#mochad
#####Archived documentation pages: https://bfocht.github.io/mochad
mochad is a Linux TCP gateway daemon for the X10 CM15A RF (radio frequency) and PL (power line) controller and the CM19A RF controller.
mochad stands for Multiple Online Controllers for Home Automation Daemon.
0.1.17 Removed Open Remote/XML Support, change response to be comma separated value (CSV) 0.1.16 Fix "Could not find endpoints" problem. 0.1.15 Add support for 2011 CM19A. 0.1.14 Fix OpenRemote too many open sockets problem. Add shutters/blinds command. 0.1.13 Fix -d debug option. Add support for DS12A. 0.1.12 Add --raw-data option. 0.1.11 Fix xdim (extended dim) that only worked for unit code 3. 0.1.10 Fix major client problem. Commands from clients stopped working. 0.1.9 Add support for OpenRemote 2.0 with iPhone and Android clients. 0.1.8 Add support for Chumby application.
Note:
This version of mochad is highly modified for my vera plugin. The response format has been changed. See Sample output format below
Build it
mochad currently compiles and runs on Raspberry Pi RASPBIAN JESSIE LITE The libusb-1.0 development files are required. To install,
sudo apt-get install libusb-1.0-0-dev
make
sudo make install
Run it
Plugging a CM15A or CM19A should launch mochad. There no need to run mochad by hand or run it from /etc/rc.local. mochad is launched by a udev rule that matches the CM15A and CM19A USB vendor and product ID codes.
Use it
Connect to mochad using netcat. For example,
nc localhost 1099
You can connect to mochad from another host by specifying the IP of the host running mochad. netcat is available for Windows at http://joncraton.org/blog/netcat-for-windows.
Everything sent by mochad appears on netcat standard output. In the simplest use case, mochad/netcat can be used to see X10 PL and RF activity. For example, run mochad on one host with a CM15A then connect to it using netcat from a netbook. Walk around with various X10 RF remote controls and the netbook to see which remotes work from various locations.
Sample output:
Rx,RF,C3,off
Tx,PL,C3
Tx,PL,C,Off
Rx,RF,C3,Off
Tx,PL,C3
Tx,PL,C,Off
Rx,RFSEC,0x11,Lights_Off_SH624
Rx,RFSEC,0x11,Lights_Off_SH624
Rx,RFSEC,C6:1B:00,Motion_alert_MS10A
Rx,RFSEC,C6:1B:00,Motion_alert_MS10A
Rx,RFSEC,C6:1B:00,Motion_alert_MS10A
Rx,RFSEC,C6:1B:00,Motion_alert_MS10A
Everything sent to netcat standard input is sent to mochad. The following is a brief list of mochad commands.
pl a1 [on|off]
pl a1 [dim|bright] 0..31
pl a1 xdim 0..255
pl a1
pl a2
pl a [on|off|dim|bright|xdim|all_lights_on|all_lights_off|all_units_off]
rf a1 [on|off|dim|bright]
st -- show device status including RF security devices
By default, received RF X10 commands are repeated on the PL interface for all house codes. This can be changed using the rftopl command (RF to PL repeater).
rftopl * -- enable all house codes (default)
rftopl abc -- enable for house codes A, B, and C. Disable for all others.
rftopl 0 -- disable for all house codes. This is useful if more than
one CM15A is in use. Leaving both enabled will result in
PL collisions and redundant commands.
Please see http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/mochad/index.php?title=Main_Page for more details on command and event messages.
If you want to debug X10 RF, or gateway raw frames to another program, you can use the --raw-data argument. See apps/mochad.scr for an example on how to gateway frames with misterhouse.
Another use is to simply be able to get all the raw RF frames to see if the multiple copies received are identical (good), off by a few bits (RF marginal), or nonsensical (bad).
07/01 23:34:42 Rx RF HouseUnit: A1 Func: Off
07/01 23:34:42 Raw data received: 5D 20 60 9F 20 DF
07/01 23:34:42 Raw data received: 5D 20 60 9F 20 DF
07/01 23:34:43 Raw data received: 5D 20 60 9F 20 DF
07/01 23:34:43 Raw data received: 5D 20 60 9F 20 DF
07/01 23:34:43 Raw data received: 5D 20 60 9F 20 DF
For examples of controlling shutters and blinds, see the following.
https://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/mochad/index.php?title=Shutter_and_Blinds
Multiple controllers
The Perl program mochamon.pl shows how to monitor more than one instance of mochad. It is possible to create a master home automation master which talks to more than one X10 controller. For example, a mocha master could receive RF commands from controller A then send PL commands on controller B in a detached building.
Command line X10 control
Command line control is useful for controlling devices from cron or CGI programs.
$ echo "pl a all_lights_off" | nc localhost 1099
More generally, create a file name x10cmd with the following
echo "$@" | nc localhost 1099
Make the file executable.
$ chmod +x x10cmd
Run x10cmd with command line parameters to control X10 devices.
$ ./x10cmd pl a all_lights_off
Web Interface
The cgi/ sub-directory holds a simple Perl CGI web application that uses mochad. The interface is designed for small hand held devices over slow connections (not broadband) so the web pages are very basic and small. No GIFs or JPGs are used. To accomodate older devices with limited web browsers, CSS, Javascript, or AJAX are not used. The web applications has buttons at the top to send commands to mochad. The remainder shows status information for three hosts running mochad.
Please see http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/mochad/index.php?title=Main_Page for more details.
Hardware
X10 controllers: CM15A and CM19A
Various X10 devices that have been tested with mochad: AM486, LM465 softstart, PAM02, RR501 (2 way), DS10A, MS10A, KR10A, SH624, KR19A
NOTE: CM15A macros and timers are NOT supported. For best results, use AHP (ActiveHome Pro) to clear interface memory and disable the internal RF to PL repeater. This ensures the CM15A behaves like a transceiver.
Files
*.c *.h -- C source files
Acknowledgments
This project in not in any way affliated with X10 Corp. (www.x10.com). Do not contact them about this driver since they know nothing about it.
References
The following documents were useful in development of this program.
X10 RF including RF Security Protocol
<http://www.edcheung.com/automa/rf.txt>
Linux Daemon HowTo
<http://www-theorie.physik.unizh.ch/~dpotter/howto/daemonize>