protocol documentation].

The code is hosted in a git repository available on our server. You need to checkout the t114 branch using:
$ git clone -b t114 http://git.telldus.com/tellstick-net.git

There is also a sample client software available in the 'client' folder. It is written in python and shows both the autodiscovery feature as well as sending a simple command.

The firmware is released under GPL.

New functions for using tdtool embedded in software

Thanks to Lauri Aarnio tdtool now has two new functions for you who uses tdtool in your software or script. As you all know the old --list option was not optimized for machine decoding. Since the output also changed between versions this breaked some thirdparty softwares.

The new options --list-devices and --list-sensors is therefore made in a more machine-readable-friendly format: tab-separated key=value fields, one line/device, and no header lines, percent- or degree signs. Additionally, for sensors, age (in seconds) of the collected data is also printed.

The changeset: [842a042cdbf502f00883b8655f442d261fc5ecf3]