Does anyone have Control4 home automation?

[wayner]

I am interested in trying to integrate my Sage system into my Control4 home automation system. Are there any other Sage users out there using Control4?

[sic0048]

Not sure. Foncuer did work with a CQC user and created very robust SageTV integration with CQC. So it certainly can be done and much of the legwork may have already been done.

[wayner]

I think the difference is that CQC is much more "open" than Control4. But I think that there is still some stuff that I can do that would be interesting.

[jahouse]

Originally Posted by wayner

I think the difference is that CQC is much more "open" than Control4. But I think that there is still some stuff that I can do that would be interesting.

Did you ever get any Control4 integration? I am very interested as I just purchased control4 and have been using sagetv for years.

[wayner]

As you would have seen from the other thread my interest would have been in getting C4 functionality from within SageTV rather than being able to control SageTV using the C4 remote. But I never was successful at doing that, but I have less need for it now that Control4 has their software running on devices like iPads, etc so I think this is the way to go, at least for me.

I far prefer putting a SageTV extender and a Harmony remote at every TV in my house ratehr than a C4 controller which is what you need to do it the other way and I have at least 6 main TVs in my house so that would become expensive. I already have all of the Sage extenders plus backups so I am good for a few years.

[andypitt]

Hi,

I created a driver for the http web interface and also the tcp interface.
Both drivers allow for full transport control via any control4 input device and also selection of movies from touch screens, ipad, ipod, and remote.

tcp version is a little more complete and is the one I use at home as it also allows for direct channel selection. Needs to be tidied up a little when I get time but it is fully functional.

I have the http driver running on two Control4 installations controlling 8 extender in each house without issues.

Andy

[wayner]

Originally Posted by andypitt

Hi,I created a driver for the http web interface and also the tcp interface.

Are you willing to share the driver? I am assuming that one needs a dealer to then install the driver (one of the things that I REALLY don't like about C4) unless one has the the full edition of Composer?

What Control 4 OS level are you running, 2.1 or so?

[jahouse]

Originally Posted by andypitt

Hi,

I created a driver for the http web interface and also the tcp interface.
Both drivers allow for full transport control via any control4 input device and also selection of movies from touch screens, ipad, ipod, and remote.

tcp version is a little more complete and is the one I use at home as it also allows for direct channel selection. Needs to be tidied up a little when I get time but it is fully functional.

I have the http driver running on two Control4 installations controlling 8 extender in each house without issues.

Andy

That is great news! Would you be willing to share it with me? Or can we work something out?

[andypitt]

I am a Control4 dealer based in the UK therefore I have no issue with the dealer install model as this is how I make a living, although I can see how frustrating not being able to add simple additions to your own system can be.

I can install this driver remotely if desired for a fixed fee or if you prefer your own dealer can install it once the driver is purchased.

PM me if interested

Andy

Driver has worked on all versions from 1.8 to 2.1

[wayner]

I don't mind using a dealer for most things but I think it is silly that I have to call a dealer if I get a new DVD player and want to integrate it into my C4 system or if I want to add my christmas tree lights to an outlet switch.

My dealer is more of an old school electrician and he does a good job at the hardware side of things but his knowledge of computers and networking is not strong and I know far more than him about such things. I have no desire to physically install C4 dimmers, switches, etc myself. But I think that I should be able to install drivers and to add A/V components to my system as I desire. But I guess that I should have checked this out more before spending $10s of thousands on a C4 system.

Personally I think that C4 would be a much better product if they had an open API and allowed users to write plugins as is the case with SageTV.

[andypitt]

I don't disagree with you at all!

Although not all people are like you and have no wish at all to add new devices etc to there systems themselves.

The ones that do are usually quite capable which is annoying for me as I really do not want to spend my time adding a DVD player or Christmas lights to an existing system, and would prefer to move onto the next big job.

I think as far as Warranty goes, where people want to add things themselves I would install a base system that was commissioned and support that code base only. Any movement from then on the client would be on there own. I would support but it would be chargeable.

I have a client at the moment that has issues with his satellite receiver turning off and he is blaming me as his satellite company has told him that my system is turning it off. Thing is I have not learned the power commands and assume the device is always on therefore Control4 does not know how to turn it off. Explain this to a rich client who just wants it fixed! This leaves me a one man band against a huge satellite provider. Imagine if this guy could add things to his system he would break it and expect me to fix it FOC.

The same guy swapped his TV out for a new one called me in to say his TV was no longer working. Expected me to reconnect everything create a driver for the TV etc for free as my system no longer worked. When I re-fitted the component video baluns were not compatible, I could not return audio in the same way to the 8 zone amp as well as other issues.

He then calls me saying he can't get 3D on his new TV via his satellite receiver. When I tell him that it would cost X amount to change the distribution system to HDMI over Cat5 he said my system was rubbish! This system was installed for the developer then sold to this guy with a component video distribution system as HDMI was too expensive at the time especially 3D

Control4 lock this down to get stable installations for the majority of customers. What I would like to see is a version of Composer for people like yourselves that would allow you to tinker

Andy

[wayner]

Andy - what do you feel about having an open API, they way that SageTV does. This would allow one to easily integrate C4 into all sorts of other applications, and/or to have different UIs for C4, just like there is Gemstone, Phoenix, etc for SageTV.

[andypitt]

People have integrated to Control4 via an independent android app using the list navigator proxy, so i suppose this is a half way house to what your looking for. I can't see Control4 ever opening up to anyone other than dealers. I think you could possibly integrate this way via SageTV but I don't know enough or anything at all about creating plugins for sage.

The entire C4 project is basically an XML file so if that could be parsed in some way you would have all available devices on your control4 system.

You can subscribe to become an app developer which costs around $500 per year. I did subscribe for a year originally as I was looking to integrate the EPG from sagetv on touch panels and also a custom interface with all sagetv functions although Google pulled the plug on that idea!

You can also create themes easily enough and make them available via the app store.

Creating additional proxies (interfaces) for Control4 would be a bonus, as I hate having unused buttons on the screen or having to select a DVD player/ipod to control something that is similar.