wskellenger's Journal: MisterHouse more than what I need... Enter Heyu2!!

I've tried three of the available software packages for Linux that are able to communicate with the X10 CM11A:

MisterHouse

Turned out to be way more than what I need. MisterHouse has the capability to talk to a heck of a lot more devices than just X10, and integrates speech as well as voice commands. All of this is through Perl and a web-based interface. It is constantly writing device states to disk, and for timed control of lighting, requires that the PC be running all of the time. Slick, but I just wanted a method to program the CM11A. It will readily send basic commands through the CM11A, and I did have this working without a problem. If you want industrial-strength home automation software, MisterHouse is what you're looking for. Set up your PC as a web server and check status/control devices from anywhere in the world.

A.L.I.C.E.

Can be found on SourceForge under the name JHome. I found this package to be extremely buggy so far. The interface is confusing at first, but I think this will turn out to be a nice package when it's finished. It is completely written in Java and the GUI uses Swing components. Still needs a lot of work in my experience, but as of last week it was rated at 75% activity at SourceForge. (If anyone understand these ratings, please comment.)

Heyu

This is exactly what I was looking for. I am actually going to stick with an alpha version of heyu2, (but I also tried out the original heyu). Heyu2 is a command-line tool that lets you program the CM11A, create macros and triggers. Using your home latitude and longitude, it will calculate the dusk/dawn times for your house depending on calendar day. The macros, triggers, and timers are very easy to set up, thanks to the included example files. The macros are sweet, allowing you to create "virtual devices" if you want. For example, I have two quartz lamps in my basement that I would like to have automatically dimmed when I watch a movie. These lamps are both connected to a switch with ID "A3". I've got a macro stored that will allow me to dim them to the movie-watching level by turning on device A1. I highly recommend this program for Linux users wanting to simply control the CM11A. As it is written in C, I would guess that it could be ported to Win32 as well. Note: The author cautions against programming the device with Heyu2 and then using the X10 Windows software. The original Heyu has very similar functionality and development of heyu has been frozen.