Comcast Remote and Yamaha RX-V373 Receiver

3FG · Post by **3FG** » Mon Jan 28, 2013 9:31 pm

RMIR did read the 30393039 signature from the remote--we know that because the AccessHD and Comcast are the two remotes which have that signature. Also, RMIR was able to find those two RDF files.

So I think we can be confident that RMIR can read your remote. Please look in the same directory as RemoteMaster.jar (the main RMIR directory) and look at the file rmaster.err. It will probably have an error message (along with a lot of normal log messages) which will help us understand the problem. It is probably best if you upload the rmaster.err file to the Diagnosis Area.

CaryK · Post by **CaryK** » Tue Jan 29, 2013 6:13 pm

3FG,

I just uploaded the rmaster.err file to the diagnostics area for your review. Here's the link ...

http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... e_id=11695

Btw, how do you open it to view the contents? Is it in a specific format or is it a text file?

Thanks!
Cary

3FG · Post by **3FG** » Tue Jan 29, 2013 6:35 pm

I'll have time to look at this later tonight. The file is a text file, so just about any editor will work. We're seeing null pointer exceptions, and the very odd message "Unable to find java executable". Also, although it read the signature, RMIR did fail to read the E2 area.

Please start RMIR, but before clicking "download from remote" click instead Help About, and check that DecodeIR.dll 2.44 is loaded. Then open rmaster.err, and check if any exceptions have been recorded. I want to understand if the null pointer problem occurs before or after starting the download.

Finally, instead of clicking Download, click Remote\Raw Download. If this succeeds, save and post the IR file. Then I can see if I can reproduce the problem while loadign your IR file.

CaryK · Post by **CaryK** » Tue Jan 29, 2013 10:23 pm

3FG,

Here's the 3039.ir file for my remote.

http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... e_id=11697

Hope this helps.

Thanks again!
Cary

3FG · Post by **3FG** » Tue Jan 29, 2013 10:26 pm

There's a couple of things to consider.
1) There is likely an issue with some aspect of the interaction between the Java JRE installation and RemoteMaster. RM is trying to open a separate Java session, but it can't find bin\Javaw.exe in the JRE directory. I don't know how to resolve this, but one possibility is that an environment variable for the JRE isn't set correctly, or perhaps Win 7 won't let a program in the X86 directory call a 64 bit program (if you installed Java as 64 bit, and thus in the x64 directory), or something.....

2) However, it appears that you may have added some extra step(s).
Just so we're working from a consistent set of actions, please start RMIR, attach the cable to the remote, and click Download. Then select the Comcast remote when that prompt comes up. If that doesn't work, I'd llike to see the rmaster.err file.

CaryK · Post by **CaryK** » Tue Jan 29, 2013 11:30 pm

3FG,

Here's the rmaster.err file again.

http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... e_id=11698

I started RMIR, attached the cable to the remote, clicked Download and then selected the Comcast Remote when prompted. The problem I keep having is that the lower portion of RMIR keeps saying "downloading ...". No codes appear in RMIR. It just seems to be stuck at that stage. I've let it run for several minutes but nothing happens. I don't know how long the download of codes should take. Is it almost instantaneous or does it take a long time?

Also, why is the dialog box for selecting the remote titled "Ambiguous Remote"?

As far as the Java portion goes, I downloaded the latest version for my system (Windows XP) which is v7. Should I uninstall Java and reinstall it again?

Thanks for all your help so far. It's really appreciated. Hope we can figure this out. I'm really looking forward to programming my remote if we can get to that stage.

3FG · Post by **3FG** » Wed Jan 30, 2013 12:14 am

OK, clicking directly on Download got rid of the exception, but RMIR still had a read error when trying to read the E2 image.

I don't know if it is OK to use version 7 of the JRE but I suppose it is. However, at the moment, you not using it, because you're running the Excelsior Jet version of RM. While I'm not sure, I think it is not practical to run the Excelsior version (even though we are still distributing it) with 2.02 RMIR. One problem can be seen in your rmaster.err.

Code: Select all

RemoteMaster v2.02a
System Properties:
   java.version = 1.6.0_10
   java.vendor = Excelsior, LLC
   os.name = Windows XP
   os.arch = x86
   java.home = C:\Program Files\www.hifiremote.com\RemoteMaster\rt
   java.class.path = RemoteMaster.jar

Contrast that to e.g. my system:

Code: Select all

System Properties:
   java.version = 1.6.0_38
   java.vendor = Sun Microsystems Inc.
   os.name = Windows XP
   os.arch = x86
   java.home = C:\Program Files\Java\jre6
   java.class.path = C:\Remotes\2.02\RemoteMaster.jar

Sometimes RMIR needs to start a separate instance of Java, and it tries to start javaw.exe from java.home. In your case java.home is pointed at a subset of the JRE, local to your RMIR installation. I recommend that you remove all of RMIR and download instead the zip version, which runs directly using Java. I wouldn't replace the Java JRE.

Other questions: Downloading from a Comcast remote takes approximately 2 seconds once you have selected Comcast as the remote.

A few UEI remotes share signatures. For example the Radio Shack RS-133, 134, and 135 all have signature 30853085. The signature is the only way RMIR can recognize a remote, so it has to ask which one is being downloaded, because the remotes don't have the same number of buttons, even though the firmware is identical. The Comcast remote shares 30393039 with the AccessHD, and that's ambiguous to RMIR.

CaryK · Post by **CaryK** » Wed Jan 30, 2013 12:39 am

3FG,

I uninstalled the Excelsior version of RMIR and installed the Java based version ...

RemoteMaster v2.02a
System Properties:
java.version = 1.7.0_11
java.vendor = Oracle Corporation
os.name = Windows XP
os.arch = x86
java.home = C:\Program Files\Java\jre7
java.class.path = RemoteMaster.jar

But when I ran RMIR again, it was still stuck in the "downloading ... " mode. Do I need to Restart my PC after installation?

3FG · Post by **3FG** » Wed Jan 30, 2013 1:09 am

Well, we're going to need more info. It may help to see the actual serial traffic to and from the remote. Download Portmon http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysi ... s/bb896644 and try a Raw Download. Start RMIR, start PortMon, make sure that Options/ShowHex is set, use Capture/Ports /COM7 to select your port, and initiate a Raw Download. Use Edit Copy to get the resulting data into a file and post it here in the Diagnostics Section. It will help if in RMIR Remote\Interface\SerialJP1.x is selected rather than Auto-detect.

ETA: If Portmon doesn't show any COM ports, close all windows, open a command prompt and run Portmon from there. The you can start up RMIR.

CaryK · Post by **CaryK** » Wed Jan 30, 2013 11:03 am

3FG,

I downloaded PortMon and set Options/ShowHex but it wouldn't allow me to select ports in Capture/Ports. PortMon just indicated "PortMon - Not Connected" in the dialog title. I tried running it from the command prompt with all windows closed but Windows wouldn't even bring it up for me to use. Not sure why it wouldn't run in the command prompt.

3FG · Post by **3FG** » Wed Jan 30, 2013 12:41 pm

If it will run by clicking in Windows Explorer, then it will run from a command prompt. Please double check that the command window prompt is in the same directory as Portmon.exe. Also, what does the command window say when you ask to run Portmon?

CaryK · Post by **CaryK** » Wed Jan 30, 2013 1:17 pm

3FG wrote:If it will run by clicking in Windows Explorer, then it will run from a command prompt. Please double check that the command window prompt is in the same directory as Portmon.exe. Also, what does the command window say when you ask to run Portmon?

Tried that but it won't run under the Command Prompt. It gives me a Microsoft "Report Error" dialog box after about a minute. Tried it several times and get the same thing.

Not sure why I'm having the problems running RMIR. I did check the interface cable using jp1xtest.exe and that worked fine. Everything else seems like it was installed correctly as well. Just can't figure out why it's stuck at "downloading ... ".

3FG · Post by **3FG** » Wed Jan 30, 2013 11:22 pm

Try Portmon 3.02. Apparently this works better for some people. Be sure to click Computer\Local after plugging the interface into the USB port.

CaryK · Post by **CaryK** » Thu Jan 31, 2013 11:58 am

3FG,

Well that almost worked. I downloaded Portmon 3.0.2 and ran it as you suggested. I was able to set Computer>Connect Local and Options>Show Hex as well. But when I went to Capture>Ports, although it wasn't grayed out this time, it would only allow to select Capture>Capture Events and not the Capture>Ports option. I also tried running Portmon through the Command Prompt and had the same thing happen.

Btw, when I ran Raw Download in RMIR, all I got were 00 for all the values in the window.

Seems like we're getting closer. Interesting puzzle to solve. I think once we get this figured out and I'm able to see the remote codes, it'll be fun learning how to program using JP1.

Thanks again for your patience and knowledge. It is sincerely appreciated.

Cary

3FG · Post by **3FG** » Thu Jan 31, 2013 12:33 pm

Another thing to look at if you're not uncomfortable looking in the registry:

Run Regedit.exe and navigate to the location mentioned here and here .
There should be a Default Entry, and entries like \Device\Serial0, or \VCP\Serialx. On my computer the VCP entry corresponds to my Tommy Tyler FTDI cable.

Maybe you have a virtual port or other "stuff" in a format which Portmon doesn't understand. If you want to play with this, be sure to use File\Export on SERIALCOMM before making any changes, so you can restore the registry entry.