X10 Community Forum
🔌General Home Automation => Automating Your House => Topic started by: cameo on May 31, 2010, 04:26:42 AM
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I still run my X10 modules with the original CP290 controller which forces me to keep a DOS partition on an older PC. I'd like to replace the CP290 with its latest successor that uses USB port to interface with a current Windows OS (XP or later.) My X10 modules are all one-way and I use no dimmers. Just appliance and lamp modules. Can somebody tell me which current Windows/USB controller would give me about the same functionality as the old CP290?
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Haven't been here long? The CP290 was succeeded by the CM11A, which was succeeded by the USB CM15A.
Take a look at http://www.x10.com/activehomepro/activehome-pro.html to see what Active Home Pro and the CM15A will do for you.
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Haven't been here long? The CP290 was succeeded by the CM11A, which was succeeded by the USB CM15A.
Take a look at http://www.x10.com/activehomepro/activehome-pro.html to see what Active Home Pro and the CM15A will do for you.
I am totally new here as I didn't know about this forum before. I've heard about the CM15A interface but I could not find a definitive answer to what Windows version it works with and whether the software is being updated to newer Windows verions. It does not have to be the software that comes with the controller as long as there are any 3rd party programs working with it with newer Windows versions.
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X10USA sells the Active Home Pro software and the CM15A as a package. They also sell various add-on programs for AHP on their site but since you are updating from the CP290 (which has been out of production for at least 15 years) you don't need them. If you are interested, check out the site I posted in reply to you.
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If you decide to go with the CM15A and AHP. Check the sales pages. Frequently you can get AHP; the Interface and all of the plug in for $49.99 or sometimes the interface and just AHP for $29.99
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If you decide to go with the CM15A and AHP. Check the sales pages. Frequently you can get AHP; the Interface and all of the plug in for $49.99 or sometimes the interface and just AHP for $29.99
Well, I did order the CM15A and software for the $49.99 price but was surprised I got charged sales tax as a WA state resident because supposedly X10 has a physical presence in the state. That's news to me as I've never heard of any X10 facility here.
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I believe the Corporate Offices are in WA.
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620 Naches Avenue Southwest, Renton, WA
Icon beta testers have this address burned in their brain.
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620 Naches Avenue Southwest, Renton, WA
Icon beta testers have this address burned in their brain.
Thanks for that info. That's only about 15 miles from me. Now the question is where they are going to ship that controller to me from? I hope it's not going to be from some East Coast warehouse.
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Even if it is shipped from a close warehouse. Most times they use Smartpost and it could take a week.
Mine from NJ. to CT. Use to be one or two days FedEx ground. Now a week or more, depending on the post office time.
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Also, SAVE the e-mail X10 sends you with the serial numbers for your copy of AHP. If you ever have to do a reformat of the PC that e-mail will make re-installation of AHP a breeze.
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Also, SAVE the e-mail X10 sends you with the serial numbers for your copy of AHP. If you ever have to do a reformat of the PC that e-mail will make re-installation of AHP a breeze.
Will do. Thanks.
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Did you save your files from the CP290? AHP MAY import them, I don't know. AHP did import files from Active Home, try it. If you can print them it will save some time setting up AHP. It's been so long for me I was using AH and the CM11A when I upgraded to AHP/CM15A
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Did you save your files from the CP290? AHP MAY import them, I don't know. AHP did import files from Active Home, try it. If you can print them it will save some time setting up AHP. It's been so long for me I was using AH and the CM11A when I upgraded to AHP/CM15A
Actually, I dumped the original CP290 software in favor of David Huras' program that I found more useful and still use. So I'll have to manually enter the schedule to the new controller's program interface when it arrives.
That makes me wonder just when it arrives because X10 confirmed my online order a week ago but so far I have not received any note from them that they shipped it. What's going on? In the confirmation they wrote:
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Thank you for ordering from X10!
This e-mail confirms that your order has been received by X10.com.
Pending credit verification and eligibility under our terms and conditions, your order will be processed and shipped shortly. If for any reason we cannot process your order, you will receive an e-mail explaining the process.
When your order is shipped we will notify you by e-mail and provide a tracking number for the package.
Your Order Number is: 357xxxx
Your order was placed on Mon May 31 19:13:48 2010.
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What credit verification can take this long on a credit card order?
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Did you get the e-mail from X10 giving you the shipping date and the carrier (usually FedEx)? Save that if you did, if you didn't, you need to contact X10 ASAP.
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Did you get the e-mail from X10 giving you the shipping date and the carrier (usually FedEx)? Save that if you did, if you didn't, you need to contact X10 ASAP.
No, I didn't get anything from X10 after that initial order confirmation email I quoted above. But now I emailed to their Support about it, so I'll see if that helps. All their agressive on-line marketing won't do them much good in the long run if this is how they respond to orders.
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Surprise, surprise ... The mailman delivered the CM15A kit today without any further email from X10. That also means that I have no idea what link to use to download the software because the manual Intro says:
"Important: Please download and install the X10 Active Home Pro software from the link in the e-mail you received before you plug in the Interface."
That link is supposed to be in an email titled "New Software Download Link" -- according to the installation instructions. I never got such an email from X10 and their Web site is so busy with marketing bling that I can't find any such link there. This does not look like a promising X10 experience.
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You can try http://software.x10.com/pub/applications/activehome/ all the versions of AHP are there. You can download AHP 3.204 from there, but you need the registration number in order to get the license validated. Once AHP is validated, you never have to do it again.
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http://kbase.x10.com/wiki/ActiveHome_Pro
http://www.activehomepro.com/faq.html
I never got an email on my last order of a AHP kit.
I used the email request to get one and it took a few days to get one.
In my case it never got put on the registration computer so even if I used the order number with the - suffix it would not install.
I don't think it will install from Dan's link if you don't have a registration number.
Above links have lots of data some on how to handle a "No Registration Problem"
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OK, I finally resolved all my issues from the X10 kbase wiki. Turns out the registration number is usually the order number suffixed by "-1". I have the software installed fine and now I just need to enter all the event schedule and see how it goes. But before that, I want to read the user manual. Might help avoiding some additional frustration. I still think that the X10 web site contains too much marketing junk that hurts more than helps the visitors.