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[jhnidy]

Since I cannot get my brand new cm15a to control anything, I have been trying to fall back to my cm11a.  But I no longer have a computer with a com port.  So I bought a converter that allows me to connect the cm11a to a usb port on this vista laptop.
The driver that this converter is made by prolific and windows seems very happy with the setup.  But active home pro will not connect to the cm11a.  I have clicked on the cm11a config choice and have disabled the coms but I still must be doing something wrong since there is always a red stop sign in the lower left.

Has anybody made this work?

Thanks

[Brian H]

Are you sure the USB interface didn't add it as a Virtual Com Port?
What does Device Manager show in the Ports (COM & LPT)?
You may find it added as a COM Port and hopefully AHP can find and use it.

[dhouston]

I have near zero experience with any X-10 software so I'll be of little help with that but does AHP support the CM11A? What were you using before with the CM11A? The adapter should have installed itself as a virtual com port (COM1-COM99). You select it as you would a standard comport and it works with any software that supports serial ports.

X-10's AHP FAQ says...

Q. Will ActiveHome Pro work with the older CM11A Computer Interface that shipped with the original version of ActiveHome?
A. No. ActiveHome Pro is designed specifically for features and advanced electronics available only in the new USB Computer Interface (CM15A). The USB Computer Interface (CM15A) includes RF send and receive capabilities, as well as the ability to monitor all 256 house/unit codes at the same time, and 800% more memory.

[Brian H]

The FAQ is out of date and should be updated.

AHP added CM11A support at 3.314 if I read the History page correctly.
3.315 fixed a few things related to the CM11A and 3.316 is the current version.
It also now supports the CM19A Interface.

I have tested a CM11A with AHP and it does work. Though I still have a real serial port.

Now I do know. If you have both the older AH and AHP on the same computer. Telling AHP to use a com port with a CM11A. Renders the older AH to a can't find a valid com port as AHP grabbed it.

[dhouston]

The FAQ is out of date and should be updated.

Assuming he is using the Y-105 adapter from Byterunner that I recommended, I've used that extensively and tested it under W95, W98, W2000, XP, Vista, W7, 8-10 of the most popular Linux distros, OSX (PPC) & OSX (Intel) with no problems on any of them.

[jhnidy]

I used to have the cm11a connected to an old desk top running xp3.  That machine crunched itself and I am stuck with this vista laptop.

I did buy the y-105 from byterider.

When the laptop is connected to the cm11a, device manager reports:

Prolific USB-to-Serial comm port (com55)
Standard serial over bluetooth link (com51)

When I disconnect the cm11a, the prolific port goes away.

I have no idea what generated the bluetooth link.

Is the prolific the correct driver?  I did not have the cd in the slot when I first connected the cm11a and the computer ran off to the net to find the prolific driver.  When I noticed this, I clicked the square for update driver on the com port and the computer came back in a moment and told me that I already had the best driver.


Thanks for the replies and any future guideance.

[dhouston]

When the laptop is connected to the cm11a, device manager reports:

Prolific USB-to-Serial comm port (com55)
Standard serial over bluetooth link (com51)

Most recent versions of Windows, Linux and OSX have built-in support for the Prolific, FTDI and Silicon Labs based adapters with only OSX requiring the user to install the drivers.

The high COM port number might be a problem as some software may not support anything past COM16 or so - does AHP see the port? If not, most of the drivers allow you to change the COM number but it's been a few years since I've done this (and then only to test COM99). You might check the Prolific website. Their support is pretty good.

I have no clue where the bluetooth link is coming from - if your laptop has no bluetooth, Windows may be misinterpreting something about the Prolific driver.

[jhnidy]

When I attempt to change my port number, the computer tells me that every port from comm3 to comm56 is used.  I did set the thing to comm 2 but that did not help.

[Noam]

In AHP, did you go into the "CM11 configuration" option under "tools", and set the com port?

[dhouston]

When I attempt to change my port number, the computer tells me that every port from comm3 to comm56 is used.

There's something seriously amiss and it's hard to point to a cause - I've never seen a problem with the Prolific drivers in extensive use. I have to wonder whether the install created all the phantom ports or whether they were already there. Do they all appear in Device Manager? What version of Windows? I'd uninstall all of the COM ports (Device Manager) and then use the CD that came with the Y-105 to install the Prolific driver and see if that fixes things.

[jhnidy]

When you open ahp, the instructions send you to the cm11a setup screen.  And that screen says that if you are using usb, you are supposed to select disabled for the com port.  The only other choice I have is to pick com3 and that did not work either.

I have not been able to use the disk that came with the adapter - it has many folders but no instructions.  If I tell the computer to just search the entire disk, it reports that there are no driver files.  But the driver that gets installed from the net makes vista happy.  If anybody out there is running a cm11a from ahp, I sure would like to know what number com port is in use.

The in use messages appear when I go to the advanced section of port selection.  I get a drop down screen that shows com3 through com55 in use.

Running vista.  Do you think that if I forced this thing to be com3 that would help?  How can I find out what has com3 now?

[dhouston]

When you open ahp, the instructions send you to the cm11a setup screen.  And that screen says that if you are using usb, you are supposed to select disabled for the com port.

Do not select disabled for the COM port.

I have not been able to use the disk that came with the adapter - it has many folders but no instructions.

When Vista says it found new hardware, does it ask for drivers?

How can I find out what has com3 now?

Nothing has it since you have no COM ports (other than the usb<->serial adapter) - those are imaginary. It would be helpful to know whether they existed before you tried the adapter.

My testing with Vista was limited (I had my granddaughter's PC to clean up after she clicked on one of those scary virus messages that kidnap your machine and hold it for ransom.) but I had no issues whatsoever with a Y-105 adapter.

I would unplug the adapter, remove all of the phantom com ports, reboot, see if the phantom ports are gone (Device Manager) and, if they are, insert the adapter anew to start over.

I'm wondering whether the CM15A problems were caused by problems on the PC, itself. Where do you live? Perhaps a nearby expert can test the CM15A if you mail it to them.

[dhouston]

Is your Vista 32 or 64 bit? There's a disclaimer on the Byterunner Y-105 page...

NOTE: Only compatible with Vista 32-bit installations, not Vista 64-bit installations. If you don't know which you have, you probably have a 32-bit installation.

There is an installer (PL2303_Prolific_DriverInstaller_v1417.zip) on Prolific's website which may or may not help - I've never needed it so have never tried it.

• http://www.prolific.com.tw/eng/downloads.asp?ID=31