Dianemo from CHT - Professional Home Automation

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Update ran just fine,  I look forward to the wiki updates, so I can have a try of the new telecoms features.

The new _old_ telecom functionality, as it was in 7.10. If there are wiki pages from that time period for telecom still in existence (LinuxMCE moved away from FreePBX and related, so they may have been updated to reflect that), they should be useful too.

[totallymaxed]

Today we're announcing that we will be running a special Dianemo S + Configuration promotion for the holidays between the 3rd Dec and midnight on the 24th Dec. This promotion runs alongside our Remote Access Promotion that started on the 1st Dec.

So if you purchase a Dianemo S license between those dates you will also get a choice of our secure Remote Access service bundled in for 12 months free of charge (a £49.95 GBP savings) or get your system remotely configured for you (a £70 GBP savings that's is limited to a single type of device in one zone eg A Denon Amplifier or maybe your Squeezeslave's & virtual audio cards configured). There is a limitation that the device must be one that we already support and the total config time cannot exceed 2 hours.

And before I get any more questions here are some answers to the common ones! (i hope);

Q - How will you configure my system?
A - We will do it remotely using Remote Assistance.

Q - Will you configure my whole system?
A- Errr... no! Unless you system is going to just include an NC and a single AV device that is! We will configure a single AV device on your system. However we're always here to answer questions or help in some way.

Q - Will I need to configure more devices myself?
A - Well it depends on your system and what you want it to do... possibly yes and possibly no (although less likely). However what we have found is that almost always if we do configure a device or two for people that really improves their ability to carry on and configure other devices in their systems.

Q - What happens at the end of the 12 month period to my Remote Access capability?
A - If you don't want it any longer we will turn it off - if you do want to continue then you can subscribe to another 12 months of service.

Q - Is the Remote Access service secure?
A - Yes we think it is secure. Its not military grade but we do believe it to be pretty resilient.

Q - Are there any limits to how many devices I can use with Remote Access?
A - None on our side. The Remote Access service allows you to use your iOS Devices (as many as you like) or any number of PC's via a Web browser to securely access your Dianemo S system remotely from anywhere you have an internet connection. Of course if you have a less than speedy broadband connection at your house or some other service that uses your bandwidth you may find that you hit a limit. But that limit will be your houses broadband service speed/quality and not a limitation we impose.

Q - Can I access more than one Dianemo system using Remote Access on a single device?
A - Yes you can have multiple systems configured on your Dianemo iOS App. There are no imposed limits here and my iPad iPad has about 30-40 systems configured on it that I regularly access. So if you have multiple houses its no problem at all (lucky you!!)

Q - If I purchase a license now for future use, or possibly as a gift, will I still be able to take advantage of the Remote Access or Configuration promotion later and what time limits are there on doing so?
A - Yes you can purchase a license now to take advantage of the special promotion on Remote Access or Configuration. There are no time limits attached to either the license or the Remote Access or Configuration offer - but you must purchase the license by the 24th Dec to qualify for the promotion.

Q - How many licenses can I purchase and get the special promotion?
A - You can purchase as many as you like :-)

Please contact me via a Private Message here on the forum if you would like to take advantage of these special holiday offers.

Happy Holidays!

Andrew

[totallymaxed]

We've added support for the RTI AD-8 to the AD-4 Device template. The AD-8 is a bigger version of the AD-4 with 8 source inputs and 8 stereo zone outputs.

As usual we recommend that you run the updater script regularly to keep your system updated both with Dianemo & Ubuntu updates.

All the best

Andrew

[totallymaxed]

We have released an update that further integrates Logitech Media Server into Dianemo. We now use LMS to scan your audio media library and we then read the LMS database for any mp3 tag metadata. UpdatedMedia then uses that meta data directly. This means that Dianemo's internal DB get's better meta data about the audio tracks in your library and remains in sync with LMS now.

Another advantage we get from this tight integration with LMS is the tighter coupling with your iTunes audio library if you are an iTunes user. If you have stored your iTunes library on a storage device that is managed by your Dianemo NC then you will see in your Orbiters exactly the same meta data about your music that iTunes see's as we leverage LMS's ability to read iTunes meta data. This symbiotic relationship with LMS is dynamic in that as LMS scans for new material in your media library Dianemo will see those changes too and your Orbiter's will display them - this applies to music track and also to iTunes Playlists.

I know lot's of you have been asking for better playlist integration and also for a way to get your iTunes playlists into Dianemo... if you're one of those people you will be very happy with this update! If you already have a large number of playlists created in iTunes this allows you to replicate those in your Dianemo Orbiters and use then directly in your Dianemo S system. As you edit playlists in iTunes (or on a iOS device thats sync'd with iTunes) your changes will be picked up by Dianemo (it may take about 10 mins for changes to be reflected in your Orbiters).

Expect further announcements about integration with LMS in the coming months. There will be a new Dianemo S wiki page entry covering LMS integration shortly.

Don't forget to run the updater script regularly to get this update and future ones too.

All the best


Andrew

**Note; Make sure you configure LMS to use your audio media directory otherwise you will not get any meta data.

[totallymaxed]

We've updated the Logitech Media Server package over night. This fixes a number of bugs that relate to accessing LMS using a remote connection or over remote assistance and remote access. These fixes have be submitted to Logitech but in the meantime we are providing them in the update.

Please update your system. As ever see the wiki for details on how to keep your system updated with both Ubuntu and Dianemo updates; http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Dianemo_S#Updating_Dianemo

All the best

Andrew

[totallymaxed]

We've added a new section to the Dianemo S wiki page that provides details of what configuration data is needed in a devices Configuration data field to allow it to control another devices eg an Amplifier;

http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Dianemo_S#Configuring_a_Denon_AVR_or_Similar_Controllable_Amplifier

Also look at the sections above relating to the DSC-8/AM-8 and the RTI AD-4/AD-8 as the principles of how you use Configuration data to describe what devices should do is common to all devices;

See; http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Dianemo_S#Using_a_Dianemo_DSC-8_to_Control_an_8_Zone_SystemLine_Audio_System
 and http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Dianemo_S#Configuring_Dianemo_to_control_an_RTI_AD-4_Matrix_Amplifier

We will expand this and other related sections on configuration asap. In the meantime get in touch if you need some help with anything related to device configuration.

All the best


Andrew

[totallymaxed]

We've had quite a few inquiries about giving Dianemo setup/config as Christmas gifts... you know who you are lol!

So I'm just going to post a simple response here to anyone who has already contacted us or might be thinking of doing so;

If you have a half/working or half configured system then why not suggest some configuration help to your partner as a gift?

Yes you can purchase some configuration help from us for either an existing installation or one that will be purchased in the future. We can do the basic config of a system or add specific controlled devices - basic config of the whole system is £95 GBP (that covers all the basics after you or your significant other has done the initial install). If your after some help configuring specific devices or getting a particular room working with a range of devices then we're happy to do that too - generally a home theatre with an IP/RS232 controlled Denon say and 2x source devices plus a controlled TV can be configured in for £150 GBP (that's a fixed price within reason). These are examples so please PM me if you need something different.

All installation/configuration help purchased as gifts will be carried out asap and will be done on a first come first served basis. You must enable Dianemo's in-built Remote Assistance feature for configuration to take place.

If you have something non-standard, or that needs some discussion, please just PM me here on the forum and we can figure out what you need. If you are an existing license holder we will give you 15% off any configuration services prices too!! (we like you!).

Happy Christmas!


Andrew

PS If you're a new customer and you purchase a license before 22 Dec then you can also get the 15% off deal too :-)

[totallymaxed]

As Kernel updates to 12.04LTS have rolled out in recent months we've noticed that Grub will wait for a human to choose which Kernel to boot with. The problem is it will wait forever. That Grub screen will not time out in 12.04LTS. This has caused problems with customers who have headless or difficult to access NC's... or ones they are supporting remotely.

We have released and update this week (if you have updated in the laste 2-3 days you should have this update) that fixes this behaviour by waiting in the grub screen for a short time before continuing to boot with the latest kernel.

So please run the updater if you have not done so recently.

All the best


Andrew

[totallymaxed]

We've just released what I imagine will be our last update for 2012. This fixes a problem with some Internet Radio stations that don't play well with Squeezeslaves. The symptom is that the radio stations will sound like they are being played back at many times normal speed... amusing for a very short while!

The update fixes this problem we hope.

We have also released a new Dianemo Installer v1.19 which will automatically get downloaded and installed.

Anyway please run the updater script to get this update (and any others you may have missed if you have not run it for a while).

All the best for Christmas and the new year!

Andrew

[totallymaxed]

We've changed the OrbiterGen scripts today so that they can run one OrbiterGen per reported processor when you click "(quick) regen all" or "Regen All" in Web Admin. So, if you have two cores, two OrbiterGen processes will be started. If you have four cores, four OrbiterGen processes will be started.

There's no means right to say "run ALL of them at the same time, I need to heat the room up" right now from the website, but the scripts can take such a parameter. In the future, the scripts may be extended so that they start OrbiterGen on any Media Managers that have been declared powerful enough - but this would only make sense on MM with reasonably powerful CPU's ie better than Atom

Long story short, if you need to regen every orbiter in one shot, the "Regen all" buttons are optimal now (after you update your system of course).

As usual please run the updater script to get this update and any others that your system has not yet had applied.

Happy new year to all :-)

Andrew

[totallymaxed]

We've made some visual changes to the Video Media browser screens in the Dianemo Skin. These changes will only be visible in UI1 configured Orbiters.

When you browse your Video Media now from the 'Video' button on the Home screen you will now be presented with a more spatious 4x4 grid with slightly smaller movie cover art icons with two lines for the Movie title below each icon. We have also added a default cover art icon that will automatically be displayed for any movie that did not get identified properly when it was ripped to your system.

Overall this new layout and grid design we feel is a big improvement to the experience of browsing your Movie library.

As usual please run the update script on your system to get this and any other updates that are pending.

All the best


Andrew

[totallymaxed]

We have released an important update to the Audio side of the system today that replaces UpdateMedia with Logitech media Server (LMS) audio content discovery and vastly improves the integration of iTunes into Dianemo. Together with many visual improvements to the Dianemo skin this is a major update.

After this update your system will use LMS to scan for new audio content, retrieve track meta data and cover art and not UpdateMedia as it has in the past. Dianemo now plugs straight into the LMS cli interface  which provides a much more reliable way of communicating with LMS than before. If you also use iTunes we now have very tight integration with your iTunes library via LMS's iTunes plugin too. You can now purchase music from the iTunes store, rip CD's in iTunes or using the in-built ripping capability in Dianemo, purchase downloadable music from Amazon or any other DRM free music store and it will be available with cover art & meta data almost immediately in your Dianemo Orbiters for playback in any room you have audio playback enabled in.

We also support music purchased using iTunes on your iOS device - just use iTunes on your Mac/PC to download the music you purchased through your iOS device and moments later your new music will be available in Dianemo too. This is also true of Playlists - create a playlist in iTunes on your Mac/PC or your iOS device and within a few minutes those playlists will be available in Dianemo too.

Please see these updated wiki page entries for details;

http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Dianemo_S#Configuring_Logitech_Media_Server

http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Dianemo_S#Using_iTunes_with_your_Dianemo_System

If you were already using iTunes successfully with your Dianemo system then this update will not require you to make any changes after you have updated your system

As usual please run the update script on your system to get this and any other updates that are pending.

All the best


Andrew

[totallymaxed]

Hi All,

We have released an update today that fixes some issues the MediaStream plugin. This fixes an issue which can cause your DCErouter to lock up. Please run the updater to install this update on your Dianemo NC.

All the best


Andrew

[totallymaxed]

We have released another update in the last few hours. The update fixes aproblem that some of ypu experienced just after installation. Diskless_CreateTBZ.sh sometimes fails to run just after initial rebootbecause Please run the updater script again to correct this.

Regards

Andrew

[Marie.O]

You should not be up this early.