Some weird X10 results today

[freymann]

I have a few lights that I want to be able to control through LMCE orbiters, and they don't respond. Those same lights respond fine to hand held remotes over the wireless X10 transceivers.

I figured this was due to the two phases of our house power, so I purchased a phase coupler and had our electrician wire it to the panel for me. That didn't appear to work, so I purchased another phase coupler, which I was able to change out myself, and at first I didn't think it worked either.

Today, I fired up my MSI Wind PC and connected it to the equipment in our master bedroom (where it will eventually end up) and played with XBMC off a USB stick, and then back into LMCE. In either system I can't get LiveTV through MythTV to work but that's a story I've mentioned a few times and I just seem stuck with that. Details here : http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php?topic=5602.msg32747#msg32747

However, I did use the lighting screen to fiddle with the lights in our house, and strangely enough, from the bedroom, I can control all of the lights in the house, 100% of the time, perfectly!?

So I took a simple light module and plugged in a night light, set it to A2, and walked around the house to pretty well every room and plugged the thing in, and used the wireless x10 remote to see if I could turn it on/off. I had 100% success throughout the house. In the kitchen, we have two outlets that are wired separately (for 4 outlets on their own circuit). With the type of electrical panel we had installed, 2 of the 4 should be on one phase, and the other 2 on the other phase. I moved the light module around and it works fine in any of the 4 outlets. In a previous test before the phase coupler, it actually only worked in one outlet.

So this is telling me two things:

1) The phase coupler must be working!

2) Something is really amok with my LMCE!? All the lights are controllable from the master-bedroom machine and 4-5 of those don't work from any other orbiter, be that the core, the living-room machine, or the web orbiter. (I didn't try the windoze orbiter).

Looking through my file, I noticed that I was unable to delete some timed events and I went and mucked with the database. I wonder if that's related? (as in, did my changes delete too much data?)

See this link :  http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php?topic=5943.msg35326#msg35326

All this time I've been blaming things on the phase issue. Any if anybody has any thoughts on the MythTV thing that would be nice too.

My intention is to wipe clean with the 8.10 release and use the i386 version (instead of the AMD64 version I'm using now).... but that is still a ways away. Any thoughts?

[Crawtech]

Hi
I think all your problem are because you have played with the DB and deleted things that it needs to work right
I have a setup simler to you only I have 3 phase and every thing is work the way its meant to and myth is working as well no problems at all

 

[jeangot]

Freymann,

just a though: perhaps you could look at your /var/log/pluto/DCERouter.log file and even the log file of the X10 interface, to make sure that it's actually ending out the X10 command. If the commands are never sent out, then you know that your problem is in LMCE. If the commands appear in th X10 interface logfile, then you know it's an X10 problem...

Jesan

[jondecker76]

also double check the simple things...  In Wizard->Lighting, is the controlled via set to CM11A?

Aside from that, it could be a db issue - Its easy to mess up the db in LMCE which will not deal with stray pointers!

[freymann]

just a though: perhaps you could look at your /var/log/pluto/DCERouter.log file and even the log file of the X10 interface, to make sure that it's actually ending out the X10 command. If the commands are never sent out, then you know that your problem is in LMCE. If the commands appear in th X10 interface logfile, then you know it's an X10 problem...

I am going to set up that other box again in the master-bedroom today and double check things. At that time I'll grab my notebook too and tail log files and compare.

The really really strange thing is all lights work from the master bedroom but 4-5 of those lights won't work on the other machines.

[freymann]

also double check the simple things...  In Wizard->Lighting, is the controlled via set to CM11A?

Aside from that, it could be a db issue - Its easy to mess up the db in LMCE which will not deal with stray pointers!

That was the first thing I went and checked afterwards! Originally the CM11A was on the core but I moved it upstairs to the living-room so I was thinking perhaps those lights didn't update.... but again.... they DO work from the master-bedroom but nowhere else!

I'm probably talking about say, a dozen X10 modules of which 4-5 have been problem matic, and I've always felt it was a phase problem. But this is interesting for sure!

[freymann]

Today's tests were much unlike yesterday. Today it's 'round the board, no joy with the two entrance lights from any orbiter.

So I deleted ALL my lights, reloaded the router, added them all back, reloaded the router, put them back on the floormap, reloaded the router.

Everything but the front and rear entrance lights appear to work. The only common thing between them is I'm using a socket rocket to control those lights. They are set up in pluto admin as a light switch on/off.

If I tail the DCERouter.log I can see the commands with the correct device id numbers.

Is it a problem related to the socket rockets? I just double checked that the other two lights that were giving me problems respond correctly, so that could mean the socket rockets are responsible for this confusion?

(Those two lights do respond fine to the wireless remotes and motion sensors)

[jondecker76]

i use a few socket rockets with no problems - set up the same way a on/off light switches

The fact that they worked from one room but not others points to a problem in LMCE - as they should all use the same interface to control the lights no matter where they are. 

[Zaerc]

...
Looking through my file, I noticed that I was unable to delete some timed events and I went and mucked with the database. I wonder if that's related? (as in, did my changes delete too much data?)
...

Thanks for confirming once more that you should NEVER mess with the database manually.  Good luck reinstalling!

[freymann]

Thanks for confirming once more that you should NEVER mess with the database manually.  Good luck reinstalling!

 What I did was edit some code used in the web admin that deletes events -- since it wasn't working correctly.

 Between myself and the ever helpful jondecker, we were able to clean it up.

 I believe the commands I tried may have deleted too much, or it may have done absolutely nothing. Who knows.

 Please read fully the link I referred to in my original message for details. It just may be something that needs to be included with 8.10.

 This message from jon:

 http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php?topic=5943.msg35362#msg35362

 and my reply right after contain corrected code segments.

 I have a few 'quirks' with my X10, but nothing that is going to make me reinstall at the moment. I will wait for the 8.10 release, with hopes that will resolve my missing mythtv LiveTV issue too. And no, I didn't go screwing the database and muck that up too.

[Zaerc]

Thanks for confirming once more that you should NEVER mess with the database manually.  Good luck reinstalling!

 What I did was edit some code used in the web admin that deletes events -- since it wasn't working correctly.

 Between myself and the ever helpful jondecker, we were able to clean it up.

 I believe the commands I tried may have deleted too much, or it may have done absolutely nothing. Who knows.

 Please read fully the link I referred to in my original message for details. It just may be something that needs to be included with 8.10.

 This message from jon:

 http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php?topic=5943.msg35362#msg35362

 and my reply right after contain corrected code segments.

 I have a few 'quirks' with my X10, but nothing that is going to make me reinstall at the moment. I will wait for the 8.10 release, with hopes that will resolve my missing mythtv LiveTV issue too. And no, I didn't go screwing the database and muck that up too.

Excuse me for being from some alternate universe where "I went and mucked with the database." obviously means something else.

[freymann]

Excuse me for being from some alternate universe where "I went and mucked with the database." obviously means something else.

Zaerc: we can sit here in the forums and waste our time splitting hairs over wording till the cows come home, because apparently that is one of your most favourite things to do here. If you had actually bothered to slow down and read the content of my post you would have known what I meant, but as usual, you are more than anxious to post yet another stupid, useless forum post at the speedy flick of your fingers.

If you want some software to sit around and goof with between you and your close buddies, then please run off to some private place and do that. For somebody who is supposed to play a key role in LinuxMCE, your presence on these forums does very little to enhance the project, in fact, your posts drive people away in droves, rather than invite them in and make them feel like they are welcome to participate.

How is LinuxMCE ever going to accumulate more programmer presence and other type of assistance when you, a key member, behave in such a manner? Oh I can hear you now, you really don't give a rat's ass. That's too bad. I think LinuxMCE has something here, and you're at the point where nobody is going to want to pitch in and offer the help I keep seeing being asked for all too often.

I really don't understand where you're coming from, and in some cases, I don't understand the people behind this project either. When I see core team members bashing users in the forums it makes me sick.

Now I've made my points, and I didn't have to call you names with four letter words. If you insist on replying, don't waste everybody's time, either don't or send me a private message if that makes you feel better.

[Zaerc]

Excuse me for being from some alternate universe where "I went and mucked with the database." obviously means something else.

Zaerc: we can sit here in the forums and waste our time splitting hairs over wording till the cows come home, because apparently that is one of your most favourite things to do here. If you had actually bothered to slow down and read the content of my post you would have known what I meant, but as usual, you are more than anxious to post yet another stupid, useless forum post at the speedy flick of your fingers.

If you want some software to sit around and goof with between you and your close buddies, then please run off to some private place and do that. For somebody who is supposed to play a key role in LinuxMCE, your presence on these forums does very little to enhance the project, in fact, your posts drive people away in droves, rather than invite them in and make them feel like they are welcome to participate.

How is LinuxMCE ever going to accumulate more programmer presence and other type of assistance when you, a key member, behave in such a manner? Oh I can hear you now, you really don't give a rat's ass. That's too bad. I think LinuxMCE has something here, and you're at the point where nobody is going to want to pitch in and offer the help I keep seeing being asked for all too often.

I really don't understand where you're coming from, and in some cases, I don't understand the people behind this project either. When I see core team members bashing users in the forums it makes me sick.

Now I've made my points, and I didn't have to call you names with four letter words. If you insist on replying, don't waste everybody's time, either don't or send me a private message if that makes you feel better.

Blablabla,  whetever, get a life.