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    Russound Plug-in, 1 problem 2 questions

    This plug-in looks very promising, lots of possibilities!

    First, the problem: Control of all of my zones from Homeseer seem to work fine except zone 6. When I try to do anything from the keypad interface in homeseer for zone 6, I get the following error:

    7/26/2007 9:51:07 PM Info Device: Russound Study (]6) Value set to 07/26/2007 9:52:09 PM Russound MusicAPI.SendKey on Zone: Study, Command: Volume_Up7/26/2007 9:52:09 PM Russound Error in MusicAPI.SendKey: Conversion from string "FFFFFFFF" to type 'Byte' is not valid.7/26/2007 9:52:11 PM Russound MusicAPI.SendKey on Zone: Study, Command: Volume_Up7/26/2007 9:52:11 PM Russound Error in MusicAPI.SendKey: Conversion from string "FFFFFFFF" to type 'Byte' is not valid.7/26/2007 9:52:19 PM Russound Error in MusicAPI.SendKey: Conversion from string "FFFFFFFF" to type 'Byte' is not valid.7/26/2007 9:52:22 PM Russound Error in MusicAPI.SendKey: Conversion from string "FFFFFFFF" to type 'Byte' is not valid.


    First Question, Does the plugin do anything with Russound A-bus hubs and keypads?

    Second Question, How do I do this:
    If I have several different sources playing on several different zones and an event occurs for which I would like to play announcement on selected zones, but once the anouncement is over, I want the zones to go back to their previous state. Is this possible?

    Thanks!

    #2
    Hello,

    On the error, this has been resolved in the beta build. Please give that one a try.

    What are you looking to do with the ABUS keypads? I am fairly certain there isn't anything in the API to handle them, but I could take a look if you have a specific task to do.

    The easiest solution here would be a script. Take a look at the help file for the available scripting commands, and let me know if you would need an example.
    -RJ (HomeSeer Tech)

    Comment


      #3
      ccat & RJ,

      The API does not accomodate any control of the A-Bus keypads.

      This is really a limitation of the A-Bus technology as the only way to control A-Bus is manually from the keypad or by using the A-Bus IR remote.

      Cheers,
      Paul

      Click to visit: www.sbsmarthomes.com
      Santa Barbara Smarthomes

      Authorized Russound Dealer & Installer

      Personal HA Website

      HomeSeer User Profile

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by pkoslow View Post
        ccat & RJ,

        The API does not accomodate any control of the A-Bus keypads.

        This is really a limitation of the A-Bus technology as the only way to control A-Bus is manually from the keypad or by using the A-Bus IR remote.

        Cheers,
        Paul
        Were it not for this one limitation the Abus would be a perfect mid priced system for whole house audio.
        Marty
        ------
        XPpro SP3 /w HS Standard 2.5.0.80, HSTouch Server - 1.0.0.70, HSTouch Client 1.0.0.73 HSTouch Android - 1.0.0.2, HSTouch iPhone - 1.0.0.2
        Playing with HS3 a bit but it's just play at this point.

        Comment


          #5
          Thanks for the feedback, Beta works!

          It would be nice to control the A-bus hubs/keypads much like the main controllers on each zone, but that is not critical.

          The second question that did not get much discussion is much more important. any feedback on that? ...

          Second Question, How do I do this:
          If I have several different sources playing on several different zones and an event occurs for which I would like to play announcement on selected zones, but once the anouncement is over, I want the zones to go back to their previous state. Is this possible?

          To expand, here is an example: Zone 1 and 2 are on Source 1 and Zone 3 is on Source 2. An event occurs, then I would like to speak a phrase on Zone 2 and 3 (probably switching them to Source 3 to do so), leave Zone 1 alone and then once the anouncement is over, put place zone 2 and 3 back to thier pre-announcement state.

          Thanks!

          Comment


            #6
            Hi Ccat-

            Try using this script:

            Code:
             
            Sub Main
             
            Dim Z1Src
            Dim Z2Src
             
            Dim ZNames
            Dim SNames
             
            Dim Rs 
            Set Rs = hs.Plugin("Russound").MusicAPI
             
            ZNames = Rs.GetZoneNames()
            SNames = Rs.GetSourceNames()
             
            ' get zone 1 name, then get the source it is tuned to
            Z1Src = Rs.GetZoneSource(ZNames(0)) ' This is 0 because array is 0 based
            ' get zone 2 name, then get the source it is tuned to
            Z2Src = Rs.GetZoneSource(ZNames(1))
             
            ' Set all zones to source 3
            Rs.SetZonetoSource(ZNames(0), SNames(2))
            Rs.SetZonetoSource(ZNames(1), SNames(2))
             
            ' Speak the annoucement
            hs.Speak("Announcement")
             
            ' reset zones to original sources
            Rs.SetZonetoSource(ZNames(0), SNames(Z1Src))
            Rs.SetZonetoSource(Znames(1), SNames(Z2Src))
             
             
             
            End Sub
            You can also replace ZNames(x) and SNames(x) with the hardcoded zone and source names. Also, this is obviously an example for only two zones, but it gives you a framework to get started with.
            -RJ (HomeSeer Tech)

            Comment


              #7
              I'll give this a shot. Thanks.

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by ccat View Post
                Does the plugin do anything with Russound A-bus hubs and keypads?
                As Paul noted, there is really no way to control ABus keypads except with the remote. To get around this limitation, I installed IR blasters. (I've tried to hide them so they are not easily visible, either on the wall adjacent or opposite to the keypad.) I then emulate the ABus IR remote (from Stargate in my case, but HS will do it too, I'm sure). Unfortunately, because ABus always comes on at lowest volume, it's not very practical for turning them on. I use it primarily to turn them off when the room is vacant.

                If I have several different sources playing on several different zones and an event occurs for which I would like to play announcement on selected zones, but once the anouncement is over, I want the zones to go back to their previous state. Is this possible?
                I don't use the plugin, but I've been working on scripts to do just this. One is working. It polls each zone to find its current status. (I run it once a minute.) I then store that information in HS device strings (one per zone). I'm just getting back to finishing the script that will extract the status from the strings after an announcement and put the zones back to the state they were in before the announcement. I'll share the scripts if there's interest. (Just keep the laughter to a dull roar. I'm not a software pro by any means.)
                Mike____________________________________________________________ __________________
                HS3 Pro Edition 3.0.0.548, NUC i3

                HW: Stargate | NX8e | CAV6.6 | Squeezebox | PCS | WGL 800RF | RFXCOM | Vantage Pro | Green-Eye | Edgeport/8 | Way2Call | Ecobee3 | EtherRain | Ubiquiti

                Comment


                  #9
                  Mike,

                  I would definatley like to look at them.

                  Thanks - Cody

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Cody,
                    I'm in debug mode now. I'll try to post them in a few days, depending on how things go. So far, everything seems to be working as I would expect, which is a bad sign.
                    Mike____________________________________________________________ __________________
                    HS3 Pro Edition 3.0.0.548, NUC i3

                    HW: Stargate | NX8e | CAV6.6 | Squeezebox | PCS | WGL 800RF | RFXCOM | Vantage Pro | Green-Eye | Edgeport/8 | Way2Call | Ecobee3 | EtherRain | Ubiquiti

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by ccat View Post
                      Second Question, How do I do this:
                      If I have several different sources playing on several different zones and an event occurs for which I would like to play announcement on selected zones, but once the anouncement is over, I want the zones to go back to their previous state. Is this possible?

                      To expand, here is an example: Zone 1 and 2 are on Source 1 and Zone 3 is on Source 2. An event occurs, then I would like to speak a phrase on Zone 2 and 3 (probably switching them to Source 3 to do so), leave Zone 1 alone and then once the anouncement is over, put place zone 2 and 3 back to thier pre-announcement state.

                      Thanks!
                      If your're using the CAV6.6 that has the audio page input, you might consider using this for announcments instead of using a source input for your TTS? Theoretically you can use the DND funtion to determine which zones will receive the announcement.

                      Several other benefits to the paging input:
                      - Automatically powers on zones that are off for the announcement
                      - You can set the audio page volume specifically for each zone so you announcement volume won't be dependant on the current music volume
                      - You don't take up a source input for announcements
                      - Should be easier to script as you don't have to query power, source, volume, etc. on each zone before each announcement and then revert back after.

                      Here's a little more info at a post on Cocoontech.com:
                      http://www.cocoontech.com/index.php?showtopic=8224&hl=

                      Cheers,
                      Paul

                      Click to visit: www.sbsmarthomes.com
                      Santa Barbara Smarthomes

                      Authorized Russound Dealer & Installer

                      Personal HA Website

                      HomeSeer User Profile

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by pkoslow View Post
                        Theoretically you can use the DND funtion to determine which zones will receive the announcement.
                        Paul,
                        There have been several exchanges on this board and in this forum that strongly imply the DND function does not provide the functionality required to selectively send announcements to some zones and not others. Have you found a solution?
                        Mike____________________________________________________________ __________________
                        HS3 Pro Edition 3.0.0.548, NUC i3

                        HW: Stargate | NX8e | CAV6.6 | Squeezebox | PCS | WGL 800RF | RFXCOM | Vantage Pro | Green-Eye | Edgeport/8 | Way2Call | Ecobee3 | EtherRain | Ubiquiti

                        Comment

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