CRAPS OUT!?

Hey Matt,

Hope all is well. What can I do?! My client has called me about 4 times over the past month that after a seeming lightning storm or voltage surge/spike, INDIGO just freezes up/dies. I've walked him through disconnecting and reconnecting all of the harware and rebooting the computer and this gets us back online. Any way to avoid/prevent this? Customer (and me) are losing patience!

Thanks in advance,
Adam
ADAM Builders

[matt (support)]

Hi Adam,

What exactly is the state of Indigo and the computer when this happens? Is Indigo running but you cannot perform actions (select menus, push buttons in windows, etc.)? Does Indigo crash and the system says it has unexpectedly quit? Is the entire computer frozen (cannot do anything but a hard reset of the computer)? Is everything okay except the connection with the interface has dropped or is not working?

Without know exactly what has happened, it is hard to offer a solution. An inexpensive UPS (uninterruptible power supply) running the computer itself might do the trick. A UPS that only powers the computer for a few minutes is inexpensive, and that might be all you need. Be sure you do not plug the interface (PowerLinc USB, CM11, etc.) into the UPS or the X10 signals won't be able to get onto the power line. Just plug the computer into it UPS.

Lastly, is the PowerLinc (or Keyspan adapter if using the CM11) plugged into the computer or a USB hub? USB hubs are notorious for dropping connections on brief brown-outs that don't cause the computer to shut down. Either plugging the PowerLinc directly into the computer or plugging the hub into a UPS will help this.

In general, a UPS on the computer used to run Indigo is a good idea.

Regards,
Matt