C-Gate COM1 Connection Problem

[ghostve]

Short question on C-Gate. I have been contracted by a company to develop
a custom application for C-Gate. They gave me a copy of the c-bus and c-gate software , so that I can work from home. I read that a c-gate which does not have a proper license key, can support one network. They gave me
a simple c-bus device (dimmer, switch, power supply and serial PC interface).
I am trying to connect with the c-gate console version to com1, and it fails (by the way the c-bus reads the local network properly). Is this issue related to the hardware lock or should I look for problems in other areas (config file, access file, network file ?). Any help on the above matter will be appreciated.

[znelbok]

Have you setup the networks.txt (? correct me if I have the name wrong - but its close to that anyway) file correctly. This is a file in the c-gate directory

Read the manual again re this file as it is this file that tells c-gate how to communicate to the c-bus network (using either a serial interface, network interface or socket connection)

Obviously you cant have multiple programs using the same serial port at the same time

[Colin Smith]

I had similar issue when playing with HomeGate. I was given to understand that I could make a connection with the free version that would last for a limited time (Minutes). But I could not get it to function! It would load the database and tell me everything was fine but nothing worked.

From reading the manual I think you will find that a licensed version can see "all" of the networks that are connected for about a minute or so after start-up and then will limit itself to the network it is currently connected to unless it is a multiple network license.

I think the free versions enable you to make all of the connections but not actually control anything. Why would anyone buy a version if you could download it for free.

Colin Smith.

[MikeW]

The free version of C-Gate will connect with full functionality to a C-Bus system but only for 1 network. If C-Gate is communicating fine you will see the image being networked in when you start up C-Gate. To see all of the imaging you will need to set the global-event-level=9 in the C-Gate/Config/C-GateConfig file. Depending on the size of your network C-Gate will be busy imaging for a minute or so.

When C-Gate has finished imaging in then you should be able to connect Homegate/Schedule Plus to C-Gate.

Note: In the C-Gate Networks.txt file actual network number needs to be set (i.e. 254 Com 1 or 254 CNI 10.176.240.241:14000 depending on weather you are using Com 1 of a CNI.) In Homegate/Schedule Plus you need to set the C-Bus project first then connect to C-Bus.

Once Homegate/Schedule Plus is connected to C-Bus you can add in a C-Bus button assign the correct group address, network and application and this button will control your C-Bus network.

[ghostve]

Thanks for all the replies. Some clarification points :
1) My networks.txt file is 254 serial COM1
2) the C-Bus project is setup and uploaded to the devices (c-bus can read from COM1)
3) C-Gate opens all interfaces (Command, Event,...) except it can not open
the COM connection. It brings an error 911 Can't open C-Bus interface : COM1
4) When I try to connect to COM1 with C-Gate, the c-bus software is not running (so the COM is not occupied)
5) It is not a problem of actually connecting to the COM and not reading the network, or loosing connection after a while. C-Gate simply refuses to connect to the serial port. I have played with various config parameters, but nothing. Thats why I was wondering, whether the fact that C-Gate does not find the license file, may be the cause of the problem

[Frank Mc Alinden]

Hi Ghostve
One of the guys on the xPL List had a similiar problem and apparently when loading the cgate software he didnt let it install the java stuff as he already had it , the fix was to reinstall the cgate software and let the software install the java stuff and all was ok.......

HTH
Frank

[ghostve]

I have performed a full installation, including the Java runtime environment.
The only thing left to try, is to install the latest patch from clipsal, to see if
that works. Thanks anyway...

[ghostve]

The patch of C-Gate 1.5.3 (Build 1103) solved the problem, everything is
working ok. Just for informational purposes the version that had the problem was 1.5 build 1014. My thanks to everyone that replied.