Hi,

First off, I am not a Linux guy so please go easy on me.

I am however pretty technically adept so hopefully that should help.

So, here is wht I need and I hope somebody can tell me how I need to go about it.

Currently I am building a new house and it will have a home automation system built into it. The supplier of the main system will be installing one touch screen panel for overall control of the Alarm, HVAC, Sprinkler and Security Cameras, but, at $1500 a piece I am not going to put these panels everywhere and probably would not use them anyway as they are fixed...

To that end, I have been looking for a cheaper alternative for "local" control panels to be placed in strategic places around the house, preferably portable.

I will also be using this for controlling media playback from my unRAID server (linux based but not "viewable") which will feed a HTPC with content to be distributed to any one of 6 end devices (TV's) but this will be handled by an Axiom matrix switcher, I just need to "start the movie".

So, what I really need is to be able to view the files on the server and initiate playback, monitor and manipulate the HA control system, and generally poke about on the PC's I have in the house....

I run "Network Magic" for my house network (if you have a few computers, this is excellent software) and it is capable of seeing Linux devices so I don't think I will have any problems there.

I have a pre-N (802.11n) WiFi network, any problems with this?

The whole house will be wired for CAT6 to the TV's (the axiom uses TCPIP)

I have bought three 770's to achieve this (hey for $130 each, they were too hard to pass up) and basically, what I am asking is, what do I need (firmware/software/hardware) to get this done???

I really don't intend to do anything else with these guys, maybe leave them as photo viewers when not in use but that is going to be their sole purpose in life.

Any suggestions or am I plain crazy?

Sounds like a cool and ambitious plan! I hope you can make it work.

I don't have any specific help, but I have heard of people using the 770 for home automation. Maybe a search of this forum could shed some light, or google...

This is one of my areas of interest, so please share your experience!

Have you seen Pluto project? There is a controller module (orbiter they call it) for N770. Pluto is basically home automation and a/v control software. It uses MythTV for a/v which works over standard lan.

There is a magazine you should try to find, Linux Journal. It has had several projects where a 770 was used as a controller.

I found the articles on their website.
http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/9175
http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/8689
The last is only if you are feeling very ambitious.
http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/8811

To be quite honest, I don't know why I did not think about these devices before on my hunt for a viable tool. Maybe it was the initial reviews (if you are NOT linux savvy, avoid), maybe other things, but, I have been messing around with Treo's, my linux based Lime unRAID server (if you are looking for a viable, financially achievable media server, (4.4TB and counting), you can't beat it)), I guess I have gotten a bit more ambitious.

At the price for the 770 at the moment, they are very atractive, the 800 is too much.

I am not at home at the moment (central asia) so my answers will be about 14 hours out, please bear with me.

nedim:

The house is about 7-8 months away from completion so i will try to keep everybody abreast of progress but trust me, with work, 2 kids and general Wife/Wishlist duties that may be patchy.

Just so you guys get a feel for my skills before you baffle me with Linux speak, I am a software engineer, but nowhere near the IT side. I do industrial control systems, so, although I understand most things and graphics very well, I am used to ladder logic, not machine code, although, in my early days I messed around with a TINY bit of graphics based on a UNIX platform, but this was 1998.

So, to that end, I will alllow my HA systems guy to do the initial graphics for the systems because his system is proprietary (go figure at $150 an hour), I will probably take over after he has done his official work.

Are there any packages that I can use to replicate his graphics (layouts for the security, overview screens etc) in Linux that will run on the 770?

Basically, what I need is to know the correct build, firmware and card size for these three units. So many questions, so little time.