X10 CM15 USB stops working

[pete]

Hi,

I've just joined today although have been doing home automation for at least 12 years, all X10. It's now time to move on so I need a front end that can handle X10 and the next technology. I'm not sure which yet, but being based in the EU is probably Z Wave.

I've had little trouble getting HG to connect to my X10 CM15 USB through a network USB, but it seems to corrupt the X10 macros within the CM15 after a time. It all worked fine for an hour or so and now I've updated to the latest version, it worked for a couple of days., but then if one of the macros on the CM15 are run, the external switches etc freeze.

If I then run Active Home (AH) and restore macros & timers, the issue is sorted.

HG was running on the PC the whole time. If I run AH there is no problem.

Any ideas? Can I do any testing that might help? I have checked the forum and couldn't find a solution.

Thanks in advance.

[bkenobi]

The first thing to do is check the mono log to see if there are any error messages.  I don't think anyone has tried using a CM15 over a networked USB on HG yet, so you may find some timing issues due to latency that haven't been investigated.

The easiest way to get mono output on Windows is to stop the service from the system tray icon and then launch C:\Program Files\homegenie\HomeGenie.exe from a command prompt.  If you want to save the data redirect it to a file.

[pete]

Ok, thanks for the quick reply & details of the mono log. I'll give that a go, although have visitors staying for a week so I might not try it until next week

I did notice that the network USB went off line for a short time, but I'm not sure that's when the problem occurred.

[bkenobi]

I've heard people on the X10 forum report good luck with the network USB device with a CM15A.  I'm not sure how often AHP polls or if the CM15A pushes the data on USB.  Perhaps HG performs that task differently?  Either way, the mono log should be helpful.

[pete]

Ok. Actually I'm at home for the next 4 days and having visitors might just speed up testing. So I'll be back with some results soon

Thanks.

[NickP]

FWIW I'm having issues with CM11 on the native RS232 port (with level shifter), it hangs after a day or so i.e. can't send any more commands.

The fix seems to be to restart the HomeGenie service, enable / re-enable doesn't fix it nor does physically unplugging the CM11 from wall and Raspberry.

The same device runs fine with Homeseer and has been for the last 10+ years.

I was thinking of sniffing the serial conversation; is there a way to turn on diagnostics?