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[Mike C]

My wireless remotes have worked well in any
room until last saturday. They now have to
be within 3 inches to work. All my motion
sensors have stopped working as well. Any
suggestions as to what may be interfering
with the RF signal or how I would go about
finding the problem.
Also this is the second time that the CM15a
has stopped after a number of weeks of
correct operation. I test this with a macro
that is triggered by a mini controller. As
soon as I plug the cm15a into the usb port
with active home pro NOT running the last
macro triggers and the lights turn on. It
then begins proper operation and can be
removed from the USB port. If I start the
active home software the hardware
configuration shows that the battery
remaining time is Zero.

[jonk]

I had a similar problem and found out that an
lamp module i was using in another room of
the house was being interfered with by the
television. It caused loss of rf range to all
my x10 devices as well as caused some strange
behavior with macros. Fortunately, i didn't
really need the lamp module so that solved
that part of the problem.
So far as the remaining battety life.....i
shut down ahp and then disconnected the cm15a
and removed the batteries and then
reinserted them. I can't remember if i had to
clear the memory on the cm15a or not.

Hope this helps.

[johnn]

I too have experienced this problem, as have
others on this forum.  My experiences have
been exactly like yours.  My CM-15A works
great for weeks then suddenly stops working,
until I plug in the USB cable.  Then
miraculously it starts working again.  Some
speculate that the problem is related to the
USB port not being terminated properly.
Others, to the micro-controller used in the
CM-15A being overly stressed.

It would be interesting to hear from others
who have experienced this sudden death and
miraculous recovery.  Perhaps if enough
people are having this problem X10Pro might
comment on it.  Also, I’d be very interested
in knowing the code number on the little
round sticker on the back of your CM-15A.
Mine is 05C10.

[Mike C]

The sticker on my unit is 04I38. I
purchased it when it first came out.

[scott]

I have the same problem.  It works fine for
about a week then, no RF (except 3").
Moreover my security system (Protector
plus) stops communicating with the sensors.
Like the cm-15a is jamming the signal or
overwhelming it.

When I unplug the AHP, the security system
starts communicating again.  Oh, mine is
04j41.

[johnn]

Scott,

Thanks for your input.  Do you normally run
your CM-15A disconnected from the PC?  If
so, when you notice the problem; have you
tried just connecting your CM-15A to your
computer's USB port without running the AHP
software?

Both MikeC and I have noticed that when our
units stop working, simply plugging them
into the USB port starts them working
properly again.  If you haven’t tried this,
it might be helpful to see if your unit
will also start working properly when
connected to the USB port.

Your observation that your Protector Plus
stops communicating with its sensors, when
your CM-15A stops is also very
interesting.  I don’t have other systems in
my house that rely on RF, so I can’t test
your observation.  Perhaps MikeC or some
one else on the forum does and contribute
their observations.

[scott]

Ok, I finally called tech. support and they
didn't like the protector plus loosing
signal.  So, they are issuing me a new CM-
15A.  Hopefully, they are done changing the
hardware or firmware.

JohnN,

I'm going to try your trick, but I probably
will have sent it out by then.  I'll replay
if I get any results.

I run it disconnected from the pc.  My
USB’s interfere when I connect it through
the USB.

Something you and MikeC may want to check
is if your computer boots
with "x10nets.exe" process running.  If you
have opened ahp it will start and stay
running after you close ahp.  So, I'm
wondering if it's the process that gets it
running again?

Thank you,
Scott

[SteveRF]

Scott, John,
I had a similar problem way back in Jan/Feb.
My CM15A would stop working after a few
hours disconnected from the PC.  In March
X10 replaced the unit and it has been working
fairly well since then.  I have never had any
issue with my Protector Plus not
communicating with the sensors.  Not sure if
this makes any difference but:  I have
Protector Plus on House Code "A" and the
CM15A is set to Transceive "Specific" house
codes B,C,D and E.  It never has any reason
to use or respond to house code "A".   The
only continuing trouble I have to date is the
CM15A's inablility to respond promptly to
multiple (2) RF's within a few seconds of
each other.  That lack of robustness causes
some lighting trouble when we have company...
Regards,
SteveRF

[johnn]

Scott & SteveRF
Thanks for the feedback.

Scott
I don’t remember if I had AHP running or
not.  Next time, I will be more careful to
see if we can isolate what’s happening and
report back to this thread.  I look forward
to reading about your experience with the
new CM-15A.

SteveRF,
I think we concluded that we had essentially
the same units.  Only yours was a diagnostic
and mine was a production run from late
March.   It’s interesting that you too have
the Protector Plus and have not experienced
the interference problem that Scott has.

I’ve also seen the same RF problem, but in
my application, the timing isn’t as
critical.   My biggest RF issue is some very
sluggish responses from any single MS.  I’ve
had occasions when a single sensor has taken
many seconds to respond to motion.  I’ve
tested various EagleEye and ActiveEye units;
so, I know it’s not limited to a single unit.

[scott]

I received my unit in late November.  In
hardware interface config., I use specific
house codes other than what protector plus
is on.

SteveRF,
I think it does make a difference that you
use specific house codes, because my LM14A
(2-way lamp module) wouldn't work 1/10th of
the time.

Some good knowledge is being shared in this
thread.

[X10 Pro]

JohnN: I'd say it would be a good idea to
have us replace your CM15A. You can call
technical support to do so, or just e-mail me
at ahpsupport@x10.com.

[johnn]

X10PRO

Thanks, I appreciate the offer.  I've sent
an E-mail.

[johnn]

X10PRO,

I have received a new CM-15a, downloaded my
program and everything is working well.

Thanks

[johnn]

I wanted to bring everyone up to speed.  My
new CM-15a has been working flawlessly for
about 3 weeks now.  I wanted to give it a
longer test, but needed to tweak it a
little.  So, I’ll be restarting the clock.
However, so far so good with the hardware.

The software side has been more
challenging.  I was running XP Pro sp-1 on
a Dell laptop since I first purchased AHP
with virtually no problems loading AHP or
running it.

I recently reloaded that computer, from the
ground up.  I upgraded XP to sp-2 with all
the critical security updates, reloaded my
applications, and then AHP.  This time AHP
program would crash on all starts, I
couldn’t get to the register screen.
Previously, it loaded flawlessly.  My
workaround was to load the AHP program and
then upgraded to 3.187 without running it.
With this approach AHP would not crash and
I could register the program.

However, I had another problem.  I couldn’t
get the CM-15a drivers to load.  My
workaround for this was to put fresh
batteries into the CM-15a, connect it to
the USB, but not to the AC line.  Then
remove one of the batteries and reinsert
it.  This procedure loaded the driver and
AHP was functional.

AHP is working OK now.  Unfortunately, I
have been having some unexplained AHP
program crashes and freezes, something that
I hadn’t experience on this same computer
before.  I’d appreciate hearing from anyone
who has experienced similar issues and any
thoughts on the underlying problem(s).
My bottom line is that I’m still happy with
AHP, but, it’s a work in progress… and
challenging to operate.