homebridge-viewsonic-projector

Homebridge plugin for ViewSonic projectors via serial RS232 as HomeKit TVs. Requires iOS >=12.2 and homebridge >=0.4.46.

This plugin connects to a ViewSonic projector via serial RS232. Developed and tested using a Raspberry Pi Zero W and a USB to serial RS232 cable to connect to a ViewSonic PX701HD. For now, it only manage power ON / OFF

Table of Contents

• Getting Started
• Configuration
  • Example configuration
  • General configuration
  • Device configuration
• Deep Dive
• TODO
• Support

Getting Started

Hardware and OS :

• Install homebridge

• Connect to projector via RS232 (make sure it appears in /dev/tty)

• Auto Install: search for "homebridge-viewsonic-projector" in search bar

• Or Manual Install using a terminal :

sudo hb-shell
cd /var/lib/homebridge/node_modules/
git clone https://github.com/achorein/homebridge-viewsonic-projector.git

• Update your config.json, following the example below
• Restart HomeBridge (from UI)

Configuration

Example configuration

{
   "bridge": {
     ...
   },
   "accessories": [
     ...
   ],
   "platforms": [
        {
            "devices": [
                {
                    "name": "ViewSonic",
                    "model": "PX701HDP",
                    "adapter": "/dev/ttyUSB0",
                    "baudrate": 115200,
                    "pollingInterval": 6000
                }
            ],
            "platform": "ViewSonic-Projector"
        },
        ...
    ]
}

General configuration

Attributes	Required	Usage
platform	Yes	Name of homebridge accessory plugin. Must be ViewSonic-Projector.
devices	Yes	Array of ViewSonic projectors. Each of them must be added manually to the Home app!

Device configuration

Attributes	Required	Usage
name	Yes	Name of the projector, how you want it to appear in HomeKit.
adapter	Yes	Path to serial RS232 adapter.
model	No	Projector model. Only displayed in accessory details in HomeKit.
pollingInterval	No	Polling interval in milliseconds (Default: 6000)

Deep Dive

This projector have a strange behaviour, when the power is off it use string values to interact (pow=?, pow=on, ...), but when the power is on we can only use the hexadecimal communication (06 14 00 04 00 34 12 00 00 5E) as mention in the documentation.

More info :

• Official documentation
• More information on ViewSonic RS-232 Protocol
• Thread about projector problem : https://www.remotecentral.com/cgi-bin/mboard/rs232-ip/thread.cgi?812
• Note: Updagrading the projector firmware to v1.01 does not improve the rs-232 communication

Special thanks to the homebridge-benq-projector plugin, on which this one is very inspired.

Troubleshooting

After updating homebridge this error could happen :

[24/10/2024, 08:13:08] ERROR LOADING PLUGIN homebridge-viewsonic-projector:
[24/10/2024, 08:13:08] Error: Could not locate the bindings file. Tried:
 → /var/lib/homebridge/node_modules/homebridge-viewsonic-projector/node_modules/@serialport/bindings/build/bindings.node
 → /var/lib/homebridge/node_modules/homebridge-viewsonic-projector/node_modules/@serialport/bindings/build/Debug/bindings.node
 → /var/lib/homebridge/node_modules/homebridge-viewsonic-projector/node_modules/@serialport/bindings/build/Release/bindings.node

just rebuild serialport

sudo hb-shell
cd /var/lib/homebridge/node_modules/homebridge-viewsonic-projector
npm rebuild

TODO

• Manager power on and power off (+ check status)
• Plublish NPM package (for auto installation)
• Handle input management (check status, change to hdmi1/hdmi2/...)
• Handle eco mode (check status, changetto Eco/Dynamic Eco/SuperÉco+,Normal)

Support

Enjoying this project? Wanna show some love? Drop a star and consider buying me a coffee to keep me fueled and motivated