iRule - Page 63

Thank you for the tips!! Worked great for me.

About the only way I see to be able to do this is to add your own intelligent gateway to the mix (A PC or Mac that's always on would be ideal but a linux based router could also be used with the right software).

The way I would do it (I have an iMac that is on 24/7 that controls my Insteon system amongst other things) would be to set up Apache with PHP (MAMP in my case; WAMP for the PC) and create a PHP script to receive data from iRule. The script would then talk to the Lutron system to send it commands.

Once feedback is integrated into iRule, the same script could be used to query states.

Valdhor: thanks for the suggestion. I'll see what is involved to set up the server. I do have a Windows server that is on 24/7 (unless it crashes :-)

Barry: Very interesting result. I downloaded your program and tried it. Didn't work on port 23 at all. Did some crawling around and there is a cryptic reference to Pioneer's iPhone program using port 8102. Sure enough, it seems to work on port 8102. I need to do some further testing but the manual commands I sent via your program sure seem to work just perfectly! Thanks!

Just to confirm, I was able to generate an iRule device using Barry's program and can successfully control the 1020 via IP on port 8102. It sounds like the 1120 also listens on 8102 - not sure if this is the general port that Pioneer is using with all of their "apps."

Barry - Do you know if there is a MUTE (toggle) command for the Pioneer via RS232? Clearly, with feedback, one could do the query and the appropriate discrete code but I couldn't find the toggle anywhere.

Also, it is too bad that there isn't a way to do a login/password in iRule when a gateway is being setup. If there was, it seems that I could use your TCPIP explorer program and generate all of the commands I need for my Lutron system as it is listening on port 23 and I can easily manually control it via Telnet.

I originally wrote the TCP explorer program to allow me to explore the TCP capabilities of a device. It needs more work to completely do that, but it will allow you to make up and try sequences to send. One of the nice features is that it shows you the traffic in both directions and what is going on (errors, socket state etc.).

Once you understand how your device communicates it is fairly easy to build a control file which is just a text file. Once you have the control file and you can control your device with it, then you can have the program build the proper iRule device file from the control file. It is how I build iRule device files for TCP capable devices I come upon.

The Pioneer documentation for RS232 and IP does not include a mute toggle command, just mute on, mute off and a mute state query. Nor do they allow the sending of any "Button" on the remote as many devices do when implementing RS232 or TCP.

Drop me an email if you want a copy of the doc which lists all the commands. The commands are the same for TCP and RS232.

You can now build and test a proper file for the 1020. I would appreciate if you would do that and send it to me. I will add it to the programs library of files. In fact if anyone using TCP Explorer builds the proper text file and sends it to me as verified I will add it to the library.

Hi there, I have multi-zonal Spotify setup in a huge hall. Every so often Spotify crashes and the Mac has be restart. I was wondering is there any way at all that I would be able to send a restart command from iRule?

I know that this app can do it http://www.mobilepcmonitor.com/downloads.php
and I know iRule can send WOL to PC's-any ideas.

I'd be just as happy with an icon on the desktop as well, any gurus?

Ty

Port 8102 does not appear to have any "official" use so I guess it is open to be used as manufacturers see fit.

the following link may be useful to those looking to see what devices/manufacturers are going into IP control

http://www.remotecentral.com/cgi-bin...thread.cgi?236

arnobarno
what happens if you send the login userid/password with every transmission. The overhead delays may be tolerable

Barry,
There is no difference in the .ini file for the 1020 or the 1120. I just used your file, changed the name from 1120 to 1020 and changed the port to 8102. The 1120 should also be controllable from 8102.

As for sending a username/password, I'm a little stumped here. If I telnet to the device, I'm prompted for username/password the first time; then can send commands. If I use your program over port 23, I don't see anything coming back from the device. Maybe I set it up wrong - I'll have to check again but have to run right now.

arn

You may be able to telnet directly from iRule but I don't know if iRule handles the Telnet protocol. According to the RFC (http://freesoft.org/CIE/RFC/1738/28.htm), a Telnet URL scheme takes the form...

telnet://:@:/

You may like to give it a try and see what happens.

Barry, how can I find out what range I can use?

I now I have a new problem
It seems after a certain amount of going to different panels via link buttons or the back function, I get booted out of iRule.
When I restart it, my gateways via network for both my TV and my receiver are gone and I need to add them again.
Anyone has this problem occur and/or has an idea of what's going on?

Look at post 7543; I think that might explain it.

Rich

Are you talking about the iRule app or the Builder?

If it's the app, I have had it crash like that and have no idea why.

I'm talking about the app so I don't think post 7543 is revelant.

Valdhor, so it's not happening anymore?

Aries1204, Your router configuration (I assume your router is doing the DHCP work) should show the starting IP address and either a count or an ending IP address to define the range. Which router do you have? If it is a linksys router you need to open its configuration page enter the userid and password and look at the setup page.

IIRC you said something about the DHCP range being 100-104. I would try an iTach address such as 192.168.1.90 if you are not using that as a static address for some host. On my LAN I use 100-149 as the DHCP Range

arnobarno,

A real telnet session from a telnet client normally sends an open as the first command which the server generally responds to with a request for user name and then for pass word. I am not a telnet expert at this time because I forget too many things, I have a telnet client that I wrote so I could check.

Systems like the Pioneer receivers really use open TCP not Telnet and they should not use port 23 which is reserved for Telnet sessions. Perhaps that is why they are moving to 8102. Dennon and Yamaha should do a similar thing. Telnet is Telnet and is session oriented not transaction oriented.

When you deal with the lutron system I assume you use a real telnet client which sends the open to establish a telnet session. You could in effect completely duplicate the opening of a session, sending userid, sending password, sending command(s) and then closing the session so that the telnet server on the lutron host is ready for the next open. As a thought, if you have your lutron commands on a single page you could on entry to the page open the session. I do not know what the lutron system will do with an open when it is already open in a session. You could also have a button that establishes the session (send open IP; send userid, send password) or whatever is required.

Barry,
Thanks for the response and that makes sense. I used to be a real programming whiz myself but I can barely remember what I ate for breakfast yet alone the telnet protocol.

But, if I knew what that protocol looked like and it was easy to replicate, what you say makes sense. The overhead of opening and closing sessions on every command would actually be trivial and closing the session would be preferred, in fact, since that would for all intents and purposes eliminate the problem of multiple logins at the same time (which lutron doesn't allow using the same login/password combination).

For me, each command to the Lutron RA2 system that I need to execute is itself a macro that is already programmed into the system. For example, I'd send one command which is a "movie" scene to the main controller. In my case, that command is "#DEVICE,41,1,3" which is a keypad press of the movie scene on one of the keypads in our home.

Just not sure how to setup and tear down what needs to wrap around that to make it work. More searching required...
arn

i was hoping to creat a page where i can choose to play Xbox 360 or one of the various emulators i have running on my computer. i have all of the emulaters in the gametime plug-in through Media browser in Media center (confusing i know).

is there a way i can set a custom button to boot to the Media Browser main window then macro from there to my games/systems??

This is the plugin in question

http://community.mediabrowser.tv/per...ametime-plugin

arnobarno,

Get a copy of wireshark (free) and learn how to use it. What you want to see is what the telnet session sends to the lutron devivce and what it sends back. If you run the telnet client on the same machine as wireshark it will be a piece of cake

If you want to see what the keypads send you will need an IP Hub and have the various devices on the HUB along with the PC running wireshark so that all the traffic will be viewable

Barry,
Thanks for your help. I'm at the 1 yard line now...

I've downloaded Wireshark and I can see what the initiation protocol is to get the telnet session going.

So, I programmed a bunch of commands into TCPIP Explorer - initiate, login, password, sample command 1, sample command 2, and logoff. I can drive my lights using TCPIP Explorer now!

Two problems remain:
1) (Could be worked around) - For some reason, the first time I send the login/password sequence, I get a "bad password" reply from my device. Sending it a second time always works. Looking at the packets in Wireshark doesn't really shed light on this. This is easy to work around, as long as it remains consistent behavior.

2) (Bigger Problem) Turned the .ini into an iRule file and uploaded the device. Wired 6 buttons to the 6 commands so I can manually simulate the same thing. Nothing happens and I'm not sure how to sniff the packets between iRule and the device. Thoughts??
EDIT: Hmmm. Not sure why this didn't work on the first few tries but it appears to work now within iRule. I'm left with one problem, though, still. If I send my logout command, it closes the socket and iRule won't re-setup the gateway until I move away from my current panel onto a new one and then back. And, rather than the green transmission status icon in the lower left, I see an orange status icon when I send a command...

Send me your ini file that you developed and your iRule file that TCP Explorer built from it. I will try your ini file with some changes with a different telnet server to see if it rejects the password too.

Also if you can send me the telnet session wireshark file and the TCP explorer wireshark session. I will see if I can find any differences. There has to be something different. It could be a timing problem if the device server code is weak. What are you using as the line termination character(s)? CR, LF or CRLF. In linux/unix termination is sometimes LF not CR. You might try sending a blank line between user ID and password and then send the password.

To sniff the packets between Irule and the device, the device and the PC running wireshark must be on the same LAN segment so both see the same traffic. You can not do this with a switch or a multiport router as the multiport router is a switch. You need a Hub which you can probably find on eBay. You put the device and the PC on the hub and connect the hub to your LAN. In this way the router or switch sends traffic for your device to the hub since your device is on the hub. The hub, unlike a switch sends all traffic it gets from its LAN connection to all ports on the hub, ergo wireshark sees the traffic going to the device.

Once you work this all out I suspect a lot of people will be happy.

Does anyone find it weird that the owner of the app picks only questions that he has a good answer for but will not answer other questions? This has been going on for the last 2 to 3 months.

Like?

1. Bug from last update that if you have a 1st gen links do not work correctly?
2. When will 2 way feedback be available.
3. When will android be supported?

All of these questions have been asked multiple times but no answer. Kind of makes you start to wonder if you made the right choice, myself started to kick myself for not choosing command Fusion instead of iRule.

BTW Not going to pick through thread to pick out questions since this has been asked multiple times that a separate forum be made but still nothing has happened.

Isn't that logical?

One answers questions he knows the answer to. If he doesn't know the answer he can make one up, say he doesn't know, or just keep quiet. I guess the later was chosen.

There is nothing stopping any dissatisfied customer from going elsewhere. I am not dissatisfied but am looking at other solutions just to keep my options open.

I am not part of the company that is developing this app.

I can't speak for number two. But Itai has answered 2 and 3 over and over and over again in this thread. He is currently working on 2way. He didn't give an exact time. I don't think we should expect him to either. He mentioned possible Android support in the future also, but nothing solid.

Itai, goes above and beyond any other company I have ever dealt with. THe support is perfect, 7 days a week, and quick.

jim

I've read this entire thread from day 1. Yep, all 7,583 posts of it. I'm quite certain Itai gets tired of answering the same questions over and over again. To the best of my knowledge, every question that has been asked in this thread has been answered by Itai, himself, or other board members, recently, or in the past. This thread is so long, it's doubtful that a new question could arise that the answer can't be found somewhere in it. The answers to the questions that you point out, I assure you, are in this thread.

Hi arnobarno,

1.a) Telnet communication with Lutron
I have these info from Fiasco. It´s from CommandFusion, not tested in iRule, but I hope, helps you:

For RadioRa my System Properties are
port 23 port origin 23
TCP
maintain constant connection
RX/TX/EOM blank
Startup command "login_darren"

My "login darren" command is

darren\\x0D\\x0Apassword\\x0D\\x0A#MONITORING,255,1\\x0D\\x0 A?DEVI CE,1,109,9\\x0D\\x0A

which amounts to
darren (enter)
password (enter)
monitoring command to set ra repeater to spit back info (enter)
device state query for button on homepage of remote (enter)

For more info:
http://groups.google.com/group/comma...=gst&q=fiasco#
or send a PM directly to Fiasco

1.b) My experience with Telnet communication in iRule
I tested telnet communication for controlling my AV receiver NAD via RS232 through my linux based satellite receiver running on Enigma2 system (Dreambox).

Detailed description:
I send Networked commands (=RS232 commands for NAD) from iRule to Dreambox. I have create a separate Network gateway for it (IP, port:23).
Dreambox is connected to NAD with USB-RS232 cable (PL2303). All commands, which Dreambox received on port 23 via telnet are transfered out via USB to NAD, such as normal RS232 commands.
Everything is working.
... but, as barry wrote somewhere above, telnet is session oriented communication. This mean, that you need open it with login (password) and correctly close it too. And here is a big problem in iRule. iRule don´t correctly close opened telnet session in each case (multitasking). Main issue is, that Apple allow has opened communication sessions only 10 minutes, when you sleep it (close to multitasking bar).
The my latest status is, that I send a login command in each my command.
For reinit telnet communication in latest version of iRule is suffice run process "Connecting to gateways..."

Conclusion:
Telnet communication in iRule working, but it´s not 100% infallible.

2.) Controlling AV receiver Pioneer VSX-1020-K via network directly from iRule
Do you really test this configuration:
- Network gateway: Pioneer 1020 (IP, port:8102)
- Network codes: Pioneer 2010 AVR (Network): VSX-1120-K added by Barry Gordon
Is´t working for you?

Hi,

Is there anyway to send commands to a Macintosh computer in the same way you can send MCE commands to a windows box.

I really need a way to restart a Mac from iRule.

Many Thanks

PS-Can iRule handle ssh like it can telnet?

QFT-Itai is really supportive. I've never regretted using iRule. I've got two iRule setups, neither have gone down.

If you think you can make a better app no one is stopping you. The thing is, there are actually several scenarios where the cloud based google apps thing is pure win. For example, if you have done everything by IR with iTachs you can have 8 peoples iphones controlling systems. All they need to do is download the free app, user name and password. Job done. Try keeping it that simple with of line solutions.

Rudku,
Thanks for the info on telnet/radio RA. I've gotten much further on my project last night (with the help of Barry) and will be posting results shortly.

As for the Pioneer 1020-k, what I did was take Barry's .ini file from his TCPIP explorer project, and change names in it to be 1020-k, etc. Then, generated the xml that iRule wants (again using Barry's program) and uploaded to iRule. Set up a gateway (using port 8102) and it works perfectly to speak to the Pioneer. I believe that simply using Barry's uploaded 1120-k network device (on port 8102) should work as well. But, that isn't exactly what I did.
arn