Intermittent results

karnold69

In about the last week my X10 commands have worked intermittently. Nothing changed here, running the software on a dedicated mini computer for about 10 months. Any other such reports? Has your customer base grown needing more servers on your end? Thanks.
Ken

Russ

@karnold69, thank you for reporting it. You're the first to report it so far. My customer base has grown, so it's possible my servers are getting overloaded at certain times.

To help narrow down the problem, this info might help:

When it happens, do you get a "Command ran" entry in the runs list for the command?

Which method are you using to trigger the commands? For example, is it the Alexa TRIGGERcmd Smart Home skill?

If you give me a specific time when it failed, that might help too.

karnold69

@Russ This morning I gave the "patio lights off" command multiple times, and it never worked (although they did turn on.) Here's the list:
Command ran Thu Mar 16 2023 07:22:25 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)
Trigger sent from Alexa Smart Home params = off Thu Mar 16 2023 07:22:25 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)
Command ran Thu Mar 16 2023 07:19:54 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)
Trigger sent from Alexa Smart Home params = off Thu Mar 16 2023 07:19:54 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)
Command ran Thu Mar 16 2023 07:19:49 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)
Trigger sent from Alexa Smart Home params = off Thu Mar 16 2023 07:19:48 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)
Command ran Thu Mar 16 2023 07:19:43 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)
Trigger sent from Alexa Smart Home params = off Thu Mar 16 2023 07:19:43 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)
Command ran Thu Mar 16 2023 07:19:15 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)
Trigger sent from Alexa Smart Home params = off Thu Mar 16 2023 07:19:15 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)

I'm using the TRIGGERcmd Smart Home skill and the TRIGGER command skill. This has been working fine for 10 months, very reliable.

I'm wondering if a Windows 10 update is causing the problem. I go to great lengths to prevent updates, but one slipped through that caused X10 Commander to disappear from the sys tray when I minimized it. I backed the update out and it was fine although Windows indicated "not all of the update was removed."

I'm running your software on a dedicated COOFUN mini computer. Wish I could run Windows 7 on it, might solve the problem.

Russ

@karnold69, thank you for that info. That narrows it down.

The message from Alexa to the TRIGGERcmd server seems to be working fine, and the message from the TRIGGERcmd server to the agent running on your computer seems to have worked too, because we're seeing the "Command ran" message come back from the agent.

I suggest for the next troubleshooting step, you could add a log to your script, assuming you're running a script to talk to your X10 devices. Would you mind sharing your script or command here?

Assuming it's a Windows batch script, you could add a line like this to your script to add a line to a log file each time the command runs:

echo "Script ran with param %1" >> c:\scripts\x10_log.txt

Does it run fine if you run it manually from a Windows cmd prompt?

karnold69

@Russ
Been busy testing and trying things. Thanks for the logging script. Here is a bat file script:
if "%1"=="on" curl http://127.0.0.1:8086/?x10command=DEVICE~sendplc~%"K12% on%"
if "%1"=="off" curl http://127.0.0.1:8086/?x10command=DEVICE~sendplc~%"K12% off%"
echo "Study light script ran with param %1" >> c:\scripts\x10_log.txt

Like all of my scripts, they're a cut and paste from your forum with the name, house code and unit codes changed. I had the same results (intermittent) running it from a command prompt. But the script log showed me your end is working 100%. Problem is on my end. Started after a Win 10 update.

Also tested the phase coupler I installed in the breaker box. It's working fine.

On a whim, I reformatted the SSD in the COOFUN mini computer as GUID instead of MBR and restored with Acronis. Now I'm getting about 95% reliability. May do it again with an older backup and keep a closer eye on updates. I disable all the related services and tasks with a utility called execTI (execute trusted installer). Also added registry entries for NoAutoUpdate.

If I can't get back to 99.9% reliability I'm going to switch to my other computer I have registered with TRIGGERcmd. It's running Windows 7 64-bit. It's in use as a Plex server so I wanted to keep the X10 stuff on a dedicated computer.

BTW, talked to the X10 company about the new hub they're working on. They were turned down by Amazon to interface it with Alexa! And yet you were able to get approved! Nice!

Thanks again for your help.

Ken

Russ

@karnold69, thanks for this info. I'm glad you've got it narrowed down. If you figure out the specific cause I'll be curious.

tuicemen

@karnold69 Windows updates in particular Driver updates are a issue for X10 If driver updating is not disabled. Windows will install the newest X10 driver which is not compatible with the USB driver for AHPSDK.exe that x10 commander uses. The fix for this is to reinstall the x10 driver found on your PC If I remember their in program files/common files/X10/drivers.

karnold69

@tuicemen Thanks!

karnold69

@Russ I restored to an older backup and uninstalled update KB5022282. It's working MUCH better. Although even though I deleted everything in the update folder Windows/SoftwareDistribution/Download, Windows installed 2 other updates when I rebooted to remove the update. Also, when I give a command from on echo dot and it doesn't work, then give the same command to another echo it works. Probably just from giving the command again as they all go to the same computer/CM15a. Things are working better (but not perfect) today.
If you know a way to prevent windows updates I'd appreciate the info. If not appropriate on this forum, I can be reached at ken@homewithwine.com.

tuicemen

@karnold69 I stopped using windows for my X10 control some time ago. But prior to that I know I had disabled windows driver updates and that solved issues with windows updates for me.
Another option is to use software for X10 that doesn't use X10WTI CM15A drivers.
Things that use Mochad or Mochad itself, or HomeGenie that has it's own drivers(which I use)