Posts made by newstuffoldstuff

@russ Had to create a shortcut, then give it elevated status and run the .lnk file from Triggercmd. Unfortunately also had to set user account control to its lowest level to avoid the prompt, “do you want to allow this program to make changes to your computer.”

@tuicemen For anyone still interested, the problem was the x10nets.exe service hanging at random. I never did find a version of x10nets.exe that didn't, so my convoluted workaround is to include a taskkill command at the beginning of each batch file that kills the service. It automatically restarts with a new process ID upon receiving the next command from the dll. This has a number of drawbacks, including requiring elevated status for the batch file and slowing the entire process slightly. Oh well. It works for now.

@newstuffoldstuff As I look at the installer more closely, the version of ActiveHome Pro I installed WAS 318, but apparently the x10net.dll that came with that version was 313. So I seem to be as up to date as I can get. There's not much else running on the machine where x10net.dll hangs, so I wonder whether it would be worth trying different compatibility modes again.

@tuicemen Didn't take long. This one hangs too. It's strange because it will be working and then a couple of hours later, after nothing else has taken place on the server, it's not working.

@tuicemen If you happen to come across a place to download it, I'll try it. Thanks.

@tuicemen Ok...found ActiveHome Pro installer and am now running v3.0.0.313 of x10net.dll. We'll see how that goes.

@tuicemen I've been doing that. I got it from the SDK installer, but it's clearly the earliest version. Have been looking for a newer one. Lots of dead links out there. I'll keep looking.

@tuicemen Well, damn. Same behavior with the dll as with the exe. Works for a while and then doesn't. The x10nets service hangs and can't be restarted, disabled or anything else. Only remedy is to reboot. Now I'm stuck again.

@tuicemen You read my mind. Clunky is ok for starters, but it’s not elegant enough.

Thanks, guys, for your indulgence. I now have a batch file running that can run either IE or Edge and will execute the Javascript code using ahscript.dll and then kill the browser task. It seems clunky, but it works. Hopefully it will continue working for longer than the simpler ahcmd.exe. Time will tell. I appreciate your help.

@tuicemen Ok...some progress. Got the Javascript to work using ahscript.dll, but only in Internet Explorer. Now the question is how to get it to execute that way in a bat file. (Is there a command line version of "Open with"?

@tuicemen I've tried creating an ActiveX object as shown in the Javascript examples, but nothing happens when I try to execute it. I suspect the object creation fails. I've read some posts saying the .dll won't work on 64-bit Windows 10, so maybe that's the problem. I read elsewhere that someone got a command to execute once, but then had to restart the x10nets service. When my system fails next (which it certainly will within the next few hours), I'll have to see whether restarting that service brings it back (rather than rebooting). In anticipation of that, I tried adding a line in my batch file to stop the service after the x10 command, but that didn't work because it requires admin privilege. Thwarted at every turn!

@russ Thanks. I tried the start option before settling on my current bat file. It didn't work at all. I've read, too, that ahcmd was never meant for production, but that still wouldn't explain why it works sometimes but not others. My needs are simple, but obviously, not a lot of current work is taking place on integrations with legacy x10 products.

@tuicemen Thank you! That's the kind of experience I'm looking for. Do you know of any documentation for the dll? I've been looking, but the examples I've found haven't been very transparent. Meanwhile, I'll try moving the program out of the Program Files (x86) folder.

@russ I'm probably missing something, but I'm not sure how using Sendkeys would change the situation. It's clearly an issue with ahcmd.exe. If there's an alternative to using that for programmatically controlling the x10 firecracker device, that would be helpful. Based on my research, ahcmd.exe is known to be buggy, and of course, it's old.

@russ Here's the contents of one of my .bat files. When it works, it works well. Just doesn't work for more than one day, sometimes less.

cd "C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\X10\Common"
ahcmd.exe sendrf "A8 On"

This isn't a Triggercmd problem, but I'm hoping you'll indulge me because I see there are a number of ahcmd users here and I'm having a problem with it. Specifically, it works for a while after I reboot the Windows 10 server I'm running it on. Then it stops working. The only way I've found to get it to work again is to reboot the computer. I've looked for any unusual tasks, but haven't found any. I've tried running it in various compatibility modes. Nothing.

Instead of flashing the DOS window quickly and finishing, the DOS window comes up, stays up and hangs on the ahcmd command. I can ctrl-C out of there, but same thing time after time until a reboot.

Without a fix for this, my hope of voice control for my old x10 stuff is fading. When it works, it's great, including with Triggercmd.

If anyone has any suggestions, I'd appreciate hearing them.