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[AZDoug]

BMB electronics has AHP V3.274, dated 8.16.2010 available for download at:
http://www.bmbelectronics.eu/resources_images.php?dir=//X10/Software/CM15
There are also drivers for Windows 7 at the link.  This version of AHP has Smart Macros included, but other users have reported that previous versions will not work with other U.S. plugins.  I've had no trouble picking moduldes from the list that functionally match the U.S. X-10 modules that I use. 

While they don't list any change record at the BMB site, I can say that it has made a night-and-day difference in the performance of a conditional macro that I had been running (poorly) under BMB V3.267 which I installed in late April of this year.  I have several other timers with sunset/sunrise times and they have always operated flawlessly under V3.267 and earlier BMB versions I tried since the beginning of 2010. 

The conditional macro controls some kitchen under-cabinet incandescent lighting.  The macro is triggered by a motion sensor and is enabled/disabled by sunrise/sunset conditions. 

There were multiple problems with the way the CM15A ran the macro.  It seemed that the enable conditions were being randomly ignored.
While the macro was enabled properly during the evening hours, it was randomly enabled during the daylight hours too.  Thinking that maybe the hawkeye motion sensor was flaky, I removed it and simulated it with a wired controller.  Sure enough, sometimes the macro sometimes turned on when the time conditions said it shouldn't. 

The macro also tries to limit the brightness of the lamp module from zero to about 50%, but as often as not, when the macro received a retrigger command while it was active, the brightness would go to 100%. 

I read about everything I could find about conditional macros, and it looked like it should work.  I was also very careful to clear the memory and reset the CM-15 before downloading the program and updating the configuration.

It's been about 3 days since I updated the CM-15 with the program from V3.274 and I haven't noticed a problem yet.  The jury is still out though, because I haven't made any effort to really check out if the dimming part works correctly.  The one thing that seems certain is that the enable conditions are working correctly now. 

If anybody cares to take a look at the .ahx file I am running, I'll post it and provide a link.

[Dr.Fiero]

Tried installing BMB's 3.274

I lost all my icons (and hence manual control ability!), and only the Smart Macro's and OnAlert survived (so I lost my cameras).
 

Guess it's back to the old one!  Oh well.  Maybe X10 will send out an update....  someday....  and it'll work...   


p.s.  Just for the fun of it, I reinstalled 3.271, then installed the above listed driver to see what would happen.
So far so good - but I'll wait a few days before passing final judgement.

[AZDoug]

Sorry to hear your camera's didn't work, but believe I remember reading from other posters that the Europe versions didn't handle them.  I think I saw a camera on the BMB or Marmitek site, but since I don't use anything but the common (and old) U.S. modules, I never paid much attention of how they controlled them. 

The main thing that this version has that I need, besides having it work well, is that it doesn't contain DST, which isn't used where I live.  I'd continue using it even if I did live in a place where DST is used, since I think I remember reading that the U.S. version contains the wrong dates for DST, as well as not being able to turn off DST. 

BTW, it looks like the lamp dimming is now handled correctly.  When I walk into the kitchen, the lamps brighten to the programmed brightness and don't brighten beyond that point with subsequent triggers, as they did with the last version I tried.   

This appears to be the first version of AHP that hasn't caused me some sort of grief.  There's a chance I can continue using my CM15 with the same reliability I got from my CM11s for so many years. 

[nybuck]

I am starting to think that there are three concurrent developers working on ActiveHome Pro.
1 - X10 USA
2 - Marmitek
3 - BMB

They must be in some sort of collusion, though, because Marmitek came out with 3.267, then X10 USA came out with 3.271, then along comes BMB with 3.274...
I think someone came out with version 1.0, then people started building on it.  Marmitek seems to throw the software and most of the plugins in for free.  BMB has the Smart Macros, but I think that's it...

Interesting, anyway...   

[Dan Lawrence]

Only problem is X10USA has apparently gotten rid of 95% of their programmers, as  after 3.228, the next 2 releases were 3.236, which was buggy (timers and macros failed to work properly, timers that ran more than one module would not execute properly for all the modules with the same timers.  Then came 3.271, which was 3.236 with support for the CM19A added, same timer and macro problems. 

[Noam]

Only problem is X10USA has apparently gotten rid of 95% of their programmers, as  after 3.228, the next 2 releases were 3.236, which was buggy (timers and macros failed to work properly, timers that ran more than one module would not execute properly for all the modules with the same timers.  Then came 3.271, which was 3.236 with support for the CM19A added, same timer and macro problems. 

I wonder how much testing Dan actually did on versions 3.236 and 3.271. The only way to PROVE that they are buggy is to start with a clean setup (and a brand-new AHX file), and try to re-create the instability that he reported with the newer versions. There might be a problem with his AHX file, that doesn't affect 3.228, but does cause him problems with the newer versions.
Another option would be to try one of the two European versions. While there are only a few people on these forums who have reported using the European versions, I don't recall hearing the same instability issues that Dan seems to have with any of the US versions after 3.228.
I wonder if either of the European versions would give him enough stability in his setup to stop spamming every request for help with his tirade about how the versions newer than 3.228 don't work.

[Dan Lawrence]

It's NOT a "spamming every request for help with his tirade".   I tried both 3.236 and 3.271 on my system (Plain AHP, no plug-ins, don't need any) and both caused timers not to function properly (several modules turn on and off at certain times)  several would not turn on of off a the set times.   I did try a simple .ahx file and both version did the same thing.   

I have X10 for one simple reason which has been what I want it to do since the late 1980's:  Automate lights and appliances on a set schedule. We never come home to a dark house.   

[nybuck]

I really didn't want to get involved in an attack on someone's character, but I have to comment. 

It would appear from Noam's post that Dan is the only one having trouble with ActiveHome Pro, abover version 3.228...  Do you really think that is the case?

If you think Dan is the only one having trouble, and it may merely be a 'problem with his AHX file', why do you ask for the AHP source code http://forums.x10.com/index.php?topic=21130.0 , citing "buggy quirks" 

[Dan Lawrence]

It NOT a problem with my .ahx files.   When I started with timer problems with 3.236, I created an .ahx file called "test" that had 3 modules with two timers in each.   The timers would not work properly, lights would not turn on or off at the times specified.   Test was used for 3.271 as well.  Same timer problem.

THAT is why I stay with 3.228, it works and works properly.

[BaBaLou.]

I found that if I rebuild all my macros and modules from scratch in v3.271 resulting in a new .ahx file has been working fine. No OnAlert, My House or iWatchout thou. OnAlert will be added on a later day.

[AZDoug]

My first experience with the CM15A and AHP was a disaster.  While I don't remember the exact sequence, I'm reasonably sure I started with the then-current version supplied by X10 U.S. and then backed up to the earlier version reccommended here. 

I started out converting my CM11 files to .AHX files by importing them.  That proved to be a disaster and at first I had to change the timer start/stop times because they did not get converted correctly.  Finally, at one point I rewrote the AHX file.  During this time, I had timers that didn't work correctly and AHP that thought modules were duplicated, but there were no duplicates.  This was on a newly created .AHX file.

I uninstalled/reinstalled, but nothing made any difference.  While V3.228 might have been OK, It wouldn't give usable results once the machine had been poluted.  I finally had to scrub every trace of X10 from the files on the machine as well as the registry.  In that time period, I had been also been using AHP on my laptop with Win 7 RCas well as my Vista desktop.  The Laptop was cleaned out when I removed Win 7 and clean-installed Vista.  I did the heavy duty cleaning on the Vista desktop machine, but never reinstalled AHP.  After I reinstalled Vista on my laptop, I installed the BMB version available early in 2010 and it has been trouble free with the .AHX file that wouldn't work on the U.S, version, until I tried using the conditional macro. 

After a few more days to observe the operation of my conditional macro, I notice it is not operating perfectly, but there is only an occasional glitch and it is at least usable now.  At this point, I'm beginning to wonder if the firmware in the CM15 is part of the problem.    I have never heard of any way to update the firmware in the CM15,  even if there were some updates made in a lab, somewhere. 

The software updates are certainly strange.  Marmitek still has V3.267 on their site, from last April.  That's the one that caused me grief with the conditional macro. X10 U.S. has 3.271, and BMB has 3.274.  And nowhere any hint of a change log.  I have to believe there is some software control somewhere, but it seems to be a well guarded secret. 

[Brian H]

There is a revision log but they stopped the updates at 3.204 
http://www.x10.com/support/rev_ahp.htm

[Noam]

It would appear from Noam's post that Dan is the only one having trouble with ActiveHome Pro, abover version 3.228...  Do you really think that is the case?

No, I don't think that he is the ONLY one having trouble with AHP versions above 3.228. However, I also don't think that EVERY X10 problem is caused by the newer versions, as he seems to indicate every time he suggest the rollback fix.

..why do you ask for the AHP source code http://forums.x10.com/index.php?topic=21130.0 , citing "buggy quirks" 

I never said AHP was bug-free, and I certainly don't feel that way. However, the specific problems that Dan reported seem (based on these forums) to be the exception, rather than the rule when it comes to the newer software versions.
I am not a programmer, so I don't really have a use for the source code myself. However, there are a number of other programmers here, all of them very talented, who might be able to improve their own products if given a peek at the way X10 does things with AHP.
From what I can tell (and I might be wrong here), the only way to program the CM15A for standalone use (disconnected from the PC) is using the AHP software. Why should that be? Why can't other people be allowed to incorporate that functionality into their own software?
I can see how releasing the source code for the plugins might lose them some sales. However, you can't use AHP without a CM15A or CM19A, so you still need to buy the hardware. They make their money on the CM15A, not on the core AHP software.