Beta testers wanted for HomeSeer plug-in

[ChrisG]

I have developed a program that provides a new user interface for controlling HomeSeer and other programs. Download it here and tell me what you think!

Chris Grace
Developer of the Master Control Panel
www.conceptualcoding.com

[thymer]

Does it have to be installed/run from the same machine that HS is loaded on?

[ChrisG]

Yes, MCP does not have any networking capabilities at present.

Chris Grace
Developer of the Master Control Panel
www.conceptualcoding.com

[alevey]

it is fairly useless to HA users.
We access our "controls" via web pages (ASP, HTML, etc). I think this is a start on an application that could become great if designed properly.

[ChrisG]

Browser access is provided by HomeSeer. MCP is better suited for when you or a family member wants to control all your gear from an easy chair in your home theater.

I do want to enable MCP control over a network, but one step at a time.

-Chris

Chris Grace
Developer of the Master Control Panel
www.conceptualcoding.com

[Eclipsgsx]

I installed homeseer (the demo) and Master Control Panel on my test computer. I copied the Homeseer Plugin to the Components directory. I am using a cm11a on Homeseer. When I start Master Control Panel I get 3 errors and It will not open the Homeseer Plugin. Here are the errors.

[ChrisG]

Donald,

I'd like you to send me a log file that will give me more information about the error you are getting.

To create this log file, go into your Master Control Panel directory and look for a file called "MasterControlPanel.exe.config". Open this file in Notepad.

The 15th line in this file reads "<add name="ExceptionsSwitch" value="0" />"

Change value="0" to value="1"

This will cause an error log file to be created next time the error happens. The log file gives me details on where in the program the error happened.

Run MCP again so you get the errors, then turn the logging back off by changing the 1 back to a zero in the config file.

The log file "Exceptions.log" will be located in the LogFiles directory under the Master Control Panel Directory.

Either paste it or attach it to an email and send it to support@conceptualcoding.com.

Also let me know what operating system you are using.

Thanks for giving the MCP beta a try, your feedback is essential to making it a troublefree program.

Chris Grace
Developer of the Master Control Panel
www.conceptualcoding.com

[Parker]

I tried installing and running MCP and got the same errors as Donald.

I have to comment that the whole set-up and configuration is a bit sketchy.

Is HS suppose to be running first? How do you remove it from auto launch?

Great concept if you can work out the bugs.

Parker

[ChrisG]

Parker,

MCP will load HomeSeer automatically if it is not already running. HomeSeer must be running to expose its events and trigger them.

You can setup up HomeSeer so it loads up right into the system tray, that way it happens pretty much behind the scenes.

What do you mean the setup seems sketchy? Can you be more specific?

Are you sure the error message you're getting says "QueryInterface" in it? Maybe it says something a little different? Not everyone is getting this error, and I have been unable to reproduce it. Perhaps you are using Windows 95 or Windows NT which haven't been tested. Maybe the operating system won't work right with new .NET applications like MCP unless it has all the latest updates. What version of DirectX are you using? What version of Internet Explorer?

Giving me these details, and the log file I talked about above, would give me a lot more to go on.

Chris Grace
Developer of the Master Control Panel
www.conceptualcoding.com

[ChrisG]

I figured out the QueryInterface issue. Overwrite your HomeSeer plug-in with this one, and it should fix the problem.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. Let me know how it works for you.

Chris Grace
Developer of the Master Control Panel
www.conceptualcoding.com