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[peg-leg]

Discovered the problem tonight when my universal remote couldn't be used to turn off my lights.  My 16 button remote wouldn't work either.  Checked the activity log, and my CM15A was showing "Receive E3" over and over, every second.  It appears this activity was not allowing the CM15A to receive any commands.   E3 is a new Floodlight module I added today.  I disabled power to the floodlight, but the activity did  not  stop.  I reset the CM15A by disconnecting  it from the wall outlet, removing the batteries, and also unplugging the usb.  I then restarted my computer and  AHP. 

Hooked everything back up and  noticed all my light switches or lamp modules showed the brightness indicator in blue instead of green and the percentage box  had a question mark.  Very odd.  Tried a remote command and nothing worked.  Switches and modules would respond onscreen to a mouse click, but the CM15A would not actually transmit a signal.  Checked my activity log and this time another module was showing "Receive" every second over and over. 

Reset everyting a couple more times.  Whichever command I sent first would go into the every second  repeat mode and tie up the CM15A.

At this point I've unplugged the whole system in frustration.

I am running ver 3.228, with multiple modules, also I have a phase coupler repeater installed at my breaker box.  Could it be the repeater?  Or is it a crapped out CM15A?  All items are were purchased new, except the  floodlights which are CFLN.

Need help from the X10 experts on here.  Thanks in advance.

[anthonylavado]

What model Coupler/Repeater do you have? I haven't used one myself, but past forums discussions have revealed that some can be prone to "firestorms", where they get a signal and repeat, repeat, repeat.

Can you temporarily disable the Coupler/Repeater and see if the problem occurs again?

[Brian H]

http://kbase.x10.com/wiki/Known_Issues_with_ActiveHome_Pro

[Noam]

What model Coupler/Repeater do you have? I haven't used one myself, but past forums discussions have revealed that some can be prone to "firestorms", where they get a signal and repeat, repeat, repeat.

Can you temporarily disable the Coupler/Repeater and see if the problem occurs again?

I agree with this suggestion.
Disconnect the coupler/repeater, and see if the problem goes away.
It might just need a reset, so powering it back up might not cause the command storm again.

[peg-leg]

I have the  X10 XPCR COUPLER, REPEATER.   The "storm" stopped when I disconnected it. Did this late last night. I'm gonna try a reset tomorrow.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

[Brian H]

OK. Hope it was just a glitch the the power reset will correct.

[dave w]

I have the  X10 XPCR COUPLER, REPEATER.   The "storm" stopped when I disconnected it.

FWIW
This "firestorm" problem and simply playing dead was common problems with my X10 and Leviton repeaters. The temporary fix was to simply cycle the power ( I had the repeater on a dedicated breaker pair). The ultimate fix was to move on to an ACT CR234 repeater. If today, I would only consider the XTBIIR repeater from JV Digital Engineering.

[Noam]

I started with just a capacitor bridging my two phases, but that wasn't sufficient for a few devices at the end of very long runs.
I added a dedicated double-pole breaker with a split-wired duplex outlet right next to the breaker panel. I also put in a 220v outlet in that box (wired to the same double breaker), and installed an XTB-IIR coupler/repeater/booster/really cool device.
I haven't had signal issues since.

I highly recommend the XTB-IIR over the other coupler/repeater options.

[hawk1]

Noam, I second that!