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[murphy]

It's been posted here several times that the CM15A's firmware does not have Daylight Savings Time Dates hard coded/.

Then can you explain the results many of us saw on Sunday?  CM15 not connected to PC, yet programmed objects coming on an hour earlier?  And yes, I too cleared memory before 3/11 and installed the XP DST patch before downloading the timers again.

How old is your CM15A?
Mine has been in service since October 2004.  It's one of the "debugging" versions that was shipped to me after many strange problems were reported with the original unit.  If your's is a recent purchase, it may well have a newer version of firmware in it.

[whsbuss]

It's been posted here several times that the CM15A's firmware does not have Daylight Savings Time Dates hard coded/.

Did you bother to get the Microsoft patches for WindowsXP?  The CM15 gets its time from Windows.

Something else is going on in your house, or you are running Windows 98 or ME. There is no DST upgrade for those O/S, but it's not automatic, it allows one to manually edit the time changes.

There's nothing going on except AHP in standalone mode cannot deal with the changed DST. Its that simple. I know your setup provides fulltime PC connectivity but others do not. All of us did the Windows update for DST and it works...... had no time issues on 3/11 or 4/1 with any of my PCs. If X10 cannot provide a true fix then they should point out that standalone mode requires 4 PC updates per year ON THEIR WEB SITE!!

[Walt2]

My results were exactly the same as Murphy's.  The CM15A definitely does adjust its own time for DST, but it's using the DST date rules as they were before 2007.  It does it by itself, without being connected to a PC. 

...

It would be great to hear a real answer from somebody at AHP.

I absolutely agree!   The CM15A certainly does adjust its own time, and using the old, obsolete, rules.

And yes, it would be great if someone at X10 Inc will "fess up" and offer a fix.

[KDR]

I think the bottom line is they can't fix existing units. They might be able to address the problem in newly built units? Another problem to look forward to is that the date the time changes is going to change again but I don't remember when. It might be next year or the year after they are going to extend the time in the fall by another week or two.

^{----------------KDR}

[MichaelC]

If could remember how to expose the Read EEPROM function you could easily verify what's in the interface. I'm pretty certain that the problem is not in the firmware, since it works for places like Arizona that don't use daylight savings time at all. If anything, I'd guess that where people are seeing a problem AHP did not change the daylight savings date (maybe caching it or something) when you downloaded to the interface.

I'll try to remember how to turn on the debug options that give you access to the EEPROM read function.

[jrubenstein]

  I just called AHP/X10 (800-675-3044), waited on hold about 10 minutes, and finally spoke with Leroy in technical support.  He said they are aware of the DST problem, and are working on a fix.  I asked if it is solvable with software, and he said he thinks so.  He suggested I check the website in a week or two, and hopefully there will be an updated version of the software available which will fix the DST problem.

[Dan Lawrence]

The DST problem (which I have have not a bit of trouble) is easily solved. If you are running WindowsXP, get the Microsoft DST patch. If you have Vista, it's built in.

The same DST problem happens again in 2008, the dates change again.

[whsbuss]

The DST problem (which I have have not a bit of trouble) is easily solved. If you are running WindowsXP, get the Microsoft DST patch. If you have Vista, it's built in.

The same DST problem happens again in 2008, the dates change again.

We understand your setup (always connected PC running AHP) works. But not in standalone mode.

Thanks jrubenstein. Please let us know if/when a patch is posted. Its about time X10 got in the game to provide a fix.

[Walt2]

The DST problem (which I have have not a bit of trouble) is easily solved. If you are running WindowsXP, get the Microsoft DST patch. If you have Vista, it's built in.

The same DST problem happens again in 2008, the dates change again.

Exactly how does one apply the Microsoft DST patch to firmware in the CM15A???   

[Walt2]

Something else is going on in your house, or you are running Windows 98 or ME. There is no DST upgrade for those O/S, but it's not automatic, it allows one to manually edit the time changes.

For Win98/ME, here is the DST patch  ...  http://ftp.intelliadmin.com/DaylightSavingFix98.exe

[Dan Lawrence]

The DST problem (which I have have not a bit of trouble) is easily solved. If you are running WindowsXP, get the Microsoft DST patch. If you have Vista, it's built in.

The same DST problem happens again in 2008, the dates change again.

Exactly how does one apply the Microsoft DST patch to firmware in the CM15A???   

You don't update the firmware, you update Windows. As has been posted here, the CM15A firmware does not control DST, the CM15A get the time from Windows.

[Walt2]

You don't update the firmware, you update Windows. As has been posted here, the CM15A firmware does not control DST, the CM15A get the time from Windows.

Sorry to disagree, but from my own experience this past weekend, and from what others posted here, it is pretty clear that the CM15A firmware does indeed control DST.  And the CM15A firmware is following the old DST rules!!! 

That's the problem.   

Go back and read mine and the other postings since 4/1.   My CM15A is not connected to my PC, but changed its own internal time, all by itself, by 1 hour this past Sunday.

[jrubenstein]

As we all wait patiently for AHP to develop, debug, and post their latest update with their solution to this annoying but not urgent problem, here's something to think about.  Let's be optimistic, and assume they actually do post the new version in a couple of weeks, as Leroy suggested to me when I called Customer Support a few days ago.  DST is scheduled to end this year on November 4, instead of October 28 (the old traditional last Sunday of October method).  Is anybody willing and eager to go to the trouble of testing the new version when it comes out, rather than waiting until October 28 and November 4 to come around?  I'm somewhat reluctant to mess around with the dates and times in my PC, in order to push those future dates into the CM15A to see what it does.  I use my computer for lots of other (more important) applications, and I don't want to risk messing those up if I were to temporarily put the date ahead several months to test the new load.  Is anybody willing to test out the fix when it comes out?  Maybe somebody with a PC dedicated to the AHP application?

I assume the test would involve:
A) Set up some timers - perhaps to go on at 8 am and 11 am.
B) Set the computer date to Friday 10/26/07, and the time to the current actual time.  Do a download to set the date/time in the CM15A.  (Disconnect the computer!)
C) The next day (Saturday 10/27/07), the timers should activate at the correct time.
D) The next day (Sunday 10/28/07), the timers should again activate at the correct time.
E) Set the computer date to Friday 11/2/07, and the time to the current actual time.  Do a download to set the date/time in the CM15A.  (Disconnect the computer!)
F) The next day (Saturday) 11/3/07, the timers should activate at the correct time.
G) The next day (Sunday 11/4/07), the CM15A should move its internal clock back an hour, so the timers should activate an hour late.

Anybody willing to give it a try when "the fix is in"? 

[Walt2]

BTW, I have also thought of simply turning 'off' DST.   That would reduce the number of PC-connections-to-correct-time from 4/year to just 2/year.  Plus those 2/year will be on the "popular" weekends, with TV, radio, and newspapers all warning us.

However, I believe that if one turns 'off' DST, then all the Dusk and Dawn calculations will be off by 1 hour, during actual DST time.  No?   So, turning 'off' DST isn't that great of a work-around. 

[whsbuss]

I sure do hope they patch AHP but I wouldn't count on it. Turning DST off in the interface will not help the number of times we need to update the interface. The timers would in fact be off 1 hour between the old DST dates (1st Sunday in April thru last Sunday in October).

I have a few computers running windows XP and would be willing to do standalone testing IF/WHEN a fix is posted.