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[leftcoastdave]

With all due respect to the many posts I have read here today, I think the reliability problems that folks are seeing is a symptom of  a far larger problem with Activehome and the CM15A than just a few quirky installs, or improperly set up systems, or corrupted files.

I have been trying, unsucccessfully  to debug and stablize ACH Pro since July, 2005 with no consistent success.  As stated by one poster in another thread, I too had been a mostly satisfied user of the CM11A and Activehome for a number of years, but since installing ACH Pro I have had nothing but trouble.

Let me share my experience so that those of you who are spending countless hours debugging your installations and are on the phone with X10 support constantly, might better spend your time sympathizing with other users.  In my humble opinion, this software flat out does not work consistently on even the most basic of light control functions.

Back in 1997 or 1998 I installed ActiveHome with a CM11A on an IBM Aptiva Pentium III  running Windows 98 SE.  Once I got by the learning curve I was reasonably satisfied with the performance of my system which consists of many lamp modules, outside and inside sensors, wall switches, appliance modules, Xcams, remote controls, socket rockets, and eventually a powerline bridge.  I had set up and tested a faily simple set of macros and timers to perform motion detection and time of day lighting activities.

I read about Activehome Pro around June, 2005 and based upon everything I read, it looked like a very nice improvement to the current CM11 based system.  I like many of you ordered the system and initially was quite pleased with the interface and the promise of the software.  I installed my equipment and the software on a relatively new Dell 4550 running XP Home.  My problems started right out of the box and have continued ever since.

I have been in constant communication with the support staff and have tried every solution suggested faithfully, with virtually no improvement in performance or reliability over the past nine months.  I uninstalled my copy of ACH Pro and cleaned the registry as suggested.  I installed every upgrade offered since July, 2005.  I did not add any plug ins because I wanted a stable system before adding iWitness or MyHome.  I replaced my migrated room configuration from the CM11A system with a clean install and when that worked no better, I reinstalled the entire system on a second brand new Dell System in December, 2005.  Again the problems persisted.  Lights come on randomly, commands to turn on certain device addresses in fact turn on other lights.  Macros fail to trigger.  I have had frequent runaway instructions where I will see 1,900 repeated commands in a string and the only way to stop this is to pull the CM15A out of the wall socket.  I have RMA'd two CM15A's and am on my third. I have tried relocating the CM15A all over the house thinking different loacations might lessen what looked like power line fluctuations. 

As a last resort, I installed the entire system anew on an IBM ThinkPad which I received in the mail on February 10.  I built the system module by module, timer by timer, and macro by macro testing each one carefully.  I disabled or replaced every TM51, every sensor and its battery, and every HD501 systematically to try and isolate the failing device, if there was one.  I did not go live with the system until the 3rd CM15A arrived in the mail this week.  Immediately after I put the system in production, I started seeing runaway macro strings, endless repeated commands such as turing on a camera 1000 times in an endless stream that locked out all other commands. 

I have been in constant email communication with level 2 support for months now and nothing suggested has improved my situation.  Sometimes slow to learn, I decided to come here to these forums to see if anyone else might have a solution for this nagging problem, only to find out that my experience mirrors that of many users.  I can only conclude that this code and its associated hardware is riddled with bugs and should never have been released to the public in the condition it now performs in.

I am a retired computer professional.  I spent 33 years in the industry as a software implementer, product manager, and customer support executive, working at every level of the system spectrum from main frames to superminis to PC's and even included a stint working with gaming systems, multimedia platforms, and various handhelds.  I spent more than 15% of my working career in product support and I humbly think that qualifies me to assess products and their support delivery systems.  That said,  I can honestly say that despite the good intentions of the X10 support staff, this product should be withdrawn from the market. 

Today I made the decision to take the ACH Pro and CM15A system out of service and to restore the CM11A and the older legacy Activehome software back into service.  I sent an email to the support tech who was helping me and asked him to issue yet another RMA and to guide me through the process of receiving a credit for my ACH Pro investment.  I received the RMA instructions in my email without comment in about two hours.

There is some irony in all this.  Since I put the CM11A back in service, some six hours ago, every older instruction, timer, and macro I had used in the past tested out perfectly and as of 11 PM Pacific time, is performing exactly as I remembered it prior to July, 2005.  I have had to keep my old Aptiva running to drive the ACH system because I could never get the legacy software to work properly on any of my three newer PC's running XP. 

I had held out hope that there was some idiosyncrisy in my system that could be uncovered and removed so that I might enjoy the promise of ACH Pro with the new plugins, but after spending a few hours in this forum, I realized that hope was baseless.  I don't know what the rest of you plan to do, but I for one have run up a white flag and I have surrendered to the inevitable.  I am returning my product to X10.com and I do not intend to come back for more for a long long time.

Dave

[JimC]

Dave,

Although I sympathize with you and others that are having these tearable problems I can't help but wonder why there are those of us that have systems that work almost flawlessly. I for one have the CM15 with all of the plugins and with a few exceptions it runs great. I have numerous lamp modules, appliance modules, motion sensors, cameras, universal modules, chime modules and probably a few I have forgotten. I have many macros and timers set up in the unit and all of them work fine. My biggest complaint with the CM15 is the lack of range.

If I was having the problems you are having I don't think I would have been as patient. I to would be returning the thing.

Jim

[Tuicemen]

Dave: You stated you used a CM11A prior. So you motion sensors and modules have been in place for a long time.
This may seem silly but check your motion sensor batteries. there have been posts that they default to a different code when batteries start to die. One of mine reset its self to c4/5 from c1 and would fall back to c1 from time to time so it was hard to pin point.
Also another silly one find all your remotes and check to see if a button is stuck I read where a user found a remote under a sofa cushion which would fire off commands when someone sat down it took forever to figure that one out.
But as you say the cm11a works flawless I'm at a lose also!

[X10 Pro]

There's a lot to address in your post, but the thing that stands out for me is the mention of constant streams of signals. You say you have a signal bridge installed -- do you also have a coupler/repeater, or is your bridge a repeater? If so, what brand and model? A few of our forum members here have had trouble with particular models of repeaters interacting with the CM15A and creating a continuous stream of X10 commands.

Also, if you are seeing lots of failures of X10 commands in general, it's a good idea to look for UPSs or power supplies that are killing or distorting the X10 PLC. Desktop PC and laptop power supplies seem to be major culprits these days, and a couple plug-in filters (X10 Pro model XPPF) can be very useful in solving that kind of problem.

[Noam]

The power supply from my new Verizon FiOS (Fiber Optic Service) equipment caused enough noise to drown out my X10 signals. Plugging their equipment into a surge protector fixed the problem.

[jelester]

Dave I to understand your problem but I have two Active Home Pro Systems and I have had wonderful service out of both of these at both locations.  It is for better than the old Active Home.  I have eight camers, motion sensors, lamp modules, appliance modules and they all work.  The only problem I seem to have is Active Home Pro quitting and havening to close the program.  Has any one had this problem?

Thanks Jerry

[leftcoastdave]

Thanks to all of you who took the time to comment on my dilemma.  I never like to walk away from a technology problem without a solution and with the many thoughtful ideas put forth by you, I have a couple of items to pursue that I had not considered earlier.

The one common thread in many of your posts was the notion that powerline disturbances are the likely culprit causing many of the problems in my configuration.  The possibility that the CM15A is more sensitive to these powerline fluctuations is consistent with my observation that the CM11A in the identical configuration, had no such problems with all of the same devices installed.

Let me respond to your thoughts and provide some more configuration destails below:

JimC -- I too have had the range problems with the PC interface module but my problems began with the CM11A back in December, 2002.  These problems did not originate from inside the house, but rather were as a result of trying to get a strong enough signal from an outside MS14A motion sensor in the driveway to reach the TM51A located on the southern interior end of my residence.  I thought the sensor batteries were getting low since my initial testing during setup was problem free. 

After replacing the sensor batteries with no improvement, I got the bright idea to install another TM51A outside in an electrical box in close proximity to the MS14A sensor.  In this manner I thought I could catch the weak signal and relay it to my CM11A which in turn would trigger a macro to turn on lights in the driveway when motion was detected.  This too did not work suggesting the X10 signals were getting lost somewhere between the A side and B side of the house power supply.  This led me to purchase a Leviton 2 phase X10 amplified coupler/repeater (Smarthome model number HCA02-10E) and once installed to bridge the A and B sides of my house power, the weak signal problem went away.  Previously I had to locate my CM11A at a central point in the house remote from its host PC so the coupler/repeater seemed to solve this one problem a good 30 months before I installed the CM15A and ACH Pro.

Tuicemen -- You raised the question of batteries and malfunctioning remote controls.  It has been a standard practice of mine to replace the sensor batteries every October which I have done as faithfully as remembering my wife's birthday.  When my CM15A reliability problems arose after July, 2005, i not only replaced every battery in every sensor but I also replaced the batteries in my two wireless remotes (both of which are table top units I use daily so they are not stuck in a couch somewhere sending phantom signals).  I even went so far as to swap out the two MS14A sensors for new ones with new batteries and I isolated these to a unique house code for debugging purposes.  Despite these actions in the second half of 2005, the aforementioned problems continued.

X10Pro -- You asked about the signal bridge or coupler/repeater.  I apologize for my imprecise lingo earlier but the device I installed is the Leviton 2 phase X10 amplified coupler/repeater (Smarthome model number HCA02-10E) mentioned above.  As for power supplies causing interference, I admit that I am at great risk here.  My home is awash with PC's, peripherals,  and home entertainment gear that use power adapters. (See below)

Jelester -- I have on occasion seen program abends and seizures in ACH Pro, but not on a regular basis.

Noam -- I have printers, infrared repeaters, card readers, flatbed scanners, laptops, cameras, GPS devices, PDA's, wireless phones, and Lord knows how many other devices I have not mentioned.  I walked around the interior of the house and counted 14 such power supplies in varied proximity to my host PC and the CM15A, all of which are plugged in continuously.  I would not know where to begin to remove these in order to isolate the varmit screwing up my X10 command flow. 

I will mention that I recently discovered a powerline plug anti-spider night light thingee that was messing with the video signal on my XCAM's and when removed solved a year old problem with one wireless camera, but it was by luck not by deduction that I stumbled onto this.  Point is, I can give up the CM15A sooner than I can live without all these other little gadget power supplies.

I have not considered a plug in filter such as the X10 Pro XPPF.  If indeed the problem is powerline noise, this is one area I could pursue next.

One footnote.  One lesson that I learned early on in my X10 career was to not plug in such devices as X10 Powerhouse into the same outlet as PC power supplies because that is asking for trouble.  That was the reason why I held out some hope that if I installed Activehome Pro on my laptop and the CM15A at a central location in the house removed from any PC or consumer power supplies, that I might have a better chance of getting signals to and from the CM15A withut interference.  I did this but only briefly and frankly I abandoned it because I began to see the old problems again and also I wanted the CM15A connected 24/7 to a desktop/server that was always on for monitoring purposes.

I still have Activehome Pro installed but am not using it at the moment.    I have not yet returned the CM15A so the opportunity to do some further powerline disturbance testing is still a possibility.  I will look at both removing some power supplies and at filtering as well.  I would appreciate any additional suggestions and insight into my situation given the added information above.

Let me again thank everyone who took the time to offer feedback.  I am a great believer in the value of a collective braintrust and more often than not, a solution arises from a collaboration of this nature.

Dave

[X10 Pro]

I believe that a few other users here have had problems with the Leviton HCA02 similar to what you're reporting (which is why I asked in the first place), so that's where I would look first if you get back to trying the CM15A. I have one here but haven't gotten it installed in a way where I see the problem.

If that doesn't prove to be a source of problems, I'd look at UPSs first, then PC power supplies, and then laptop power supplies. Other devices seem to be less of a problem, and I recall pretty clearly that several forum users reported new laptops causing problems when plugged in.

[leftcoastdave]

I will disconnect the Leviton HCA02 tomorrow or Saturday and report results soon thereafter.

Just so I understand, are you saying that this device causes runaway instructions when using a CM15A but appears not to affect the CM11A?

Thanks,

Dave

[Sonic]

Might I humbly suggest an X10 signal meter.  eg. Elk model ESM1 its the best $60 I've spent on this stuff (after the coupler/repeater).

[Mystyx]

you said here... and macro by macro testing each one carefully.  I disabled or replaced every TM51

is that a polite repeater? a TM751 will could definately cause multiple signals sent.
the CM15A seems to like being on its own or with a polite repeater like the RR501 or similar that will not double up your commands like the TM751 does with CM15A.

sometimes the CM15 with a TM751 will work ok if positioned properly, but it ussually will send a double command. turning the light on and it turns right back off again
I would use just the CM15a and a repeater or a modified antenna to get the distance required without the TM751 or even a repeater.

also the CM11A liked having the repeater & transiever to help transmit where the CM15A doesnt if you can get the range!

[JYGoVAN]

I am running AHP 3.204 and XP pro and, in all my life I never seen a software with so many, so many, bugs.
...jy

[leftcoastdave]

Amen to that, brother.  I dropped back to the CM11A in February and never looked back.  Pro is not so "pro".

Dave

[KDR]

Thought I would share a couple of problems I had and what I found to correct them that might lead you to solving some of your problems.

Have AHP with the most current update using the CM15A controller.

Early on I got a coupler/repeater and added it to my system. After that I had a ton of stuff doing whatever they wanted to do. The software was showing lights off but they were on, dimmed but the lights where on full, just totally unreliable. I pulled the plug on my dryer type coupler/repeater and everything went back to normal. Software started working again, although it still is a bit buggy. The 10X switches and modules still were acting up but the software was better. They did what they wanted whenever a signal was sent. Since then I installed a 20 amp filter on the main power line that feeds all my UPS units and electronic equipment. (including 6 computers) that took care of everything acting crazy. The only thing I can think of is that the poweline signal was so weak it worked sometimes and not others.

The next big problem was a light controlled in the basement. It worked whenever it wanted to. I tracked that down to an outlet at the end of the circuit that my new TV was plugged into. I found that if I unplug the TV the light worked 100% of the time. If I plug it back in the light never worked again. If I unplug it and then plug it back in really fast the light worked 3 or 4 days then acted up again. Pull the plug again and put it back and it works again. I have a 10 amp plug in filter I have installed and it now works again 100% of the time.

RF range is a big problem and when I disabled all transceivers in AHP and installed a V572AB receiver all my RF problems went away.

I still think a coupler will help in my system but the repeater portion seems to just mess up the software for some reason. I get multiple hits on codes exactly 3 seconds after the first command is sent which is the time frame the repeater seems to be on.

I still have 1 lone normal outlet that I can not get a powerline signal to. For some reason no signal will go through the outlet. I have plugged in every module I have into it and it is dead. Have 110 power and anything electrical plugged into it works but not X10. I will trace out the circuit and replace the outlet itself with a new one. I think I may have a corrosion problem or something.

Leftcoastdave, if you get a chance sometime in the future to play with it again try disconnecting the repeater if you have one, and maybe try some filters. They will improve the quality of your signal 10 fold.

As far as the software goes I can't wait for the next update. I would like to see X10 move a bit more aggressively to improve it.

[Caspian45]

LeftcoastDave,

I have to empathize with your situation. I too was very satisfied with my old CM11A, but being a computer 'geek', was drawn in by the anticipation of bigger and better things when I saw the new ACH Pro software and CM15A hardware announced. So, I plopped down my $99 and got the hardware and new software upgrade key (and other X10 stuff I could have done without). Unfortunately, now several of my lights no longer get turned on via the hardware, even though I can turn them on and off with an old X10 base unit (which I've unplugged to make sure it wasn't interferring). I must admit I don't spend as much time as you troubleshooting, so the few things I've tried I've given up on after several futile attempts.

I'm running ACH Pro on the same machine as the old ActiveHome software, so I don't believe it's a PC thing, unless it could be related to the difference between serial and USB. I have a breezeway light (on an X10 wall switch, and a front porch light (also on a wall switch) and they're the only two lights that still come on. My garage light (wall switch) has never worked since I switched to the ACH pro. And, a desk lamp with the X10 Lamp Module (not plugged in directly, but off an extension cord) no longer works. I've changed batteries, moved the CM15A to other recepticles. No luck. I can't even turn lights on/off via the GUI interface. I have not tried to return the CM15A for a replacement, but sounds like that might not produce the desired results either.

I guess I wasn't aware the units could be sent back for a refund, but I'd be tempted to try that. I just hate it when stuff doesn't work. I realize some folks do get theirs to work just fine, but that's no consolation to me.