For my home automation project (using Hejmo), I’m using a remote made for Windows Media Center. I also have a Logitech Z-680 5.1 sound system, which I control using the LIRC « irsend » command. For all of this to work, here are the necessary steps…

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I will continue using hejmo for my home automation, I’ll also improve resources, probably create new ones…

First, I need to download hejmo :

cd /usr/src
svn checkout http://hejmo.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/ hejmo

Hejmo bus

All hejmo parts communicate through the Hejmo bus, based on D-Bus.

A special instance of D-Bus is started for hejmo, listening on the network.

cd /usr/src/hejmo/hejmobus/
sudo make install
sudo update-rc.d hejmobus defaults
sudo /etc/init.d/hejmobus start

Python-hejmo

Hejmo resources are often (let’s even say always for now) programmes in Python, the python-hejmo package helps a lot…

sudo apt-get install python-dbus python-gobject python-daemon
cd /usr/src/hejmo/python-hejmo
sudo python setup.py install

X10 controller

I’m using a CM15A X10 controller.

I’ve managed to make it work by using the IPLC driver, slightly modified because of the recent modifications in the Linux kernel.

I’ve compiled it on my home automation controller from hejmo‘s repository.

First, the source code may be modified, according to the Linux kernel version ; on line 46, the include statement shoud point either to <linux/autoconf.h> or <generated/autoconf.h>.

cd /usr/src/hejmo/x10_driver/cm15a
sudo -s
make
make install
exit

Resources

First I’m gonna install (but not activate) all resources I’ve created so far.

cd /usr/src/hejmo/resources
sudo ./install.sh

cd /usr/src/hejmo/resources-starter
sudo make install

I’ve been through different ideas for home automation and media center, adding improvements every time I change my home automation infrastructure.

Now, I’m gonna use two computers for this purpose.

Asus EeePC 900

I’ve collected an Asus EeePC 900, perfectly working but with a nearly-empty battery.

It is now meant to be used as the home automation controller and music player.

I’ve detached the screen and hanged it vertically on the wall for global information display.

For the moment, I’ve only started xclock in order to validate the computer’s ability to run 24/7 without overheating or other crash sources.

Operating system

I’ve installed Xubuntu 10.04.2 LTS on this computer :

• Xubuntu for the interface lightness
• 10.04 for the long-term support

Kernel

This computer only has 1 GB RAM, so the PAE kernel version is useless.

apt-get install linux-image-generic linux-headers-generic linux-image-generic-pae linux-headers-generic-pae

Packard Bell iMax Mini

I’ve bought a Packard Bell iMax Mini (clone of the Acer Aspire Revo) years ago. At this moment, this computer served as my media center and home automation controller. Now, I’m planning to use it for video viewing only : it is connected to my TV.

Operating system

I’ve installed the latest Ubuntu version on this computer, in order to get profit from any recent improvements.