msgreenf

Ought to see a LOT more of this, shouldn't have to dig here or wait for a C4 blog to reference it:
 
http://nycesensors.com/support/control4-lighting-examples/

Hi,
I need to SSH to a device in my home network to issue a command. Is there a driver that will allow me to execute / run a shell command? I've already tested the SSH command that I want to use from the C4 command line (after logging in with the 'secret' password) and it works. Just need to figure out how to use it programmatically from within C4.
I tried the Chowmain Generic TCP driver but I think that only allows HTTP commands to be sent.
Any help would be most appreciated.

Hey Alan, got in contact with them but they were not able to help me.  It seems kodi is unable to import videos if no cover art exists online.  Would it be possible in a future update to have a generic cover art for movies that are not found so they are at least able to import? Or a manual way to import them via the media tab new media button?  Thank you for all your help and sorry for my persistence. 
 
Some use cases for this.
 
Client's Family Videos, provide them an easy way in control4 to view them
Business' wanting to show a client a specific product video on the tv's, could even be triggered by sensors
Control4 Dealer Demo, show specific, or custom control4 video showcasing the system

UPDATE:
 
Added Play Online File command.  This helps get around the 10mb Control4 announcement agent restriction by downloading files only on demand only and also allow integrators to implement online or local text to speech services not included in this driver.

Hi guys,
 
Have uploaded a new version of the driver with the following changes.
 
Version #20150305 - 05-MAR-2015Resolved issue on some systems where automatic on sends on command again every time a new file plays.  Version #20150303 - 03-MAR-2015Number 1 now jumps to first page in navigation mode Number 0 now jumps to last page in navigation mode  Version #20150220 - 20-FEB-2015Modified Auto Room On code.  Now selects device as audio or video only depending on audio, video or photo.  Note there are times when Kodi's API returns an unknown media type.  In this case it will turn it on as a video source.  Version #20150218 - 18-FEB-2015Added Random All, One and Off commands to programming tab Added Play URL programming command for playback of videos and photos  Version #20150113 - 13-JAN-2015Added customisable PREV & CANCEL buttons as some customers were not happy with the mapping.

Seems like Mitch figured out how to get it to work.  See link below.
 
http://www.c4forums.com/topic/16659-amazon-fire-tv-wkodi-xbmc/?p=143891

Huge shout out to AK1. Pinged him on a Sunday morning about a problem I was having getting my movies to play, and he jumped right on it in about 2 minutes. He remoted in and was able to get to the bottom of things and get it back up and running quickly. While he was at it, he made a few changes to my DNS settings and boosted my home internet speed substantially! Andre (AK1) is the man! If you need anything done, he's your guy.

Ok then, I will give another try to Kodi. I will use the most robust PC I have at home, it's a 2 year old Core i5 2nd gen with Intel mobo and onboard HDMI port, no PCIe graphics. It run Windows 8.1 host and Hyper-v with some virtual production servers and test workstation, Maybe the worst machine to use as a media player but it was running for two whole years 24/7 with no reboot or crash at all, this PC is a tank so I'll be sure the hardware part will not be the cause if something goes wrong.
 
First though, with Kodi, the poor SD quality is finally solved, it now look good (the best it could for SD), good. Not sure it this is something related to the fact I run on Windows and the Windows driver for Intel video may be better than the generic driver in OpenElec...
 
Will run Kodi always open and use it for my day to day movie and series viewing. Will use the free JSON-based XBMC driver for UI-only control (48h trial is not long enough for this test, but will sure buy the Chowmain's driver if this test is convincing.)
 
Let's try this for let's say, a whole month, then I will try some hardware that could be use for a dedicated player, like the Gigabyte Brick or the China i3 mini PC from Aliexpress

My whole house is running off a HC250 and works surprisingly well considering the amount of stuff i have warrants a HC800 (security, lighting, multiple av zones, etc).
 
Browsing via genre/name/whatever is independant of the driver.  Once its imported into the database its upto whichever device you are using to display it.  So if you are using a HC250 then it'll be lightning quick, a touchscreen/ipad/android device lightning quick or if you are using a slave HC200/300 then it will be dog slow.
 
There are various Control4 dealers who do work remotely on the forum.  See the link below for details.
 
http://www.c4forums.com/forum/26-looking-for-an-integrator/

Hey there.  Answers below
 
Due to limited resources we have chosen not to make youtube videos of our products.  We would rather spend those resources developing more cool drivers and applications to enhance the Control4 home automation platform. I have been developing Control4 XBMC/Kodi drivers since 2006.  This is my 6th iteration of the driver over the years (and across multiple companies i've worked for) and as such its stupidly quick (try for yourself using our free 48 hour trial).  You may have had performance issues using older controllers as well.  The current generation of Control4 controllers capable of running OS 2.6 will run it just fine.  700 movies will import in about 30 minutes on a HC250.  On a HC1000 we imported about 1000 movies in 15 minutes.  Note that the driver does not import TV series as Control4's media management does not have the capability of showing TV series. During our beta testing two of our beta testers were using SPMC.  Worked fine with them. In the past two weeks of release this driver has quickly soared to become our top selling driver dwarfing sales of every other driver in the period.  Many CI manufacturers have chose to utilise our driver to distribute with their custom XBMC/Kodi boxes for use with Control4.
 
Use the built in trial licence to see if you like our driver.  If you like it after you try it out buy a licence for it.  So far we've been getting extremely positive feedback from everyone.  Quite a few have been saying that its the best media player integration in Control4 to date.

Testing is complete.  This is a pretty minor update but an important one.  Have uploaded the driver to the houselogix site.  If you have the houselogix auto-update it will automatically update the driver.  Note a restart is needed once it is updated to see the new commands in the dropdown boxes.
 
Version #20141215 - 15-DEC-2014System will only perform an automated scan when it detects at least one new movie rather than when a scan has finished (there are times when a scheduled scan returns no new movies) Added CODEC_INFO configurable button as per request Found undocumented Window Activation links to tv/radio recordings, tv/radio guide and tv/radio search.  Added as configurable button as per request and mapped as default for logical buttons.

So good news.  Turns out there are some hidden API commands which i just guessed that will allow you to jump to the recording and guide windows.  I'll implement these in along with a few other mapped buttons people have been asking for since the initial release.  Will probably do some testing and update it in the coming days.
 

Who knew...  I never used programming with bookmarks.  Man, it opens up a whole new dimension.  Don't mind me, I'll be reprogramming all my stuff over the next year.  :-)

I have been testing this driver for Alan for the last few days - its the best XBMC/Kodi driver.  HANDS DOWN.  Only Alan could rewrite his old Recluse driver and make it even better.  Some key features for me:
-Reconnect after reboot without having to shut the room off and back on
-Auto off/on when sensing audio/video
 
If you are using any other drivers for XBMC this is worth the upgrade.

Limitations will always disappointing someone. Alternative solutions will never please people as they always want the limitations resolved but at least I'm thinking out of the box Unfortunately due to the nature of the problem only control4 can resolve it,
Not sure what else I can do apart from offer a refund for those who are not happy with the limitations.
Brings me back to the point always trial out of drivers first prior to purchase to make sure you're happy.

Update
 
Implemented UPnP Subscriptions.  This provides realtime feedback to the unit if using the WeMo ios or android application.

Hello,
 
I'm working on writing a Python library to do what navigator can do. With the use of Python many complex functions could be achieved.
 
Currently, I have lighting implemented. The description is in my blog:
http://theengineeringguy.blogspot.com/2014/03/control4-set-lights-with-python.html
 
The python code is in my git repo:
https://github.com/sapatel91/pyControl4
 
Also, for anyone who is new to Python I'll consider making a tutorial to set it up if there's interest. I use Eclipse with the PyDev plugin and it works great.
 
The version of Director I have is 2.1.1.135702
 
If you have any questions, please ask.