BlueTooth Connector Features and Documentation

[ekuykendall]

One last thing before I go...

Barring any feedback on my last post, I'm going to assume that CSR shipset in the Azio device is not compatible with some aspect of this plugin (BT stack, plugin itself, don't know). Shame, b/c it is one of the highest rated Class 1 dongles on the net.

Anyway, so the last thing to try before I abondon this plugin as a waste of my precious time is the BT Client app. If I can get the Class 1 dongle working on my upstairs machine under Vista, how does the BT Client app work? Does the HS server need to have the plugin pointing to the client by IP address? Does the server need to have BT at all for this to work, or is it completely remote (which would be fine with me - better signal coverage upstairs)?

If the client does not work, then I sadly have to pass on the fee for this plugin as I bought two of these "BT marvels" on special and have no other use for them (even my college kids have BT-enabled laptops!). The Dell dongle I have (Broadcom product) works fine with the plugin but has very limited range).

Talk to me. Thanks guys.

Stipus - not your fault - I understand that - it's the blasted Bluetooth industry infighting that causes this crap!

- Ed K.

[ekuykendall]

OK, no responses. I'm shipping the Azio's back and uninstalling the BT Connector - just doesn't seem to be solid enough and the support is too sporadic for me. Let me know if anyone comes up with a working PnP BT plugin, and I will retry it, as I do believe that BT is an interesting part of the "occupancy status" solution.

- Ed K.

[william.abbo]

Plugin has been developped on a Windows 2003 Server computer (MSI key with Widcomm stack), and has been tested on another 2003 Server (dell laptop with Dell integrated bluetooth hardware and widcomm stack).

So it should work.

Stipus,
Which BT-drivers did you use for Win-2003, because I can not find Win-2003 drivers anywhere, all say Win-2003 is not supported.

[jwilson56]

Ok I am a total newbie when it comes to BT. Both my wifes LG VX8300 and my Samsung cellphones have a Discovery mode that lasts one minute. I am not sure that is going to prevent me from using this plugin. Any thoughts?

If not what do I have to do? I am using a dongle that is using the MS stack.

John

[stipus]

It's really hard to say without trying first...

You have 30 days to evaluate the plugin.

If the discovery mode lasts only one minute on your phone, you can try one of the other 2 polling modes (connect service, and discover services).

[Maser]

Running multiple BT devices

Hi Stipus,
I am evaluating your plugin with the widicom stack and it is working very well.
I would like to add more BT devices so that i can control positioning more accuratly. I see that only one BT device can be handled per PC and i have seen mention of a BT client for use on other PC's but i cannot find any information on this. Can you please let me know where i can get more info and the client software. I have Multiple PC's throughout my home so i would have no trouble attaching BT dongles to each one of them.
Thanks Nick.

[stipus]

The Bluetooth Client setup file (.MSI) should be in your homeSeer 2 directory.

You need to copy this file to a remote PC, and run it.

You then have to update the rules to take into account input from @Network2 or more if you setup more BT Clients. More info about this in the Web Configuration interface help page.

[cyrusd]

Best settings for iPhone?

I have an iPhone 3G, and it seems as long as I keep it on the "Bluetooth" screen of the preferences, my HS2 installation with a Linksys 100m adapter can find it ok - however, as soon as I let the phone lock, or change to a different application, HS2 reports the device as "away".

I've tried AutoDiscovery and ConnectService - neither seems to behave differently with my iPhone.

Anyone know any secrets?

[stipus]

It seems like the iphone shuts down BT whenever possible to preserve battery life... there is no solution as far as I know.

[Emotion]

iPhone 3G Bluetooth

I have an iPhone 3G working great with this Plugin using the following parameters: Stack = Microsoft (WidComm seems to get automatically replaced by MS on Windows 7 ), Poll Delay = 60, Lost Confirm = 3, DiscoverService. I don't seem to get any false alerts with these settings.

I would have liked to have set the Poll Delay to 10, but when I tried this my iPhone battery went flat fairly quickly. Is there a way (with a vb.net script perhaps) to reconfigure a Bluetooth device within HS to change the Poll Delay so that I can start off at 10 to quickly identify a phone and then change this to, say, 300 (5 minutes) once it has been detected to conserve battery life?

[stipus]

There is a way to change the poll delay from a HomeSeer script

1) Use the function hs.SaveINISetting() to change the right parameter in hspi_bt.ini

2) Reload the device configuration

hs.plugin( "BT Connector").scanner.Devices( device_id ).ReloadConfig()

Use the same device_id as the device for which you changed the parameter in the .ini

This should work, as the plugin web configuration interface uses this method to change BT device parameters.

You may need to add hspi_bt.dll as a scripting reference.

[Emotion]

stipus you are amazing!!!

The key was to update the hspi_bt.ini file in the C:\Program Files\Homeseer HS2\Config directory.

For me, this has enabled THE most useful home automation feature of HS - the ability to detect the presence of a known individual.

Speed of identification or concern over power consumption would have really put the dampers on this feature.

Thank you so much !!!!

[gh4un]

Hello,

I was wondering if it would be possible to detect the presence of a bluetooth headset and use this device for voice control with respect to the current room/area based on the proximity as determined from the PC's. I have a pc in most every room.

Any thoughts? Is this possible?

Thanks,

Greg

[stipus]

I don't think it's possible, but I'm not 100% certain.

- The BT headset must be paired with the computer for voice control.
- The BT headset must not be paired for the plugin to detect when it's away...

[gh4un]

Hello,

Could voice control be handled through a very strong 100m dongle attached to my main server while taking advantage of lesser (10m) dongles attached to various machines in each room/vicinity. This way the 10m dongles would be used for proximity detection, which could be utilized by the main server for tying the voice recognition commands to a particular area.

Thanks,

Greg

Also, what is a good headset to get? I don't have one yet.