Apple homekit integration!

Check this out.
https://github.com/greiginsydney/Homebridge-cbus-installer

Greig just set up a script to try simplify the install.
I’m away now but looking forward to give it a go in a few weeks time.

 

Hi, really need some help with this. Firstly is my Cgate running? I have thew following result when executing

"systemctl status cgate":
● cgate.service
Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/cgate.service; bad; vendor preset: enable
Active: active (running) since Thu 2020-02-06 20:49:05 GMT; 10min ago
Main PID: 298 (java)
Tasks: 31 (limit: 2200)
Memory: 89.7M
CGroup: /system.slice/cgate.service
└─298 /usr/bin/java -Djava.awt.headless=true -jar -noverify /usr/loca

Feb 06 20:49:08 pi java[298]: Clipsal C-Gate(TM) v2.11.4 (build 3251)
Feb 06 20:49:16 pi java[298]: Logging to file: logs/event.txt
Feb 06 20:49:16 pi java[298]: 20200206-204916 800 cgate - C-Gate started.
Feb 06 20:49:17 pi java[298]: C-Gate is running.
Feb 06 20:50:21 pi java[298]: WARNING: An illegal reflective access operation ha
Feb 06 20:50:21 pi java[298]: WARNING: Illegal reflective access by org.exolab.c
Feb 06 20:50:21 pi java[298]: WARNING: Please consider reporting this to the mai
Feb 06 20:50:21 pi java[298]: WARNING: Use --illegal-access=warn to enable warni
Feb 06 20:50:21 pi java[298]: WARNING: All illegal access operations will be den
Feb 06 20:52:37 pi systemd[1]: /etc/systemd/system/cgate.service:1: Missing '='.

Is the last line wrong?

Then I've run the "sudo journalctl -u homebridge.service -f"

With the following response :

pi@pi:~ $ sudo journalctl -u homebridge.service -f
-- Logs begin at Thu 2020-02-06 20:49:01 GMT. --
Feb 06 21:05:58 pi homebridge[1037]: 2020-02-06T21:05:58.432Z cbus:client rx event { time: '20200206-210558', code: 730, processed: true, netId: //MYHOME/254/56/31, level: 100, sourceunit: 44, ramptime: 0, type: 'event', raw: '#e# 20200206-210558 730 //MYHOME/254/56/31 - new level=255 sourceunit=44 ramptime=0' }
Feb 06 21:05:58 pi homebridge[1037]: 2020-02-06T21:05:58.434Z cbus:client rx unparsable line: '#e# 20200206-210558 730 //MYHOME/254/56/31 - new level=255 sourceunit=44 ramptime=0', error: TypeError: Cannot read property 'tag' of undefined
Feb 06 21:05:58 pi homebridge[1037]: at CBusPlatform._processEvent (/usr/lib/node_modules/homebridge-cbus/index.js:126:52)
Feb 06 21:05:58 pi homebridge[1037]: at CBusPlatform.<anonymous> (/usr/lib/node_modules/homebridge-cbus/index.js:153:8)
Feb 06 21:05:58 pi homebridge[1037]: at CBusClient.emit (events.js:198:13)
Feb 06 21:05:58 pi homebridge[1037]: at CBusClient._socketReceivedLine (/usr/lib/node_modules/homebridge-cbus/lib/cgate-client.js:641:10)
Feb 06 21:05:58 pi homebridge[1037]: at Carrier.<anonymous> (/usr/lib/node_modules/homebridge-cbus/lib/cgate-client.js:175:9)
Feb 06 21:05:58 pi homebridge[1037]: at Carrier.emit (events.js:198:13)
Feb 06 21:05:58 pi homebridge[1037]: at /usr/lib/node_modules/homebridge-cbus/node_modules/carrier/lib/carrier.js:24:12
Feb 06 21:05:58 pi homebridge[1037]: at process._tickCallback (internal/process/next_tick.js:61:11)
Feb 06 21:06:29 pi homebridge[1037]: 2020-02-06T21:06:29.187Z cbus:client rx event { time: '20200206-210629', code: 730, processed: true, netId: //MYHOME/254/115/5, level: 100, sourceunit: 115, ramptime: 0, type: 'event', raw: '#e# 20200206-210629 730 //MYHOME/254/115/5 - new level=255 sourceunit=115 ramptime=0' }
Feb 06 21:06:29 pi homebridge[1037]: 2020-02-06T21:06:29.188Z cbus:client rx unparsable line: '#e# 20200206-210629 730 //MYHOME/254/115/5 - new level=255 sourceunit=115 ramptime=0', error: TypeError: Cannot read property 'tag' of undefined
Feb 06 21:06:29 pi homebridge[1037]: at CBusPlatform._processEvent (/usr/lib/node_modules/homebridge-cbus/index.js:126:52)
Feb 06 21:06:29 pi homebridge[1037]: at CBusPlatform.<anonymous> (/usr/lib/node_modules/homebridge-cbus/index.js:153:8)
Feb 06 21:06:29 pi homebridge[1037]: at CBusClient.emit (events.js:198:13)
Feb 06 21:06:29 pi homebridge[1037]: at CBusClient._socketReceivedLine (/usr/lib/node_modules/homebridge-cbus/lib/cgate-client.js:641:10)
Feb 06 21:06:29 pi homebridge[1037]: at Carrier.<anonymous> (/usr/lib/node_modules/homebridge-cbus/lib/cgate-client.js:175:9)
Feb 06 21:06:29 pi homebridge[1037]: at Carrier.emit (events.js:198:13)
Feb 06 21:06:29 pi homebridge[1037]: at /usr/lib/node_modules/homebridge-cbus/node_modules/carrier/lib/carrier.js:24:12
Feb 06 21:06:29 pi homebridge[1037]: at process._tickCallback (internal/process/next_tick.js:61:11)
Feb 06 21:06:29 pi homebridge[1037]: 2020-02-06T21:06:29.440Z cbus:client rx event { time: '20200206-210629', code: 730, processed: true, netId: //MYHOME/254/56/31, level: 100, sourceunit: 44, ramptime: 0, type: 'event', raw: '#e# 20200206-210629 730 //MYHOME/254/56/31 - new level=255 sourceunit=44 ramptime=0' }
Feb 06 21:06:29 pi homebridge[1037]: 2020-02-06T21:06:29.442Z cbus:client rx unparsable line: '#e# 20200206-210629 730 //MYHOME/254/56/31 - new level=255 sourceunit=44 ramptime=0', error: TypeError: Cannot read property 'tag' of undefined
Feb 06 21:06:29 pi homebridge[1037]: at CBusPlatform._processEvent (/usr/lib/node_modules/homebridge-cbus/index.js:126:52)
Feb 06 21:06:29 pi homebridge[1037]: at CBusPlatform.<anonymous> (/usr/lib/node_modules/homebridge-cbus/index.js:153:8)
Feb 06 21:06:29 pi homebridge[1037]: at CBusClient.emit (events.js:198:13)
Feb 06 21:06:29 pi homebridge[1037]: at CBusClient._socketReceivedLine (/usr/lib/node_modules/homebridge-cbus/lib/cgate-client.js:641:10)
Feb 06 21:06:29 pi homebridge[1037]: at Carrier.<anonymous> (/usr/lib/node_modules/homebridge-cbus/lib/cgate-client.js:175:9)
Feb 06 21:06:29 pi homebridge[1037]: at Carrier.emit (events.js:198:13)
Feb 06 21:06:29 pi homebridge[1037]: at /usr/lib/node_modules/homebridge-cbus/node_modules/carrier/lib/carrier.js:24:12
Feb 06 21:06:29 pi homebridge[1037]: at process._tickCallback (internal/process/next_tick.js:61:11)
Feb 06 21:07:00 pi homebridge[1037]: 2020-02-06T21:07:00.178Z cbus:client rx event { time: '20200206-210700', code: 730, processed: true, netId: //MYHOME/254/115/5, level: 100, sourceunit: 115, ramptime: 0, type: 'event', raw: '#e# 20200206-210700 730 //MYHOME/254/115/5 - new level=255 sourceunit=115 ramptime=0' }
Feb 06 21:07:00 pi homebridge[1037]: 2020-02-06T21:07:00.180Z cbus:client rx unparsable line: '#e# 20200206-210700 730 //MYHOME/254/115/5 - new level=255 sourceunit=115 ramptime=0', error: TypeError: Cannot read property 'tag' of undefined

I've simplified my config.json file as the original toolkit file was very large. I also updated the Toolkit xml file

{
"bridge": {
"name": "My Home",
"username": "CC:22:3D:E3:CE:30",
"port": 51826,
"pin": "031-45-154"
},

"description": "My home HomeKit API configuration file",

"platforms": [
{
"platform": "homebridge-cbus.CBus",
"name": "CBus",
"client_ip_address": "127.0.0.1",
"client_controlport": 20023,
"client_cbusname": "MYHOME",
"client_network": 254,
"client_application": 56,
"client_debug": true,

"platform_export": "/home/pi/my-platform.json",

"accessories": [
{ "type": "dimmer", "id": 7, "name": "LivMain", "enabled": false },
{ "type": "dimmer", "id": 8, "name": "LivBack", "enabled": false }
]
}
],
"accessories": [ ]
}

Any help will be greatly appreciated

 

Hello Shovelhead
I can try to help.
Aside from journalctl one way to see what CGate is doing would be to connect with telnet.
Telnet from PC to raspberry pi IP address port 20023 (need to have added PC IP address to CGate access file)
Once connected to CGate it will reply and it is obviously running.
You can then enter a few commands to see what is happening.
"project list" should show your project name and say started
"net list" should show something like "131 network=254 State=ok InterfaceState=running"

It sounds like you have edited your xml file?
I don't know of a reason to do that.
Don't go losing the original or you could potentially lose the programming for your whole network.
It is beyond my knowledge to do something like that and personally I would let CBus Toolkit software create and manage the xml file on a Windows machine.
Then just copy the xml file from PC to raspberry pi if it is ever changed.

Once you verify CGate is running with the project loaded and network connected feel free to ask another question.

 

Hi Daryl, I'll run the CGate checks tonight.
I edited the XML in Toolkit. Simply made a copy of my original Toolkit file and removed the groups I didn't need, I did all this in toolkit and then grabbed the XML.
I'll have a further play later.
Ironically the fact it doesn't work is helping me get a better understanding of the Pi.
Thanks for the reply

 

In the past rather than alter the xml and if there was a lot of group addresses I only added the ones I wanted to the Homebridge configuration file.
I’m pretty sure CGate will show some errors when it periodically scans the network if devices are on the network but not in the xml.
If someone with a bit more knowledge could comment would be good.

 

Very well done to all who contributed to getting this running.

Does anybody else experience the need to issue an iPhone Siri request twice after not using the system for a few hours?
Similarly if I open the iPhone Home app after not using it for some time it shows all accessories 'updating', sometimes times out to 'not responding', but carries on OK in the background as changing screens in the app shows the actual state.

It appears like Homekit refreshes the accessory state on demand (makes sense from a battery conservation perspective), and this takes too long for the Siri command handling.

Anthony, Daryl, would you know what the holding time is within Homekit before it will mark the accessory state as stale?

My setup had CGate and HomeGate running on a Windows 10 NUC, so I have added Homebridge to the same windows pc and loaded 28 lighting and trigger GAs.

 

Hi
I haven't got a current Homebridge CBus installation to test but when I did have it setup there was a couple of things which gave some grief.
My home had multiple wifi access points with identical SSID and passwords.
When moving between access points I believe my router was blocking the iPhone for some security reason and Homekit had problems to update.
Something other things to consider.
Is the NUC on ethernet or wifi?
Power settings on NUC.
Does the wifi router use band steering eg auto select and switch between 2.4GHz and 5GHz network?

In general poor network and internet connectivity will cause Siri to misbehave.
If I stand at the border of wifi and 4G connectivity Homekit (and everything else relying on an internet connection) performs unpredictably.

In general I have found Homebridge and CGate running on a raspberry pi to be quite responsive and reliable.

 

Thanks Daryl. I hadn't thought of power management on the ethernet NIC, I'll change that and see if it makes a difference.
Cheers

 

@DarylMc do you have AP roaming enabled? That can smooth out the issues.

I’m still having to reboot my Pi every 4 days due to “stuck transmitter” errors that I can’t trace the cause of.

 

Hi Chromus
I can’t even remember the exact wireless equipment now but it did take a while to figure out why I was having slow response in HomeKit.

Just for interest what is your CBus interface and are you using wifi on the RPI?

 

Wiser2 -> POE off my Ubiquiti POE switch. Wiser2 is rock steady.

Pi4 -> Gigabit LAN into same switch as Wiser2 Static IP set at managed LAN and device level.

To fix the Pi must be clean rebooted, Simply pulling the power doesn't resolve the issue, if the power fails then I need to reboot the Pi to get a connection.

 

@DarylMc Power management on the NIC was not the cause. I now think it is just the way life is.

When opening the IOS Home app it refreshes the state of all accessories, and the time taken for first time load of homebridge-cbus and change state on a GA is too long for the iPhone Siri handshaking.
I can recreate the issue by changing to 4G, open & close Home, change back to WiFi and open Home as this seems to cause Home to reload accessories.

To work around this I am trying a Shortcut that opens the Home app to fetch the state of a non-homebridge accessory (proxy for do nothing), wait a few seconds to allow for homebridge accessory refresh, then issue the homebridge-cbus command. So far this is working.

Incidentally it may not be homebridge specific, when I open the Wiser HD app there is an indicator top right of screen that starts red and a few seconds later turns green. Presumably this is the Clipsal app loading GA status as fast as it can go but still takinga few seconds.

Thanks again for the good work.

 

Thanks for the info.
I will be able to test on larger CBus network soon.
How many CBus group addresses do you have in the Homebridge config file?
Could you try with a small number say 10 to see if that makes much difference.
As soon as I get the larger home setup I will let you know if there is some delay problem.

 

Out of 62 CBus devices I have 25 accessories in the config.json, mostly dimmers, a couple of lights, and several triggers.

Cutting it back to 10 I was not able to force a fail. Taking it back to 25 I had to rebuild as homebridge and apple got out of sync, and since then I was also not able to force a fail. That is until just now after having left t for a few hours.

Watching the console using homebridge-console-ui-x I did not see any message when it failed...
However, even when it works there are errors showing up in the log file along with repeated synchronisation attempts. Extract below.

Code:

2020-02-12T02:07:12.507Z cbus:client rx event { time: '20200212-130712', code: 753, processed: false, message: '//DENDY4/254 4809b3f0-2f3e-1038-b15e-92f91148a362 Net Sync: synchronizing unit 62 of 62 at address 136', type: 'event', raw: '#e# 20200212-130712 753 //DENDY4/254 4809b3f0-2f3e-1038-b15e-92f91148a362 Net Sync: synchronizing unit 62 of 62 at address 136' }
2020-02-12T02:07:13.300Z cbus:client rx event { time: '20200212-130713', code: 753, processed: false, message: '//DENDY4/254 4809b3f0-2f3e-1038-b15e-92f91148a362 Net Sync: address 136 type SENPIROA version 1.2.67 catalog 5750WPL', type: 'event', raw: '#e# 20200212-130713 753 //DENDY4/254 4809b3f0-2f3e-1038-b15e-92f91148a362 Net Sync: address 136 type SENPIROA version 1.2.67 catalog 5750WPL' }
2020-02-12T02:07:13.300Z cbus:client rx event { time: '20200212-130713', code: 756, processed: false, message: '//DENDY4/254 4809b3f0-2f3e-1038-b15e-92f91148a362 SyncSubState=app', type: 'event', raw: '#e# 20200212-130713 756 //DENDY4/254 4809b3f0-2f3e-1038-b15e-92f91148a362 SyncSubState=app' }
2020-02-12T02:07:40.249Z cbus:client rx event { time: '20200212-130740', code: 753, processed: false, message: '//DENDY4/254 4809b3f0-2f3e-1038-b15e-92f91148a362 Net Sync: finished at Wed Feb 12 13:07:40 AEDT 2020', type: 'event', raw: '#e# 20200212-130740 753 //DENDY4/254 4809b3f0-2f3e-1038-b15e-92f91148a362 Net Sync: finished at Wed Feb 12 13:07:40 AEDT 2020' }
2020-02-12T02:07:40.250Z cbus:client rx event { time: '20200212-130740', code: 762, processed: false, message: '//DENDY4/254 4809b3f0-2f3e-1038-b15e-92f91148a362 Network sync ok', type: 'event', raw: '#e# 20200212-130740 762 //DENDY4/254 4809b3f0-2f3e-1038-b15e-92f91148a362 Network sync ok' }
2020-02-12T02:07:40.250Z cbus:client rx event { time: '20200212-130740', code: 756, processed: false, message: '//DENDY4/254 4809b3f0-2f3e-1038-b15e-92f91148a362 SyncState=idle', type: 'event', raw: '#e# 20200212-130740 756 //DENDY4/254 4809b3f0-2f3e-1038-b15e-92f91148a362 SyncState=idle' }
2020-02-12T02:07:40.250Z cbus:client rx event { time: '20200212-130740', code: 756, processed: false, message: '//DENDY4/254 4809b3f0-2f3e-1038-b15e-92f91148a362 SyncSubState=idle', type: 'event', raw: '#e# 20200212-130740 756 //DENDY4/254 4809b3f0-2f3e-1038-b15e-92f91148a362 SyncSubState=idle' }
2020-02-12T02:07:40.250Z cbus:client rx event { time: '20200212-130740', code: 753, processed: false, message: '//DENDY4/254 4809b3f0-2f3e-1038-b15e-92f91148a362 Net Sync: Next Sync scheduled for Wed Feb 12 14:07:40 AEDT 2020', type: 'event', raw: '#e# 20200212-130740 753 //DENDY4/254 4809b3f0-2f3e-1038-b15e-92f91148a362 Net Sync: Next Sync scheduled for Wed Feb 12 14:07:40 AEDT 2020' }
2020-02-12T02:07:47.833Z cbus:client rx event { time: '20200212-130747', code: 730, processed: true, netId: CBusNetId { project: 'DENDY4', network: 254, application: 56, group: 13 }, level: 100, sourceunit: 3, ramptime: 0, type: 'event', raw: '#e# 20200212-130747 730 //DENDY4/254/56/13 480cc130-2f3e-1038-b172-92f91148a362 new level=255 sourceunit=3 ramptime=0' }
2020-02-12T02:07:47.833Z cbus:client rx unparsable line: '#e# 20200212-130747 730 //DENDY4/254/56/13 480cc130-2f3e-1038-b172-92f91148a362 new level=255 sourceunit=3 ramptime=0', error: Error: database access before initialisation
    at CGateDatabase.getNetworkEntity (C:\Users\Touch\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\homebridge-cbus\lib\cgate-database.js:337:9)
    at CGateDatabase.getTag (C:\Users\Touch\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\homebridge-cbus\lib\cgate-database.js:323:21)
    at CBusPlatform._processEvent (C:\Users\Touch\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\homebridge-cbus\index.js:111:45)
    at CBusPlatform.<anonymous> (C:\Users\Touch\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\homebridge-cbus\index.js:153:8)
    at CBusClient.emit (events.js:223:5)
    at CBusClient._socketReceivedLine (C:\Users\Touch\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\homebridge-cbus\lib\cgate-client.js:641:10)
    at Carrier.<anonymous> (C:\Users\Touch\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\homebridge-cbus\lib\cgate-client.js:175:9)
    at Carrier.emit (events.js:223:5)
    at C:\Users\Touch\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\homebridge-cbus\node_modules\carrier\lib\carrier.js:24:12
    at processTicksAndRejections (internal/process/task_queues.js:76:11)
2020-02-12T02:07:53.169Z cbus:client rx event { time: '20200212-130753', code: 730, processed: true, netId: CBusNetId { project: 'DENDY4', network: 254, application: 56, group: 16 }, level: 100, sourceunit: 60, ramptime: 0, type: 'event', raw: '#e# 20200212-130753 730 //DENDY4/254/56/16 480dab90-2f3e-1038-b178-92f91148a362 new level=255 sourceunit=60 ramptime=0' }
2020-02-12T02:07:53.169Z cbus:client rx unparsable line: '#e# 20200212-130753 730 //DENDY4/254/56/16 480dab90-2f3e-1038-b178-92f91148a362 new level=255 sourceunit=60 ramptime=0', error: Error: database access before initialisation
    at CGateDatabase.getNetworkEntity (C:\Users\Touch\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\homebridge-cbus\lib\cgate-database.js:337:9)
    at CGateDatabase.getTag (C:\Users\Touch\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\homebridge-cbus\lib\cgate-database.js:323:21)
    at CBusPlatform._processEvent (C:\Users\Touch\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\homebridge-cbus\index.js:111:45)
    at CBusPlatform.<anonymous> (C:\Users\Touch\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\homebridge-cbus\index.js:153:8)
    at CBusClient.emit (events.js:223:5)
    at CBusClient._socketReceivedLine (C:\Users\Touch\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\homebridge-cbus\lib\cgate-client.js:641:10)
    at Carrier.<anonymous> (C:\Users\Touch\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\homebridge-cbus\lib\cgate-client.js:175:9)
    at Carrier.emit (events.js:223:5)
    at C:\Users\Touch\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\homebridge-cbus\node_modules\carrier\lib\carrier.js:24:12
    at processTicksAndRejections (internal/process/task_queues.js:76:11)

 

Sorry if I caused you to have some HomeKit problems.
I would not expect just altering the config file to do that.
As soon as I can I will let you know how I get on with a larger home.

 

Trying via Siri first thing this morning I got the Wait a Moment-Hmmm-Done response, with no action on Cbus. There were no commands visible in the log.
Second time success.
The errors I noted earlier do not seem to affect operation in any obvious way, so if my workaround keeps working all is well.

 

Hi Daryl, finally got round to checking. Cgate running fine opened up the homebridge "sudo journalctl -u homebridge.service -f".

Here is the result of triggering my main kitchen lights :

Feb 12 21:54:27 pi homebridge[1039]: 2020-02-12T21:54:27.396Z cbus:client rx event { time: '20200212-215427', code: 730, processed: true, netId: //MYHOME/254/56/9, level: 100, sourceunit: 44, ramptime: 0, type: 'event', raw: '#e# 20200212-215427 730 //MYHOME/254/56/9 14ead550-3009-1038-848d-ba4db400cf0a new level=255 sourceunit=44 ramptime=0' }
Feb 12 21:54:27 pi homebridge[1039]: 2020-02-12T21:54:27.397Z cbus:level KitMain (not-registered) set to level 100%, by NEWUNIT (SYS_SHAC)
Feb 12 21:54:31 pi homebridge[1039]: 2020-02-12T21:54:31.077Z cbus:client rx event { time: '20200212-215431', code: 730, processed: true, netId: //MYHOME/254/56/9, level: 0, sourceunit: 44, ramptime: 0, type: 'event', raw: '#e# 20200212-215431 730 //MYHOME/254/56/9 14ead550-3009-1038-848d-ba4db400cf0a new level=0 sourceunit=44 ramptime=0' }
Feb 12 21:54:31 pi homebridge[1039]: 2020-02-12T21:54:31.078Z cbus:level KitMain (not-registered) set to level 0%, by NEWUNIT (SYS_SHAC)

Everything seems fine but I'm unable to the Homekit App to find my devices

 

Sorry if I’m not quite following but where are you up to?
Have you ever had the Homebridge bridge set up in HomeKit?

 

I think the errors may have been caused by another plugin, removing homebridge-config-ui-x seems to have stopped them.

 

The best way is to install homebridge for CBUS and get it operational THEN add the ui and THEN other plugins.

I have been wrestling with this for a week for a client and the only way I can get it to all come together is doing it this way.