DL Monoprice HDMI Matix plugin

[drule]

David
I am losing connection to my switch once or twice a day, it can't reconnect to the serial port sometimes. I changed to another serial port that I used for my Xantech and the same is happening. I included a couple of logs, maybe something is there.
Thanx
John

Will take a look.

[Robin_f]

And it was the cable!

could not wait till i got home from my trip and took out the soldering iron
and got it working like intended. I guess its confusing if you start with the ip plugin that does work proper on the cable.

I did check on the dtr line, but i guess i confused the pin numbers while looking
from the backside of the connector.

jdntx, thanks for the post and drule i am very pleased with this plugin.

[freeon]

Ok so I downloaded the file from here http://forums.homeseer.com/showthrea...78#post1026378 and dropped it in the HomeSeer directory. Plugged a DB-9 cable with all pins straight true except 2 and 3 crossed. Plugged it in COM:1 of my Hometroller. I see the switch in the devices tab but can't seem to control it. Am I missing a step or something.

[freeon]

Found the problem. I had the right cable but was running 2 cables end to end and the second one was the wrong one. Just use the 1 cable now and it works.

[Robin_f]

Just one question as i am building my hstouch page.

Is it possible to have/get the status as in the homeseer status html page in to hst ?

Or even better to have a option to name the 4 ports ( like : x-box, media player..etc) and set that into the device status value of the output ports.

So far i am very happy with this plugin !

[Moskus]

I'm lost!

I've installed this switch, and like some of you I can use hyperterminal to send control the switch. It's working great! I use a Profilic USB-to-Serial adapter (connected to a Belkin USB-to-Ethernet controller, but I don't believe that's a problem).

However, plugin fails, and I don't know where to start. Here are my COM-port settings:

C:\>mode com14

Status for device COM14:
------------------------
    Baud:            4800
    Parity:          Even
    Data Bits:       8
    Stop Bits:       1
    Timeout:         ON
    XON/XOFF:        OFF
    CTS handshaking: OFF
    DSR handshaking: OFF
    DSR sensitivity: OFF
    DTR circuit:     ON
    RTS circuit:     ON

One said "adding the DTR pin" helped, but I'm not sure I understand what that means...

What can I do to make this work?

[Moskus]

I found the problem. My newer (apparently) matrix does not use the same protocol as the older ones.

[Automated]

I accidentally disconnected the serial port for my Monoprice switch, and found the following bugs:

1. This plugin's watchdog is set to 10 seconds, but the log file only shows it trying to reconnect every 20 seconds.
2. After several hours, HS crashes at the exact moment that this plugin tries a reconnect and/or its watchdog makes the log entry. Without having time at the moment to try to further check, I would suspect the recovery functions in the plugin are using up memory/handles on every attempt and after enough hours, HS crashes.

Please have a look at that section of the code to see if there is something that could be improved!

[Looms01]

Hoping someone can clear up some confusion...

In the post that has the plugin download link, it states:

You can configure the plugin to use a physical COM port (or USB->Serial adapter), or if you have a serial server, you can configure the plugin to connect to it via tcp. If using serial, use the format COM:X, where X is the com port number. If using tcp, use the format ipaddrort.

I don't think I'm reading this correctly. Does the Monoprice matrix send commands over TCP as well as serial? Can I "talk" to the matrix over TCP without having a cable between the matrix and my HS box? I can't see anything on Monoprice's page stating TCP capability.

Should the quote above read.... "You can configure the plugin to use a physical COM port, AND if you have a serial server, you...?

Thanks in advance.

[Moskus]

No, the statement is correct, as far as I can see.

1. If you have a TCP-to-serial server, then you can use that.
2. If you don't (which is the most likely option) you need to use a COM-port.

And in any case, you need to connect to the switch with a serial cable.

[Looms01]

Sorry, I guess I'm a little slow. I still don't think I understand how this matrix communicates to HomeSeer.

If the matrix is sending commands over TCP, then no serial cable would be needed. The HomeSeer box would need a TCP client listening for these commands over IP.

If the matrix is sending commands over serial, then a serial cable would be needed to connect the matrix to the HS box.

I'm guessing drule is trying to say you need to connect the matrix to your HS box with a serial cable AND, if you have a TCP server, the plugin can forward the commands over TCP to your TCP server.

Is this correct? Sorry for all the confusion...

[Moskus]

The matrix will only communicate over TCPIP if YOU have a "serial server" (a specific ethernet to serial bridge the author of the plugin has). The matrix itself will still think it speaks regular serial information over RS232.

If you have one of these "serial servers" then you still need a RS232 cable between the server and the matrix. But then the plugin can talk directly to the server given a specific ipadress or port.

If this doesn't apply to you, as in "I don't have this serial server" (and I'm guessing you don't) then you don't need to worry about it. Get yourself a Quatech ethernet-to-RS232 adapter or a $3 USB-to-serial adapter if your HomeSeer-machine doesn't have a COM-port.

Does that help?

[Looms01]

Thanks that helps. So... The answer is the Monoprice matrix does NOT speak TCP. Therefore, I think my original post was correct - that being the quote I referenced was actually wrong. Just want to make sure anyone reading this isn't confused and thinks they can talk to the matrix via TCP.

By the way, thanks a bunch for the plugin. I was holding off until a plugin like this was written. It really makes home automation a lot easier.

[Moskus]

Thanks that helps. So... The answer is the Monoprice matrix does NOT speak TCP. Therefore, I think my original post was correct - that being the quote I referenced was actually wrong. Just want to make sure anyone reading this isn't confused and thinks they can talk to the matrix via TCP.

By the way, thanks a bunch for the plugin. I was holding off until a plugin like this was written. It really makes home automation a lot easier.

Yes, that's true. The matrix itself cannot communicate over TCP, only serial.

But to "nitpick" a little more, as the author is talking about the plugin configuration, the original statement is correct. You can configure the plugin to use COM-port directly OR via "ipadressort" IF you have a serial-to-ethernet server. But I can see why there's confusion.



In pseudo vb-code we have:

If Me.Possesions.Items.Contains("serial server") Then
    plugin.configuration = "192.168.0.60:2345"
else
    plugin.configuration = "COM:10"
End if

[Looms01]

OK, now I'm beating a dead horse... Sorry.

Note, I have not installed this plugin yet, so that may be why I'm confused.

Moskus, in your code example, how does the plugin know what serial port is receiving the matrix commands? Don't you need to ALWAYS setup the serial port in the plugin then/and, if you have a serial/tcp server, forward those commands to a specified ip addressort?

The plugin has to be told what serial port is connected to the matrix, correct? If not, I stand corrected.