Interface Test OK, but RMIR cannot find remote

tranx · Post by **tranx** » Mon Jun 04, 2012 4:43 am

RMIR and associated files have all been re-installed and home-made plug replaced on the lead which worked before.

The old installation of RMIR still works ok on a desktop with the replacement plug and Vista.

Unfortunately with Win 7 RMIR cannot now see the Remote Atlas OCAP 1056BA1, and the upload/download buttons are greyed out/inactive, although the Interface Test Program reports that Atlas is connected.

More advice would be much appreciated

underquark · Post by **underquark** » Mon Jun 04, 2012 3:41 pm

Under Remote->Interface->JP1.x Serial, is COM6 selected?

tranx · Post by **tranx** » Mon Jun 04, 2012 4:55 pm

underquark wrote:Under Remote->Interface->JP1.x Serial, is COM6 selected?

I have RemoteMaster.v2.02Beta and, when it is opened in RMIR, in the tab Remote there is no 'interface' option, (see below) although I have seen it in previous installations, as you describe.

Thanks, this seems to suggest it did not get installed right but I just unpacked it from the download into a Folder on desktop, disabled UAC, clicked on setup.vbs, activated UAC again, and set the paths for Maps and RdfS, twice

(If it is opened in RM, the Options tab only has Options> Remote> All/Preferred/choose preferred.)

When I plug in the FTDI interface lead, there appears in device manager an item Ports> USB Serial Port which is said to be working normally and an FTDI driver is said to be up to date.

Unfortunately, before I read your reply, I tried disabling and uninstalling the USB as well and although it seemed to reinstall successfully when the lead was reconnected, Interface Test Program now says 'No Jp1 2/3 interface detected!' (the lead does still get seen on another PC)

I guess I may have done too much reinstalling of the program too, but have tried to clean registry in between

tranx · Post by **tranx** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 5:39 am

Anyway thanks for looking...

If I remember rightly there were problems from the start but all along I have assumed others could get Win7 working ok so kept on trying. Having said all that perhaps it is just me, but I have to admit I don't normally run into such trouble

Because I found things so tricky with Win7 I would recommend that as a rank beginner, before trying to use JP1 programs, you do Control Panel> Recovery> Advanced and save an image of the current state to a Hard drive, in case things do not go so well

I am not clear what it means for it still to be in beta? but just in case, the essential probs started off as
1. To get the vbs setup to work in Win7 64bit:- get the UAC panel up and changing the setting to minimum before restarting to change the setting, before clicking setup.vbs to set up the shortcuts, one for RMIR and one for RM. Then restore UAC to medium and restart again.

unsolved
2. Where best to unpack the RDF files? Readme says something like 'do NOT place it in the same directory as RM, but what happens if you unpack it in the wrong place?

3. At first, even when other things like upload/download seemed to be working: in RMIR/RM, why could edits of various changes (inconstently) fail to be transcribed between various tab pages, or fail to 'stick' when returning to a particular tab?

Regards
Chris

tranx · Post by **tranx** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 11:56 am

Having failed to make any progress with this I have just completely restored the laptop from an earlier Windows image and have had another go with that.

So far, when the FTDI lead with home made plug is inserted, the USB serial converter and USB serial port (Com3) were installed automatically by Windows, but the Interface Test program now cannot run because of 'incompatibilty with 64 bit Windows'!

After carrying out all the instructions in the readme, the problem with getting the program RMIR to work remains, see the greyed out 'download' 'upload' and 'WAV' options, with no 'interface' option under the Remote Tab.

With the remote connected by the cable, Clicking RAW download, the download, = 'No Remotes Found!'

Device Manager> Ports> USB serial Port Com 3 = 'this port is working properly'

All as above, except that the Interface Test program is now said to be incompatible with Win 64bit - maybe the RMIR is too?

Any suggestions would be appreciated

3FG · Post by **3FG** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 1:54 pm

On the RMIR Help about screen, notice that DecodeIR.dll is listed as unavailable. Although RMIR doesn't show it as an error, there should also be a section listing three Interfaces, including an entry for JP1.X Serial version 0.18. Since RMIR can't find JP12Serial.dll, it can't open communication with a serial cable.

These DLLs belong in a subdirectory named Windows which should be in the same folder as the RemoteMaster.jar file.

I have a Windows 7 64 bit computer, and RMIR works fine.

tranx · Post by **tranx** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 4:01 pm

Good to hear that Win7 64 should work ok.

Thanks for pointing out the 'DecodeIR not available' in the help>about. I saw it but did not know what it could mean.

Unfortunately the dlls seem to be where they should be. The dlls including DecodeIR, have a similar file appearance to the .jar file but presumably Java can't work with it for some reason?

I have been looking through your comments in the post at http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/viewt ... p?p=102773 and checked the wiring accordingly. The yellow wire was hanging by a thread and resoldered the connection.

It is all too easy to plug it in wrong way or off to one side, and have tried batteries out of remote and pressing buttons to discharge capacitors, but that may not affect 'DecodeIR not available'...

I was able, only once, to download the Atlas image into RMIR with that cable on windows XP, which does not show Decode NA but guess it does not help that there seems to be an intermittent other problem with XP as well.

3FG · Post by **3FG** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 8:16 pm

I would try starting RMIR by clicking on RemoteMaster.jar. I think that should find the Windows subdirectory.

Post by **vickyg2003** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 6:41 am

tranx wrote: It is all too easy to plug it in wrong way or off to one side, and have tried batteries out of remote and pressing buttons to discharge capacitors, but that may not affect 'DecodeIR not available'...

About 4 years in, one of the experts told me to mark pin 1 on my cables (I have a lot of cables for this hobby) and that has made a huge difference in my daily success rate.

Another thing I noticed is that you installed RMIR in the Program Files directory. I tend to avoid doing that with any JP1 tools I use, because some of them are not fully Windows compliant and violate the standards that have been enforced since Vista.... You get into all of that "private stores" nonsense that can make a reinstall a nightmare....

Good Luck

3FG · Post by **3FG** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 10:15 am

Vicky,
I hadn't noticed that. The 64 bit Win7 computer I use has RMIR installed in C:\Remotes, and not in Program Files, so I'm inclined to agree that Chris should try installing in a different directory.

tranx · Post by **tranx** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 6:55 am

Thanks Vicky and 3FG. I tried clicking RMjar, a different directory, and have marked pin1, but still no go.

I appreciate the helpful reception on this forum! but am ready to throw in the towel. At least I have discovered URC 7950 and especially RCA RCRP05B, which is pretty good even without JP1 programming via interface. Not so impressed with the Atlas 1056 because of the narrower angle IR transmitters (perhaps a bit shrouded by the casing) and rather wooden buttons.

RCRP05 has plenty of buttons and good layout and feel especially with this 'observations' thread to supplement the manual which is wrong:- http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=11480

If T.Tyler should start making the interface leads again I would have another go.

All the best
Chris

Dilligaf · Post by **Dilligaf** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 7:53 am

Don't know if it will work but try copying the .dll files to windows/system or windows/system32 and see if RMIR finds them then, or you could add the .dll directory to your path right click My computer/properties/advanced system settings/Environment Variables.

Mike

tranx · Post by **tranx** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 11:53 am

Dilligaf wrote:Don't know if it will work but try copying the .dll files to windows/system or windows/system32 and see if RMIR finds them then, or you could add the .dll directory to your path right click My computer/properties/advanced system settings/Environment Variables.

Mike

Thanks Dilligaf, I have given up for now but your suggestions may help someone else.
Regards
Chris

Post by **The Robman** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 12:27 pm

Just out of curiosity, have you tried downloading from the remote using IR.exe ?

tranx · Post by **tranx** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 6:15 pm

The Robman wrote:Just out of curiosity, have you tried downloading from the remote using IR.exe ?

I don't have all the bits in place now but from memory it was as above. i.e. the download/upload buttons were greyed out and unavailable in IR.

In summary I had no joy at all with the diygadget lead but got things working with the FTDI one with home made plug, however I felt it was not working properly. After a while the plug itself seems to have failed but a replacement only connected for a brief spell, while the software itself seemed to become problematic for the first time as well - strange that it had been relatively ok before.

Regards
Chris