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[john sublette]

There's far too much here to read without
going ahead and posting my problem.

Bought CM15 (AHP) in early November.  It
looked fantastic on paper.  Seemed too good
to be true- better macros, more memory,
replace all my RF receivers....  Cool!   (I'm
sure the community knows my experience from
here.  :-/  )

I have experienced the various USB problems
when PC is disconnected or unused for an
extended period of times (more than five
minutes sometimes).  My timers stopped
working in Mid-January.  Can't remember if
I'd updated the software then or not.  About
the same time a peculiar problem began which
actually bugs me the most.

I have a motion sensor setup in the garage to
turn on the garage light so we never have to
go out there in the dark.  More importantly,
it shuts off the light after we've left- you
know the drill.  I actually have a macro set
up to receive the command from the motion
sensor.  It then passes the command to the
garage light.  The CM15 is not firing off the
macro.  It received the rf signal at the
right address (which is a macro) but the
macro no longer fires.  I have this same
configuration at 3 different places in the
house.  They are all malfunctioning.

Is anyone else experiencing this?

X10 Support is there any solution to this?
Is there a fix in the works or a work around?

And, last, how could X10 release such a
poorly engineered product into the wild?  I'm
a big believer in X10.  But, I'm not feeling
real good about this purchase at all- as I've
seen many times in the community.

Thanks for listening.  -John.

[murphy]

You don't need a macro to run your garage
light from a motion sensor.  Set the code for
the light to the same code as the motion
sensor.  Make sure you don't use the code
that is one higher than the motion sensor for
anything since the dusk/dawn sensor in the
motion sensor will be firing on that code.

[john sublette]

Thanks, Murphy.  I appreciate your
contribution.  I understand exactly what you
state in your suggestion.  It has been tested
and works.  In addition, I have put an extra
transceiver in the loop to receive the
signals from the sensor.  That works as well.

Unfortunately, (1) my setup is much more
complex than that as I need to run a macro in
this situation and (2) I'm trying to reduce
the number of transceivers I have running in
the house.

Obviously, I have a lot of x10 equipment and
can change the configuration and do a lot of
things to test.  But, the point is that this
product is not doing what it's supposed to be
doing.

Thanks again for your contribution.  It has
helped to further qualify what I'm doing.  -John.

[Burdy]

John, in case you haven't tried this
already, verify that the housecode you are
using to trigger the macro is set
to 'transceived' (using Tools->Hardware
Config).  I noticed that even though the RF
transmissions of untransceived codes will
show up in the Activity monitor, they don't
seem to actually be able to kick off macros
(even ones that use other house codes) in
the CM15A unless they are set to be
transceived.

I wish this behavior could be changed,
since it would seem desirable to dedicate a
housecode for use as RF triggers only, and
avoid uncessary powerline transmissions.

[john sublette]

Thanks, Burdy.  Never hurts to be complete.
I didn't remember the exact wording on the
Hardware Configuration panel when I read your
suggestion.  So, I had my wife boot up that
pc and check.  Under the transceived area I
have specific select with one housecode
checked (M if you're curious).  I have been
through the gammit with that area clicking
each of the 3 radio buttons and testing.
That was a good part of my weekend- still no joy.

Slowly filling in the gaps.  Thanks again for
your suggestion.  -John.

PS- I think the threads about the palmpads
not working are related to this one.  Sounds
very similar.  If I find a solution, I'll
post there as well.

[X10 Pro]

John Sublette: Send an e-mail to
ahpsupport@x10.com and I'll send you a
replacement interface.

[david k]

If you read the posts you will find that a
replacement interface MAY/MAY NOT increase
your RF range on the CM15A, but it will not
change anything to do with timers and
macros.  A software update MAY/MAY NOT help
and MAY/MAY NOT cause other problems.  The
product does not work as advertised and is
the software is constantly being updated
but the main problems are not being fixed.
Even some of the stated fixes do not seem
to work...

If anyone found a replacement unit without
a software update fixed anything other than
RF range please post here and let us know.

Replacing the unit only works if it is
broken.  Do you think it is broken?

[john sublette]

David,

Thank you for your contribution.  I have
gotten that feeling from most of the posts
I've read.  I spent a good part of the
afternoon 'catching up' where I didn't have
the time last night.

The truth is I don't know if it's broken.
That's part of the reason I've come to this
forum.  I'm at the very least frustrated.  I
either have a broken unit or it is not
working as advertised.  And, having read a
number of posts in the last two days and a
month ago, I'm leaning toward the latter.

But, I'm not ready to give up on the folks at
x10.  I know a lot of folks feel burned-
especially in this forum.  And, I know from
firsthand experience that a lot of the stuff
x10 puts out is very cheaply made.  But, it's
cheap to acquire too.  If I really wanted to
do this right and had more money than I have
time, I would get one of the $800 control
modules that sit in a panel in your wall and
do the right and consistently reliable job.
I would also get the $150 whole house RF
transceiver module with external antenna to
make my RF just as reliable.  But, I don't
have that kind of money right now.  And, 'I
want to believe' that this product is as good
in operation as it is on paper.  I'll give
the replacement a chance and see what
happens.  I have 8 years of experience with
these folks that I cannot readily turn my
back on.  Since they are willing to put forth
the effort to replace the thing, I think it's
worth a look.

If it doesn't work, I'm going back to my
cm11a(s) and jumping full into the
MisterHouse crowd with my 24/7 linux box.
I'm just not ready for the time commitment of
coding all of my macros into Perl (I have 10
years' Perl experience too).

Regardless of how it turns out, I'll report
back to the x10 community here.  Thanks for
your time and for your points, David.  They
contribute well to the overall solution.  -John.

[john sublette]

Tonight's testing experience:

A couple of the threads suggesting clearing
the unit's memory (maybe a couple of times),
disconnecting it, and letting it sit for a
while unplugged and without batteries.  I did
just that- leaving it sit for a bit more than
an hour.

I would have left it longer if I hadn't
needed the night lights set in the boys' room
to put them to bed.

When I reinstalled the thing (plugged in,
batteries, and USB connected), it still did
(or rather didn't do) the same things.  I
might try a palmpad in the laundry room next
to see if it's strictly an RF issue.

I decided to test with the palmpad before
completing this post.  Nothing worked a few
hours ago.  But, the palmpad seems to work
ok.  After trying with the Palmpad, the
motion sensor seems to be doing it's job too.
For the record, there are brand new high
capacity batteries in the motion sensor.  The
cm15a is only a ceiling/floor away from the
motion sensor in the laundry room.  So, I
don't believe reception was the initial
problem.  I will report back here tomorrow
evening as to whether it's still working.

Summary, try clearing and disconnecting the
cm15 for a while.  Then connect it back up
and wait another while.  Then try all the
stuff that has quit working.  Also, alway try
RF tests with a Palmpad as it's a much
stronger transmitter than anything else x10
puts out.

-John.

[david k]

John

I have X10 devices from 10 years back or so
and they work just fine.  As a matter of
fact I have a box full of them and I think
only one every failed to work and it was
from Radio Hut.

This CM15A is the ONLY thing that I have
that sucks.  I am using my CM11A until the
CM15A gets worked out, at least I am giving
X10Pro a little longer.

Maybe you should too!?

[Brian H]

I belive that both 3.179 and 3.180 clear all
the tranceived house codes and if not set
all RF transmissions are not seen.

[Fool me once and fool me twice...]

David K.:  They never did get Multiview
working right, and that is S/W on a Windows
PC and they seem to have release a buggy one
this time.  How long do you wish to wait?

[john sublette]

Just a quick update.  I haven't forgotten
about this thread- just a little overcome by
life this week.

I have not yet received the diagnostic unit
from X10.  The PC operating the cm15a has
been on and off sporatically throughout the
week.  The RF seems to be working.  The
timers still don't.  I have not touched the
cm15a with AHP at all since it 'broke'.

I plugged the cm11a between the cm15a and the
wall and am controlling it with my linux PC
running Mister House.  I'm not doing any
macros or timers with Mister House yet.  I'm
just controlling the lights through the
internal web when needed.

I'll jump back on the testing wagon in a few
days when all the alligators are out of my
house.  -John.