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[paizano1]

Hey everyone, hope all is well with you.

I am using a macro that uses a door/window sensor as the trigger. I have it set up that the sensor being triggered activates a windows command and plays a .wav file. " Sensor open sound plays- window open." Nothing too fancy and i am sure many have done this already.
My problem is that when the sensor is triggered it flashes the blue light on the macro screen, plays the file- then flashes again and replays the file, finally flashes a 3rd time showing macro is complete. This only occurs when triggering the sensor, if i hit the run macro button on the screen it only plays the sound file once and then flashes to show macro is complete.  Is there a way to stop the repeat sound?

I assume that the sensor is sending repeat codes to make sure the security console or ahp receives the signal. Hope that someone has already found a fix for this and can help.

Thank you in advance for all your help.

[paizano1]

actually i have another more important problem with this macro event.  So i create a macro and use the security sensor as the trigger, then in the body of the macro i select advanced function and choose window command. I input the first line with the location of my media player, then the argument line i input the location of the .wav file i want played. Then i save and download and update hardware. All seems great and works fine. I trigger sensor and .wav file plays like i want. 

This is the problem. If i close down ahp and restart it. this perticular macro has nothing in it anymore. The macro and trigger information is still there but the actual windows command information is gone. Is there something i am missing. If i change the information to anything other than the windows command selection, then it saves and is there on reboot.

Could someone else just give this a try please. first add new macro, change trigger to security sensor, choose advanced option and select windows command, then enter something in lines 1 and 2, save and download. Next close ahp and restart ahp, now see if the information is still in the macro.

Thanks

[Noam]

My problem is that when the sensor is triggered it flashes the blue light on the macro screen, plays the file- then flashes again and replays the file, finally flashes a 3rd time showing macro is complete. This only occurs when triggering the sensor, if i hit the run macro button on the screen it only plays the sound file once and then flashes to show macro is complete.  Is there a way to stop the repeat sound?

There is a bug in the Bug List (link is in my signature) that macros triggered by security sensors run twice. This might be what you are seeing.

[Noam]

This is the problem. If i close down ahp and restart it. this perticular macro has nothing in it anymore. The macro and trigger information is still there but the actual windows command information is gone. Is there something i am missing. If i change the information to anything other than the windows command selection, then it saves and is there on reboot.

Could someone else just give this a try please. first add new macro, change trigger to security sensor, choose advanced option and select windows command, then enter something in lines 1 and 2, save and download. Next close ahp and restart ahp, now see if the information is still in the macro.

I haven't seen this exact problem, but there are plenty of other people here playing sound files from macros, so I expect I would have heard of it by now.

Are you running the media player and sound file from your local hard drive, or from a mapped network drive? It is possible that a link to a mapped drive might not get stored correctly (especially if the connection isn't restored automatically on a reboot).

Another possibility is that your AHX file might have gotten corrupted.
As a test, you might try creating a new AHX file, and trying to re-create the problem.

[paizano1]

well after some research thru the forum ( which by the way is so full of information) I found some others that had the problem of no information being saved. Well it looks like after setting the command line and argument line it confuses ahp and when you save the information it actually saves it in the last folder you were in . which in my case was the folder of my sound clips. So it seems the so called fix is to use the " save as" option instead of just save. that way you can select the ahp myhome folder. after doing this everything is there after reboot.
 
Its a small price to pay to not lose everything you just created. From now on until a real fix is created I will just "save as".

As for the sound file being played twice, i guess its a known bug and someone is probably working on it to fix it.

Again thank you to all those that read my post and those who took the time to answer.

[m82a1pa]

I guess the security bug explains why I'm getting double emails from my security macro.  And the 'Save As' hint explains why I lost a bunch of macro changes the other day.  Good information and patiently waiting for a fix.

[Noam]

well after some research thru the forum ( which by the way is so full of information) I found some others that had the problem of no information being saved. Well it looks like after setting the command line and argument line it confuses ahp and when you save the information it actually saves it in the last folder you were in . which in my case was the folder of my sound clips. So it seems the so called fix is to use the " save as" option instead of just save. that way you can select the ahp myhome folder. after doing this everything is there after reboot.

That's one I haven't heard of before.
I just tested it, and my results were slightly different from what you described.
I created a new macro, and added a Windows command to it. I browsed to find the command (in a different folder than where I had my AHX file saved.
When I went to save my AHX file, it prompted me for a location (instead of saving the current file), and defaulted to the location I had last used. That last part is actually a Windows thing, not an AHP thing. Most Windows programs store a "last used folder" location, and will jump to that location the next time you bring up the "browse" dialog box.

So, if you are prompted for a location for a file you have already saved somewhere else, just navigate to the correct location and save it. It should come up correctly the next time.

It is *sort of* a bug, but it is mainly caused by that "last used folder" issue in Windows.
I'll add it to the bug list (link is in my signature), but I don't expect to see it fixed any time soon.

[paizano1]

well thank you for checking for me and explaining that it is a windows thing. As for others, I did just create a macro that triggers a .wav file with the windows command option, except i used a dummy module to be the trigger. next created another macro which uses the security sensor to trigger that dummy module and the .wav file being played twice has stopped. Seems like some extra work, but my end result is what i am looking for so I guess till the bug is corrected this is my work around.

[Noam]

well thank you for checking for me and explaining that it is a windows thing. As for others, I did just create a macro that triggers a .wav file with the windows command option, except i used a dummy module to be the trigger. next created another macro which uses the security sensor to trigger that dummy module and the .wav file being played twice has stopped. Seems like some extra work, but my end result is what i am looking for so I guess till the bug is corrected this is my work around.

That's a little strange, since I thought that ALL macros being triggered by security sensors were double-triggering. So, it would have double-triggered the one controlled by the dummy appliance module.
Perhaps I'm wrong. Perhaps only security-triggered macros with advanced commands (like playing sound files, or sending e-mails) are the ones that have the problem. I don't have any of the security components, so I can't test that part.

[paizano1]

here is something that has happened know. i have overcome all the issues thus far except for the .wav file being played twice. (If security sensor is used to trigger macro).

Now the issue i have is it seems that every 4 hours or so (which i believe is when the sensor is sending its heartbeat). The macro that is connected to this sensor actually triggers. Anyway to fix this? Otherwise I have .wav files playing at all different times without any sensor triggered. 

[Brian H]

Yes they do check in every hour.
The message is its present state. Closed, triggered or delayed triggered. The triggered message depends on the Maximum/Minimum  switch setting.

[paizano1]

i did look at activity and it is every hour just about. so will changing the min/max setting of the sensor stop my .wav file from being played.
So the check in from the sensor is actually understood by ahp as an actual trigger of the sensor?

[Brian H]

I will have to look for my notes, but a test with a DS10A registered in AHP, CM19A and AHP with On-Alert shows in the Activity Monitor.
Sensor Closed.
Sensor Triggered if on Minimum
Sensor Delayed Triggered if on Maximum.
I don't know exactly what your macro is triggering from but don't think Maximum-Minimum may do much.
If the magnet is not open. It should be sending Sensor Closed.

If you are using a DS12A it has two sensors. Internal magnetic switch and the external one that can connect to the terminal block on the bottom edge. Both check in around every hour.

Will try tomorrow to run AHP with my four installed DS12A Sensors and have the Activity Monitor keep track of the messages they send.

[paizano1]

basically i just have a speaker that is run next to my security console. I wanted the sensors when triggered to play sound files thru the speaker. similar to a more expensive alarm, and also for voice verification as to what is happening. 

So when the front door opens it plays "front door open" and when the door is closed it plays " front door closed" and so on.

but now that it is playing every hour front door closed, this can be a problem. I suppose i could just use it to trigger sounds in the open status, that way when it sends its status update every hour nothing would play. And of course the other problem is when the front door or another door or window is left open for awhile, like during the summer months. I will have a constant reminder and that also could get on my nerves.

Maybe there is something i can do with flags or something that would only allow one sound played per status change. Of course i guess i better start to learn how to use flags and stuff.

Ahh the joys of home automation. I really do love it.

[ps653]

moved this post to the bugs thread. http://forums.x10.com/index.php?topic=22373.msg149054#msg149054