Need help with my CP290
Carl
years and love it. I've tried the other controllers and always went back to
the CP290.
My computers have always recognized the unit and I never remember having to
install any drivers. But over the weekend my PC crashed and I had to
restore it to like new out of the box. When I tried to use the CP290 I
can't get any communications between the serial port and the unit. It used
to work on Com 4. When I look at the Hardware Profile it indicates a big
yellow question mark.
Upon boot-up the PC finds new hardware and asks for drivers. But I have
none and have searched the web all weekend to no avail.
Does anyone out there have Drivers for an XP Windows based PC.
(Interestingly enough I've already got a driver disk for the Macintosh which
came with one I bought as a back up if my original ever gives up the ghost)
Please help, I can't give up my CP290 without a fight!
Carl
AZ Woody
get a string). IIRC, it was at 600 baud...
You're using the exact same HW as before the crash? (I mean the
computer). Some of the new serial ports don't like this "slow speed".
Also, COM4 is an interesting thing. In days gone by, the definition of
com3 and above was not always standard.
Does your BIOS see all the comm ports? (you may need to muck with the
port address/irq at that level).
Also, I seem to recall that there was a way to say "com4 is at port 3f8
IRQ 3" from within windows... Something I've not used in a
longggggggggggg time.
One thing to try is to connect a modem to your com4, and use term or
hypertem to see if you can talk to it. That's a way to insure that all
is set up bios and windows wise...
Anyway, no solution here, but maybe a couple things that might spark
some other thoughts!
Charles Sullivan
Most older PCs came equipped with only two COM ports. If yours
has four you probably have an add-on serial card installed,
and supplied with the card when you bought it would have been a
floppy or CD with the drivers for it.
If such is the case, try to determine the card manufacturer and
contact them for the drivers. Or at least record the information
stamped on the various chips on the board and it may be possible
to locate generic drivers for those chips.
Carl
Thanks for your input. I took a snow day today and made it my mission to
figure this out.
As it happens when the PC rebuilt itself either it didn't install the
drivers for the Serial Card or they were wrong. Regardless, I unstalled the
card, removed and re-inserted it and got the Drivers from SIIG.com and
reinstalled it.
So far so good. I'm sending commands via the CP290 again, so unless
something else goes wrong, I'm good.
Again, thanks! I love my X-10 toys and don't know how I'd give them up.
Carl
"Charles Sullivan" <cwsu...@triad.rr.com> wrote in message
news:pan.2007.02.13....@triad.rr.com...
Charles
> ...over the weekend my PC crashed and I had to
> restore it to like new out of the box. When I tried to use the CP290 I
> can't get any communications between the serial port and the unit. It used
> to work on Com 4.
> I'm sending commands via the CP290 again, so unless
> something else goes wrong, I'm good.
I'm glad to hear that your CP290 is on the air again. At some point you might
want to do some preventive maintenance by replacing the electrolytic capacitors
in that unit. My CP290 is 1985 vintage and I had to change the capacitors back
in 2001. Check the date code on the capacitor labels. There are six to change
and they're not expensive. I think all are radial, 85 degree C units.
Designator/Capacity (mfd)/Voltage (vdc)
C3/100/25
C4/1,000/25
C5/220/25
C7/100/10
C6/100/10
C15/1/50
--
Chuck
Robert Green
<stuff snipped>
> > My computers have always recognized the unit and I never remember having
to
> > install any drivers. But over the weekend my PC crashed and I had to
> > restore it to like new out of the box. When I tried to use the CP290 I
> > can't get any communications between the serial port and the unit. It
used
> > to work on Com 4. When I look at the Hardware Profile it indicates a
big
> > yellow question mark.
<stuff snipped>
> > Carl
> Most older PCs came equipped with only two COM ports. If yours
> has four you probably have an add-on serial card installed,
> and supplied with the card when you bought it would have been a
> floppy or CD with the drivers for it.
Good call! But I thought that the CP290 had serious timing issues outside
of the DOS environment in which it was born? Am I misremembering something?
--
Bobby G.
Charles Sullivan
The problem would be with the software, not the CP290 hardware,
and I don't believe Carl mentioned what software he is using.
There is other Windows software available for the CP290 beyond
what X-10 supplied.
The CP290 "Lighthouse" software quit working for me when I moved
from Win 3.1 to Win 98, but by then I had switched to a CM11A.
(I haven't tried it under Win XP - who knows!)
Regards,
Charles Sullivan
Dan Lanciani
| Good call! But I thought that the CP290 had serious timing issues outside
| of the DOS environment in which it was born? Am I misremembering something?
The CP290's supposed timing issues are frequently mentioned, but I've used
one with a variety of unix systems without problem. (I've never actually
used one with DOS. :) I have to think that at least the faster Sun system
can send back-to-back bytes over the serial port (and I've never added a
delay) so that can't be the problem. The CP290 does generate a response
to each command and you have to wait until that is done before sending an
additional command. I think some software ignores the response and uses
busy-loop delays instead; that may be the source of the rumors.
Dan Lanciani
ddl@danlan.*com
Robert Green
news:133...@news1.IPSWITCHS.CMM...
I've been Googling and there seem to be at least a few reports about the
timing loop issues. How credible they are is not known, but I assume these
people were hitting some sort of wall when they posted:
http://groups.google.com/groups/search?q=x-10+cp290+timing+loops
Timing loops plagued a number of programs that never expected to be running
on anything faster than an XT. IIRC, (and I often don't) lots of games
wouldn't pause long enough for input in certain situations.
I have two CP290's that I use just as stand-alone controllers because the
buttons are nice and big, unlike other X-10 devices. I may just have to see
if I can resurrect one - if I can find any free or cheap software for it,
that is. I don't see any listed on Ebay. Maybe they're worth something
since they're becoming scarce.
--
Bobby G.
Robert Green
<stuff snipped>
>> Good call! But I thought that the CP290 had serious timing issues
outside
> > of the DOS environment in which it was born? Am I misremembering
something?
>
> The problem would be with the software, not the CP290 hardware,
> and I don't believe Carl mentioned what software he is using.
> There is other Windows software available for the CP290 beyond
> what X-10 supplied.
>
> The CP290 "Lighthouse" software quit working for me when I moved
> from Win 3.1 to Win 98, but by then I had switched to a CM11A.
> (I haven't tried it under Win XP - who knows!)
Well, now we have at least *one* credible report of problems. (-:
It would be quite surprising if Lighthouse worked in XP but not Win98 but
stranger things have happened! If Carl's still reading I hope he tells us
what software and version he's using to control the CP290. If the posts
that I referenced in my reply to Dan are to be believe, even X-10 was
telling people the CP290 wouldn't run on anything faster than a 100 MHz
Pentium.
--
Bobby G.
Jeff Volp
news:c8SdnduFdckapEnY...@rcn.net...
> Timing loops plagued a number of programs that never expected to be
> running
> on anything faster than an XT. IIRC, (and I often don't) lots of games
> wouldn't pause long enough for input in certain situations.
I keep an old Epson Equity XT clone around for a PROM programmer with timing
loops so I can support automation equipment I designed over 2 decades ago.
It has a 20MB harddrive that still worked the last time I fired it up.
Jeff
Robert Green
news:jN_Ah.52774$2m6....@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
Was that the unit JDR Microdevices was selling? They sent around a frequent
color flyer of clone PC parts. Some people bought their PROM burner for
cloning genuine IBM PC BIOS chips into cheaper clones. :-) I got mine to be
able to insert custom text strings at bootup. I recall it hardly being
worth the effort but an interesting experience for a non-electronics kind of
guy. The board is still attached to the card which is wrapped up in ribbon
cable attached to a 24/28 pin ZIF socket somewhere in the basement. I
recall it to be rudimentary but pretty effective considering its cost. I
probably should see if it has any residual value on Ebay. I imagine the
world's moved on considerably but I see old Intellimouse Trackballs selling
for more than they did new ten years ago, so who knows what sells on Ebay?
I've found that many of my older hard drives are beginning to show signs of
impending doom. A 6GB Fujitsu laptop drive is emitting clicks of death and
no amount of gyroscopic "push" starting seems able to revive it. I've
ghosted them all to CD because it's so easy to pick up a replacement for
nearly everything I depend upon on Ebay. Good luck with your Equity. I'm
counting on a significant number of DOS and Windows 98 machines still
running intermittently, but happily, at least thirty years from now. Once
an older PC had burned in for a while, not much stopped it except a clogged
power supply fan or some leaky caps, both of which even a solder-challenged
guy like me could fix.
I can truly empathize with Don's unwillingness to jump to Voice over the
Internet. On something I use every day, be it a voice recorder, a cell
phone, a PC operating system or my alarm controller, I've put a considerable
effort into learning how to operate it. On things with lots of buttons,
there's an incredible amount of reflexive "finger" memory that develops over
time. The best illustration I can think of is switch from a floor shift to
a steering column shift. If you've driven a stick for 25 years, odds are
you'll be reaching for that phantom floor gearshift lever for quite some
time after it's been gone!
--
Bobby G.
Jeff Volp
>
> Was that the unit JDR Microdevices was selling? They sent around a
> frequent
> color flyer of clone PC parts.
It's a MCT-EPROM programmer that probably came from JDR. I used it to burn
firmware into hundreds of 2K EPROMs. As I recall, it stopped working when I
upgraded to the Pentium 60.
There are a few of those old JDR and Jameco catalogs still packed away
somewhere...
Jeff
Robert Green
> "Robert Green" <ROBERT_G...@YAH00.COM> wrote in message
> news:r9qdnX7j5eROE0nY...@rcn.net...
> >
> > Was that the unit JDR Microdevices was selling? They sent around a
> > frequent
> > color flyer of clone PC parts.
>
> It's a MCT-EPROM programmer that probably came from JDR. I used it to
burn
> firmware into hundreds of 2K EPROMs. As I recall, it stopped working when
I
> upgraded to the Pentium 60.
Yep - that was the one. It was $100's cheaper than anything else on the
market, IIRC. I burned dozens, at least, without real problems. Even came
with a double-sided UV eraser for just a few dineros more.
> There are a few of those old JDR and Jameco catalogs still packed away
> somewhere...
I think I have some too. I know I saved the earliest PC Mags because it
would be such a hoot to see what 16K of RAM cost back then.
--
Bobby G.
Secur...@optonline.net
I currently have a CP290 controlled by X10WC (available on the
internet) running on a 900mhz P3 and a 2.8ghz P4. -- No problems.
As the CP290 only provides feedback for button presses on it (no
feedback from remote signals) timing for direct commands isn't really
critical.
As a side note -- I have the CP290 sitting on shelf in the basement
with it's serial port connected to the serial port of a Lantronix EPS1
printer server. With the Lantronix redirector software redirecting
com 3 on the two computers either computer can access it.
I've also written a few simple VB programs to open a TCP connection to
the EPS1 and send simple on/off commands.
SDSMITH
Well, I know this thread is now 11 years old, but I'm in the same situation as
Carl. I have a CP290 that I would still like to use, but have not found a way
to run it under Windows 7 32 bit.
I downloaded the program that Dave Hurus did (version 1.31), but no go. Any
other options beside setting up a standalone computer? I was able to get this
to run under Windows 2000 previously.
Thanks All
--Scott
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Art Todesco
wal...@intergate.com
I am using X10 with Win 7 32 bit with no problem. What I did was to
right click on the Lighthouse.exe file and select "troubleshoot
compatibility" I think I then selected XP mode and set my port to Com
1. I found out that Adobe printer was hogging Com 1 so I temporarily
set it(Adobe) to Com 2. set up X10 and everything worked!
good luck
Walt