Restarting the USB-IRT device, ideas?
Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2007 3:23 pm
Hi Y'all -
Got a bit of a thats-out-there situation with my HB.
I currently am using an USB extender over Cat5E cable so I can hook up the PC that runs the Housebot server to control my USB-IRT over the cat5E wiring. What I have is an USB-IRT in my living room that I would like to use to control my gear. And, it does work! I am able to get HB to control my stuff over this configuration with my cat5E wiring connecting the USB-IRT to my HB PC.
BUT... there is always a but, for some reason, USB-IRT doesn't really like being connected so far away from the PC after a while. I've got the extender cable plugged into a USB hub so that the USB-IRT receives power locally from the hub and data just flows through the extension cable and not power. After a while though, the Housebot PC acts as if the USB-IRT is no longer connected to the computer. To get the USB-IRT working again, I have to unplug and plug it back into the hub.
To try to fix this problem, I did try a different hub to no avail. I tried rewiring this particular cat5E cable for this USB connection, but no avail either. One thing I did come across was a utility program called "USB sniffer" (link here: http://www.pcausa.com/Utilities/UsbSnoop/default.htm).
One of the features the software has is to allow me to unplug and plug back in a USB device with the click of a button. It even comes with source code!
However, I'm not versed in Windows programming *at-all* let alone have the right compiler. I was thinking if I could (or someone) could compile a program that allows me to "replug" the USB-IRT (rather, the hub that's plugged into it) to restore functionality. It could be a command-line program and the user would provide it with an argument which is the USB device handle of the USB device needing to be "replugged".
However, for this scheme to work, I have to do the following:
(1) Detect that USB-IRT has stopped working - HB does throw out error messages when it attemps to communicate with an unresponsive USB-IRT, so maybe that could be monitored.
(2) Upon detecting USB-IRT failure, to invoke the above said program to "replug" the USB-IRT device.
(3) Quit and restart Housebot to reestablish and reconfigure the USB-IRT device.
Well, thoughts? I know its kind of a kludge but I don't have any better ideas and I'd really like to get my USB-IRT working because it is so much better than using those standalone "universal" remotes based on the way I set up my SW remote running on my Dell Axim to control my gear.
Thanks.....
Got a bit of a thats-out-there situation with my HB.
I currently am using an USB extender over Cat5E cable so I can hook up the PC that runs the Housebot server to control my USB-IRT over the cat5E wiring. What I have is an USB-IRT in my living room that I would like to use to control my gear. And, it does work! I am able to get HB to control my stuff over this configuration with my cat5E wiring connecting the USB-IRT to my HB PC.
BUT... there is always a but, for some reason, USB-IRT doesn't really like being connected so far away from the PC after a while. I've got the extender cable plugged into a USB hub so that the USB-IRT receives power locally from the hub and data just flows through the extension cable and not power. After a while though, the Housebot PC acts as if the USB-IRT is no longer connected to the computer. To get the USB-IRT working again, I have to unplug and plug it back into the hub.
To try to fix this problem, I did try a different hub to no avail. I tried rewiring this particular cat5E cable for this USB connection, but no avail either. One thing I did come across was a utility program called "USB sniffer" (link here: http://www.pcausa.com/Utilities/UsbSnoop/default.htm).
One of the features the software has is to allow me to unplug and plug back in a USB device with the click of a button. It even comes with source code!
However, I'm not versed in Windows programming *at-all* let alone have the right compiler. I was thinking if I could (or someone) could compile a program that allows me to "replug" the USB-IRT (rather, the hub that's plugged into it) to restore functionality. It could be a command-line program and the user would provide it with an argument which is the USB device handle of the USB device needing to be "replugged".
However, for this scheme to work, I have to do the following:
(1) Detect that USB-IRT has stopped working - HB does throw out error messages when it attemps to communicate with an unresponsive USB-IRT, so maybe that could be monitored.
(2) Upon detecting USB-IRT failure, to invoke the above said program to "replug" the USB-IRT device.
(3) Quit and restart Housebot to reestablish and reconfigure the USB-IRT device.
Well, thoughts? I know its kind of a kludge but I don't have any better ideas and I'd really like to get my USB-IRT working because it is so much better than using those standalone "universal" remotes based on the way I set up my SW remote running on my Dell Axim to control my gear.
Thanks.....