Posted: March 20 2004 at 12:26 | IP Logged

Dave, I am trying to get PH to run "as a service" and when it starts the service, PH gives me a ODBC setup window to connect to the DB, but after I successfully connect to the DB via ODBC, I get a error saying "Table 'control' not found, Table or view not found". I enter the same parameters that is already in my current ODBC setup for sybase database.

My purpose of running PH as a service is that I want to load PH onto my son's computer (he leaves his computer powered on almost all the time), to control my x10 stuff from there. I do not want my son to have ANY ability to modify or even access PH app while it is running. Running it as service sounds like a way of "hiding the PH app from him and still allow PH to run in the background. Is it possible to modify PH with a commandline parameter to not display the 2 "startup" messages and to NOT show the PH screen to the user at all?? it might be nice to password protect access to PH app so guest users may not acidently turn it off or modify any PH settings.

Any help would be appreciated...... Nick

Posted: March 21 2004 at 19:33 | IP Logged

Nick,

Ive been unsuccessful at getting PowerHome to run as a service at the moment.  I have plans to separate PowerHome into both a client and a server and I think at this point I will be able to get it to load as a service.

In the meantime, I have made a few changes that should allow you to achieve your goals.

Ive added a new parameter to the ini file that allows you to define the startup window (Control Center, X-10 Status, Web Center).  By setting this value to 0, PowerHome will not open a window.

Ive also added a parameter that allows for a "quietstart".  This will prevent the two timed events message boxes from appearing.

Ive also made a change to the Kiosk mode so that if PowerHome is minimized (ph_windowstate), the tray icon has no control.

What this would allow you to do is place a couple of commands in the STARTUP macro (ph_setmode(1) + ph_windowstate(1)) so that when PowerHome is launched, no initial screen will open, no timed event messages appear, PowerHome goes straight to kiosk mode and is instantly minimized.  At this point, you cant get to PowerHome to maximize or restore it or close it.  It will continue to operate as normal however.  You would have to create a trigger or use the web formula function or similar to send it a ph_setmode(0) to be able to activate the tray icon so you oculd restore PowerHome and close it.

Hope this helps,

Dave.

Posted: March 21 2004 at 23:23 | IP Logged

Dave...Man do I have a problem now.... I uninstalled and reinstalled PH and now when I enter my registration key...it says it is invalid.... I think I might have mistyped my name on initial startup of PH....What should I do????  Nick.

Ps... Thanks so much for your modifications to the ini file for me....I appreciate your fast response....Thanks...

Posted: March 21 2004 at 23:47 | IP Logged

Nick,

Im sorry to have mislead you, but I meant that Ive included the changes for you in the next version that Im working on which will be released shortly.  Sorry for the misunderstanding .

Concerning your reg number....just email me the number that you're using now and I'll email you the unlock code for that number.  Alternatively, if you've still got a copy of your database file (pwrhome.db), you can just copy that to the appropriate directory (the reg info is contained in the database).

Dave.

Posted: March 22 2004 at 12:56 | IP Logged

dave .... currently I have PH installed on my desktop so I can do development prior to installing it on my son's computer in a week or so. Will I need to get a different registration unlock code when I install PH on my son's computer, or can I use the same one?? I would like to maintain development on my machine and transfer the DB when mods are done to my son's computer, is this feasible??  

as a sidenote, since I tried to install PH as a service, I have been experiencing a drastic slowdown in the processing on PH. It takes 30-45 secs just to load at initial startup (I thought it seemed faster before). and it can take 15-30 secs to react to any on or off functions within x10 stats screen. It seems overall much slower than before I began expermenting. I had tought I might of screwed up the ODBC connections, so I removed the ODBC config for it and reinstalled it to a completely different directory, but that did not seem to help. could there be a slowdown in the runtime code of the ODBC driver?? it seems to be related to DB read/write activity (I think).

Also when you say "released shortly" does that mean within days of more than a few weeks??

Thanks again for your help in resolving these issues with me....Nick

Posted: March 22 2004 at 13:31 | IP Logged

Nick,

This should be no problem at all.  The reg name and unlock code should work on your son's computer just fine.

The slowdown is definately not a good thing.  Depending upon your system, the startup time may not be too far off, however the reaction time to X-10 commands is waaaayy off.  Depending upon your controller, the times should be nearly instantaneous.

PowerHome no longer users an ODBC DSN connection and now connects DSN-less so this should not matter.  Its possible that your database is causing a slowdown, so in this case I would use the Database Maintenance Utility and rebuild it.

You can also try testing the sending of X-10 commands using the built in Palm Pad screen.  You should be able to tile this screen with the X-10 status screen as well as the PowerHome Status screen event log to see reaction times.  Does the light turn on instantly or is there a significant delay when using the Palm Pad screen.

Another possibility if you're using a CM11A is that the CM11A is having problems.  Ive had them get themselves in a state where they are very slow to respond to anything.  Usually all it takes to clear this up though is to unplug it for a few minutes and then plug it back in.  Worst case scenario, you may need to launch ActiveHome and "clear" the CM11A's memory.

You wouldnt happen to have installed a Leviton or similar bridge/repeater lately would you?  I had this same problem with my CM11A slowing down and becoming unreliable when I installed a Leviton smart bridge/repeater.  I ended up having to switch to using a PowerLinc for my X-10 commands to work around this problem.

Released shortly should be just a few days...even if its just a beta.

HTH,

Dave.

Posted: March 22 2004 at 20:16 | IP Logged

Nick,

I didnt mean to infer that your CM11A was bad, just might need to be reset .  However, if its working fine with ActiveHome, then its probably ok.

The first thing I would do is copy your database file (pwrhome.db) to a safe location.  Go ahead and copy your pwrhome.ini file and any other files that you may have created in the powerhome subdirectory as well.  Open up the Windows Control Panel and select "Add/Remove Programs".  Go ahead and remove the PowerHome executable and the PowerHome Runtime.  Delete the powerhome directory under C:\program files (be sure you have backups of your database, ini, and other files you may have created.)

Also make sure that you've undone any changes where you were trying load PowerHome as a service.

Reinstall the PowerHome Runtime and the PowerHome Executable.  Copy over the pwrhome.ini and pwrhome.db files with your backup copies.  Run the Database Maintenance Utility and rebuild your database.

Also, be sure that no other program is running that connects to the same COM port that you're using for the CM11A.  PowerHome needs full control of the COM port and will experience problems if other programs try to share the port.

Launch PowerHome and lets see what we've got.  If it's still running slow, you'll probably need to email me your database file and INI file (edit out passwords) so I can test for corruption and see what I get on my system.

Dave.

Posted: March 23 2004 at 13:49 | IP Logged

Nick,

Just curious if the above helped at all.

Let me know,

Dave.