Any software of firmware updates scheduled?

[dave w]

****** I've know DaveW for 11 years. He's been talking about those Depends the whole time. Think he figured he'd need them by this year all ready. It may be another 20 years before he actually does. (Try not to spit coffee through your nose)********

Not coffee, but a fine chianti. Burns a lot but is probably a good sinus flush.  Depends? no, not yet.  But I do enjoy cream of wheat. <wink>

[dhouston]

I find it interesting. That the WM100 has an FCC ID number on it {Photo of back shows it on the X10 site} but as of yesterday it is not in the database.
Even if they chose everything Confidential. It should still be listed with the owners name and tested frequencies.

Interestingly I compared  the FCC# on my old WM with the newest one it isn't the same. This appears to have changed since the original release as the FCC number is a extra sticker placed overtop the original sticker and states "contains FCC ID:  2AC7Z-ESPWROOM02" 

The one you labelled #1 in this thread...
http://forums.x10.com/index.php?topic=30287.msg175867#msg175867
used a totally different (non-Espessif?) WiFi module.

[dhouston]

fine chianti

The very definition of oxymoron.

[petera]

With the latest announcement of additional trade tariffs it might be worth the owner identifying an alternative manufacturing location. As if he hasn't got enough to worry about. Or possibly walk away and cut his losses.

[Noam]

Maybe at this stage it would be worth someone's while sacrificing a unit to hack and see exactly what's going on under the hood.

With the latest announcement of additional trade tariffs it might be worth the owner identifying an alternative manufacturing location. As if he hasn't got enough to worry about. Or possibly walk away and cut his losses.

At this stage, it looks pretty clear to me that this product will never be what Authinx had hoped (and paid) for, and it doesn't look like the overseas developer/manufacturer has any desire to make good on their contract (and the cost of trying to force them too is probably not worth it, either). I think they should either stop selling it immediately, or change the specs to reflect what it can *actually* do (and probably lower the price), and at least try to recoup some of their investment. Given that there are customers who paid for a product that can't meet it's advertized functions, Authinx might also start to face pushback from customers who want to return their unit for a refund, too.

With all that said, if there are members of the community who think they could reverse-engineer the design, it woulndn't hurt Authinx to offer them free units to play with (probably singing an agreement to share everything with Authinx, and not with anyone else - at least initially).

Alternatively, given the combined brainpower this community has - and given all the work already done with the Raspberry Pi (and others), maybe a simpler interface really *is* a better solution - one that is set up to pop in a Pi Zero (bonus points if it can take a larger-format Pi, too).

Just my thoughts.

[petera]

@Noam reading your post again got me asking the question.....What exactly did Authinx actually buy. I assumed they bought the rights to something but I'm a little puzzled what. If I found myself in their situation I would relocate the development of the product to my hometown where I could keep a close eye on it.

From that point on as soon as I had my prototype developed and ready for mass production I could then engage the services of a factory of my choice (in this case China) and oversee the project at start up or nominate my representative to oversee quality control. It's something I've done with a product in a completely unrelated area and done it successfully.

I'm at a loss to understand what is causing the breakdown in communication between Authinx, the developer and the factory. It appears that Authinx have handed the whole project over to the developer/manufacturer in the hope that they will come up with the goods. That clearly hasn't happened.

There is an alternative that could be hooked up with any X10 controller and solve the majority of the X10 users woes. You have identified it in the shape of the Raspberry Pi. Yes some work will be required to get the novice user up and running but it has to be determined who falls into what category. Once the initial configuration has been achieved it should be very straightforward for the novice user to make progress.

This option had to be quicker and more efficient than waiting and hoping for Authinx to solve its problems.

[JeffVolp]

I'm at a loss to understand what is causing the breakdown in communication between Authinx, the developer and the factory. It appears that Authinx have handed the whole project over to the developer/manufacturer in the hope that they will come up with the goods. That clearly hasn't happened.

I believe that to be the case.  Several years ago I proposed Authinx take over production of the XTB-IIR and XTB-ANR.  I sent them samples and the schematics, which were forwarded to the factory.  Eventually the response was that the factory was already manufacturing a repeater and a noise reducer, so nothing happened.

Then back in May there was a post from someone having trouble using a 2-wire wall switch with a LED bulb.  No neutral was available.  Since this is a fairly common problem with existing X10 installations, I developed an active shunt that emulates an incandescent lamp when the switch is off to provide a path for switch power and signal return.  Unlike a resistor, it consumes very little power.  The dimmable CFL and LED bulbs I tested worked fine down to a dull glow.  In one beta installation it even eliminated a noise problem when the switch was on because it conducts during the beginning of the AC waveform.

Again, I provided samples, a schematic, and even a surface-mount layout, which were sent to the factory in China.  I took this from concept to working prototypes in several weeks, but months have past since then, and nothing further has happened.

Jeff

[Tuicemen]

I find it interesting. That the WM100 has an FCC ID number on it {Photo of back shows it on the X10 site} but as of yesterday it is not in the database.
Even if they chose everything Confidential. It should still be listed with the owners name and tested frequencies.

Interestingly I compared  the FCC# on my old WM with the newest one it isn't the same. This appears to have changed since the original release as the FCC number is a extra sticker placed overtop the original sticker and states "contains FCC ID:  2AC7Z-ESPWROOM02" 

The one you labelled #1 in this thread...
http://forums.x10.com/index.php?topic=30287.msg175867#msg175867
used a totally different (non-Espessif?) WiFi module.

#1 was the original Wm100 Just as it was about to go into production that chip was discontinued thus causing another delay and the reason for the current chip.

2AC7Z-ESPWROOM02

https://www.espressif.com/en/products/hardware/esp-wroom-02/overview

Good find there seems to be lots of documentation on the chip. maybe a means of flashing it is buried in the documentation.

I wonder if the daughter board with all the horsepower and memory is strictly the WiFi interface, and the actual X10 control is being done by one of the 14 pin chips on the main board.

Perhaps someone could put a scope on the connections between daughter board and main board.

Wish I had one to play with. If the Wifi chip is only doing the the wifi stuff it would be interesting to see what is actually being passed to the Main board
X10 RF codes?

[petera]

I'm at a loss to understand what is causing the breakdown in communication between Authinx, the developer and the factory. It appears that Authinx have handed the whole project over to the developer/manufacturer in the hope that they will come up with the goods. That clearly hasn't happened.

I believe that to be the case.  Several years ago I proposed Authinx take over production of the XTB-IIR and XTB-ANR.  I sent them samples and the schematics, which were forwarded to the factory.  Eventually the response was that the factory was already manufacturing a repeater and a noise reducer, so nothing happened.

Then back in May there was a post from someone having trouble using a 2-wire wall switch with a LED bulb.  No neutral was available.  Since this is a fairly common problem with existing X10 installations, I developed an active shunt that emulates an incandescent lamp when the switch is off to provide a path for switch power and signal return.  Unlike a resistor, it consumes very little power.  The dimmable CFL and LED bulbs I tested worked fine down to a dull glow.  In one beta installation it even eliminated a noise problem when the switch was on because it conducts during the beginning of the AC waveform.

Again, I provided samples, a schematic, and even a surface-mount layout, which were sent to the factory in China.  I took this from concept to working prototypes in several weeks, but months have past since then, and nothing further has happened.

Jeff

That's provided a little clarification.

Seems they choose not to listen to those who know how. They've gone on a solo run in the hope that they will produce something that people might be interested in. Doesn't sound like good business sense to me.

If as previously mentioned they concentrated on the hardware, shifted units and left the firmware/software to users they just might survive. Clearly they're not interested in this concept though.

[dhouston]

2AC7Z-ESPWROOM02

https://www.espressif.com/en/products/hardware/esp-wroom-02/overview
Good find there seems to be lots of documentation on the chip. maybe a means of flashing it is buried in the documentation.

It's just an ESP8266 plus 2MB flash. There are a number of options for programming it such as Arduino IDE. I'd prefer this D1 Mini Pro with 16MB flash, an optional external antenna, plus a USB-Serial adapter with virtual com port drivers.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077VMG7Z2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Tuicemen]

 The New Android app is available now at least!.
This also requires a firmware upgrade which took me from 0.0.24 to 0.0.26 the firmware was required to handled the new options for DST I'm told.

[dave w]

The very definition of oxymoron.

[dhouston]

The very definition of oxymoron.

Even Wikipedia agrees. The second sentence in their Chianti entry says...

It was historically associated with a squat bottle enclosed in a straw basket, called a fiasco

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chianti

nuff sed! 

[dave w]

I developed an active shunt that emulates an incandescent lamp when the switch is off to provide a path for switch power and signal return.  Unlike a resistor, it consumes very little power. 

Where is this installed? At the fixture I assume. Are you selling them?

[ceedee]

Reading history file is still broken on .26 firmware and android 2.0.10 app.