Erasing all Insteon Devices from Elk

[aehusted]

OK, I finally got a couple devices to link to the Elk M1G via the serial expander. I figured out via trial and error that my powerlinc has the newer firmware and that the XSP light does not flash like it should (according to the manual) when it is in linking mode.
So now that I have done a couple successfully, I would like to erase everything and start from scratch. The problem is that the procedure for doing this that is in the manual (power down, switch jumper, wait 5 sec, switch jumper back, power up) does not work for me. Is there some other way to clear all the Insteon entries in the powerlinc/xsp/m1g?
Thanks

 

[bmil]

If you have PowerHome (30 day free trial available), you can not only easily clear out all the links in your PLC but it also has a utility to easily load, modify or clear out all the Insteon device entries in the M1XSP without going through the painfull XSP manual linking process...

 

[aehusted]

This looks like a real time saver, but is the null modem serial connection the only way to use this software? I don't have a computer with a serial port.

 

[MikeB]

I don't have a computer with a serial port.

Consider picking up an inexpensive USB > Serial converter.

 

[aehusted]

Consider picking up an inexpensive USB > Serial converter.

Nuts.
Since the "PC" I am running is just a virtual windoze machine on my Mac, getting the adapter to work might be a bit of a stretch. I may just have to find a loaner PC for this job.

 

[aehusted]

Well I got my wife's old Win2K laptop running and installed the free elkinsteon software, but I am unable to get connected to the XSP. I have it connected straight to the computer with the null modem cable, but I get an error when I try to link to it with the utility. The error seems to be a serial communication problem of some sort that crashes the application. I am not a windoze guy so managing com ports is foreign to me. Can someone give me a for-PC-dummies explanation of how to get this connection working?
Thanks!

 

[aehusted]

Can someone give me a for-PC-dummies explanation of how to get this connection working?

OK, I was able to figure out that the reason the COM port was not responding was that the Palm HotSync software was still installed. After removing Palm, things seem to be working fine.

 

[opie]

Did you power up the ELK after switching the jumper? The instructions aren't very clear about that.

Try:

Power Down
Switch Jumper
Power Up for 5 Sec
Power Down
Put Jumper Back
Power Up

You should have a clean M1XSP at this point.

Hope this helps.

 

[aehusted]

You're right, it is not very clear. I am pretty sure I tried doing it the way you describe, but to no avail.
I got the powerhome utility working, so I hopefully won't need to use this trick.

Did you power up the ELK after switching the jumper? The instructions aren't very clear about that.

Try:

Power Down
Switch Jumper
Power Up for 5 Sec
Power Down
Put Jumper Back
Power Up

You should have a clean M1XSP at this point.

Hope this helps.

 

[aehusted]

Thanks for all the help. After using the powerhome utility it seems to be working fine.
Now I just have to solve my phantom light problem.