X10 Problem (Yeah, I still use it... lol)

[tbone]

Hi and thanks for reading.

I have been an HS2Pro user for many years and I have say that HS2 has been the most stable of any program that I have had the pleasure to use.

I purchased HS3Pro about a year ago but never had the time to do the migration. I must say that the process to move all of my events and devices over to HS3 has been challenging. But, that being said, I like HS3. It is a very powerful program.

Enough of my rambling. I have several old X10 Mini Desktop controllers from days gone by and I use them to control events in HomeSeer. They work great for my needs.

As I was adding events to my new HS3 system I noticed that when I got to my X10 events, HS3 was NOT receiving the X10 commands from my controllers. I am using the Act TI103 X10 interface. No log entry for inbound X10. No action related to the event.

HomeSeer HS3 SENDS X10 commands normally and they work as one would expect but I cannot receive X10 commands.

So.... I shut down HS3 and restarted HS2 (obviously on the same machine). All the X10 functions work normally. The log reports the SENT and RECEIVED X10 commands and the events work normally as well.

Anyone got any ideas why everything with X10 is fine with HS2 but not HS3?

SYSTEM:
Running HS2 & HS3 (not simultaneously) on an old Dell with Win XP. I have the Insteon plugin (Sandler), the ACT TI103 X10 plugin (HomeSeer). The old Dell has been running HS2Pro for a few years and it's performance has been great. The Dell is a dedicated home automation computer.

Thank you for your time,

Tim
(The Old Dude)
Canton, MI USA

[TeleFragger]

so I too use X10 and been too busy to get it back up and running... i started getting things going.. but anyway...


so im guessing your trying to do say... B1 as an event for say a lamp module...
what i have found with HS3 is you NEED to create that device.. i know it sounds weird.. so create a virtual device on that house code.. then use the event to go off that virtual device.

I was having the same issue. I have an appliance module at C1 and couldnt get it to work... just couldnt... I then added it into HS and viola... it worked... I was doing it from a palm pad so wireless... but I had the same traits as what you are saying...

hope that is it

[will40]

I am still using HS2, X-10, TI103 and also have a HS3 box very slowly moving over and testing.

I am also slowly moving to zwave on HS3 box but I do have a lot of X-10 modules, light switches, and receptacles that work flawlessly in HS2.

I do get them to receive on/off commands in HS3 but it appears I have similar behavior as what you are experiencing. My MS-16A motion sensors via RF transceiver TM751 will not report to HS3 and nothing on inbound logs. They report fine in HS2.

I haven't had a chance to find a solution so it ended up on the back burner until I see you seem to have a similar issue. I'll get back to troubleshooting again. If anyone comes up with something to try then please let me know?

Thanks

[tbone]

Not sure about virtual devices for the problem...

I really don't see how a virtual device will make HS3 "see" the X10 inbound commands. I played around with it a little bit but then it was time to put HS2 back on line. I rely heavily on my HS2 system for executing events throughout my home and have used HomeSeer software for over 15 years.

I have slowly but surely been installing Z Wave and Insteon products through my house over the years and HS2 has controlled all of my devices pretty much flawlessly over all that time. I still have some antique X10 modules that work just fine and I am NOT about to eliminate them from my system.

I use those old X10 "mini controllers" for executing events. They are great for that. I have several of them throughout the house and many of them are over 15 years old. They are nice and compact and sit nicely on tables and night stands. I even bought a few more last year when I saw that they were getting harder and harder to find.

Anyway, all I want is for HS3 to receive a simple X10 command to run some events for me. It worked wonderfully in HS2 and still does.

I really like many of the new features is HS3 but if I can't get it to respond to a X10 command, I fear that I may have waisted my money.

Oh, by the way, if I hadn't mentioned it earlier, HS3 does a fine job of executing X10 commands from the software. Any event that I have created that needs to issue a X10 command works well. I just can't get HS3 to receive X10.

Regards,

[Uncle Michael]

I really don't see how a virtual device will make HS3 "see" the X10 inbound commands.

I'm also in the process of moving from HS2 to HS3. I think there are going to be quite a few surprises waiting for us.

One of the things I was prepared for was CAPI. In order to receive (or send) an X10 (or any other) command, you need a device that has the proper characteristics. It's probably a bit confusing to call them virtual devices in this case, but that's the terminology HST has decided to use. Essentially, you create a device as if it were a virtual device, but you use the X10 tab to give it an X10 house code and unit code. To my mind, that changes it to an X10 device. If you do that, then you should see the status/value of that device change in response to the X10 code sent by your controllers.

[Rupp]

The bottom line is you need to have a device with the X10 code you want to trigger on. No more triggering on any random X10 code.

[TeleFragger]

The bottom line is you need to have a device with the X10 code you want to trigger on. No more triggering on any random X10 code.

That is what I have experienced.... and seems to be consistent for me...

[tbone]

Thanks

The bottom line is you need to have a device with the X10 code you want to trigger on. No more triggering on any random X10 code.

OK and thank you. I will take down HS2 a little later today and work on that in HS3. I appreciate all the assistance.

I have gotten tons of info from this forum over the years without ever having the need to post. It is so informative especially for the less computer savvy peeps such as myself.

Thank you all once again. I will repost with my results.

Tim

[TeleFragger]

OK and thank you. I will take down HS2 a little later today and work on that in HS3. I appreciate all the assistance.

I have gotten tons of info from this forum over the years without ever having the need to post. It is so informative especially for the less computer savvy peeps such as myself.

Thank you all once again. I will repost with my results.

Tim

just side to caution.... if you saw my post of things not working.. 4h later my x10 is now working and I did nothing.... so don't think your doing too much wrong... if it looks right but isn't working.. maybe it isn't you....

[Steve Q]

As Rupp mentioned, you need to create a device for every X10 code you want to use inHS3. They also must be created as an x10 device through the X10 tab on the device setup page. I believe there are some bugs in the X10 plugin because sometimes, the x10 devices I have created do not work. Or perhaps when you edit them, they stop working. I have found that if you recreate them, they will work as they should. Also, I think there are issues with the device type that you choose when you create the X10 device. I have only used "appliance" and "standard".

I do a lot of my HS3 work via my iPad Chrome web browser. Perhaps this has something to do with my problems.

Steve Q


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Uncle Michael]

I believe there are some bugs in the X10 plugin because sometimes, the x10 devices I have created do not work. Or perhaps when you edit them, they stop working. I have found that if you recreate them, they will work as they should. Also, I think there are issues with the device type that you choose when you create the X10 device. I have only used "appliance" and "standard". I do a lot of my HS3 work via my iPad Chrome web browser. Perhaps this has something to do with my problems.

Steve,
I have experienced the same problems, and I do all my editing on Chrome. I think you are correct that editing a device, especially trying to change its device code, is very likely to create a problem. I also do not think there is any way to get a working device by copying an existing one and just changing the device code. You have to create every X10 device from scratch.

I also think that there is a bug in device type selection. I cannot get 'PreSet' to work as I expect. I've got a Bugzilla and a Help Desk inquiry on it, but still waiting for a resolution.

[TeleFragger]

I have used the preset for my togglelinc 23890w switches... but have no clue how to set the preset level in hs for them... and they do work.. on and off...

another thing to be cautious of.. for motion sensors...

I have ones with dusk/dawn too so I use 2 house codes...

DO NOT CLICK VIRTUAL as it will render the device useless.. I didnt want on and off buttons as they are triggered with motion and light/dark .. but if you trigger that you have to delete them to get them working again...

[tbone]

Not there yet and getting frustrated...

I have been screwing around with this X10 stuff for awhile now and my frustration level is at an all time maximum.

All of my X10 devices are controllable from HS3 as are all my ZWave and Insteon devices. Events work great and I love the new engine. So what's the friggin deal? Why has HST make this so darn complicated when is was so easy in HS2???

That being said, why hasn't HST come out with detailed instructions or video to help us long time users out???? After all, the LONG TIME USERS of HomeSeer are the financial contributors that got HST where it is today. Now I feel, just because I use some legacy devices, that they (HST) are leaving me behind.

Oh, and let us not forget a very important point. If I were to purchase new devices (upgrade my X10) all my issues would be gone. That is no doubt true and very possibly the reason for the HS3 changes. But the truth is that I am retired and on a fixed income and replacing FOUR controllers in my is not in my budget.

So I guess I will continue to play with HS3 but HS2Pro is going to be my mainstay for the foreseeable future.

Also kudos to Mr Mark Sandler for his continuing support of his Insteon HS2 plugin. He has provided updates to his HS2 plugin and all the while has been writing new code for his HS3 and Linux plugin. Thank you Mr Sandler. Maybe you can give some advice on "loyalty" to HST concerning legacy customers.

I am sorry for the rant guys but I felt the need to vent. I have been a HomeSeer user since HS1. It has been my go to software for many, many years. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you (just in case I don't get on here for a bit).

[regm]

Every six months or so I think about moving from HS2 to HS3. I scan the forum and read a thread like this and then realize that my life will be a lot less stressful by staying with HS2. I'll check back next summer and see how things are going.

[tbone]

Every six months or so I think about moving from HS2 to HS3. I scan the forum and read a thread like this and then realize that my life will be a lot less stressful by staying with HS2. I'll check back next summer and see how things are going.

I was helped out by several people in a couple of other threads here on the forum and I was able to get HS3 running and running very well. For a long time HS2 user like myself I was extremely intimidated by the upgrade process and those feelings were fueled by the enormous amount of negativity in many of the posts found here on the forum. But in reality, it was not that bad at all.

For me, HS2 had been running flawlessly for many years. In fact, it ran so good that I hardly ever interacted with software very much. And for that very reason I had become intimidated by the fact I would have to "re-write" all my events. I have over 40 events and most of them were written long ago. My memory is not what it once was.. lol.

So, to make this very long thread shorter, the switch to HS3 really wasn't that bad. I would take HS2 down for an hour or two during the day and work on the devices and events. When I grew tired of working on HS3 I would shut it down and bring HS2 back up to do what it does best. That process worked well for me and now I am running HS3 full time. One last note... I purchased HS3 when it first came out and it took me over 2 years before I had the guts to get started on the change. HS3 is much more powerful than old reliable HS2.

Good luck!!!