RE: X10 entertainment

["Phil Harris" <phil@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Only nothing works.  The active home software that comes with
> it (and which I used before for several years)

Which version have you been using? The current version (which works with XP
/ 2003) is 1.42.

> doesn't come
> with any drivers for the USB cable that I paid an extra
> tenner for, had to download some from god knows where.

Assuming that you either bought the unit from my employer (LetsAutomate) or
have the same USB cable that we were supplied with by the manufacturers
then
the drivers for that device are located on our own website and linked to
from the CM12 webpage so there should be no need to be downloading drivers
from "god knows where". If you did not download the drivers that
were
specified for your USB to serial cable then are you sure you do have the
correct drivers?

> Testing the interface on any port always produces a comms
> failure message, so it can't see the interface.

That is quite possible - what COM port is the USB to Serial interface set
up
as?

Do you have the ActiveHome software set up to access that port?

Do you have a spare serial port on that machine (or on another machine)
that
you could use to test out communications with the CM12 without going
through
the USB to Serial interface? (That way it is possible to isolate where the
problem lies.)

> Not only
> that, the software now hogs the cpu to the extent that the
> machine is unusable
> - tried it on two different PCs, one with XP and one with
> 2003 Server, same result.  The process that eats up the cpu
> is called X10com32.exe.

This is quite possible if the X10 communications module cannot access the
CM12 - once the communications problem is resolved this will not occur.

> Before I send back the interface with a snottogram attached,

Rather than simply sending the unit back with - as you say - "a
snottogram
attached" then perhaps making further efforts to resolve the issue
(yes,
here is a start as there is damn good base of knowledge here) but also with
your supplier would be a good idea.

> has anyone any ideas on what I am doing wrong?  Or is the
> whole thing just a pile of poop?

There are many possibilities but hopefully the problem can be resolved
satisfactorily.

Phil