Need help with my CP290

No drivers for the cp290 - it used simple serial comm (send a string, 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 soluti> I'm new to the group and really need some help. I've used my CP290 for

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.

All,

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.

Aga>

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

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.

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

| 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

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:

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

replying to Carl, SDSMITH wrote: 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

Did you try to use the Virtual Machine (XP) under Windows 7?

Carl

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