My LMCE Plan

[ozanam]

Hey All

Ok so iv been following linuxmce for awhile now and watching it getting better and better everyday. In the not so distant future im going to setup linuxmce in the house. I just have to move in first lol.

These are my ideas and i was just wondering if anybody could tell me if there possible and the best way to go about them, even the best hardware to use or where i can get this hardware.

1. Ok so from what if gathered from the wiki so far is i need a core pc and a pretty good one to.

So i decided ill make my own. Ill by a box with plenty of fans to keep it cool and get a 64bit processor and 4gbs of ram. Ill have to put 2 nic cards in it a TV card and a Capture Board. The hard disk doesn’t have to be to big 40GB should do.

Then hide this is the coat press along with a Cisco switch.
I’m going to get an electrician in to wire the house up with network points behind the TVs.

Was also thinking i may need a ups for the core if its looking after my security and there is a power cut.

2. Storage,

Just going to put a 4TB maybe 5TB nas storage beside the core and maybe if that fills up build on it over time. you would be surprised how fast you would fill them things.

3. Hybrid,

So the hybrids have to be fairly impressive. They have to be quiet but have a good sound card and a good graphics card, a network card, DVD drive. also have to have like 4 USB drives for external usb storage encase the friends bring over a film. wireless USB or even internal card infrared, Bluetooth, usb-uirt.

But really all I think I need is the Bluetooth and the space for external USB storage. The reason being so that as I walk around my house with my phone I realises I enter a room and TV or music follows me or even just to use my phone as controls. I plan to use wireless pads (Orbiters) for all the controls in the house 2 maybe 3.

So i want the hybrid to be able to play DVDs and copy them to the nas server and to also be able to burn films from the nas server aswel as music CDs and DVDs.

Can the hybrid support HD is a LAN cable fast enough for that?

4. TVs

I already have 2 32inch TV's and a 42inch TV they all just have the standard HDMI scart and RGB and VGA ports on them. So how would linuxmce go about turning them on and off and picking DVD or TV or vga thru them ports. that I do not understand. Its probably something simple I just I don’t get it. only think I can think of is thru infrared from the hybrid but sure that’s on the back of the TV anyway so would be able to send a infrared signal to the front of the TV.

5. DVD

I have  2 sets of surround sound and a 5 DVD players. You maybe wondering why all the DVD players but no TVs for them, Its because i got the surround sound for the purpose of surround sound and got the second DVD players so they can play divx files and just hooked them up to the surround sound DVD player.

so I don’t no what im going to do with all them DVD plays. I was thinking that 1 surround sound could go into a chill out room that that has just the speakers around the room. In this room i would also like to put loads of lights into the room to look like stars and nice big bean bags. I think that would be very cool.

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ok so far I just need to know what hardware I will need and what hardware I will need to get rid off or if any?

6. SKY Digital

one big worry of mine is that i have sky digital in my house and I don’t want to loose it but would like to integrate it with linuxmce and be able to record the stations and rewind and all the usual stuff. The only thing is that the sky Digital comes with a card that you have to put in your sky box so that you can connect to watch the channels.

So do i have to leave that there and use it as normal or can i add it to the linuxmce.

7. Orbiters

I would like to get a web pad or touch screen pad of some sort, something like the "superna" although I think they look a bit old or childish to some sort, but I would like to have it in the wall when I enter the house on the right and put in my password and the security goes off and the lights come on in the hall and kitchen.

I would ideally like to have one when you come in the door and at the top of the stairs. Then just have a wireless one for the sitting room and a wireless one for the bedroom or just the general upstairs area. Also like to use Bluetooth phone for follow me function.

8. Sensors

ok I think these could be fun or just completely lazy lol I would like to but a small sensor that just goes in a straight line kind of like a laser a few steps up the stairs so that when you walk up the lights come on at the top of the stairs. I would also like the same thing out the back garden in the small allay way from my door to the back garden so when you walk past trip the switch the lights turn on.

also for the back garden lights i thought it would be cool to have like a counter and to sensors on the way out. so you walk out hit the first sensor then the second and linuxmce knows you are walking out to the garden because of the sequence in which i hit the sensor. Then if I walk back in and hit sensors 2 then 1 linuxmce notices and turns off the lights. The only problem with that is if its even possible and to people walk out and one person goes back in the other person is left in the dark. So in turn the linuxmce would need some sort of counting system to know how many people are out there.

The front garden sensor light doesn’t matter as when people walk past the house it goes off so i would want that to do anything else like turn on the hall light because that would just be annoying after awhile.

One last thing would be to have time stamps on the sensor on the stairs so that when the kids come home when your asleep and you ask them oh so what time did you get in at last night in the end and they say oh early enough 12 or 12:30 and it was really 4 o clock in the morning they wont be getting away with it.

9. Lights

I would like to get rid of all light switches in the house altogether do it all with the orbitors or Bluetooth. so after a certain time when i walk around the lights turn on from sensors and Bluetooth. Then I was thinking you kind of do really need switches say in the bedrooms but I don’t want just your normal switch. it would have to be star trek like.

So something like a strip across the wall that you touch and the lights come on and then if you rub your hand down the lights dim and rub up and the lights get brighter. no switches or buttons all built into the wall. ideally thou I would like no switches at all but i can think of a sensible way to do it without having to carry a phone all the time or an orbiter.

During films i would like the light to dim down and for 3 LED lights behind the TV to turn on slowly and at the end of the film the LEDs turn off and the main lights turn on to 50% then to 75% after 30 seconds and 100% are another 30seconds in total taken two minutes to turn the lights on. Iv seen the LEDs behind the TV or below shining up behind the TV and it looks really nice.
10. Finger Print

Is there any Finger print technology out there for linuxmce or that can be added. If so it could be a pretty neat way to set and unlock the house alarm, maybe even unlock the front door, maybe lock your bedroom door with a orbiter and only my and my wife’s finger print can open the door to keep the kids out.

11. Voice Control

I'v Read a few forums on it and people seem to be saying that it is just way to hard. you have to train the voice control to your voice and that doesn’t help when there is 4 or 5 voices that its learning all at the same time and it would knows who’s talking to it when. Also to actually call the computer and then give it a command and then for it to do what you have asked. it all takes to long so i have ironed that out of the system, But

You cool thing to add would be to give linuxmce a personality and a voice. so you come home you have used your finger print to unlock the alarm or you put in your own password to unlock your settings for the house.

So picture it you walk in scan your finger and linux mce says over the orbitor in the wall and the kitchen or bedroom where ever you normally go first when you get home from work. Welcome Home Scott the kittle is boiling and will be ready in 1min 46 seconds the TV has been turned on and switch to the news or it reads the news from a rss feed or maybe it just says you have 2 new emails would you like to hear them. you hit yes on 1 of the pads around the house and as you walk around to get out of your suit and into something more relaxing it follows you around and reads the emails to you. then it informs you the kettle is fully boiled and ready to make your tea.

OR

Maybe you have an appointment or a film or programme marked on TV to watch and linuxmce finds where you are according to your Bluetooth phone and tells you aloud that your programme is about to start. do you want to record it or switch TV the orbiter or dismiss. and then you just press the button on the orbiter for your choice.
 
12. Cameras

I think it would be pretty cool that if the door bell was to ring and your watching TV a little window pops up and shows you who is at the door and you can then talk thru the orbiter to the person or unlock the door or ignore them and turn the doorbell off and to be able to do that from anywhere in the house from any orbiter or TV.

Another thing would be for the linuxmce to know that no one is home and to ask the person to leave a message and there mobile number. the thing about this is you need a good microphone because of wind and rain which would mean you can hear nothing.

13. Bathroom
 
something i would like would be a TV in the shower and when its off its a mirror but for the moment i will be just adding speakers. waterproof speakers. One problem with the speakers in the bathroom are noise.

So is it possible to leave a microphone in the bathroom so when you walk in and the music is at a level that you like and are comfortable to listen to and that when you turn the shower on linuxmce realises the background noise and raise the level of the music to keep it at that level. Then in turn when you get out of the shower and your drying off and all that jazz the volume returns to its original state. The only problem i can see with this is the quality of the microphone and the volume of the music going up and down quickly due to noise levels not being constant so the music might sound wavy if you understand me.

14. Blinds

There isn’t much you can do with blinds besides open and close them. I will have Blinds and curtains because people can still see thru blinds but you still need something to cover the window, but blinds wouldn’t do the job if you where out of the house or in bed so then i need the curtains to close. So would need to just time everything properly there.

15. Garden

In the garden itself im just going to have decking with blue LEDs shooting across under the wood so that tat night the blue will shine thru the cracks and a light or 2 in the flower bed which will work out find and no big deal im sure. Id like these light kept separate from the sensor which turns on the main back light. If say I have the lights on around the decking and I want the main back light to turn off I could just use my Bluetooth enabled mobile or bring out the orbiter to disable the light altogether.

Also will have rock shaped speakers at the back of the garden and 2 speakers on back of the house that should cover the whole garden.

I would like for linuxmce to control some sort of heaters that would be on the decking. I dont know if there are any kind of elctrical hearters for gardens out there that linuxmce could control.

16. Front garden

The only thing I would like to have out the front would be when I drive up linuxmce notices my licence plate and the gates open automatically or else if im home I get a video feed of who is there and I get a call from the obiter and I can then choose to open the gate if I wish. That’s probably a long way away thou there is a lot involved im sure in getting a computer to understand it.

17 Security

One last thing I would like to have all the windows and door checked by linucmce with door and window sensors so that any point from any orbiter or TV I can check to see if  any of them are open or maybe have been opened during the night and for how long.

Also just how safe is the LMCE when it comes to your security because the one thing about computers and anther thing about them being on the internet is it makes them hackable.

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All in all I think that’s all I have in mind for now. I can see it being a slow process setting everything up and getting everything working. Things like graphics cards and TV cards and sound cards and NIC cards I would like to know which is best for quality and has been tested and works out of the box.

If you have anything to add please do and if you want to answer anything or comment on something on doing if for say there is a better way of doing something. Please don’t mind any mistakes I may have made while typing this and am looking forward to a reply from all you LMCE experts out there.

I myself don’t have much or any programming behind me but am very willing to get involved in LMCE and its development if possible. I will put up a wiki page maybe of how this is all turning out for me. It will take a year or two to do all this out and by them some of things that aren’t possible might just be then, Time will tell.

Just want to say thanks to the team of people who do all this amazing work in there spare time and for no profit. 

[jondecker76]

1) For a decent core, just stick with a fairly modern system. My core serves my entire house just fine with 2GB of RAM, an AMD BE-2400 processor (running 32 bit LMCE - but can also run 64 bit LMCE). When picking your components, keep in mind that the core will be running all the time and try to pick an efficient chip and powersupply. Look around on the wiki for supported motherboards. I currently use an Asus M2NPV-VM and am quite happy with it. Also, you will want a wired gigabit network for your LMCE internal network (orbiters are fine on wifi) - you can have many HD streams going at any one time over Gigabit.

2) For storage, NAS works very well. Also keep in mind that you can use extra sata ports on your motherboard to have a software raid in your core as well.

3) I think you used the word Hybrid to indicate Media Directors (a hybrid is the built-in media director on the core). Media directors network boot, so no hard drive is needed. Most of them probably won't need dvd/cd drives, as you will likely pull this from the core. The only reason to have a local drive on a media director is if you want to copy CDs/DVDs from that media director. Media directors don't need to be all too powerful - i have some running on old pentium 3's with 256MB RAM with no problem.

4) Tv's can be controlled via an external infrared blaster (USBUIRT recommended), this basically emulates an IR remote control. More expensive TV's have serial ports that will allow faster/more reliable control of the TV through the serial port of the MD. Another note to add is that discreet control is preferred (having separate buttons for On, Off, Inputs, etc), however not necessary.

5) You'll want to chuck your DVD players out the window once you get used to LMCE - burn your dvd's to the core, and store them away!

6) Get a supported capture card to capture your satellite box (Hauppauge PVR-500 or 150 recommended).

7) I use touchscreen orbiters in my home. You have a choice of Windows webpads, Windows CE, Nokia 800 etc.. There are plenty of options available, just pick one that fits your budget. I have found I like looking through ebay and buying older industrial all-in-one touchscreen computers running Windows, they're great for larger touchscreen applications.

8. Regarding sensors and counters - sensors are well supported. You could probably make your own GSD device as a counter to interact with sensors/lights, as this is not a standard LMCE function. It will take a lot of studying LMCE internals though, plus some time to develop. It almost sounds like overkill, however, as a simple motion detector could provide similar functionallity to an extent.

9) I would suggest keeping local switches. Don't use them if you don't want to, but it could inconvenience others by not having them, let alone cause other safety hazards. Besides that, ZWave, Insteon and X10 are well supported, so pick what fits your budget for lighting control. Of course, dimming the lights for movies are standard scenarios that LMCE does automatically. (the slow ramping up of the lights when the movie is over is not yet automatic, but could be done manually responding to the media stopping). Likewise, lights behind the TV would be no problem either.

10) I'm sure there are fingerprint readers that work with Linux. I dont' think a proper device template has been written yet for the features you want. Again, GSD is your friend here.

11) Voice Control - I wouldn't expect it anytime too soon, but hopefully some day
     Voice Playback is already supported with Text to Speach. However, the voice is the standard ugly computer voice.

12) Camera interaction is well supported. you can use either sensors or Motion Wrapper with your camera to take pictures/video when motion is detected. You can view what times these events occurred in the web admin, as well as set up if you want the cameras to record only on motion, all the time, etc - as well as set how long to keep the pictures/video on file.

13) I don't know of anything available for ambient noise detection in this sense, but again it could probably be added if the components are put together correctly. There are many other ways to get a similar effect though.. For instance, use a temperature sensor on the water line to the faucet - when it crosses a certain temperature, you can assume that the shower is on, and send commands to turn up the volume

14) Yep, blind/curtain control is pretty simple. Motorized blind/curtain tracks are extremely expensive though

15) For garden heaters, use ZWave/Insteon/X10 modules (which ever you chose for your lighting control)

16) Image recognition, IMO, is overkill (very extensive CPU processing for one, plus high margin for error). You'd be better off going with RFID detection, and having an RFID in the car. Drive up, RFID is picked up - gate opens... You leave, RFID is no longer there, gates close.

17) Window/Door sensors are pretty well supported. Like all security events, the web admin can show you states and times the events were triggered. You can also see the tripped states on the floorplan on the orbiter.


Just take your time, it can take a very very very long time to get things set up like you want them (there is a lot to learn). If you start with this realistic expectation, LMCE will probably serve you well. Patience is a big key to having a full and successful setup.

[tschak909]

it is worth noting, that i will be folding in the latest festival SVN into the next release.

of particular note, the newest festival has two new synthesis engines previously unavailable, both which provide a. much more accurate phonetic traversal model (hidden markov models, versus a simple diphonetic pairing model).

if you want to hear what festival sounds like now, go to this link:
http://www.cstr.ed.ac.uk/projects/festival/onlinedemo.html

pay special attention to the KAL model, for all of the synthesis methods, and pay extra special attention to the KAL model under the old diphone engine, does it sound familiar? it should. now compare it to the newer synthesis techniques.... much better, huh?

-Thom

[Schmich]

Wow those voices are impressive!

I'm pretty much in the same boat as ozanam although there are quite a few points less on my list =)

But really all I think I need is the Bluetooth and the space for external USB storage. The reason being so that as I walk around my house with my phone I realises I enter a room and TV or music follows me or even just to use my phone as controls. I plan to use wireless pads (Orbiters) for all the controls in the house 2 maybe 3.

I was also interested in the part where the system follows you as you walk into different rooms. According to the wiki (http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Follow_Me) it doesn't work too well as, well, bluetooth is strong and works decently through walls. It states "...when the MD your moving towards can sense your bluetooth signal...", does this mean 'No Signal -> A Signal' or "Weak Signal -> Strong Signal'?

One thing about ZWave, Insteon, X10 etc. is also availability. Especially for things like Z-Wave I would say it's much easier if you live in the US. I live in the E.U. and, unless I'm bad at searching, the range of products available for Z-Wave is quite small.

About having a fingerprint for your door. I hope it wouldn't be the only way to get in the house as it could be quite troublesome if the system is down for whatever reason  Quite nifty none-the-less. I had in mind something else (if it's possible) for the greetings. Basically as previously mentioned bluetooth is strong and will most likely work a bit outside the house (at least mine). As soon as you come near the house LMCE will detect your phone and it will greet whoever's phone it is the next time the front door's sensor gets triggered.

Of course, if it's possible, it wouldn't exactly be perfect. You often come home with your family so maybe there are more than 1 phone getting detected etc. Bluetooth is rarely used outside the house so it is most likely off as you walk in. This would mean 2 things. First you won't be greeted as you walk in (not the end of the world I know ^^). Secondly, when you turn on the bluetooth later, as you're inside, the system will be waiting on someone to trigger the door sensor (maybe a time-out thing could be added, I don't know, I have yet to see the event administration). In any case, the phone is the only "personal ID" for the system that I can think of.

[ozanam]

Hey Jondecker76

Thanks for your fast and lengthy reply. Much appreciated 

1. Well I might as well go ahead on make a good computer for it as in time as it develops more and more components and options are added to LMCE it could just be handy to have. The Gigabit card was a good idea never thought of it. Cheers on the heads up on that one.

2. Yes would be handy to have the hard disks in the core but i was thinking with the NAS server everything will have a backup and you can get hot swap NAS servers as well so it never needs to be turned off. Where as if a disk went in the lmce server you would need to take everything down.

3. Yes I meant media director my apologies my mistake. The media directors don’t really do any processing power or RAM just need a decent graphics card and sound card and a NIC card and your good to go.

4. The external infrared blaster would have to be on front of the TV for it to work am I correct and I saw a picture of one on the internet and it was a big box. well not huge but big enough.

5. The one thing about the surround sound I have bought is it plus into the DVD player. They all come together so for the surround sound to work I need the DVD player. Chucking the DVD player is not something I would like to be doing and it was an expensive set.

6. This is one of the things that im more worried about than anything else as I pay a monthly subscription to the Sky Digital. They have there own connector different to those on TV cards for obvious reason but im sure I could just change that myself. The main worry is I have to put a card in the skybox for it to work. There is a little chip on the card (just like a ATM card) that decodes the channels, without the card in the box I don’t get channels. So how or can lmce still pull the channels from the satellite and integrate it into its own menu.

7. The touch screen should be ok seems like no one is having problems with them.

8. Im sorry I don’t understand how a GSD would do what im trying to do. You say its almost over kill but come on isn’t this the point. Not to be extremely lazy but just the coolness factor. Not many people have these in there homes unless there really rich and just get someone to install it all for them and to little or no effort on there own behalf. Getting things like this working and being able to just show it off is the point. Never over kill my friend haha....

9. Yes everyone seems to be ok with there lights but there was one person saying at the end of there films the lights would just come on full blast which was annoying. Think he was using the X10.

10. Sorry again i do not understand GSD.

11. Yes computer voice really aren’t nice and not something you would want to hear in the morning. Although the voice that THOM was referring to are getting somewhere.

12. Cameras are well support but can you interact the camera with the bell so when the bell is rang it comes up on your TV and chat with the person at the door. Maybe its something that could be added.

13. Well now that you mention other ways around it. The shower will be a electrical shower so whose to say I cant control my shower from lmce anyway and the music. Waterproof touchpad in the wall in the bathroom. Could be worth looking into.

14. I didn’t think they would be that expensive I guess ill leave them until last so. cheers on the heads up.

15. Thanks didn’t realise the Zwave/Insteon/X10 where so good. Only thing is no one ever says the range on these things. What if the heaters are down the end of the garden.

16. I never thought of RFID that’s a much better idea thanks for that.

17. Thats cool with the orbiter and the floor plan.

Thanks for you time and writing back to my lenghty post and sharing your nolage on lmce. I no this is going to take time and money and Patience is something i happen to have when it comes to things like this. The end result will be amazing conssideing 10 years ago.



Schmich

i read that wiki about the bluetooth and its really to bad that the bluetooth isnt reliable yet as its the easyist solution to alot of things. lmce then knows who and where you are.

I also find living in the E.U that alot of the products are in america and we would have to be buying them online.Which makes it annoying to a sense when it comes to faulty goods and delvery times. I dont no of any shops or websites in the E.U that do them so it looks like we have to stick it out for now.

Well if there was more then one person coming in lmce could greet each person or just not greet anybody at all or say just for fun when your friends come around lmce says aloud over the speaks welcome back (Bluetooth device name) you Havent been here for 2 days 6 hours 5 mins enjoy your stay. just to scare them haha.. Also to add pictures of yourself to your bluetooth device so that when you come home a picture of yourself shows up and for your profile. Thats also handy for looking to see where your wife or kids are in the home just pick up the orbiter look at the floor plan and there is a picture of each person on the room that they are in. Even handyer for those times you loose your phone. Iv always said everything should ring.. Don't you agree.

[jondecker76]

4) For IR blasters - do a search for USBUIRT (they are quite small). I have mine set up so that it points at the back wall.. the IR signal bounces off the back wall, and is picked up just fine by my tv (just like using an IR remote, they don't have to be pointed directly at the front of the TV). Also, you may attach "dongles" to the SUBUIRT. They are very tiny and have a thin wire. They stick on directly over the IR sensor of the TV (its not needed, but if your room layout is such that the IR signal can't bounce back to the TV reliably, this is an option). You'd be suprized at how well it works aiming it away from the tv and letting the walls of the room bounce the signals to the tv.

5) You will be able to control your DVD/Receiver from LMCE. Most likely with the same USBUIRT that controls your TV. You will likely have to make your own Device template for it to work though (this is very easy, IR device templates are as easy as they can get. For background, every device must be based on a Device template - which tells LMCE what kind of device it is and how to control it)

6) If your satellite box has normal tv output (RCA or SVideo) a capture card will capture the video/audio just fine. For example, if set to live TV and using the built-in MythTV, it will be transparent. You will have a channel guide and everything. However, because of D/A conversion, qualitly will be slightly lower, as you aren't directly capturing the actual video stream itsself, but the output to the tv.

Also, both VDR and MythTV do have softcam plugins which work with DVB-s cards and actually capture the mpeg stream, I won't get into it too much because depending on what you are doing and where you live they can be very Illegal (even if you are a paying customer). However, you can use your own judgement and do some reasearch and see what it would take to add the plugins to the default LMCE install. I'm not sure if anyone has tried these plugins under LMCE or not.

GSD stand for Generic Serial Device. It is an embedded ruby language that makes creating custom devices very fast and easy, even for people with limited programming experience. It allows devices to be designed and built without having to tear into the entire c/c++ source code of LMCE, and without having to compile changes, etc. While there are some limitations, many things that can be thought up can be easily developed as a GSD with the embedded ruby language.

9) Yes, lights go full on after a movie (currently). However, we have discussed enhancing the part of LMCE that creates these automatic actions that will allow them to be editable so that you can have desired results. Hopefully in 0804 we can make this happen.

11) I was very impressed by the new voices pointed out by Thom. Once those are in, I may start using this in my own house!

Though, if you want a custom voice for LMCE to play back, just record your own, and play them back as certain events fire. So you have options.

12) Yes, you can have a camera at the door and have it appear on orbiters on a doorbell event

14) When I did pricing for curtain tracks and blind tracks, i found the prices for decent ones to be around $700 per window (for either a blind or a curtain), though I have seen some cheapies ain the $200 range (these are cheap motorized units that you screw into the wall and they have a pulley that you loop the pull chain through - very noisy cheap). But again, for the nice ones that are quiet and reilable, they are very expensive.


Again I'll warn against overkill (for a few reasons). Once you get involved with something like this, its easy to drive yourself mad trying to make everything perfect. In the end, what really matters is the end result... If someone walks outside and the light comes on, I would bet 99 times out of 100, nobody will think in their head "I wonder if this is counting how many people have went in or out....". What matters in the end result. By all means, if you must have certain functionallity, then go for it. But, with a simpler "end result" approach, you will save yourself a lot of grief and frustration. There are a lot of users here very experienced with Linux, programming and databases, and they get frustrated also by the complexity of the system (myself included). Again, nothing is stopping you from trying anything, just giving my experience in this area.

Take it slow, have realistic expectations, and share your results with the community here. Good luck!

[Schmich]

I also find living in the E.U that alot of the products are in america and we would have to be buying them online.Which makes it annoying to a sense when it comes to faulty goods and delvery times. I dont no of any shops or websites in the E.U that do them so it looks like we have to stick it out for now.

I've been browsing the web for countless hours to find shops selling Euro products. Don't forget you can't buy US products due to a) the volt difference b) socket/plug difference and c) the wave length frequency being illegal. There are shops in the US selling Euro products but shipping cost would be really high. Only plus side is the low value of the dollar at the moment.

I think it was Hari who recommended me going Z-wave due to the double-way system and so that's what I've had my eye out for. Anyways, my findings as well as the few sites mentioned here and in the wiki (I'll post these in the wiki once I'm done):
http://www.elekhomica.nl/index.php?language=nn (not exactly the cheapest store but it seems to be a reliable one - Holland)
http://www.mypowershop.eu (Holland)
http://www.eliving.se (Sweden)
http://www.seluxit.com (only store where I found the multi-sensor - Denmark)
http://www.innovus.eu (Denmark)
http://www.electronichousekeeper.com (Denmark)
http://www.smarthus.info (Norway aka not EU member)
http://www.zwave4u.de (Germany)
http://www.duewi.de (No online shop, their own zwave products - Germany)
http://www.merten.de (I got a bit lost in their site but apparently have their own products - Germany)

http://www.z-wave-europe.org/ wraps it up quite well what products you can get for Europe. However there are a few products listed that I don't seem to find any place to buy. Maybe they're not released yet: all the http://www.everspring.com products (incl. door/window sensors) and the stylish motion detector from innovus.eu

There are additional interesting links listed on the z-wave europe site under "Producers" and "Resources". Oh and lastly, again if you're interested in Z-wave read this: http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php?topic=5614.0

[Zaerc]

I also find living in the E.U that alot of the products are in america and we would have to be buying them online.Which makes it annoying to a sense when it comes to faulty goods and delvery times. I dont no of any shops or websites in the E.U that do them so it looks like we have to stick it out for now.

I've been browsing the web for countless hours to find shops selling Euro products. Don't forget you can't buy US products due to a) the volt difference b) socket/plug difference and c) the wave length frequency being illegal. There are shops in the US selling Euro products but shipping cost would be really high. Only plus side is the low value of the dollar at the moment.

I think it was Hari who recommended me going Z-wave due to the double-way system and so that's what I've had my eye out for. Anyways, my findings as well as the few sites mentioned here and in the wiki (I'll post these in the wiki once I'm done):
http://www.elekhomica.nl/index.php?language=nn (not exactly the cheapest store but it seems to be a reliable one - Holland)
http://www.mypowershop.eu (Holland)
http://www.eliving.se (Sweden)
http://www.seluxit.com (only store where I found the multi-sensor - Denmark)
http://www.innovus.eu (Denmark)
http://www.electronichousekeeper.com (temporarily down or dead? - Denmark)
Google cache for the above shop:
http://74.125.39.104/search?q=cache:9ePE5ZdlTKUJ:ehweb.electronichousekeeper.com/electronichousekeeper/ShopCatalog.aspx+http://ehweb.electronichousekeeper.com/electronichousekeeper/(S(wpi4opuwty2qnc55s551wofo))/ShopCatalog.aspx&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&client=firefox-a
http://www.smarthus.info (Norway aka not EU member)
http://www.zwave4u.de (Germany)
http://www.duewi.de (No online shop, their own zwave products - Germany)
http://www.merten.de (I got a bit lost in their site but apparently have their own products - Germany)

http://www.z-wave-europe.org/ wraps it up quite well what products you can get for Europe. However there are a few products listed that I don't seem to find any place to buy. Maybe they're not released yet: all the http://www.everspring.com products (incl. door/window sensors) and the stylish motion detector from innovus.eu

There are additional interesting links listed on the z-wave europe site under "Producers" and "Resources". Oh and lastly, again if you're interested in Z-wave read this: http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php?topic=5614.0

It would be much more usefull to add all of those to the wiki here: http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Where_to_Buy

[Schmich]

Yeh that was the plan. Gonna search a bit more first though.

[ozanam]

Thanks for your time and sharing  and experience with me. There is one thing that I have notice since iv started using open source software. For everything you pay for there is something open source that does the job and most of the time better. If you have a problem you simply post it on the many of forums out there. The people on the forums are always very helpful patience and actually willing to help.

When you buy something you have to chase the company down for days ringing them and emailing them to get a response as to why there over priced system isn’t working.


4. Well I never realised that with the IR Blaster. I will test that out with the IR beam bouncing off the wall, Otherwise ill just get the one that covers the sensor. 

5. Ok cool good to hear that I can keep my DVD player with the surround sound.

6.  Ok I understand GSD now and did a little research on it and i am up to date so to speak. As for my sky box will that then have to be controlled via a IR Blaster and keep the menu of sky and not be able to integrate it with lmce.

9. Lights go on full with all the different switches. I thought some where able to dim and others weren’t.

14. Ill look around with the curtain tracks, I had a look myself and did look very expensive alright, Maybe just making it myself buy a motor and make the rails and rig it all up myself at lest that’s a bit of fun as well and more satisfaction with the end result to.

You are right about over kill and will work on getting everything up and running first and then start adding in the little things. It will be a long process and will take patience but down the line the result really is amazing as to what you can do. All from sitting on your bum:D



Hey Schmich

Thanks for all the links was looking thru them last night and there very interesting. ill have a look around myself and see what I can pull up and ill post it here and let you know if I find anything.

Again thanks everyone for you time and help

Also I would like to add to the community if I could but im not a programmer or anything so if there is somewhere I can help please let me know.

[jondecker76]

9) Yes, some lights can dim. WIth dimming lights, when you start a movie, the lights in the room dim automatically. When you stop the media, they come back to full brightness. The part that I was referring to that needs implemented is slowly turning the lights back up after a movie. Now, they go from dimmed to full bright rather quickly. I agree it would be nice to step it up in slower intervals so your eyes get used to it.

Also, if you are eager to contribute and help out, I have some suggestions:
1) If you are an artist, there are many areas that need the help (web admin, TSCHAKS orbiter skin project, etc)
2) If you are multilingual, translations are needed for the web admin. We have a German translation in progress...
3) Bug reports - make an account at mantis.linuxmce.com. Test the hell out of everything, and file bug reports to get them fixed!
4) Wiki - create and edit wiki pages. This is something that needs a lot of work.
5) Study the database structure of LMCE. Study up on relational databases, and mysql. Practice querying the database. This is one of the most conplex areas of LMCE, and something that not many understand fully. It is also something that is within learning grasp for many people.

[ozanam]

ok I understand now with the lights.

I can help out artist side of things. Im not amazing but I can deffinatlly help out in that area.

As for the wiki pages I can help out there to.

The only thing I know about databases is mysql database and how to set one up for webpage I have never actually wrote a database, but if pointed in the right direction and with the right information I would put effort in that area.