Controlling Windows 11 PCs with Hubitat (2023)

[mikage.kun]

After again beating my head against the wall with Event Ghost on my newest laptop, I've simply reached the conclusion that Event Ghost is not compatible with Windows going forward, and the author seems to be MIA, with no one maintaining the project.

On my last PC, I was able to run Event Ghost with the wonderful Hubitat module to automate things, such as locking all my PCs when I leave the house. Clearly, I can't do that any more. I searched for alternatives, and have come up with nothing but what feel like false leads. More cloud-based bullshit that requires I give some backend access to my PC, which avoiding those scenarios is entirely the reason I went to Hubitat in the first place. Pesky cloud!

This week, I went with the nuclear option, a USB Z-wave stick. Yes, I realize it's absolute overkill...and I think it blew up in my face. I ordered a ZoozS2 700. So far, I've plugged it in and added the Silicon Labs software, including the Z-Wave PC Controller tool. It seems that tool alone is far more than I need, let alone the entire Silicon Labs suite, but I digress. I've got the stick paired to my Hubitat and now I realize...what do I do next? I can't find any clear ways to send commands to the Zooz stick, like "lock PC". Granted, as I proceeded with installing the Silicon Labs software, I could tell it wouldn't be that simple. As much as I'd love to learn what are probably developer-level techniques with it, I just don't have the time or patience at the moment. There's also the matter of spending $30 for a replacement solution where the original (Event Ghost) cost me nothing but a bit of time and effort. $30 now plus a LOT of time and effort.

So, fellow Hubitat users, can anyone offer advice? Is there another option, maybe software-based I can use to control my PC with Hubitat? Alternately, can someone help me navigate the ant nest of tunnels to the likely one, very narrow one I need via using the Zoos stick?

I overall want to get back to the functionality I enjoyed with the Event Ghost plugin for Hubitat. Ah, the satisfaction as my PCs locked when I armed my cobbled Z-wave home security system, as they muted after I gave Alexa a command to flip a virtual Hubitat switch to mute all PCs as I got into bed at night. I long for such simple, happy times.

[jtp10181]

@mikage.kun

I can't find any clear ways to send commands to the Zooz stick, like "lock PC".

I am fairly certain that is not possible at all.

[mikage.kun]

I see, so it WAS the nuclear option, only it's of the Marie Curie variety.

[rlithgow1]

@mikage.kun Yeah, SILabs software does not do that. Your best bet is simply to set a timeout on your PC... 2 mins of no keyboard activity locks it...

[mikage.kun]

It's more than just locking the PCs. I really enjoyed the options with Event Ghost. You could easily lock, mute, unmute, etc, and multiple PCs with a command. I really wish I could find something like it that works with Hubitat and well, works at all now.

[rlithgow1]

Looks like it hasn't been updated in 3 years. Although Dan Edens fork was updated 2 months ago so you might reachout

[HAL9000]

This isn't a Windows control item that you mentioned, but there are certainly some things that you can do to effect action on a PC. I use Wake On LAN to wake up my PC whenever I come in my study.

I'd suggest approaching the problem as "How can I get a Windows PC to do something based on a packet it receives, a web request, etc.?" Once you've figured that out there is surely a Hubitat way to trigger it.

[RELEASE] WAKE ON LAN - wake/boot up your computers via the hub - Custom Apps and Drivers - Hubitat

[sburke781]

I've still been able to use Event Ghost on my new Win 11 mini PC, though I don't do anything like locking the PC, but I can try and see if I can get it to work.

If it's an issue with some built-in function of EG, then some kind of power shell script might do the trick.

[kewashi]

I run Event Ghost all the time on my Windows 11 PC and it works fine, but I haven't tried the lock PC function.

[sburke781]

I just got locking my PC to work.

I use the PC Controller Community driver on my HE to send commands to EG via the accompanying EG plugin. I currently use it to control the lighting on my SteelSeries mousepad in the Evening.

[RELEASE] PC Controller - Send and receive commands to/from your windows PC (EventGhost)

This App allows you to create automation that includes your pcs. It connects to an automation software on windows called EventGhost Here are some examples of things that you can do with the app: Turn on the computer, unmute and play your favorite playlist when a motion detector detects that you entered the room Turn on a specific scene when launching an app on your computer Make the light in your room change color according to the percentage of battery left on your laptop Change your monitor…

I setup a macro to use the built-in lock workstation option and that on it's own worked. I then added the trigger event that I could call from HE in the same way I do with my mousepad.

What have you tried when getting EG to work, and what issues have you had?

[mikage.kun]

Thank you to multiple users that confirmed EventGhost CAN work with Windows 11. I gave it another try, this time starting over.

I found the issue was my EventGhost version. Users will need the version reading "EventGhost 0.5.0-rc6" on the Event Ghost window. With that version, I was able to get EventGhost and the Hubitat plugin to work on one of my PCs.

Another, is being a bit stubborn. Event Ghost throws the below errors when starting:

Does anyone know if there's a solution to this? For now, I do have it running on one of my PCs at least. Zooz module will be going back to Amazon.

[sburke781]

My guess is you need to run EG with an account that has local admin rights.