cm17a (firecracker interface)

[damiene]

I just recently downloaded the housebot software and seem to be having troubles using the cm17a interface. Everything seems to be configured properly (com settings, device enabled, etc) but no commands are being sent at all. I have used other software using the cm17a interface with no problems.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[ScottBot]

Any additional information you can provide will be helpful in understanding your setup. What version of HouseBot are you using?



Are there any error messages displayed?



Is the Hardware Interface enabled?



Is the X10 Device you are using associated to the CM17 hardware Interface?



A data trace may also give us some more clues. If you are using version 2.0, you can generate a trace file by:

1. Select the Hardware Interface from the Tree View.
2. Click on the 'Hardware Module Type' button at the top of the Interface Property list.
3. Click on the 'Enabled' checkbox to turn on tracing.
4. Try and use the interface again. This should generate data in the log file.
5. Turn the tracing off by clearing the 'Enabled' checkbox set previously.
6. Send the trace file (InterfaceTrace.*.csv) to me at '[email protected]'. The file can be found in the HouseBot\Logs directory.

[damiene]

OK heres what i got so far, and please bare with me...



I tried to trace the device by following the directions you gave me but after i enabled tracing and tried to use the device a couple of times there wasnt anything in the 'log' folder afterwards.



The CM17a is connected to the com2 serial port and i have successfully operated my X10 devices with other software. It seems that Housebot is not sending anything to the port or it is and the interface is not responding to the commands.



I havent seen any error messages in any of the other logs and the history under the device im trying to operate claims that the command was sent.



I just recently bought the firecracker interface a couple of weeks ago, maybe its a hardware issue.



I'm sure you are familiar with the interface im trying to use here but heres the x10 page about it:

http://www.x10.com/automation/firecracker.htm



Thanks again for your time and help.

[ScottBot]

I just did a quick sanity test with my firecracker and it seems to work ok. The reason you are not getting any data in your Hardware Interface trace is because the hardware interface doesn't trace any data; Sorry for the trouble.



A couple more things to check. I know they may sound obvious, but please double-check.

• Make sure the HouseCode and UnitCode specified in your HouseBot X10 Device that you are using to control the lamp (or whatever) is set to the same values as the physical X10 switch.
• Make sure the HouseCode on your RF transceiver is the same as the HouseCode specified in your HouseBot X10 Device (the same device mentioned in the prior step).

Also, you may want to try increasing the 'Command Repeat Count' setting of the Firecracker Hardware Interface to 2 or 3 to see if that makes a difference.

[kilowatt]

I've had some problems with the firecracker device in the past. Scott added a couple of additional settings to make it more configurable. Mine works good if I set Command Repeat Count to 0 and Multi Command Delay to 1000 ms.



Mine is on COM1



Mark

[damiene]

Ive ensured that everything is set correctly...House code on transceiver is set to 'F' all devices (lamp modules, appliance modules) are also set to F..Housebot devices are all set to 'F'...Ive also tried other house codes A-E with no luck..tried another transceiver - no luck...relocated transceiver -no luck..Tried to set up housebot and the interface on another PC - no luck.



I also once again checked to make sure that the CM17a interface was in fact working with another software program and it operated fine.



Thanks for your help and let me know if you have any more ideas