Release Notes NetHomeServer 0.9
This is a list of the news and changes in the 0.9 release. These changes has been available for a while in the nightly builds, but now they are formally released.
CUL Support
Added support for the CUL stick with the CULTransceiver-item. The CUL stick is a small USB-device with a programmable radio transmitter and receiver which can be used to control any lamp switch using the 433.92MHz-band. This includes for example Nexa and X10. The CUL stick can be bought at www.busware.de and works on both Windows, Linux and MAC OSX.
The NetHome CUL driver currently only supports sending, I have not been able to get good enough quality on the reception.
PowerMid
The CUL stick can also be used for sending IR-signals via the PowerMid IR extender. PowerMid is intended for extending the range of ordinary IR remote controls via a radio link. the NetHome CUL-drivers can tap in on that protocol, and use the PowerMid for transmitting any IR signals specified as Pronto Codes.
Support for MAC OSX
NetHome now officially supports MAC OSX. Some minor fixes and a specific start script was all that was needed.
Added Weather Items
The Items UPMRainFall, UPMWindDirection and UPMWindSpeed presents data from the UPM weather station, and uses the same reception hardware as the UPM-thermometers. These Items were contributed by Fredric Moestedt - Thanks Fredric!
Added GenericProntoCommander Item
With the GenericProntoCommander you can configure your own command buttons matched to Pronto-codes which can be sent as RF via CULTransceiver or AudioProtocolTransmitter or IR via CUL and PowerMid.
Added ProntoLamp Item
ProntoLamp is a new lamp Item which uses Pronto Codes to specify signals. It can be used with CULTransceiver or AudioProtocolTransmitter.
Added Room Item
The Room Item is used to group other items so you can create groups of Items that are located in the same room. Rooms are listed in the WEB GUI just like Item categories.
Disable GUI
Added possibility to start server with option -nogui, which starts without the SWT-GUI. This gives wider OS compatibility and possibility to start without window manager.
New Icons
Brand new icons in all GUI, both the Windows GUI and WEB GUI
More Robust Audio Sampling
Added handling of losing connection with USB sound card. Checks connection with sound card on regular intervals and restarts if connection is lost. This means that if you unplug the USB sound card that NetHomeServer uses, it will reconnect when you plug it back in.
Improved TCPCommandPort
- Added “unsubscribe”-command
- TCPCommandPort now supports multiple simultaneous connections
Improved Logging
The application log file is now located at users home directory, which is /home/<username> in Linux and C:\Documents and Settings\<username> in Windows. The file is called HomeManager0.log, max size limited to 1MB then it rolls over to an alternate file (HomeManager1.log).
Other minor improvements
- WEB GUI now works in InternetExplorer 8
- Cleaned up the Demo configuration seen on first install
- Added a welcome screen in WEB-GUI on first system start
- Changed handling of the default configuration file. Now loads demo.xml first time, but then saves to default.xml and uses that if it exists.
- Added possibility to configure PulseWidthModification and MaxRepeat in AudioProtocolParser.
- Default WEB GUI URL is changed to http://localhost:8020/gui
- Added event distribution statistics calculation in BridgeBroker