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[Tuicemen]

The Hub was originally created to work with the CM15A however Gene has added drivers for the CM19 which make for a nice small package. However I've discovered not all Pi Zero W boards of mine work reliably with the CM19.
This is not a Hub software/driver issue but the Pi board them selves.
I have 3 Zero W boards I've now tested with the CM19.
All were tested with the Cm19 in the exact location and the same power supply was used as well.
One will not light up the CM19 led on any RF send, while one lights it up very bright.
The one that doesn't light up the LED requires a double mouse click on any device in HG the other works every time with a single mouse click. Also that one needs to be very close to a transceiver compared to the others.

It seems not all pi Zero W are created equal!
For this reason I don't recommend using a CM19 with the PiX10Hub and a ZeroW board.
The Cm15 doesn't require power from the pi where the Cm19 does.

[alzy]

Maybe the PI Z usb port can't reliably supply power to the cm19 and the thing to try is to provide power to the cm19 directly from a power adapter rather than have the Pi Z supply power thru the usb port. Thoughts? Do you know if anyone has had success with a powered usb hub on a Pi Z Pix10hub?

[Tuicemen]

I know of one user who fried several ZeroW boards with a powered USB hub attempting to use a USB mouse and keyboard for setup.
So I won't recommend attempting this.
The fact the boards being fried may have been due to plugging it into the wrong OTG USB port but I can't be sure.
If you attempt this you've been warned.

[Brian H]

I bought one of those Micro USB to four standard USB2 adapters.

It can be powered by the Pi Zero W or an external wall wart. I found mine directly connects the external power jack to the 5 volt wire in the cable to the Pi Zero W. They recommend you open it up and cut the Red wire if you want an external  powered HUB. I can see why no two wall warts are going to have the exact same voltage output. So they would be fighting each other back through the Pi Zero W's PC runs.

The official site does not give a USB connector power rating. My USB HUB documentation indicates 500mA {1/2 Amp} total with the Pi Zero W powering it or 2000mA {2 Amps} with an external wall wart.

I will try and connect a CM19A to my computer and see what amount of current it reserves from my computers USB HUB IC.

[alzy]

Brian H: Great! Lets us know if you can get a measurement.

I suppose somebody could open up a cm19a and cut the 5v power wire from the Pi Z usb port and connect an external 5v adapter to power the cm19a. That would be a good test of whether its a 5v power problem or a processor capability issue. Probably only for the brave of heart tho!

[Brian H]

With my CM19A connected to my computer.
Device Manager and USBDeview both report the CM19A reserved 2mA on the internal USB hubs power supply.
I suspect that maybe kind of low when transmitting an X10 RF signal but should not be a problem with the Pi's USB jack.
My mouse uses 98mA. I don't have a measurement for a USB Keyboard but mine didn't overload my Pi Zero W when I accessed it that way.

[brobin]

It seems not all pi Zero W are created equal!

Can you see any difference in labeling or physical characteristics between the ones that do and don't work? I've read that some are made in the UK while others are from China and wonder if that could be the difference.

[Brian H]

I have seen some references to different revisions of the Pi Zero W. When looking at some of the accessories. Mine says V1.1 on the back.
Since the Pi Zero W is also in high demand. It would not surprise me if knockoffs where also getting into the supply.

Some SD cards have been reported as problems. I have an earlier 8Gb that is Class 6 I believe. It slows down everything it is in. I also got some bogus SD cards where the h2testw program showed they where not what they where supposed to be.

I swapped my PS2 Keyboard for the USB one I used with the Pi Zero W. Was reporting 100mA for power reservation.

[alzy]

Is there a way to send a command from HG with the cm19a without using the HG web gui to see if the double click issue is a web gui issue or a pi Z capability and/or driver issue)?

[alzy]

like maybe a simple macro launched from the web gui . Macro starts with a 5 second delay, then a1 on then 10 second delay b1 on then 15 sec. delay C1 on.

[Tuicemen]

Is there a way to send a command from HG with the cm19a without using the HG web gui to see if the double click issue is a web gui issue or a pi Z capability and/or driver issue)?

set up a simple timer to turn on something. Or I believe you have HA-Bridge setup on a Windows machine send a command to your HG pi via it.

[alzy]

Gene has put considerable effort into trying to id and correct this issue. I have helped with some of the testing. The results seem to confirm the conclusion that the PiX10 hub is not compatible with the cm19a. It seems to be a systems issue, ie HW + SW, as the cm19a does seem to play well with the Pi Zero w in one known instance where it is used as an Alexa Hub. Or that could be a "Random Success".

[petera]

Gene has put considerable effort into trying to id and correct this issue. I have helped with some of the testing. The results seem to confirm the conclusion that the PiX10 hub is not compatible with the cm19a. It seems to be a systems issue, ie HW + SW, as the cm19a does seem to play well with the Pi Zero w in one known instance where it is used as an Alexa Hub. Or that could be a "Random Success".

Yes in all the time I've been involved with HG I've never witnessed Gene put so much effort into trying to resolve one or two users problems with what would be termed a minority technology such as X10.

While you state that your conclusion is the Pi X10 hub is not compatible with the CM19 driver that is not my experience and indeed Gene is of the belief that it is working too. It's unfortunate that there were not a few other users on the Github to confirm or deny your conclusion.

I did suggest that you either split the load on the Pi Zero and shift one of the servers to a second Raspberry Pi or purchase the more powerful Raspberry Pi 3+ as the platform for your Pi X10 hub.

The important point here is the Pi X10 hub is the software and the Pi Zero was the platform it was chosen to run it on. The software is fine. Should you wish to continue running the Pi X10 hub I do suggest you purchase the Raspberry Pi 3+ to enjoy the full benefits of the HG/HA Bridge combination and in your situation Alexa.

[alzy]

The "First Run" post seems to indicate that getting it up and running on a P13 is not an easy task. have others had success?

[petera]

The "First Run" post seems to indicate that getting it up and running on a P13 is not an easy task. have others had success?

Again Tuicemen created the "First Run" image which included scripts he wrote himself. By right when installing on a standard Raspberry Pi connected to the router it should boot straight up and be ready to SSH into. I'll have to leave that issue with him for the moment. Maybe he could edit his scripts to reflect a users wish to install on a standard Raspberry Pi.

I will confirm that the Pi X10 hub IS working on a Raspberry Pi 3+ using a CM19. You are probably not comfortable installing it the manual way so wait till Tuicemen returns and he can address this issue himself.