Communication Error - RFXCOM Disappears

I am having a situation where it looks like my computer (MacMini with OS v10.6. appears to be losing communication with the RFXCOM device. It runs along just fine for a while (about an hour in this last instance). I have yet to check the USB cable itself but I did try plugging it into a different USB slot (directly on the computer) and it didn't solve the problem.

I'm positive that I'm not confusing the RFXCOM with my PLU as I see two different serial addresses and feel good about having selected the right one for the RF unit.

The one thing that does seem odd in the setup is that when I go to "Interfaces > Available Interfaces > X10 > Configure", when I click on the dropdown I see both a W800RF32 (my unit) and a MR26. (Note that I don't have another RF device on this computer - there might be one on my security system, it does have an RF device of some sort, and this laptop is connected via Cat5 cable to my alarm panel.) However, perhaps that MR26 selection in the dropdown is something that is native to Indigo - giving you a choice of which type of RF device you want to use. I'm potentially grasping at straws here.

Nonetheless - here is a screenshot from my log file. The entry at 10:31:53 shows the normal operation of the devices with the temperature reading. A short while later at 10:33:15 a communication error occurs. At that point things fall apart. There are a number of error messages.

The interesting thing is that if I reload the Plugin, it reconnects to the RFXCOM just fine and all is good. The restart log entries are also shown below.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Plugin Normal Operation
Oct 21, 2013 10:31:53 AM
RFXCOM Debug processing: 8 80 2 156 39 2 0 158 121 (08 50 02 9C 27 02 00 9E 79)
RFXCOM Debug Temp sensor 551 now 60.44 degrees and 0 humidity.
RFXCOM Debug Temp sensor 551 in list
RFXCOM Debug UpdateMinMax state temperature value 60.4
RFXCOM Debug check if new day: last date 2013/10/21, new date 2013/10/21
RFXCOM Debug UpdateMinMax state humidity value 0
RFXCOM Debug check if new day: last date 2013/10/21, new date 2013/10/21
RFXCOM Debug ++++++++++++++

Communication Lost and subsequent errors
Oct 21, 2013 10:33:15 AM
RFXCOM Error communication error occured
RFXCOM Debug Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/Library/Application Support/Perceptive Automation/Indigo 6/Plugins/RFXCOM.indigoPlugin/Contents/Server Plugin/RFXTRX.py", line 367, in readPacket
data = self.port.read()
File "/Library/Application Support/Perceptive Automation/Indigo 6/IndigoPluginHost.app/Contents/PlugIns/serial/serialposix.py", line 463, in read
raise SerialException('device reports readiness to read but returned no data (device disconnected?)')
SerialException: device reports readiness to read but returned no data (device disconnected?)

RFXCOM Debug getConfiguration start
RFXCOM Error "RFXCOM serial port" serial port open error: could not open port /dev/cu.usbserial-04WPINZS: [Errno 35] Resource temporarily unavailable: '/dev/cu.usbserial-04WPINZS'
RFXCOM Error the specified serial port is used by another interface or device
RFXCOM Error serial port could not be opened

Plugin Restart
Starting plugin "RFXCOM 1.3.6" (pid 1035)
Started plugin "RFXCOM 1.3.6"
RFXCOM Debug RFXCOM startup called
RFXCOM Debug startup called
RFXCOM Debug <<-- entering deviceStartComm: RF Temp - Back Yard - Channel 1 (1253221478 - Temperature)
RFXCOM Debug deviceStart called. Adding device RF Temp - Back Yard - Channel 1, type: Temperature
RFXCOM Debug Adding sensor 409.
RFXCOM Debug <<-- entering deviceStartComm: RF Temp - BBQ Grill (349566510 - Temperature)
RFXCOM Debug deviceStart called. Adding device RF Temp - BBQ Grill, type: Temperature
RFXCOM Debug Adding sensor 763.
RFXCOM Debug <<-- entering deviceStartComm: RF Temp - Front Yard - Channel 2 (927170662 - Temperature)
RFXCOM Debug deviceStart called. Adding device RF Temp - Front Yard - Channel 2, type: Temperature
RFXCOM Debug Adding sensor 551.
RFXCOM Debug <<-- entering deviceStartComm: RF Temp - Test - Channel 3 (105468736 - Temperature)
RFXCOM Debug deviceStart called. Adding device RF Temp - Test - Channel 3, type: Temperature
RFXCOM Debug Adding sensor 259.
RFXCOM Debug runConcurrentThread called
RFXCOM Debug startComm called
RFXCOM Debug getConfiguration start
RFXCOM initializing communication on port /dev/cu.usbserial-04WPINZS at speed 38400
RFXCOM Debug serial port opened
RFXCOM Debug send reset cmd: 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 (0D 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00)
RFXCOM Debug PIC INIT IS: none
RFXCOM Debug send init cmd: 13 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 (0D 00 00 01 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00)
RFXCOM Debug rcvd init reply: 13 1 0 1 2 82 67 0 0 32 1 1 0 0 (0D 01 00 01 02 52 43 00 00 20 01 01 00 00)
RFXCOM connected to RFXrec 433.92 MHz, firmware version 67
RFXCOM currently enabled receiver protocols: Oregon Scientific

Okay, I figured it out and thought I would post it here in order to save others the same problem.

It seems that in addition to specifying the usb interface through the RFXCOM plugin, I had also checked the box for X10 RF Interface in the "Available Interfaces" window under the Indigo > Interfaces menu item. Apparently this interface was trying to control the RFXCOM device along with the RFXCOM plugin. They didn't get along very well.

I figured it was something simple that as soon as I discovered it would fix things. Sure enough, it appears it has...

So, you're okay now?

How about those Oregon Scientific sensors you have and their sharing of the same channel? How's that working out. Inquiring minds are interested.

Yes, I got the problems I referenced above worked out. One little extra checked box had done me in...

Regarding multiple sensors on the same channel - after I got my earlier problems rectified last night I set up a second sensor on the same channel (channel 1) as an existing sensor. I got a couple of "undecoded packet errors" overnight, and I don't know what those were. Tonight I will set up a couple more units each sharing the other channels with existing units (channels 2, 3) and see how they do. Give me a couple of days and I will report back with what I see.

In the meantime I turned on the debug logging and watched the temperatures on the two units at every instance where it wrote to the log over a 10 minute span. Those two units would hold temperature regularly between subsequent readings (~30 seconds apart), but it's hard to tell if they were holding the same temperature any more often than the sensors that weren't sharing a channel. One might infer that if a sensor holds a temperature between subsequent readings that it was not able to update because it got stepped on by the other one. (But one might also infer that the temperature didn't really change...)

What I would really like to do is write the temperature values to a data file and be able to analyze the data a little more. I could set up a test where I have two units side-by-side, one on a shared channel and one not and compare their performance.

Any tips on how to write the data to a file so I can do some analysis?

Bear in mind that these are just informational readings for me at this point - I'm not controlling anything with them, so if they do step on each other a time or two it's not a problem for me. Sharing a channel would probably be a problem if the use is more critical (but using this kind of sensor on a critical use is not a good idea in general).

After a few more days of watching the temperature sensors with shared channels - they seem to be working fine.

I've got a couple of them controlling ceiling fans and I haven't experienced problems. They are probably "stepping" on each other occasionally as I do get some "undecoded packet received" errors - but I'm willing to tolerate that in this application. If the application were more significant I would try to use devices that didn't have to share channels.

At some point in the future I will try to make this more of a data driven analysis by actually logging the temperatures, etc. - but my Applescript skills don't support that yet.