Progress report. My URC-6440 now fully supports 8 devices. I have given it a reasonable testing and everything I have tried works as expected, including the Power button in Combo modes in which a button group is set to a shifted device. Also all supported 9xx commands and other setup procedures work, so for example you can set up new devices with Setup, Device button (which means Shift, Device for the shifted ones), followed by the 4-digit setup code. 9xx commands to set up macros and keymoves and even 980 Reset and 981 Factory Reset work, preserving the 8-device support. Indeed, the only way to return to a 4-device remote is to copy an unextended settings.bin file into it.
Before I release it, however, there are two more things I want to look at. One is to extend the button groupings in Activities to include groups for shifted buttons. The other is to provide an upgrade path from an existing setup. At present you copy in the new reset file and then have to set it up as a new remote from scratch. I'm not sure this is a bad thing, as you may want to set up an 8-device remote differently from the way you had to do it with only 4 devices.
A question for you. How important is having an upgrade path, i.e. a way to import an existing saved setup from the 4-device remote into the newly extended 8-device remote? At present I can't see how to do that. I think I can do the button groupings feature but may need to release it without an upgrade path, so would like feedback on how big a drawback that would be.
RMIR Simpleset Support
Moderator: Moderators
Graham,
I think that the current ability to "overlay" config from rmir file onto a clean extended reset settings.bin file is enough. I think the only "difficulty" is that a manual change to signature in the rmir file is needed when the signature changes in the extended settings.bin.
Anyway, congrats on the progress :). How are LEDs behaving when using shifted devices?
I think that the current ability to "overlay" config from rmir file onto a clean extended reset settings.bin file is enough. I think the only "difficulty" is that a manual change to signature in the rmir file is needed when the signature changes in the extended settings.bin.
Anyway, congrats on the progress :). How are LEDs behaving when using shifted devices?
Marcin
Excellent!
Starting with a reset file would be no problem as you say, but re-entering the DSMs Macros and Keymoves could be a chore.
With Extender v0.02 and the current setup loaded, to make more room for Tv macros etc. and to see what would happen to the macros and keymoves when shuffling devices: I saved and then deleted the device upgrades and added the old TV device to TV device button, a duplicate TV device to the PVR button, and 2 of the old device upgrades to the remaining device buttons. Then added the missing old device and three more new ones, unassigned to device buttons.
After the devices had been shuffled like that, the lists of macros and keymoves remained as they had been originally. That seemed to suggest that, providing the upgrades saved from v0.02 were reloaded somewhere in v0.03, it might just be a problem that the old macros etc. would point to the wrong device slots.
1.) If it would be possible with v0.03 to load a set up made with v0.02, perhaps solely the lists of macros etc. could be preserved in the same sort of way.
Then, provided that they could just be edited to restore the intended key references (as usual, by the user) that would save the bother of adding them all from scratch.
2.) or perhaps somehow a file for the macros etc. could be saved from a setup in alpha24g or Extender v0.02? and loaded by v0.03?
Starting with a reset file would be no problem as you say, but re-entering the DSMs Macros and Keymoves could be a chore.
With Extender v0.02 and the current setup loaded, to make more room for Tv macros etc. and to see what would happen to the macros and keymoves when shuffling devices: I saved and then deleted the device upgrades and added the old TV device to TV device button, a duplicate TV device to the PVR button, and 2 of the old device upgrades to the remaining device buttons. Then added the missing old device and three more new ones, unassigned to device buttons.
After the devices had been shuffled like that, the lists of macros and keymoves remained as they had been originally. That seemed to suggest that, providing the upgrades saved from v0.02 were reloaded somewhere in v0.03, it might just be a problem that the old macros etc. would point to the wrong device slots.
1.) If it would be possible with v0.03 to load a set up made with v0.02, perhaps solely the lists of macros etc. could be preserved in the same sort of way.
Then, provided that they could just be edited to restore the intended key references (as usual, by the user) that would save the bother of adding them all from scratch.
2.) or perhaps somehow a file for the macros etc. could be saved from a setup in alpha24g or Extender v0.02? and loaded by v0.03?
Last edited by tranx on Tue Oct 07, 2014 10:47 am, edited 2 times in total.
Marcin, in extender v0.02 you can "overlay" a saved config from a .rmir file, but not in v0.03. It only works in v0.02 because there is no structural difference in the E2 area between the extended and unextended remote. In v0.03 there are structural changes to accommodate the additional device info. So I really did mean setting it up from scratch. I will have to think about how to implement an upgrade path, it seems.
The LEDs do not distinguish between the unshifted and shifted devices, so DVD and DVD2, for example, both flash the same LED. I can't think of a way to distinguish them but haven't seen it as a big issue. Is it?
The LEDs do not distinguish between the unshifted and shifted devices, so DVD and DVD2, for example, both flash the same LED. I can't think of a way to distinguish them but haven't seen it as a big issue. Is it?
Graham
A nice idea, but there isn't an LED on the List button, only on the combo and device buttons. BTW there are no shifted activities, only shifted devices. I can't see a need for shifted activities and it would be more difficult to implement than shifted devices.tranx wrote:Not a big issue to myself but to distinguish between the unshifted and shifted devices/activities, would it be feasible to flash the list button as well?
Graham
Right! Noted that currently the device button stays lighted as long as a button is being pressed. In shifted mode, would a quick double flash or just one short flash of the relevant shifted device button be feasible? agree that there is no need for shifted activities.mathdon wrote:A nice idea, but there isn't an LED on the List button, only on the combo and device buttons. BTW there are no shifted activities, only shifted devices. I can't see a need for shifted activities and it would be more difficult to implement than shifted devices.tranx wrote:Not a big issue to myself but to distinguish between the unshifted and shifted devices/activities, would it be feasible to flash the list button as well?
Is it because of additional device segments? Can't just they be added by RMIR based on the difference between saved rmir file and RDF provided for v0.03? What will happen if there are no segments for shifted devices? Does the remote hangs? Or just the devices are disabled until added using RMIR?mathdon wrote:Marcin, in extender v0.02 you can "overlay" a saved config from a .rmir file, but not in v0.03. It only works in v0.02 because there is no structural difference in the E2 area between the extended and unextended remote. In v0.03 there are structural changes to accommodate the additional device info. So I really did mean setting it up from scratch. I will have to think about how to implement an upgrade path, it seems.
Not really a problem for me personally, as I have only 3 devices in total at home that can even be controlled by remote :).mathdon wrote: The LEDs do not distinguish between the unshifted and shifted devices, so DVD and DVD2, for example, both flash the same LED. I can't think of a way to distinguish them but haven't seen it as a big issue. Is it?
The only problem I can see with this is when you don't remember what device you have been using recently or there are more people using the remote. It can be easily overcome by just pressing the needed device button it such case before use.
Marcin
That is part of the issue, but the type 04 segments for combo power buttons gain extra bytes, as will the type 0B segments if I add button groups for the shifted buttons. RMIR at present can't handle this. I will need to think of some algorithm for modifying the segments that will work with Simpleset remotes generally, and then implement it, so it is not a trivial task. I will also think about what could be done with the LEDs for shifted devices. This will, of course, delay the issue of extender v0.03.yaworski wrote:Is it because of additional device segments? Can't just they be added by RMIR based on the difference between saved rmir file and RDF provided for v0.03?
Graham
For extender 0.03 for the URC-6440, I have now implemented button groups for shifted buttons and have also made some changes that I missed originally for shifted devices to work with all 9xx commands that involve device buttons. I have got rid of the restriction that allowed just 4 choices of Combo modes to be set through the remote itself and have replaced this with a setting procedure that allows each of 10 button groups to be set independently to any desired device. The procedure is:
It is strange that UEI put a lot of effort into implementing shifted buttons but neglected to provide a Shift key
. I have rediscovered one useful feature of shift action that I had forgotten from other remotes, but which UEI has implemented in the URC-6440. This is that if you put a keymove, macro or learned signal on an unshifted button, then the original function of that button is still available on the shifted button. This extends what I think Tranx has already found by experiment, that if you don't put anything on a shifted button then it has the same action as the unshifted one. That is not very useful, but the ability to get the original function from a button with a keymove, etc. on it can be very useful.
There is another feature of the URC-6440 that seems to me to be only partly implemented, but for this one I don't know what is missing. This is apparently the ability to create a password-protected backup of a particular setup. The backup is created with the 968 command. Long press of setup, then 968, then a four-digit password, creates a backup (segments with flags FF copied but with flags 7F). Once you have used the 968 command, a second attempt to use it is invalid. The password can be blinked back with the 989 command, which is invalid until there is a backup. But there seems no way to restore the backup or to use the password for any purpose. Can anyone who has come across anything similar on any other remote shed any light on this? Is there a missing 9xx command that should restore from the backup?
- 1. Long press of Setup (two flashes of TV)
2. Press the Combo button to be set up (two flashes of TV)
3. Press the device button desired for a particular button group (one flash of the device)
4. Press the digit for the button group (digit 0 for group 10) (two flashes of the device)
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each required assignment
6. Press again the Combo button pressed in step 2 (two flashes of the last device)
- 1. Volume buttons (Vol+/-, Mute)
2. Unshifted buttons not in groups 1,3,4
3. Transport buttons (Play, Stop, Pause, Rewind, FastFwd, SkipBack, SkipFwd, Record, List)
4. AV
5. Shift/Power (and I may be able to add shifted forms of the two Combo buttons)
6. Shifted Volume buttons
7. Shifted buttons not in groups 5,6,8,9,10
8. Shifted Transport buttons (excluding Rewind and FastFwd, which have no shifted forms)
9. Shifted digit buttons
10. Shift/AV
It is strange that UEI put a lot of effort into implementing shifted buttons but neglected to provide a Shift key
. I have rediscovered one useful feature of shift action that I had forgotten from other remotes, but which UEI has implemented in the URC-6440. This is that if you put a keymove, macro or learned signal on an unshifted button, then the original function of that button is still available on the shifted button. This extends what I think Tranx has already found by experiment, that if you don't put anything on a shifted button then it has the same action as the unshifted one. That is not very useful, but the ability to get the original function from a button with a keymove, etc. on it can be very useful.There is another feature of the URC-6440 that seems to me to be only partly implemented, but for this one I don't know what is missing. This is apparently the ability to create a password-protected backup of a particular setup. The backup is created with the 968 command. Long press of setup, then 968, then a four-digit password, creates a backup (segments with flags FF copied but with flags 7F). Once you have used the 968 command, a second attempt to use it is invalid. The password can be blinked back with the 989 command, which is invalid until there is a backup. But there seems no way to restore the backup or to use the password for any purpose. Can anyone who has come across anything similar on any other remote shed any light on this? Is there a missing 9xx command that should restore from the backup?
Graham
Didn't realise that I had found that, and can barely follow what I was trying to say at the time in all the excitement, but could it amount to 'shift cloaking' (which might better be termed 'shift un-cloaking', hence the confusion)?mathdon wrote:.. I have rediscovered one useful feature of shift action that I had forgotten from other remotes, but which UEI has implemented in the URC-6440. This is that if you put a keymove, macro or learned signal on an unshifted button, then the original function of that button is still available on the shifted button. This extends what I think Tranx has already found by experiment, that if you don't put anything on a shifted button then it has the same action as the unshifted one. That is not very useful, but the ability to get the original function from a button with a keymove, etc. on it can be very useful...
.
Yes, now you remind me, I think that is what is it called.tranx wrote:Didn't realise that I had found that, and can barely follow what I was trying to say at the time in all the excitement, but could it amount to 'shift cloaking' (which might better be termed 'shift un-cloaking', hence the confusion)?
Graham