Doorbell + IPcam + XBMC

Posted by homeawesomation on February 18, 2013

Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: "door bell", "IP camera", Automation, security, x10. 133 comments

Well it’s been a couple months since I installed my IPcamera and linked it to my x10 door bell. It’s been pretty great. I plan to show a new refreshed video and a full introduction to the software features I use in some backend scripts and a web as well as a smartphone app that I’ve been working on.

For now I’m interested in showing my IPcamera/doorbell script I wrote for XBMC just this evening. I use XBMC on all TV’s and computer systems in my house.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

It’s been pretty great so far at automating my media across the network and integrating my home automation notifications. I decided to write a script to send a notification to all XBMC instances when my doorbell rings and to display a live video feed of the IPcam at my porch for 10 seconds.

My particular use case was I realized when in my exercise room I will not be able to hear my doorbell over my treadmill motor and music/video playing, AND I’m probably going to be spending most of my time in that room looking at an XBMC screen. It works great, it’s very simple and it’s very cool since it pops up on any screen I have running in the house

[CODE] 
##Deprecated Example!

#Import the XBMC/XBMCGUI modules.
import xbmc, xbmcgui, time, urllib

#inherit from WindowDialog instead of Window so that it's shown on top of
#what's onscreen instead of replacing it entirely
class CamView(xbmcgui.WindowDialog):

    def __init__(self):
        #Define image location and size
        self.image = xbmcgui.ControlImage(870, 438, 380, 253, "")
        self.addControl(self.image)

viewer = CamView()
viewer.show()
start_time = time.time()
while(time.time() - start_time <= 14):
    #set url to ip cam image, password auth not supported 
    urllib.urlretrieve("http://asdf.com/camera/", '/tmp/bell.jpg')
    viewer.image.setImage("")
    viewer.image.setImage("/tmp/bell.jpg")
    #Define image transparency 
    viewer.image.setAnimations([('conditional', 'effect=fade start=90 end=90 time=0 condition=true',)])
    xbmc.sleep(500)
viewer.close()
del viewer

[/CODE]

What I’ve created is a regular XBMC script like all other addons. You can get my script in ZIP format from github here, https://github.com/ssshake/xbmc-scripts/blob/master/script.doorbell.zip?raw=true

The thread on XBMC forums for this project can be seen here: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=156665

This script can be run in the Programs menu or ideally for what I’m demonstrating here, it’s called by a command line script when it sees that my doorbell has been pressed. This is just a regular HTTP GET to your XBMC machine telling it to run the script.

Please note I’m using HTTP GET’s on XBMC 11, XBMC 12 requires an equivalent command over a json call. I’m pretty sure it’s not hard, I just don’t have that information right now.

http://XBMCHOSTNAME:PORT/xbmcCmds/xbmcHttp?command=ExecBuiltIn&parameter=XBMC.RunScript(/PATH/TO/SCRIPTS/DIR/script.doorbell/doorbell.py)

From a linux shell you'd execute this as:

wget "http://XBMCHOSTNAME:PORT/xbmcCmds/xbmcHttp?command=ExecBuiltIn&parameter=XBMC.RunScript(/PATH/TO/SCRIPTS/DIR/script.doorbell/doorbell.py)";

or you can just paste this into a regular webbrowser to test.

Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /var/www/html/wp-includes/class-wp-comment-query.php on line 399

133 comments on “Doorbell + IPcam + XBMC”

Phil McDonnell on February 18, 2013 at 9:07 pm said:

That looks great, but where is this script located? Is it within XBMC?
Also you said you have XBMC on all screens in your house, what are you using to get XBMC on your TV’s? A media PC? If so what type?

Thanks for sharing all your info…

Reply
homeawesomation on February 19, 2013 at 3:27 pm said:

Take a look at the post again, I’ve updated it with more info.

When I say I use XBMC all over the house, I think I’d qualify that as what machines have dedicated XBMC instances running.

So for my TV’s I have mediapc’s connected. I personally use zotac zbox’s.

For my fitness room I have a laptop that predominantly runs XBMC full screen, unless I break out to do some web browsing.

In my office I have 3 screens and one is dedicated to XBMC. So currently I have 4 dedicated XBMC instances in total.

Reply
- Phil McDonnell on February 19, 2013 at 10:03 pm said:
  
  Thanks for the explanation, I am new to XBMC but learning more about it daily. Now I know about the add-ons and programs
  
  Going to give it a shot even though I don’t have a camera yet I do have a relay that triggers the computer to do whatever so sending a command will be cake!
  
  Reply
  - homeawesomation on February 19, 2013 at 10:07 pm said:
    
    What relay/product are you using to send a signal to your computer? Is it USB, serial, other?
    
    Reply
Phil McDonnell on February 19, 2013 at 10:10 pm said:

I made a custom board right now using an Arduino and is sending the responses by serial port. Not sure if I will continue to do it that way or not… Although I just found a website to make my own Arduino with ethernet for about $20 or so… At that price it is worth it to use for controllers. I currently am designing an 8 relay controller to turn speakers on and off around the house for MajorDoMo announcements. I am using MajorDoMo for now but not to sure if I will keep it. However I will surely integrate voice announcements into any system I use or create.

Reply
Phil McDonnell on February 19, 2013 at 11:17 pm said:

I installed this like any other addon and I see it in the program addons. However I keep getting a file not found error when I hit it in the web browser…
http://localhost:8080/xbmcCmds/xbmcHttp?command=ExecBuiltIn&parameter=XBMC.RunScript(C:UsersPhilAppDataRoamingXBMCaddonsscript.doorbelldoorbell.py)

What do you think I did wrong?

By the way I had to .zip it to install it using the addon system of XBMC

Reply
- homeawesomation on February 19, 2013 at 11:26 pm said:
  
  Good point I’ve never used the installer I just copy it to the addons directory. I’ll change it to zip.
  
  It’s possibly because you’re using the installer instead of copying it to your home directory. So it might be in C:Program FilesXBMCaddons instead of C:UsersPhilAppDataRoamingXBMCaddons
  
  Can you hit this?
  
  http://localhost:8011/xbmcCmds/xbmcHttp?command=ExecBuiltIn&parameter=XBMC.Notification%28test,test%29
  
  You should see a test notification pop up in xbmc. What version are you using? I wrote this for XBMC 11. If you’re using 12, I haven’t written the json api parts yet. They dropped the legacy api I used.
  
  Reply
  - Phil McDonnell on February 19, 2013 at 11:31 pm said:
    
    Yup using 12
    
    Reply
homeawesomation on February 19, 2013 at 11:39 pm said:

I’ll be changing it soon enough since I won’t be on 11 forever, unless you want to learn how and make a working copy to ship back to me. If you can get a notification working you can probably figure out the rest from there. Looks like you can’t use a webbrowser because commands are HTTP POST where as this is HTTP GET.

Reply
- Phil McDonnell on February 20, 2013 at 1:09 am said:
  
  Hey one thing, how does it pop-up on any screen? Doesn’t it just pop-up on the screen you send the get command to? Does the command sync across all XBMC machines on your lan?
  
  Reply
homeawesomation on February 20, 2013 at 7:01 pm said:

Nope you have to write a basic script on the back end. I wrote a bash script, you could probably write a batch script on windows. I have a list of IP addresses, I loop through that.

Also you may be interested in this, I just installed it, but it doesn’t work with mochad, it does work with many windows apps. This is for x10 lighting, not cam, but figured you’re want to check it anyway.

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=110392

Reply
- Phil McDonnell on February 20, 2013 at 7:09 pm said:
  
  Ok, I kind of figured you had to ping each box directly. What happens if a box is not on, will your script fail?
  I figured out how to send a message with the new JSON API today, just not sure how to run your script yet
  
  Something in the form http://localhost:8080/jsonrpc?request={ “jsonrpc”: “2.0”, “method”: “Addons.ExecuteAddon”, “params”: { “addonid”: “Doorbell” }}
  
  Going to have a look at the addon for X10, thanks for sharing…
  
  Reply
homeawesomation on February 20, 2013 at 9:38 pm said:

You should just be able to execute the script manually in the programs menu on XBMC. Does it error out there?

With the arguments I use in wget, it only tries once per host and fails if the host is down. It block or anything.

Thanks the json line, I’ll try to get that working.

Reply
- Phil McDonnell on February 20, 2013 at 11:13 pm said:
  
  Here is a JSON line that actually works! It sends a message to the screen just like your DoorBell display. I will try to execute the script from within XBMC when I get home…
  
  Reply
  - Phil McDonnell on February 20, 2013 at 11:13 pm said:
    
    http://localhost:8080/jsonrpc?request={ “jsonrpc”: “2.0”, “method”: “GUI.ShowNotification”, “params”: { “title”: “Phil WUZ Here!”, “message”: “This is a test”}}
    
    Reply
  - homeawesomation on March 22, 2013 at 6:51 pm said:
    
    did you ever find a json request that runs my script? I could assume it’s as follows but I’d appreciate confirmation: http://localhost:8080/jsonrpc?request={ “jsonrpc”: “2.0″, “method”: “Addons.ExecuteAddon”, “params”: { “addonid”: “script.doorbell” }}
    
    Reply
andre on February 22, 2013 at 10:52 pm said:

i am trying and i cannot get it to work

Reply
- andre on February 22, 2013 at 10:52 pm said:
  
  it says script failed
  
  Reply
  - homeawesomation on February 25, 2013 at 3:19 pm said:
    
    Hey, you might want to check xbmc.log on your system to see why. What version are you running?
    
    Also it’s probably failing because of a missing directory. My current script requires you to create c:tmp and have it writable by your user account.
    
    This is poor coding on my part, stay tuned on git hub as I will be posting an updated version soon.
    
    Reply
Andre on February 23, 2013 at 7:06 am said:

Hey can you give more spec details how the script. Work because its giving me error

Reply
a1a2a on March 4, 2013 at 12:59 pm said:

Nice work! I’m looking to accomplish this same feat soon, so this is very inspiring and helpful for those of us who aren’t expert coders. Right now I’m using Blue Iris Security Cam software to manage my IP cameras, but it has the ability to run programs/sound/etc when a motion is triggered. I’m hoping to integrate this to save an image snapshot on motion detect along with your script to have that oh so handy pop up image occur in XBMC.

Looking forward to more updates on this project and your other/future ones. Awesome stuff indeed =)

Reply
Fabrice on March 7, 2013 at 5:55 am said:

Hello everybody
That system look realy cool.
I was looking for this from long time.
By the way, as my english is not so good, especialy for technical stuff, i have some problems to understand how to instal all .
First i use XBMC 12. can i install the cam viewer even i no instal the automatic pop up ?
I see on the youtube movie that you open and close it from your remote.

Can you also help and explain the procedure to instal, i try to do but i have maybe not enougth experience on xbmc.

Reply
- homeawesomation on March 8, 2013 at 4:53 pm said:
  
  Hey there.
  
  I haven’t tested it on XBMC 12 but it should work. I’ve been told that some of the animation code for python is broken currently in 12.
  
  You NEED to make a c:tmp directory on windows. I’ll fix this script soon. I wrote it on linux initially and didn’t notice that issue until then.
  
  You can open and close it by remote using keymap.xml AND you can invoke it by json network call in xbmc12.
  
  To install it you just copy it to your addons folder like a regular script. Thanks.
  
  Reply
  - Fabrice on March 8, 2013 at 5:11 pm said:
    
    Super good !
    I go on to try. It’s more clear to me now !
    Let you know soon.
    Thanks.
    
    Reply
Fabrice on March 10, 2013 at 5:52 am said:

Hello.
Ok, now using IPcam , work fine as video source.
I place my link/file as follow:

C:Program Files (x86)XBMCTestcamFabcam.strm

I use XBMC 12.

Doorbell addon instaled.

When i run it truw the Wbmc Program launcher, then it give directly a SCIPT PY error.

Any idear ?

is it becose Wbmc12 ?

I’m also wondering if the location ad name of my Cam file is rigth ? is there any issues with this ?

Thanks

Reply
- Phil McDonnell on March 10, 2013 at 12:25 pm said:
  
  The author said it doesn’t work in XBMC 12. You need to use XBMC 11 or earlier. XBMC 12 changed the way it does calls, it uses JSON now…
  
  Reply
- homeawesomation on March 11, 2013 at 1:19 am said:
  
  The script itself should work on XBMC12, I never tested it tough. The notifications I provided wont work, but you should be able to run the script. IF you’re getting a script error you should look in xbmc.log located at C:Users\AppDataRoamingXBMCxbmc.log on Windows 7.
  
  My script isn’t designed to work with .strm files. I never did that because my camera doesn’t support it. You should be able to just launch the strm file by using a notification to play it as a video file, but my script would have to be a complete rewrite I assume to get it to work like yours. If you want my script to work just point it at the location of a still image on your ip cam’s web server.
  
  Reply
johnny on March 15, 2013 at 8:31 am said:

Your blog is very interesting. You write about very interesting things. Thanks for all your tips and information.

Reply
Sarosh on March 20, 2013 at 1:20 pm said:

Hi
I am using windows 7 created a folder on my d drive gave it full permission. But when i try to launch the add on after installation it gives me the following error

IOError: (22, “invalid mode (‘wb’) or filename”, ‘d:temptest.jpg’)

Please help me out here.

Thanks
Rosh

Reply
- homeawesomation on March 21, 2013 at 9:24 am said:
  
  Did you modify the source code? yours is erring on temp but my script uses tmp, specifically on c:
  
  urllib.urlretrieve(“http://asdf.com/camera/”, ‘/tmp/bell.jpg’)
  viewer.image.setImage(“”)
  viewer.image.setImage(“/tmp/bell.jpg”)
  
  I will be posting a new version in the next couple weeks, sorry I’ve been swamped
  
  Reply
- homeawesomation on March 21, 2013 at 5:42 pm said:
  
  Try again with the script I uploaded on github. Link’s in the blog post. Thanks.
  
  Reply
Andre on March 20, 2013 at 8:19 pm said:

Hey when will you be releasing the new version

Reply
- homeawesomation on March 21, 2013 at 9:23 am said:
  
  I’ll try to write it in the next couple weeks. I’ve had a few requests now. I apologize but I’ve been very busy
  
  Reply
homeawesomation on March 21, 2013 at 5:39 pm said:

I’ve updated the script, you can find it here. You will have to edit the url variable to point to your ip cam’s image, https://github.com/ssshake/xbmc-scripts/blob/master/script.doorbell.zip?raw=true

Reply
Andre on March 21, 2013 at 7:40 pm said:

Thanks

Reply
- homeawesomation on March 21, 2013 at 7:42 pm said:
  
  Can you confirm if it works and if now please grab the tail end of xbmc.log so I can see what sort of problems you are having.
  
  Reply
andre on March 22, 2013 at 9:12 pm said:

still gettijn error script failed i have a axis net cam

Reply
- homeawesomation on March 22, 2013 at 9:15 pm said:
  
  I want to help you so that others can use the script I put effort into, but I really need you to post the error from xbmc.log so I know why it’s failing. Can you do that please?
  
  Reply
andre on March 22, 2013 at 9:48 pm said:

i can give you access to my pc so you can check it out
i am using a windows xp pc , can you give your skype id

Reply
andre on March 22, 2013 at 9:50 pm said:

what version of xbmc i need i try 11 still error now i have 12 installed

Reply
andre on March 22, 2013 at 10:19 pm said:

23:16:55 T:5024 NOTICE: –>Python Interpreter InitializedPython Interpreter Initialized<–
23:17:02 T:3988 ERROR: Error Type:
23:17:02 T:3988 ERROR: Error Contents: (“Non-ASCII character ‘\xd7’ in file C:\Documents and Settings\Dre\Application Data\XBMC\addons\script.doorbell\doorbell.py on line 6, but no encoding declared; see http://www.python.org/peps/pep-0263.html for details”, (‘C:\Documents and Settings\Dre\Application Data\XBMC\addons\script.doorbell\doorbell.py’, 6, 0, None))
23:17:02 T:3988 ERROR: SyntaxError: (“Non-ASCII character ‘\xd7’ in file C:\Documents and Settings\Dre\Application Data\XBMC\addons\script.doorbell\doorbell.py on line 6, but no encoding declared; see http://www.python.org/peps/pep-0263.html for details”, (‘C:\Documents and Settings\Dre\Application Data\XBMC\addons\script.doorbell\doorbell.py’, 6, 0, None))

Reply
homeawesomation on March 22, 2013 at 10:29 pm said:

It should work period on both versions, thats why the log is important to me, it probably has some silly error that I can correct easily. It’s likely my fault for not coding it well.

Click start and go to run and paste this in without quotes “%APPDATA%XBMCxbmc.log”, the file will open, save it somewhere and email it to isshu483@doobiest.net

Reply
andre on March 22, 2013 at 10:34 pm said:

ok i sent it

Reply
homeawesomation on March 22, 2013 at 10:49 pm said:

Cool. Can you copy and paste the url line that you modified? Line 6 in the file:

url=’https://asdf.com/camera/’

This is the breakdown of the error I see in the logs. Take a look, I’ve stripped out some details to make it easier to learn from:

—————–
Non-ASCII character ‘\xd7’

in file C:\Documents and Settings\Dre\Application Data\XBMC\addons\script.doorbell\doorbell.py

on line 6

but no encoding declared;
see http://www.python.org/peps/pep-0263.html for details
—————–

For fun, I took the non ascii character of \xd7 and googled it, take a look, maybe that helps explain the issue. That character is apparently a multiplication symbol? http://www.charbase.com/00d7-unicode-multiplication-sign

Reply
andre on March 22, 2013 at 11:04 pm said:

url=http://192.168.1.6/axis-cgi/mjpg/video.cgi?camera=&resolution=320×240

this is what i use to view axis 207w without password i can view the cam like that

Reply
homeawesomation on March 22, 2013 at 11:10 pm said:

Perfect sense, since the link I posted references the multiplication symbol in 320×240

use ‘320%D7240′ instead so,

url=’http://192.168.1.6/axis-cgi/mjpg/video.cgi?camera=&resolution=320%D7240’

Lastly I’m concerned even though that URL will now be valid, it’s video.cgi which makes me thing it’s a stream. You might have to find an actual JPG file on your webcam’s server. If you can give me the exact model number I might be able to find that information.

Reply
andre on March 22, 2013 at 11:16 pm said:

axis 207w

Reply
homeawesomation on March 22, 2013 at 11:26 pm said:

Did it fail with the change I said? Can I get a log again?

Reply
andre on March 22, 2013 at 11:32 pm said:

yes it failed

Reply
andre on March 22, 2013 at 11:35 pm said:

i even tried jpg and still error

Reply
homeawesomation on March 22, 2013 at 11:36 pm said:

url=’http://192.168.1.6/axis-cgi/mjpg/video.cgi?camera=&resolution=320%D7240′

Reply
andre on March 22, 2013 at 11:36 pm said:

what type stream does the script support

Reply
homeawesomation on March 22, 2013 at 11:36 pm said:

Sorry thats a fault of wordpress, it’s supposed to be single quotes, but you can see that last quote in my line is an apostrophe instead. You need to remove the ‘ and make is a ‘

Reply
andre on March 22, 2013 at 11:39 pm said:

i did that

Reply
andre on March 22, 2013 at 11:42 pm said:

what version of xbmc are you using

Reply
homeawesomation on March 22, 2013 at 11:44 pm said:

I’m sorry but if you look at the logs you sent me it clearly says “Non-ASCII character ‘\x92” and if you google x92 it’s an apostrophe. Thats why I’m saying that’s the error. It’s supposed to be a single quote not an apostrophe. Once again the xbmc version shouldn’t matter it’s a python syntax error. I’m using xbmc 11.

Reply
andre on March 22, 2013 at 11:46 pm said:

how could i fix that

Reply
homeawesomation on March 22, 2013 at 11:48 pm said:

Retype the quotation instead of using what is copy and pasted. It’s a copy and paste issue, delete both ‘ ‘ around the url and retype ‘ ‘. If it fails then something new is wrong in the logs. Both times it’s been character issues (same in nature), if it doesnt work past then we might have encountered a new real issue and I’m still interested in correcting this.

Reply
andre on March 24, 2013 at 7:41 am said:

hey i sent you the ip by email

Reply
homeawesomation on March 24, 2013 at 12:19 pm said:

This works for me url=’http://93.121.221.206/axis-cgi/jpg/image.cgi?resolution=320×240′

I’ll email you the script.

Reply
andre on March 24, 2013 at 4:20 pm said:

hey one thing i notis the small bell not showing up

Reply
- homeawesomation on April 1, 2013 at 6:26 pm said:
  
  This is true. I haven’t figured out how to reference the image from the script directory. You can move it to the media folder for the xbmc program and point the script there instead.
  
  Reply
Fabrice on March 31, 2013 at 6:00 pm said:

Hey
last script update instaled succesfully on x12 after add the rigth cam URL in the sript/
No more script error or else
addon activated
but now , how to make it work ?
how to see the pop up window ?
when i launch the script from Install / extention /dorrbell … nothing happen .
Thanks

Reply
- homeawesomation on April 1, 2013 at 6:24 pm said:
  
  I’d check the logs against to see why the remote command is failing. Can you paste the command you’re using?
  
  Reply
Fabrice on April 3, 2013 at 3:43 am said:

Please take a look :
10:33:25 T:4272 NOTICE: CJoystick::EnumJoysticksCallback : Enabled Joystick: Sweex Wireless Gamepad Vibration
10:33:25 T:4272 NOTICE: CJoystick::EnumJoysticksCallback : Total Axis: 5 Total Hats: 1 Total Buttons: 12
10:33:32 T:3712 NOTICE: Thread Background Loader start, auto delete: false
10:33:32 T:4740 NOTICE: Thread XBPyThread start, auto delete: false
10:33:32 T:4808 NOTICE: Thread Jobworker start, auto delete: true
10:33:32 T:4740 NOTICE: –>Python Interpreter InitializedPython Interpreter InitializedPython Interpreter Initialized<–
10:34:34 T:3000 WARNING: CRenderManager::FlipPage – timeout waiting for flip to complete
10:34:34 T:3000 WARNING: CRenderManager::FlipPage – timeout waiting for previous frame

Reply
Fabrice on April 3, 2013 at 3:50 am said:

10:33:32 T:4740 NOTICE: –>Python Interpreter Initialized<–
10:33:34 T:1736 NOTICE: Thread Jobworker start, auto delete: true
10:33:42 T:4036 NOTICE: Thread Background Loader start, auto delete: false
10:33:42 T:4036 WARNING: XFILE::CFileFactory::CreateLoader – Unsupported protocol(addons) in addons://enabled/folder.jpg
10:33:42 T:4036 WARNING: XFILE::CFileFactory::CreateLoader – Unsupported protocol(addons) in addons://disabled/folder.jpg
10:33:42 T:4036 WARNING: XFILE::CFileFactory::CreateLoader – Unsupported protocol(addons) in addons://install/folder.jpg
10:33:42 T:4036 WARNING: XFILE::CFileFactory::CreateLoader – Unsupported protocol(addons) in addons://search/folder.jpg
10:33:42 T:4036 WARNING: XFILE::CFileFactory::CreateLoader – Unsupported protocol(addons) in addons://repos/folder.jpg
10:33:45 T:4468 NOTICE: Thread Background Loader start, auto delete: false
10:33:45 T:4468 WARNING: XFILE::CFileFactory::CreateLoader – Unsupported protocol(addons) in addons://enabled/xbmc.addon.executable/folder.jpg
10:33:45 T:4468 WARNING: XFILE::CFileFactory::CreateLoader – Unsupported protocol(addons) in addons://enabled/xbmc.ui.screensaver/folder.jpg
10:33:45 T:4468 WARNING: XFILE::CFileFactory::CreateLoader – Unsupported protocol(addons) in addons://enabled/xbmc.metadata.scraper.albums/folder.jpg
10:33:45 T:4468 WARNING: XFILE::CFileFactory::CreateLoader – Unsupported protocol(addons) in addons://enabled/xbmc.metadata.scraper.artists/folder.jpg
10:33:45 T:4468 WARNING: XFILE::CFileFactory::CreateLoader – Unsupported protocol(addons) in addons://enabled/xbmc.metadata.scraper.tvshows/folder.jpg
10:33:45 T:4468 WARNING: XFILE::CFileFactory::CreateLoader – Unsupported protocol(addons) in addons://enabled/xbmc.metadata.scraper.musicvideos/folder.jpg
10:33:45 T:4468 WARNING: XFILE::CFileFactory::CreateLoader – Unsupported protocol(addons) in addons://enabled/xbmc.metadata.scraper.movies/folder.jpg
10:33:45 T:4468 WARNING: XFILE::CFileFactory::CreateLoader – Unsupported protocol(addons) in addons://enabled/xbmc.gui.webinterface/folder.jpg
10:33:45 T:4468 WARNING: XFILE::CFileFactory::CreateLoader – Unsupported protocol(addons) in addons://enabled/xbmc.python.weather/folder.jpg
10:33:45 T:4468 WARNING: XFILE::CFileFactory::CreateLoader – Unsupported protocol(addons) in addons://enabled/xbmc.service/folder.jpg
10:33:45 T:4468 WARNING: XFILE::CFileFactory::CreateLoader – Unsupported protocol(addons) in addons://enabled/xbmc.gui.skin/folder.jpg
10:33:45 T:4468 WARNING: XFILE::CFileFactory::CreateLoader – Unsupported protocol(addons) in addons://enabled/xbmc.player.musicviz/folder.jpg
10:33:48 T:3952 NOTICE: Thread Background Loader start, auto delete: false

Reply
- homeawesomation on April 9, 2013 at 10:24 pm said:
  
  Those logs say nothing about the script, are you running it? Can you get the script to run manually via the programs menu in XBMC?
  
  Reply
  - Fabrice on April 10, 2013 at 1:18 am said:
    
    Well, i not know if the script is running or not, that’s the problem.
    WHen i launch the script manually truw xbmc (in the add on window) then nothing happend.
    Not know if somthing run in the back ground.As i never seen it work , i also not know if it pop up when the “add on ” menu is open.
    
    I realy want make it run, not know what to do ..
    
    Reply
Andre on April 3, 2013 at 9:07 pm said:

Hey can you add sound to it

Reply
- homeawesomation on April 9, 2013 at 10:25 pm said:
  
  I can’t/won’t but I’m sure it’s possible. I’d like to see people contribute to my source code. The XBMC forums thread I posted in the blog is a good start. Maybe ask the question there and see what sort of response you get. It’s a good community.
  
  Reply
Shad on April 5, 2013 at 2:11 pm said:

That it is a good job, but I can’t got it work. I am using W7 and download your script from github, I create the c:/tmp and have the jpg inside. In the log I have no error.

Reply
- homeawesomation on April 9, 2013 at 10:13 pm said:
  
  /tmp shouldnt be necessary on the new version. Are you saying when you run the script manually via programs menu you get nothing on screen and no error pop up?
  
  Reply
andre on April 14, 2013 at 12:30 pm said:

hey doobiest how did you get x10 doorbell open script on all xbmc clients

Reply
- homeawesomation on April 14, 2013 at 2:11 pm said:
  
  ON your computer you need to write a small script that sends the notification command to all xbmc IP’s.
  
  Reply
Andre on April 22, 2013 at 9:51 am said:

Hey can you help me with writing the script , I would like when I press a button on a keyboard the addon would run on all my xbmc

Reply
DaBoss on May 6, 2013 at 3:50 pm said:

Very very good . . . not working at first time on FRODO but it’s ok now . . .

just one thing . . what happen if camera is off ???

Maybe using “try” will be good thing .

Reply
- homeawesomation on June 4, 2013 at 11:13 pm said:
  
  Thanks,
  
  I dont know what try is. Can you tell me a use case whent he camera is off? Mine is always on so I’m not a good test subject for that kind of situation.
  
  Reply
Crooked8s on May 6, 2013 at 6:25 pm said:

Hi I have just seen your video on Youtube, be for coming here, I have to say that i am very impressed. Great Job. My problem is that I am a total NOOB at scripting any language. I Have XBMC running on 2 android mini pc sticks Imito MX2 and the Measy U2C as well as on my Windows 8 pc in my living room. I also have a Foscam IP Camera that I use as a Baby Cam.

The Script you wrote is awesome. The unfortunate part is that I have no use for and X10 device. I don’t use a door bell on my apartment building.

If it were possible (let me know if i am reaching to far) to have the pop up video of the IP camera be triggered by motion sensor of the camera or by an alternative event generated by the IP Camera. Most IP cameras are able to send an email triggered by an event. (My Foscam IP Cam FI8916W does not have aux contacts)

Thanks in Advance
Great Job
Herbie

Reply
- homeawesomation on June 4, 2013 at 11:11 pm said:
  
  I think if you posted your question on the forum I mention in the post, on xbmc.org people might be willing to help with that.
  
  When a motion sensor is enabled on a webcam it can usually send the photos to a folder on your computer. I think you could write a script to watch that folder for new images, and if so, then pop up the screen. It doesnt sound hard but unfortunately I wont have time soon to help with this, but it might even be something I want for myself in the future since a lot of people tend to knock instead of ring the bell.
  
  Reply
hdmando on June 8, 2013 at 6:10 pm said:

This is awesome but I’ve been trying for hours without success, I cant get this to work. Im running this on xbmc 12 on a mac and i get the message that say’s “doorbell TIME” but no image this is what my log file says, i hope you can help me.

16:07:00 T:4678410240 NOTICE: 13.0
16:07:00 T:140735084313792 WARNING: JpegIO: Error 55: Not a JPEG file: starts with 0x%02x 0x%02x
16:07:00 T:140735084313792 ERROR: Texture manager unable to load file: /Users/armando/Library/Application Support/XBMC/userdata/addon_data/script.doorbell/cam_2.jpg
16:07:00 T:4678410240 NOTICE: catch
16:07:00 T:140735084313792 WARNING: JpegIO: Error 55: Not a JPEG file: starts with 0x%02x 0x%02x
16:07:00 T:140735084313792 ERROR: Texture manager unable to load file: /Users/armando/Library/Application Support/XBMC/userdata/addon_data/script.doorbell/cam_2.jpg
16:07:12 T:4678410240 NOTICE: Thread XBPyThread start, auto delete: false
16:07:12 T:4678410240 NOTICE: –>Python Interpreter Initialized<–
16:07:12 T:140735084313792 ERROR: Texture manager unable to load file: special://masterprofile/media/bell1.png
16:07:12 T:140735084313792 WARNING: JpegIO: Error 55: Not a JPEG file: starts with 0x%02x 0x%02x
16:07:12 T:140735084313792 ERROR: Texture manager unable to load file: /Users/armando/Library/Application Support/XBMC/userdata/addon_data/script.doorbell/cam_2.jpg
16:07:13 T:4678410240 NOTICE: 1.0
16:07:13 T:140735084313792 WARNING: JpegIO: Error 55: Not a JPEG file: starts with 0x%02x 0x%02x
16:07:13 T:140735084313792 ERROR: Texture manager unable to load file: /Users/armando/Library/Application Support/XBMC/userdata/addon_data/script.doorbell/cam_2.jpg
16:07:13 T:4678410240 NOTICE: 1.0
16:07:13 T:140735084313792 WARNING: JpegIO: Error 55: Not a JPEG file: starts with 0x%02x 0x%02x
16:07:13 T:140735084313792 ERROR: Texture manager unable to load file: /Users/armando/Library/Application Support/XBMC/userdata/addon_data/script.doorbell/cam_2.jpg
16:07:14 T:4678410240 NOTICE: 2.0
16:07:14 T:140735084313792 WARNING: JpegIO: Error 55: Not a JPEG file: starts with 0x%02x 0x%02x
16:07:14 T:140735084313792 ERROR: Texture manager unable to load file: /Users/armando/Library/Application Support/XBMC/userdata/addon_data/script.doorbell/cam_2.jpg
16:07:14 T:4678410240 NOTICE: 2.0
16:07:14 T:140735084313792 WARNING: JpegIO: Error 55: Not a JPEG file: starts with 0x%02x 0x%02x
16:07:14 T:140735084313792 ERROR: Texture manager unable to load file: /Users/armando/Library/Application Support/XBMC/userdata/addon_data/script.doorbell/cam_2.jpg
16:07:15 T:4678410240 NOTICE: 3.0
16:07:15 T:140735084313792 WARNING: JpegIO: Error 55: Not a JPEG file: starts with 0x%02x 0x%02x
16:07:15 T:140735084313792 ERROR: Texture manager unable to load file: /Users/armando/Library/Application Support/XBMC/userdata/addon_data/script.doorbell/cam_2.jpg
16:07:15 T:4678410240 NOTICE: 3.0
16:07:15 T:140735084313792 WARNING: JpegIO: Error 55: Not a JPEG file: starts with 0x%02x 0x%02x
16:07:15 T:140735084313792 ERROR: Texture manager unable to load file: /Users/armando/Library/Application Support/XBMC/userdata/addon_data/script.doorbell/cam_2.jpg

Reply
- homeawesomation on June 22, 2013 at 11:11 am said:
  
  I’m going to trust the logs and suggest whatever you’re getting is not a JPEG file. Have you tried hitting the URL manually, what does it present you with? I can help you test this if you want to open up your firewall to that cam temporarily.
  
  Reply
JP on June 17, 2013 at 11:54 am said:

@a1a2a – Were you able to get this working? I have RaspXBMC running throughout our house and would love to have a live image display on screen when motion is detected. Blue iris can serve the stream and can run a script or batch file if needed. Anyone else know how to accomplish this?
Awesome job on all this! I have been hoping for someone to figure out this type of integration.
Any help would be greatly appreciated! RaspXBMC runs XBMC version 12.

Reply
- homeawesomation on June 22, 2013 at 10:48 am said:
  
  It does work. Maybe I’m missing something but what are you referring to?
  
  Reply
Liviy on July 5, 2013 at 4:32 pm said:

The reason it isn’t working is that in Frodo (xbmc 12) they’ve stopped the old http calls. so they’ve moved it into JSON http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=JSON-RPC_API

Reply
Manuel on July 21, 2013 at 4:30 pm said:

Work’ “delux”.

Now, a question, how to show 2 or 4 cameras?

Can you give us some ideas?

Reply
Shad on July 24, 2013 at 6:55 pm said:

Hello, does it possible to use and modify your code to add it in my script for fibaro’s box??
I only add the possibility to have more than one camera.
Thanks

Reply
Manuel on July 27, 2013 at 11:43 pm said:

Yes, you can, you can dupicate the code
# Import the XBMC/XBMCGUI modules.
import xbmc, xbmcgui, time, urllib, xbmcvfs, xbmcaddon, os
__addon__ = xbmcaddon.Addon()
__addonid__ = __addon__.getAddonInfo(‘id’)

url=’http://canino2.dyndns-server.com:8081/snapshot.cgi’
url1=’http://canino2.dyndns-server.comYCX:8082/snapshot.cgi’
url2=’http://canino2.dyndns-server.com:8083/snapshot.cgi’
url3=’http://canino2.dyndns-server.com:8080/snapshot.cgi’

#path = xbmc.translatePath(‘/media/usb0/’)
path = xbmc.translatePath(‘special://profile/addon_data/%s’ % __addonid__)

if not xbmcvfs.exists(path):
xbmcvfs.mkdir(path)

imagefile = os.path.join(path, ‘cam1.png’)
imagefile1 = os.path.join(path, ‘cam2.png’)
imagefile2 = os.path.join(path, ‘cam3.png’)
imagefile3 = os.path.join(path, ‘cam4.png’)

#xbmc.Player(xbmc.PLAYER_CORE_DVDPLAYER).play(url+path)
#xbmc.Player(xbmc.PLAYER_CORE_DVDPLAYER).play(‘/media/usb0/videos/Nissan/0_Nissan Mexico_0.flv’)
# /media/usb0/videos/Nissan/0_Nissan Mexico_0.flv

#========================================================================
# Class – Set the initial image
#========================================================================

class CamView(xbmcgui.WindowDialog):
#class CamView(xbmcgui.Window):

def __init__(self):
#
#set the initial image before the window is shown
#aspectRatio : [opt] integer – (values
# 0 = stretch (default),
# 1 = scale up (crops),
# 2 = scale down (black bars)
# colorDiffuse : hexString – (example, ‘0xC0FF0000’ (red tint))

urllib.urlretrieve(url, imagefile)
self.image = xbmcgui.ControlImage(0, 0, 640, 360, imagefile, aspectRatio=2) # Arriba-Izquierda
self.addControl(self.image)

urllib.urlretrieve(url1, imagefile1)
self.image1 = xbmcgui.ControlImage(640, 0, 640, 360, imagefile1, aspectRatio=2) # Arriba-Derecha
self.addControl(self.image1)

urllib.urlretrieve(url2, imagefile2)
self.image2 = xbmcgui.ControlImage(0, 360, 640, 360, imagefile2, aspectRatio=2) # Abajo-Izquierda
self.addControl(self.image2)

urllib.urlretrieve(url3, imagefile3)
self.image3 = xbmcgui.ControlImage(640, 360, 640, 360, imagefile3, aspectRatio=2) # Abajo-Derecha
self.addControl(self.image3)
#========================================================================
# Programa
#========================================================================
viewer = CamView()
viewer.show()

start_time = time.time()
firstimage = True

while(time.time() – start_time <= 59): # Durante 1 minuto

urllib.urlretrieve(url, imagefile)
viewer.image.setImage("")
viewer.image.setImage(imagefile)

urllib.urlretrieve(url1, imagefile1)
viewer.image1.setImage("")
viewer.image1.setImage(imagefile1)

urllib.urlretrieve(url2, imagefile2)
viewer.image2.setImage("")
viewer.image2.setImage(imagefile2)

urllib.urlretrieve(url3, imagefile3)
viewer.image3.setImage("")
viewer.image3.setImage(imagefile3)

# curr_time = round(time.time() – start_time, 0)
# if firstimage:
# nowtime=time.strftime("%I:%M %p")
# xoptions="Notification("Doorbell",%s, 13800, special://masterprofile/media/bell1.png)" % (nowtime)
# xbmc.executebuiltin(xoptions)
# viewer.image.setAnimations([('conditional', 'effect=fade start=0 end=90 time=250 delay=125 condition=true',), ('conditional', 'effect=slide start=0,400 end=0,0 time=250 condition=true',)])
# viewer.image1.setAnimations([('conditional', 'effect=fade start=0 end=90 time=250 delay=125 condition=true',), ('conditional', 'effect=slide start=0,400 end=0,0 time=250 condition=true',)])
# viewer.image2.setAnimations([('conditional', 'effect=fade start=0 end=90 time=250 delay=125 condition=true',), ('conditional', 'effect=slide start=0,400 end=0,0 time=250 condition=true',)])
# viewer.image3.setAnimations([('conditional', 'effect=fade start=0 end=90 time=250 delay=125 condition=true',), ('conditional', 'effect=slide start=0,400 end=0,0 time=250 condition=true',)])
# firstimage = False
# elif curr_time == 59:
# viewer.image.setAnimations([('conditional', 'effect=fade start=90 end=90 time=0 condition=true',), ('conditional', 'effect=slide start=0,0 end=0,400 time=250 condition=true',)])
# viewer.image1.setAnimations([('conditional', 'effect=fade start=90 end=90 time=0 condition=true',), ('conditional', 'effect=slide start=0,0 end=0,400 time=250 condition=true',)])
# viewer.image2.setAnimations([('conditional', 'effect=fade start=90 end=90 time=0 condition=true',), ('conditional', 'effect=slide start=0,0 end=0,400 time=250 condition=true',)])
# viewer.image3.setAnimations([('conditional', 'effect=fade start=90 end=90 time=0 condition=true',), ('conditional', 'effect=slide start=0,0 end=0,400 time=250 condition=true',)])
# print "catch"
# else:
# viewer.image.setAnimations([('conditional', 'effect=fade start=90 end=90 time=0 condition=true',)])
# viewer.image1.setAnimations([('conditional', 'effect=fade start=90 end=90 time=0 condition=true',)])
# viewer.image2.setAnimations([('conditional', 'effect=fade start=90 end=90 time=0 condition=true',)])
# viewer.image3.setAnimations([('conditional', 'effect=fade start=90 end=90 time=0 condition=true',)])
# print curr_time
xbmc.sleep(500)

#xbmc.Player(xbmc.PLAYER_CORE_DVDPLAYER).play('/media/usb0/videos/Nissan/0_Nissan Mexico_0.flv')
#the_player = xbmc.Player(xbmc.PLAYER_CORE_AUTO)
#the_player.play(url)
#while the_player.isplaying():
# xbmc.sleep(250)
#the_player.stop()

viewer.close()
del viewer

Reply
- homeawesomation on August 14, 2013 at 3:48 pm said:
  
  Thanks, have you tested this? Can you check it into my repo if you would like access. Or arrange to email me the file so that any character encoding issues in the browser doesn’t screw it up.
  
  Reply
jrock on August 4, 2013 at 12:21 pm said:

Great script, thanks for sharing. I thought I would give back by adding some comments.

For those of you who are looking for the json call:

From a browser:

http://ip:port/jsonrpc?request={“jsonrpc”:”2.0″,”id”:1,”method”:”Addons.ExecuteAddon”,”params”:{“addonid”:”script.doorbell”}}

where:
ip = ip address or name of xbmc pc
port: xbmc port number

From a linux shell:

wget –user=xbmc –password=’xbmc’ ‘http://ip:port/jsonrpc?request={“jsonrpc”:”2.0″,”id”:1,”method”:”Addons.ExecuteAddon”,”params”:{“addonid”:”script.doorbell”}}’

where:
xbmc = username
xbmc = password
ip = ip address or name of xbmc pc
port: xbmc port number

Also you must make sure that the url used in this script pulls and image from your camera.

For Foscam IP camera owners you can utilize the following url in this script:

http://ip:port/snapshot.cgi?user=cam&pwd=pass

where:
ip = ip address of camera
port: camera port number
cam = username
pass = password

If you would like to increase the frames per second (makes it look more like a video) then decrease the amount of time the while loop sleeps by decreasing the value in the ‘xbmc.sleep(500)’ line. I decreased to 10, which leads to the popup box actually looking like a streaming video.

Hope this helps someone.

Reply
- homeawesomation on August 14, 2013 at 3:44 pm said:
  
  Awesome thank you. If you would like to improve the code I would really welcome that. I’m all about community effort.
  
  I’ll use what you’ve done next time I upgrade XBMC
  
  Reply
- Shigoru on October 11, 2013 at 12:51 am said:
  
  Hi jrock
  do you also know the syntax for sending the json call over curl? Can’t figure it out.
  
  For Axis ip cams you can use
  http://IP/axis-cgi/mjpg/video.cgi
  http://IP/mjpg/1/video.mjpg
  
  Reply
Chuck B on August 29, 2013 at 11:04 am said:

Is it possible to open a .strm file instead of a static image? I would love to be able to stream 10 seconds of video instead of just a static image. Would make a great security monitor/screen saver too.

Reply
- homeawesomation on August 29, 2013 at 11:20 am said:
  
  It’s actually not a static image, it’s a stream of images. One frame per second, configurable. XBMC supports strm files but based on other forum posts i’ve read it will interrupt whatever is currently playing.
  
  Reply
  - Chris on October 16, 2014 at 4:13 pm said:
    
    Where does this happen? I Like you script and i am using it with a raspberry pi cam and M-JPEG streamer (with a classic ip camera before), but i always get only a static image.
    
    Reply
    - homeawesomation on April 22, 2015 at 7:22 pm said:
      
      You need custom code for a custom solution sorry. I’m not using a pi at all for this so..
      
      Reply
Tuff on September 4, 2013 at 9:59 pm said:

Excellent script! I interfaced it with ZoneMinder and decided to add a way to see motion from multiple cameras, as well as display them on all XBMC installations simultaneously. Here are my changes:

doorbell.py_________________________________________
import sys
args = [‘CamID’,’CamName’]
dbvar = {‘CamID’: 1,
‘CamName’: ‘Default Camera’}

for item in sys.argv:
arg = item.split(‘=’)
i = arg[0]
if arg[0] in args:
j = arg[1]
dbvar.update({arg[0]:arg[1]})

url=’http://zoneminderserver/cgi-bin/nph-zms?mode=single&monitor=’+str(dbvar[‘CamID’])+’&scale=100&user=myuname&pass=mypass’

…

xoptions=”Notification(“Motion on “+str(dbvar[‘CamName’])+” camera detected”,%s, 13800, special://masterprofile/media/bell1.png)” % (nowtime)
_________________________________________

For anyone else attempting to do this, I used the trigger script found in the ZM wiki:
http://www.zoneminder.com/wiki/index.php/FAQ#How_can_I_use_ZoneMinder_to_trigger_something_else_when_there_is_an_alarm.3F

I have this as an upstart job on my Ubuntu server named ZoneMinderAlarm. In the “Do Your Stuff Here” section, I had it call a python script with the specific camera ID and Name, then pause for a bit instead of continually retriggering during the event:

system(“/sbin/ZoneMinderTrigger CamID=”.$monitor->{Id}.” CamName=”.$monitor->{Name});
sleep(12)

I’m more familiar with Python, so that’s why it’s not all confined in the ZM perl script
ZoneMinderTrigger_________________________________________
#!/usr/bin/python

# This script is called by the ZoneMinderAlarm daemon/script and notifies
# all XBMC installations to overlay pictures on the screen
# It requires the doorbell xbmc plugin
# http://homeawesomation.wordpress.com/2013/02/18/doorbell-ipcam-xbmc-update/
# Credit for send_json_command to u/sffjunkie
# http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=92196

import json, httplib, base64, sys

xbmc_host=[‘myHTPC’,’192.168.1.102′] #List of XBMC HTPCs to send notification to
xbmc_port=’8080′
username=’uname’
password=’pword’

args = [‘CamID’,’CamName’]
dbvar = {‘CamID’: 1,
‘CamName’: ‘Default’}
for item in sys.argv:
arg = item.split(‘=’)
i = arg[0]
if arg[0] in args:
j = arg[1]
dbvar.update({arg[0]:arg[1]})

def send_json_command(xbmc_host, xbmc_port, method, params=None, id=1, username=username, password=password):
command = {‘jsonrpc’: ‘2.0’, ‘id’: id, ‘method’: method}
if params is not None: command[‘params’] = params
payload = json.dumps(command, ensure_ascii=False, sort_keys=True)
payload.encode(‘utf-8’)
headers = {‘Content-Type’: ‘application/json’}
if password != ”:
userpass = base64.encodestring(‘%s:%s’ % (username, password))[:-1]
headers[‘Authorization’] = ‘Basic %s’ % userpass
conn = httplib.HTTPConnection(xbmc_host, xbmc_port)
data = None
try:
conn.request(‘POST’, ‘/jsonrpc’, payload, headers)
response = conn.getresponse()
if response.status == 200: data = json.loads(response.read())[‘result’]
else: data = ‘Response Error’
except:
data = ‘Connection Error’
conn.close()
return data

def xbmc_doorbell(xbmc_host, xbmc_port=xbmc_port):
for x in range(0, len(xbmc_host)):
result = send_json_command(xbmc_host[x], xbmc_port, ‘Addons.ExecuteAddon’,{‘addonid’:’script.doorbell’,’params’:{‘CamID’:str(dbvar[‘CamID’]),’CamName’:str(dbvar[‘CamName’])}})
print xbmc_host[x]+”: “+result

xbmc_doorbell(xbmc_host)
_________________________________________

There’s probably better ways to do this (I’m a shadetree programmer), but it seems to work well for me.

Reply
- homeawesomation on September 15, 2013 at 5:02 pm said:
  
  Very cool and thanks! I think you should post this on the xbmc thread for this plugin, http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=156665&page=6. Better there than than in my comments.
  
  Also consider uploading the code somewhere, or I could maintain it in my github repository and if you’re interested in helping maintain this and/or the xbmc plugin, I can give you access and that would be helpful to me.
  
  Reply
  - Tuff on October 9, 2013 at 4:06 pm said:
    
    I just created a similar post in the xbmc thread and it looks like the formatting is kept a bit better. You’re more than welcome to host these scripts in your github if you’d like, I don’t have any repository anywhere.
    
    Reply
- Barry Bowerman on October 9, 2013 at 11:02 am said:
  
  Hi, really trying to get this working but the wordpress HTML has messed up the code. Any chance you could post it to pastebin or something similar? Cheers. Barry
  
  Reply
  - homeawesomation on October 9, 2013 at 11:19 am said:
    
    My scripts on github, linked in the article
    
    Reply
    - Barry Bowerman on October 9, 2013 at 11:55 am said:
      
      Thanks, got your script and that’s working exactly as described but I am trying to integrate with ZoneMinder and it is Tuff’s script I am interested in to pop up a particular camera when there is an alert.
      
      Reply
  - Tuff on October 9, 2013 at 4:14 pm said:
    
    Barry, I made a similar post on the XBMC thread above, it looks like it kept the formatting better.
    
    Reply
    - Barry Bowerman on October 10, 2013 at 1:54 am said:
      
      Works perfectly! Thanks, awesome work.
      
      Reply
Javelin on September 10, 2013 at 11:33 pm said:

I get a parse error on the Json call are you sure you code is correct I can get the picture to show from running the addon in xbmc but cant make it pop up by the trigger. XBMC gotham alpha 7

Reply
- homeawesomation on September 15, 2013 at 4:59 pm said:
  
  I’ve never tried it with that version. It’s not an issue with the script since you can run it. It’s an issue with the json call. You’ll probably have to look at XBMC’s wiki for that version.
  
  Reply
- Chuck B on September 15, 2013 at 8:08 pm said:
  
  I had some issues with the json call as well. I think there was a typo or a formatting issue using the command from above. It has smart quotes instead of plain quotes. I’m not sure if there was anything else.
  
  I was able to use the following command (all on one line) from a shell prompt:
  wget –user=xbmc –password=’xbmc’ ‘http://zbox-xbmc:8080/jsonrpc?request={“jsonrpc”: “2.0”, “method”:”Addons.ExecuteAddon”,”params”:{“addonid”:”script.doorbell”}}’
  
  I am successfully using my Elk M1 security system to trigger my ISY/Insteon controller to make a http call to all of my XBMC boxes. It is using the following (same) parameters, minus the URL & credentials:
  /jsonrpc?request={“jsonrpc”: “2.0”, “method”:”Addons.ExecuteAddon”,”params”:{“addonid”:”script.doorbell”}}
  
  I have my camera mounted upside down so I had to modify the script using image.rotate, but it works very well. Next step will be multiple cameras at once using Manuel’s code from above.
  
  Reply
Frankie on September 16, 2013 at 1:01 am said:

to jrock,

when I put the Jsonrpc request on chrome browser as follow

http://ip:port/jsonrpc?request={“jsonrpc”:”2.0″,”id”:1,”method”:”Addons.ExecuteAddon”,”params”:{“addonid”:”script.doorbell”}}

it showed this error
{“error”:{“code”:-32700,”message”:”Parse error.”},”id”:null,”jsonrpc”:”2.0″}

and the xmbc log showed the following
22:50:03 T:2795217984 ERROR: JSONRPC: Failed to parse ‘{? sonrpc? id?

Thanks

Reply
- homeawesomation on September 16, 2013 at 10:59 pm said:
  
  Thanks for posting the logs instead of just begging for help like most people do
  
  “Parse error” most certainly means that it’s an issue with quoting. Which is the issue with copying and pasting stuff like this from a browser. Go through you command and replace all “, ‘ and `’s manually. I can tell just by looking at your pasted line that it’s using the wrong characters for the quotes so xbmc doesn’t know how to parse that line properly.
  
  Reply
  - Frankie on September 19, 2013 at 2:09 am said:
    
    Thank for the advice. It works after replacing the wrong characters
    
    Reply
Shigoru on October 11, 2013 at 12:44 am said:

Great script! The path to the icon of the bell is not correct in the version i got to download. Only as info for you. Good job

Reply
- Shigoru on October 11, 2013 at 8:28 am said:
  
  the path should be special://home/addons/script.doorbell/bell_icon.png
  
  Reply
eathernet on October 25, 2013 at 4:20 am said:

Very cool, great job!!

Reply
Pingback: An Intelligent Doorbell with IP Camera | Vitt Nexia Home Automation Installer
- homeawesomation on November 14, 2013 at 8:55 pm said:
  
  All the parts are listed in the blog post and many parts are optional.
  
  Reply
DougS on November 18, 2013 at 12:50 am said:

Does anyone know if its possible to make a Jsonrpc request from arduino with ethernet shield?

Reply
- homeawesomation on November 19, 2013 at 11:20 pm said:
  
  Pretty sure you can. Check out existing tutorials on communicating with arduinos over HTTP.
  
  Reply
  - DougS on November 20, 2013 at 1:26 am said:
    
    Thanks for the reply, I have looked at a lot of tutorials and have modified some code as per below but I get no response.
    I am testing by sending a popup message. This works from a browser;
    
    http://10.0.0.24:8082/jsonrpc?request={%22jsonrpc%22:%222.0%22,%22method%22:%22GUI.ShowNotification%22,%22params%22:{%22title%22:%22Motion%20Detected%22,%22message%22:%22Front%20Door%22},%22id%22:1}
    
    Im sure its connecting to xbmc as when I change the port it wont connect.
    Im thinking its a syntax problem.
    
    #include
    #include
    
    /////////////////
    // MODIFY HERE //
    /////////////////
    byte mac[] = { 0x00, 0xAA, 0xBB, 0xCC, 0xDE, 0x19 }; // Be sure this address is unique in your network
    
    //Numeric Pin where you connect your switch
    #define pinDevid1 3 // Example : the mailbox switch is connect to the Pin 3
    
    // Debug mode
    #define DEBUG true
    ///////
    //End//
    ///////
    
    char serverName[] = “10.0.0.24”;
    boolean pinDevid1State = false;
    
    char buffer [256];
    int offtime = 100;
    int ontime = 10;
    
    // Initialize the Ethernet client library
    // with the IP address and port of the server
    // that you want to connect to (port 80 is default for HTTP):
    EthernetClient client;
    
    void setup() {
    Serial.begin(9600);
    pinMode(pinDevid1, INPUT);
    
    // start the Ethernet connection:
    if (Ethernet.begin(mac) == 0) {
    Serial.println(“Failed to configure Ethernet using DHCP”);
    // no point in carrying on, so do nothing forevermore:
    while(true);
    }
    else{
    Serial.println(“Ethernet ready”);
    }
    // give the Ethernet shield time to initialize:
    delay(500);
    }
    
    void loop()
    {
    ////
    // Listening for the pinDevid1 state
    ////
    if (digitalRead(pinDevid1) == HIGH && pinDevid1State == false) // switch on pinDevid1 is ON
    {
    if(DEBUG){Serial.println(“pinDevid1 is HIGH”);}
    pinDevid1State = true;
    //Sending message to xbmc when the pin is HIGHT
    sendToXBMC();
    }
    if (digitalRead(pinDevid1) == LOW && pinDevid1State == true) // switch on pinDevid1 is OFF
    {
    if(DEBUG){Serial.println(“pinDevid1 is LOW”);}
    pinDevid1State = false;
    //Sending message to xbmc when the pin is LOW
    //sendToXBMC(DEVID1);
    }
    }
    
    //Function for sending the message to xbmc
    void sendToXBMC()
    {
    if(DEBUG){Serial.println(“connecting…”);}
    
    if (client.connect(serverName, 8082)) {
    if(DEBUG){Serial.println(“connected”);}
    
    if(DEBUG){Serial.print(“sendind request”);}
    //NONE OF THESE WORK
    client.println(“/jsonrpc?request={ jsonrpc : 2.0 , method : GUI.ShowNotification , params :{ title : Motion Detected , message : Front%20Door }, id :1}”);
    client.println(“GET /jsonrpc?request={ jsonrpc : 2.0 , method : GUI.ShowNotification , params :{ title : Motion Detected , message : Front%20Door }, id :1}”);
    client.println(“/jsonrpc?request={%22jsonrpc%22:%222.0%22,%22method%22:%22GUI.ShowNotification%22,%22params%22:{%22title%22:%22Motion%20Detected%22,%22message%22:%22Front%20Door%22},%22id%22:1}”);
    client.println(“GET /jsonrpc?request={%22jsonrpc%22:%222.0%22,%22method%22:%22GUI.ShowNotification%22,%22params%22:{%22title%22:%22Motion%20Detected%22,%22message%22:%22Front%20Door%22},%22id%22:1}”);
    }
    else {
    if(DEBUG){Serial.println(“connection failed”);}
    }
    
    // if there are incoming bytes available
    // from the server, read them and print them:
    if(DEBUG){
    if (client.available()) {
    char c = client.read();
    Serial.print(c);
    }
    }
    
    if(DEBUG){Serial.println();}
    if(DEBUG){Serial.println(“disconnecting.”);}
    client.stop();
    }
    
    Reply
    - homeawesomation on December 10, 2013 at 10:43 pm said:
      
      I’m sorry are you doing this on a pi or an arduino? Could you post your code somewhere online, I’d love to try it.
      
      Reply
Darbey on December 4, 2013 at 4:27 pm said:

In simple terms could you tell me how to set this up? I have a doorbell, would like to buy a Pi as the “doorbell server” and an ip camera to hook it up.

No idea what I’d need to put on the Pi or how to set it up to trigger the call to the XBMC machines around the house?

Reply
- homeawesomation on December 10, 2013 at 10:42 pm said:
  
  You’ll have to write a script to handle this. My script won’t work as it was designed with X10. But you could simply hook your doorbell wires up to the pin, have a script monitor it. And then fire off requests when the button is pushed.
  
  For email notifications, you’ll have to rip images off the camera, and then fire off an email about it. I will put my web/email code up sometime but I don’t have the time right now. There’s a lot of work involved like configuring postfix email from the command line, so if you aren’t familiar with linux you have to learn about that stuff first.
  
  The XBMC trigger is simple, it’s been described in the comments on the post. And in the post itself.
  
  Reply
Konrad Walsh on December 5, 2013 at 7:43 pm said:

Hey
Do you think you will update this awesomation script to work with Gotham..? Errors out about dependencies..

Reply
- homeawesomation on December 10, 2013 at 10:39 pm said:
  
  could you please give me more information on the error? You’ll probably have to check your xbmc.log file. Does the script run manually or are you having issues with the pop-up notification?
  
  Reply
  - Konrad Walsh on December 11, 2013 at 7:52 am said:
    
    Hey
    I have attempted to fix it for you and was hoping to post the results here.. anyway..
    heres what happens:
    
    Fresh install of XBMC Gotham or Openelec Gotham (Any nightly)
    
    Go the install from a zip and get this on screen:
    http://s27.postimg.org/aa2jxxrlf/screenshot004.png
    
    LOG:
    11:01:40 T:15476 NOTICE: Thread JobWorker start, auto delete: true
    11:02:42 T:10408 NOTICE: Previous line repeats 1 times.
    11:02:42 T:10408 NOTICE: Thread BackgroundLoader start, auto delete: false
    
    ============================
    So this is what I did following this: –
    http://xbmc.org/xbmc-13-gotham-note-to-add-on-developers/
    
    I edited the addon.xml to include this line
    
    but got the not correct structure.
    
    ==============================
    
    Anyway, after more digging, the issue is caused by editing the file in the zip instead of creating a NEW zip of the plugin..
    
    Reply
    - homeawesomation on January 8, 2014 at 7:34 pm said:
      
      What did you change in the code? Anything worth contributing back? I’m still on xbmc 11, I’m slow to adopt. So maybe other people could benefit from your changes.
      
      Reply
  - Konrad Walsh on December 11, 2013 at 8:00 am said:
    
    weird.. wheres the code i put in…
    anyway it was like this
    
    import addon=”xbmc.python” version= “2.1.0”
    
    Reply
Konrad Walsh on January 9, 2014 at 4:14 am said:

import addon=”xbmc.python” version= “2.1.0″

Reply
andre on February 4, 2014 at 4:17 pm said:

can someone modify the code to work with xbmc 13

Reply
- Konrad Walsh on February 4, 2014 at 4:29 pm said:
  
  @andre
  ah…. read the comment just above your one
  
  Reply
Andre on February 4, 2014 at 8:45 pm said:

I did try it but it’s not working I am using openelec Gotham

Reply
Andre on February 4, 2014 at 8:46 pm said:

Anyone know why in windows xbmc the video streams perfect but In openelec it freezes

Reply
Renato on June 20, 2014 at 3:30 pm said:

Friend, I have doubts that the product use x10 to call it, could describe what you used in x10? ?

Reply
- homeawesomation on July 2, 2014 at 6:15 pm said:
  
  I explain it pretty clearly in the video and show the X10 module. Using a raspberry pi to drive all of this likely makes more sense.
  
  Reply
Rock on November 16, 2014 at 9:42 am said:

wow, I’ve been searching and messing around with python scripts for days and stumbled upon this place, great work, I finally see the light.

I’m trying to get Manuel’s version of your script running on XBMC (v12) … I’m trying to get 4 IP cameras to show on the screen… I just cant get his script to work (I only copied and pasted it from here so im not sure if that even works)

any help appreciated, thank you !

Reply