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Author Topic: CM15A -- USB interface Locks up...  (Read 18500 times)

BitsNBytes

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CM15A -- USB interface Locks up...
« on: August 20, 2009, 03:00:54 PM »
NE1 have a problem where the CM15a seems to lock up after an extended period of time (10 hours)? Seems after a long delta time the CM15a no longer sends messages through the USB interface... unplugging and reinserting the USB cable seems to "restart" the CM15a and all goes well.

Maybe a power blip? But seems to happen to frequently to be a random power failure...
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HA Dave

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Re: CM15A -- USB interface Locks up...
« Reply #1 on: August 20, 2009, 05:07:38 PM »
Quote from: BitsNBytes on August 20, 2009, 03:00:54 PM
NE1 have a problem where the CM15a seems to lock up .... unplugging and reinserting the USB cable seems to "restart" the CM15a and all goes well.

Sounds to me like it's running/working too hard... does it also get warm? Normally I'd ask if you could have a looping macro of some sort. But having read some of your posts I don't get the impression your using the AHP software.
« Last Edit: August 20, 2009, 05:12:41 PM by Dave_x10_L »
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BitsNBytes

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Re: CM15A -- USB interface Locks up...
« Reply #2 on: August 20, 2009, 07:20:39 PM »
Thanks Dave..

You are correct I am using the COM  interface. The CM15A doesn't seem to be hot at all - also there were not really that many messages it needed to process in the time frame.

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MANOWAR©

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Re: CM15A -- USB interface Locks up...
« Reply #3 on: August 20, 2009, 09:27:02 PM »
Is the USB jack you are using on the computer or on a USB hub? Some USB jacks on certain computers are not powered the same as others. If you go into your device manager check the properties of the USB ports one might have a higher mA rating than the one you are using.
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BitsNBytes

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Re: CM15A -- USB interface Locks up...
« Reply #4 on: August 20, 2009, 09:42:37 PM »
The port is powered... although not sure why it would need it to be as the CM15a is powered itself?  Also it does work for a variable number of  hours before it locks up.

If no one else is experiencing this it makes me feel better and its just something I need to work out...
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HA Dave

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Re: CM15A -- USB interface Locks up...
« Reply #5 on: August 20, 2009, 09:59:34 PM »
Quote from: BitsNBytes on August 20, 2009, 09:42:37 PM
If no one else is experiencing this it makes me feel better and its just something I need to work out...

If a user creates a looping... repeating macro it will cause the interface to appear to stop responding. As the interface can get overwhelmed with the repeating/looping traffic. There may be other reasons for this that I don't know about.

The device does require power. I use a powered hub. My CM15A won't work through my (non-powered) keyboard hub (but the PC tells me).
« Last Edit: August 20, 2009, 10:06:59 PM by Dave_x10_L »
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BitsNBytes

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Re: CM15A -- USB interface Locks up...
« Reply #6 on: August 20, 2009, 10:10:59 PM »
I am actually not sending anything to the CM15a only handling the interface callback, so any real processing work being done by the 15A is in processing the wireless messages and shipping them out.

Leaning maybe towards a power line surge or drop - something that might reset the CM15A??

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HA Dave

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Re: CM15A -- USB interface Locks up...
« Reply #7 on: August 21, 2009, 12:51:47 AM »
Quote from: BitsNBytes on August 20, 2009, 10:10:59 PM
... Leaning maybe towards a power line surge or drop - something that might reset the CM15A??

Of course... I do keep batteries in mine. But surge, power drop... even power lost Ive never seen such a problem caused by that.
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BitsNBytes

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Re: CM15A -- USB interface Locks up...
« Reply #8 on: August 21, 2009, 01:09:49 AM »
well.. that is good to know. This may be an anomaly. On the client side I am sure things are kosher as I can break into the debugger when it happens and it is truly circulating through the message pump.

Also simply detach and attaching back to ActiveHomeEvents does not restart the callbacks therefor it looks like it is a problem between AHScript and the CM15A itself.

Thanks for your time.. will let you know if I come up with anything...
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Brian H

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Re: CM15A -- USB interface Locks up...
« Reply #9 on: August 21, 2009, 06:17:54 AM »
Unless the CM15A has recently changed. The +5 volt pin on its USB Port; is not connected to anything. It does not need any power from the computer.  Though an unpowerd hub may have problems properly communicating with a CM15A. I have no data one way or the other.

I have seen a thread on them locking up and an Electronic Engineer found the power supply was not using bypass capacitors. Like most normal designers use. He added three .1uf capacitors to his CM15A and it was much more stable.
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BitsNBytes

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Re: CM15A -- USB interface Locks up...
« Reply #10 on: August 21, 2009, 09:45:46 AM »
Brian..

To me that sounds very credible and along the lines of what I was suspecting. I am testing on a laptop so the power issues get obscured due to the nature of the laptop itself. Will try to find a thread mentioning the power design of the CM15A as this is a critical issue.

Is think there is a way to query the status of the 15A - next lock up I will try this to see if it will respond. This may be a way to periodically ascertain if the unit is functioning properly - then if need be repower the unit. Otherwise we will need to look at something other than the CM15A...
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Brian H

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Re: CM15A -- USB interface Locks up...
« Reply #11 on: August 21, 2009, 10:40:29 AM »
X10 actually released the Schematics of the CM15A on the FCC web site. So if you are technically inclined you can find the schematic. I believe I can give you the caps the author added the .1 Uf caps across.
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BitsNBytes

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Re: CM15A -- USB interface Locks up...
« Reply #12 on: August 21, 2009, 02:36:02 PM »
OK debugging the messages after the CM15a locks up...

If you unplug the USB cable AHScript com object will report:
RFC: recvfr a6 DeviceStop -1 <date & time>

plug the USB back in and the CM15A will respond with:
RFC: recvfr a6 DeviceStart -1 <date & time>

and things will once again start to work properly.

So it pretty much looks like it is isolated to a problem inside the CM15A USB driver communication
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