Re: Question re X10 module (a bit long!)

["Paul Gordon" <paul_gordon@xxxxxxx>]

>
>Yes.  ACE can easily be used to control Winamp on any pc on your
network.
>There is an ACE module called ACE-32 that needs to run on the same PC
as
>Winamp.  You can then send commands to control Winamp from any ACE
Server
>or
>ACE Client PC.  And, a new feature of ACE-32, soon to be released, is
the
>ability to control 4 separate Winamps.  The 4 Winamps can all be on the
>same
>pc, or on 4 different PC's.  (not sure if you can get 4 sound cards in
1 pc
>yet, but 2 is possible).  This allows you to use Winamp for 4 zones of
>music, and ACE can control the all.

Thanks for the info Dan - I was on the ACE list for quite a while, but I
have to admit, that I dropped off a little while back (when I got Homeseer
I
think). So I am familiar with many of the features & functions of ACE
from
the postings I read there. I've never actually DL'd & run it though, so
I
don't have first hand experience. The reason for that was that the CM12
support is a killer for me, as that's currently the only controller I've
got. I was also on the HomeVision list for quite a while, but again I
dropped off (when it moved), as the likelihood of me getting wife approval
to purchase one is pretty low! (even though I would dearly love to get a
HV,
there are just too many other purchases that are a higher priority).
However, the easier Winamp control may be the one that makes ACE a
no-brainer for me. Incidentally, although I'd a good idea that it was
theoretically possible to install 2 soundcards in one PC, I've never
actually tried to do it. - If I could have 2 soundcards in 1 machine, I
would not need to have Winamp and Homeseer on different machines - wanting
to keep the sound output from Winamp and HS's TTS seperate was pretty much
the sole reason I went with seperate PC's for them. I'd be greatfull for
any
info regarding implementing 2 cards, like:
- Does it work best with 2 identical soundcards?   or,
- Does it work best with 2 different soundcards?
- How does one ensure that only Winamp will use a given card?
- How does one ensure that only the HA software will use a given card?


>
>I just checked and ACE does not support the shuffle command or the
>randomize
>playlist command.  But, the shuffle command is documented in the Winamp
>API.
>It would take me 1 minute to add the ability to toggle shuffle on and
off.
>It's on my to-do list now :)  If the randomize feature is a must, I can
>look
>into doing that too.  ACE can already send keys to the winamp window,
but
>it
>gets tricky since the window title changes with the name of each song
being
>played.  Thus, ACE ususally gets the window handle from Windows and
uses
>that.

I can already do the toggle shuffle command with my existing serial port
control. I use this for now as a stopgap in lieu of getting a proper
randomise command working. I don't want to stick with shuffle as a
permanent
solution, because some plugins dont work properly with it, and it makes it
impossible to know what track is next, before it actually starts. Also,
because it's a toggle, I don't have discrete on/off control of it, and I
also can't get status feedback form it, so I have no way of making sure
that
Homeseer knows its current setting. All that means that it's only really
practical to turn it on in the player, and leave it on permanently - which
is fine for my preset playlists, but not necessarily what I want at other
times. For these reasons, what I _really_ want is the "proper"
randomise
playlist feature, so that I can load one of my 4 preset playlists, each of
which comprise 100+ tracks, randomise it each time I load it, and leave
shuffle off, so that I always get a different selecvtion of music each
time,
but I can also look at the TV screen and see the upcoming track order.
(also, all the plugins will work properly as well.)

>

>
>
>One common misconception about ACE is that it is ONLY for touchscreens.
>While I did design the ACE Client for use on some really cheap
touchscreens
>that were available about 3 years ago, it does not need to have a
>touchscreen.  The client screens of buttons can just as easily be used
from
>any pointing device.

Yes, I appreciate that, probably a bit of a red herring..

>
>No, ACE does not support the CM12 now.  But, it is planned to be added.
>ACE
>we designed to provide remote control and monitoring of any HA system,
so
>it
>started out only supporting the main ha controllers - homevision, ecs,
>stargate, omni, etc.  Each of those sytems has their own x-10, ir, i/o,
and
>so ACE just sends commands to each system, and the system takes care of
how
>to perform the command and what device to use.  However, since ACE has
>grown, the need to support more devices has become greater.

That makes sense - why reinvent the wheel? As you say, there is a great
deal
of overlap between the two, (and many other HA software I'll wager?)
I think you're right about supporting Homeseer rather than the CM12
directly
- then the products would be complimentary and cooperative, sharing the
control functions, and each performing the tasks it is best suited to. I
would far rather integrate ACE into my HA system if it "slotted
in" nice and
tightly with what's already there, and for me this means tight integration
with Homeseer, rather than displacing Homeseer as the controller "in
charge"
of X10.

Also, now that ACE supports Comfort, that may be the "killer app"
for me. -
I have never found programming Comfort to be easy or intuitive, and
therefore have rather neglected to do so. Now, I am in the bizzarre
position
of considering buying another controller (possibly an Ocelot) to add IR and
I/O to Homeseer. - Comfort can do both of those! - If only I could get at
it, I could save myself some of the expense. (only some of it though - the
new RS232 module I require for InterfACE is about half the cost of an
Ocelot!) If ACE could be the "Glue" between Comfort and Homeseer,
I'd be
very happy! (currently the only communication between them is via X10
codes,
- I dedicate a housecode to comfort, and use various codes to signal
Comfort
events to Homeseer)

>
>I have looked at HomeSeer and like it a lot.  The developer seems very
>dedicated and HS has quite the following these days.  If I was not a
>developer of my own software, I would probably use it.

High praise indeed! - I'd have to agree though, the developer support is
excellent. - that seems to be a reasonably common thing among HA software
vendors - how refreshing!   :-))
>

Thanks again for the comprehensive info!

Paul G.


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