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Error Messages

Thinking Home is expressly designed to provide you with the most helpful information possible so that you can get things connected and working as easily as possible.

Error messages may be displayed in the Installed Hardware window and in the Log window. Most messages are related to communications with the controller, such as the controller not being plugged in or a serial port not being selected. The most common messages are described here.

The communications port is restored.

This is the good news. When Thinking Home determines that things are working again, it says so. That troubleshooting is over.

The reason that a port can be restored all on its own is that a controller or its USB serial adaptor was just plugged in, or became connected. “Became connected” may seem a little confusing, but it’s not unusual that a USB hub will fail intermittently or have too much power load and ignore a serial adaptor. It may bring it back online later.

On the good side, Thinking Home is watching for such things and will show you that the controller or serial port is gone or restored.

The communication port is missing.

There are several reasons why a port may be missing:

  • A Mac OS X upgrade disabled the USB serial driver. This is, by far, the most common reason that serial ports go away. Reinstalling the manufacturer’s (e.g. Keyspan, iogear, etc.) driver resolves the problem.
  • The USB serial adaptor is unplugged, making its port disappear.
  • The USB serial adaptor was plugged into a different location. Some USB software assigns a port name according to where it is plugged in. For example, if you plug your serial adaptor into the keyboard, it may result in one port name; then, when you plug it into the Mac directly, you get a different serial port name.
  • A USB hub, even a keyboard, may be asked for too much power, depending what is plugged into it. If so, it may be unable to provide reliable access to the USB things depending on it.
  • Information was imported from another computer that uses different names for the serial ports.

In any case, the Controller Info window will show you which ports are currently available and you can select the serial port there.

The controller is not connected.

The USB controller is not plugged in or the hub it uses is not plugged into the Mac. When you plug it in and Thinking Home is running, a picture of the controller will be shown briefly on the Mac display and a “plug-in sound” will be heard. There is a similar notification when it is unplugged.

There was a communications failure.

Although the serial port is working fine, the conversation with the hardware didn’t go well. Some controllers can, quite simply, become confused. It is widely believed, for example, that an ActiveHome (CM-11A) controller will get confused if it is left with the serial cable connected, but not plugged into the Mac (or serial adaptor).

Often, a second attempt will clear it up. In more extreme cases, it may be necessary to unplug the controller from the AC power, remove the batteries for 15 minutes (sic) and then put it all back together.

The controller failed to respond.

Although the serial port is working fine, the controller did not reply at all. One reason this can happen is that the selected serial port is working, but is not the correct one, i.e. not the port that the controller is actually plugged into. If you have multiple USB serial ports, it’s worth double-checking connections.

Classic has the controller.

When Classic (MacOS 9 within Mac OS X) is running, it automatically takes possession of certain USB hardware not already in use. If a Mac OS X application then tries to use it, the request will be denied. Classic will respond by making it available a few seconds later. A subsequent attempt by Thinking Home to use the port should then succeed.

If Classic is interfering with your USB hardware, you may want to turn off Classic.

The communication port is temporarily unavailable.

Sometimes, an overloaded USB hub will cause a USB serial adaptor to be temporarily unavailable. You may want to try plugging your adaptor into a different location. If you do, also consider whether the new location resulted in a new name for the serial port.

The communication port failed to open.

This can be caused by another application using the serial port, or by an outdated serial driver.