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scottmi1
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| Posted: July 19 2006 at 08:46 | IP Logged
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I just purchased a PowerLinc Serial (2414S) to replace a flaky CM11A. I plan to use it to control my existing X-10 modules for now and start adding Insteon devices in the future. Anyway, I'm having trouble getting it working with PH. I "inactivated" the existing CM11A and added the PowerLinc in Setup using the same COM port. Next I connected the PowerLinc to the serial port that the CM11A had been using. I then received the following error message from PH:
A critical error occurred at 2006-07-18 21:57:52.875.
PowerHome Version: 1.03.4.7
Error Number: 39
Error Message: Error accessing external object property commport at line 28 in function f_controllerconnect of object uo_controller_powerlinc.
Window: uo_controller_powerlinc
Object: uo_controller_powerlinc
Event: f_controllerconnect
Line: 28
So PH is not talking to the PowerLinc. Am I overlooking something? Do I need to install the Insteon DM to use the PowerLinc for X-10 control?
Mike..
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mustangcoupe
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| Posted: July 19 2006 at 09:31 | IP Logged
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Mike,
If you have not tried I would close powerhome and reopen it. Im not sure if Dave has the smarthome SDM loading if there is no insteon controler configured. I would guess not as it would be a waste of memory
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Todd Hannemann
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scottmi1
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| Posted: July 19 2006 at 11:07 | IP Logged
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Todd,
Thanks for the reply. I tried both recycling PH and closing and reopening it. No joy. Interestingly, the error does not show up in the event log when I start PH, but comes up consistently if I disconnect/connect the controller.
I'm beginning to think I got a bad controller. Unfortunately I don't have any other software that supports the PowerLinc, so I have no other means beyond PH to test it.
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mustangcoupe
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| Posted: July 19 2006 at 11:23 | IP Logged
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is the SDM loaded?
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Todd Hannemann
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scottmi1
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| Posted: July 19 2006 at 11:27 | IP Logged
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I don't believe so. I only intend to use the PowerLinc for X-10 at this time, so I haven't even started to look at any of the Insteon related stuff.
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mustangcoupe
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| Posted: July 19 2006 at 11:41 | IP Logged
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that sounds like it may be the problem... the smarthome SDM should load to communicate from PH to the PLC. in your powerhome directory is there one for smarthome? if there is there should be a file called sdm3 this is what the icon should look like in the lower right corner. If you are running xp it may "hide" the icon so be sure to click the arrow to vire all of them. If it is not there then double click on this to manually launch the sdm. then lets see if it will work with PH...
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Todd Hannemann
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mustangcoupe
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| Posted: July 19 2006 at 11:48 | IP Logged
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ALSO what version of the sdm are you running? (look in the sdm title bar) should be something like 1.0158.XXX where XXX is the version. I beleive 226 is the latest.
the latest one can be found at this thread... http://www.power-home.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=745&PN=3
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Todd Hannemann
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scottmi1
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| Posted: July 19 2006 at 11:52 | IP Logged
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Aha! I wasn't aware that I needed the SDM if I was just doing X-10  . I now understand from your and other posts that the SDM is needed for all communication from PH to the PowerLinc. I'll get it set up and hopefully that will fix the problem.
Thanks for your help!
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TonyNo
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| Posted: July 19 2006 at 13:26 | IP Logged
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Mike,
Keep in mind that it has been found that the PowerLinc is not so good at speaking X10 (iirc, low signal levels and no support of extended commands).
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scottmi1
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| Posted: July 19 2006 at 14:56 | IP Logged
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Tony,
Thanks for the heads-up on the PowerLinc. My current CM11A has been giving me headaches (lockups and random on commands) and I plan on moving to Insteon anyway, so I thought it made more sense to go with the PowerLinc rather than invest in another CM11A. If it doesn't work well for my X-10 setup, then I guess I'll just end up getting another CM11A anyway, but I'll have the PowerLinc for the new Insteon devices.
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dhoward
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| Posted: July 19 2006 at 20:54 | IP Logged
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Mike,
Another important note is that you've selected the wrong controller type in the Setup|Controllers screen. To use the 2414S, you must choose "Insteon DM" instead of the PowerLinc Serial controller. The PowerLinc Serial controller is only for the 1132 model. Correcting this and reinitializing will launch the SDM if you selected that option when installing PowerHome.
HTH,
Dave.
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scottmi1
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| Posted: July 20 2006 at 08:12 | IP Logged
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Hi Dave,
With Todd's help I finally figured that out. It's not really intuitive that you have to select "Insteon DM" for this PLC especially when you're just looking to use it for X-10. I saw "PowerLinc Serial" in the controller list and naturally picked that. You might want to add the model number to that choice as you have with some of the other PowerLincs to make it a little clearer.
Anyway, I selected Insteon DM for the controller and restarted PH. The SDM came up, but didn't find the PLC right off so I followed the directions in phinsteon.rtf to set the port to COM1. No luck. I must have gone through the steps a half a dozen times including restarting PH and even rebooting the PC, but the SDM kept reporting the PLC as "unresponsive".
At this point I think I've got a bad PowerLinc. I know the port is OK because that's the one I have been using successfully with the CM11A (yes, I did deactivate the CM11A before installing the PowerLinc  ). I guess next step is to replace the PowerLinc and try again. Looks like I'll just have to put up with the flaky CM11A a while longer.
Edited by scottmi1 - July 20 2006 at 08:16
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dhoward
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| Posted: August 02 2006 at 22:24 | IP Logged
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Mike,
Did you ever get this worked out? I wouldnt expect the PLC itself to be bad but I guess it's possible.
The best way to troubleshoot this (if you havent already) is to manually launch the SDM3.exe without PowerHome. Once the SDM is running, click the SDM tray icon (little yellow T) and type DM to bring up the command window. Next type isresponding and press enter. If the PLC is not communicating, then type port=COM? where ? equals the correct COM port for the PLC. Try the isresponding again and see if communications are working. Once you get the SDM communicating with the PLC (if you do), then you can try bringing PowerHome into the mix.
Let me know,
Dave.
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scottmi1
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| Posted: August 03 2006 at 11:20 | IP Logged
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Dave,
I've returned the PLC and I'm still waiting for the replacement to show up. Thanks for reminding me, I need to check on the status with the vendor.
The testing I did was pretty close to what you described, but I didn't manually launch the SDM. I did set the COM port and confirmed it. I didn't try the "isreponding" command (didn't know about it at the time), but I continued to get the "unresponsive" messages, so I think the results are essentially the same - no communication with the PLC. I'll post my results with the new PLC as soon as it arrives.
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scottmi1
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| Posted: August 19 2006 at 10:10 | IP Logged
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Just a quick followup with a happy ending. I finally received the replacement PowerLinc 2414S last week and installed it this morning. I located the PowerLinc right at the circuit breaker panel which is about 50ft. from the PC. That's why I went with the serial version instead of USB. Everything went smoothly with PH and the SDM recognized the PowerLinc right away. I changed the controller setting for all of my X10 devices to the PowerLinc and they all seem to be responding reliably.
Thanks again for everyone's help and advice! Now I can concentrate on doing some more productive things with X10 and start exploring Insteon now that I'm finally rid of that flaky CM11A.
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dhoward
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| Posted: August 20 2006 at 20:26 | IP Logged
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Mike,
Glad to hear it's working now. So it really was a bad PowerLinc, eh?
Dave.
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scottmi1
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| Posted: August 21 2006 at 08:25 | IP Logged
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Dave,
Yeah, it was definitely a bad PowerLinc. The new one is working perfectly so far (knock on wood). I was worried that the PowerLinc wouldn't work as well for X10 as the CM11A, but so far, all of my switches and modules seem to be working as expected and I haven't seen any missed commands or other glitches after 2 days. 
Edited by scottmi1 - August 21 2006 at 08:28
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Topic: PLC Problem
