Python API for controlling Insteon PowerLinc Modems
Project description
This is a Python package to interface with an Insteon Powerline Modem (formerly called “PowerLinc”). It should work with either the USB or RS-232 serial based devices such as the 2413U, 2412S, and 2448A7. Other models have not been tested but the underlying protocol is dusty and ancient and I wouldn’t be surprised to learned that this package works fine on some Bakelite X10 oddity from the 1980s. If you find success with something, please let me know.
PowerLinc Modems are not telephony devices, they provide a Serial or USB interface to an on-premisis Insteon IoT device network. This is either a powerline signalling protocol, an RF wireless protocol, ar a dual-band hybrid network.
If you’re looking for a library to work wtih the emulated PLM offered by an INSTEON Hub like the 2245 you might be able to use the insteonlocal package.
This package was created primarily to support an insteonplm platform for the Home Assistant automation platform but it is structured to be general-purpose and should be usable for other applications as well.
Requirements
Python 3.4 or 3.5 with asyncio
Some form of Insteon PLM or INSTEON USB Stick
At least one Insteon device
Known Issues
There’s basically no documentation.
2412S support is untested and strictly theoretical.
X10 protocol support is not implented yet.
Installation
You can, of course, just install the most recent release of this package using pip. This will download the more rececnt version from PyPI and install it to your host.
pip install insteonplm
If you want to grab the the development code, you can also clone this git repository and install from local sources:
cd python-insteonplm pip install .
And, as you probably expect, you can live the developer’s life by working with the live repo and edit to your heart’s content:
cd python-insteonplm pip install -e .
Device Permissions
Any user account that you want to be able to access the PLM will need permissions to access the USB or Serial device in /dev. In Linux, you’ll probably want to do something like this:
sudo usermod -a -G dialout <username>
In FreeBSD, it’ll be something like:
sudo pw usermod <username> -G dialer
You may find that you have to log out and log back in as that user for the change to take effect on existing sessions.
Testing
The package installs a command-line tool which will connect to your receiver, power it up, and then monitor all activity and changes that take place. The code for this console monitor is in insteonplm/tools.py and you can invoke it by simply running this at the command line with the appropriate IP and port number that matches your receiver and its configured port:
insteonplm_monitor --device /dev/ttyUSB0
Interesting Links
Credits
This package was written by David McNett.
Many thanks to Ryan Stanley for his invaluable help with debugging and development.
How can you help?
First and foremost, you can help by forking this project and coding. Features, bug fixes, documentation, and sample code will all add tremendously to the quality of this project.
If you have a feature you’d love to see added to the project but you don’t think that you’re able to do the work, I’m someone is probably happy to perform the directed development in the form of a bug or feature bounty.
If you’re anxious for a feature but it’s not actually worth money to you, please open an issue here on Github describing the problem or limitation. If you never ask, it’ll never happen
If you just want to thank me for the work I’ve already done, I’m happy to accept your thanks, gratitude, pizza, or bitcoin. My bitcoin wallet address can be on Keybase or you can send me a donation via PayPal.
Or, if you’re not comfortable sending me money directly, I’ll be nearly as thrilled (really) if you donate to the ACLU, EFF, or EPIC and let me know that you did.
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