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RM/RMIR v2.05 available
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mathdon
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 16, 2017 7:37 am    Post subject: RM/RMIR v2.05 available Reply with quote

Edit: Build 9 of RMIR v2.05 is now available. For more information see this post.

After a lengthy period of development, RM/RMIR v2.05 is now officially released.. This first release is build 2, the first build was issued only for beta testing. The supported platforms are 32-bit and 64-bit Windows, Linux and Mac OS X, but there is also experimental support for Raspberry Pi for remotes other than the XSight series. See this thread for more information on Raspberry Pi support.

This version supports all currently known types of UEI remotes, including XSight and Simpleset remotes. XSight support includes the very similar Nevo remotes and now also includes the Monster Revolution 200, a remote whose existence we have only recently discovered. UEI still supports the Simpleset remotes via the Simpleset.com website, but it has recently closed down the EZ-RC.com website that provided support for the XSight remotes. RM/RMIR v2.05 now provides complete replacement support for these remotes, including the ability to upgrade the firmware to the last version that UEI issued. XSight users new to RMIR, especially ones who have been directed here from the legacy page at EZ-RC.com, should read the Wiki article Getting started with XSight and Nevo for further information.

No special action is needed to perform a firmware upgrade on an XSight remote. Just do a download in the usual way. If a firmware upgrade is available it will be offered. You may install it or not, at your choice, and if you choose not to install it, you are given the opportunity not to be offered the upgrade again in future.

The XSight and Simpleset remotes are supported by RMIR directly via their USB interface, without the need for any cable other than the USB lead supplied with the remotes. Other remotes are supported through their JP1 6-pin connector with JP1.x interface cables that use an FTDI chip. These cables are also available with a Prolific chip instead of the FTDI one, but many remotes will not work with these cables. More information on this is given below. It is strongly advised that you use a cable with a genuine FTDI chip - there are also cables with counterfeit FTDI chips on the market and these too will often not work.

This first release build of RM/RMIR v2.05 is available only as a full installation package but subsequent builds will be issued both as a full package containing everything required and as an update package that contains only those files changed since this initial release. To upgrade from v2.04 without losing your settings, delete everything in your installation folder other than the RemoteMaster.properties file that contains your settings. Then unzip the new installation package into that folder and you are done. If you want to re-create shortcuts in your installation folder then re-run Setup.vbs (for Windows) or Setup.sh (for Linux) as appropriate, but any shortcuts copied elsewhere, such as to the Windows desktop, will still work without needing to be recreated. Alternatively, if you wish to keep your v2.04 installation and port your settings to v2.05, follow the full installation instructions below and then copy the RemoteMaster.properties file from your v2.04 installation to this new one.

The RMIR menu item "Help > Check for updates" checks for new builds as well as new versions. If a new build or version is available then this menu item displays a message containing a hyperlink that will take you straight to the available downloads for the update. To upgrade to a new build, just unzip the upgrade package into the installation folder for any earlier build of the same version, overwriting any files of the same name. Upgrade packages are cumulative, so it is not necessary to install each upgrade in turn.

To install the full package afresh, for any OS first unzip it to a new folder that is not read-only. For a Windows OS this means, in particular, that it should not be unzipped into a subfolder of the Program Files folder. After unzipping the package, do the appropriate one of the following:

  • If your OS is Windows then run Setup.vbs by double-clicking or otherwise. This will create two shortcuts, one for RMIR and the other (named Remote Master) for RM. They will be created in your installation folder, but they are also copied to Start > All Programs > Remote Master if you are running a Windows version that has a Start menu. You may copy them to your desktop, or any other location, as you wish. Setup.vbs also creates file associations to open .rmir files in RMIR and .rmdu files in RM.

  • If your OS is Linux then run Setup.sh from Terminal as a shell script. If the current directory in Terminal is the RemoteMaster installation directory then the command "sh Setup.sh" will run the script. It creates two .desktop shortcuts, one for RMIR and the other (named RemoteMaster) for RM. They will be created in your installation folder, but they are also copied to your $HOME/.local/share/applications folder to ensure that they appear on your Dash. Setup.sh will also add you to the dialout group of users, if you are not already in it. If you need to be added, then it will ask you for your sudo password as this step needs to be run with root privileges. This step is needed to enable RMIR to access USB serial ports without RMIR itself being run as root.

    The distribution also contains a text file linux_xsight.rules. If you have an XSight or Nevo remote, you may need to copy this to the directory "/etc/udev/rules.d/". It may be re-named if desired, provided the extension .rules is kept. This file provides a user-friendly name for the XSight as a USB device. Some users have found that Linux systems cannot find the XSight/Nevo remote unless RM/RMIR is run as root, even after running Setup.sh, unless this file is present.

  • If your OS is Mac OS X then there is as yet no special installation procedure.
With all three OS's, RMIR can be opened without using a shortcut by double-clicking or otherwise running the Java file RemoteMaster.jar. RM can be opened from RMIR with the menu item File > New > Device Upgrade. The instance of RM so opened is independent of the RMIR instance from which it is opened, so you can then close RMIR and leave RM open if you wish. RM can also be opened from a command line by running RemoteMaster.jar with an argument -rm. Please note that although it is optional to run Setup.vbs in Windows as RMIR and RM can always be opened in these ways, in Linux you need either to run Setup.sh or to use some other means to add your user id to the dialup group of users. This need only be done once ever, however, as it is a system setting that is not specific to the RemoteMaster program.

The inclusion of the RDFs, Maps and Images in the package means that the distribution zip file is now about 20MB. The RDFs are in a subfolder of the installation folder named RDF and the Maps and Images in one named Images. The full list of supported remote interfaces is now JP1, JP1.1, JP1.2, JP1.3, JP1.4, JP1.4N, JP2, JP2N, JP2.1, JP3, JP3.1, XSight (all types, mini-USB with S3F80 or HCS08 processor and micro-USB with MAXQ622 processor) and Simpleset (also referred to as JPS and also with MAXQ622 processor). The JP2, JP2N, JP2.1 and JP3 interfaces refer to remotes that use a Maxim processor, the MAXQ610 for JP2, JP2N and JP2.1 and the MAXQ612 for JP3. The difference between JP2 and JP2.1 is that JP2.1 uses a 5-pin in-line connector external to the remote rather than the familiar 6-pin connector in the battery compartment. The latest interface, JP3.1, uses the Texas Instruments CC2541 processor.

JP2.1 remotes need an adapter to convert the 5-pin connector to the standard 6-pin one. Detailed instructions for making such an adapter are given here. The interfaces JP2, JP2N, JP2.1 and JP3 can all be connected with a standard JP1.2/3 interface cable (JP2.1, of course, by means of the adapter) but only one that uses the FTDI chip. Cables with chips of other manufacturers such as Prolific have difficulty communicating with the Maxim processors. This is discussed in some detail in this thread. The JP1.4 and JP1.4N interfaces use the Samsung S3F80 processor and should work correctly with any JP1.2/3 interface cable. The JP3.1 interface, with the Texas Instruments processor, can certainly be connected by JP1.2/3 cables with the FTDI chip. The situation with other chips is not yet known.

When using XSight remotes (and similar ones such as Nevo) with Windows 8.1 and Windows 10, Enhanced Power Management needs to be disabled for the USB port concerned. RMIR v2.05 checks for this and displays a message saying exactly what Windows registry setting needs to be changed if it finds that this setting is still enabled. There is also an item "Enhanced Power Management info" under the RMIR Help menu that provides further information on this.

This RMIR version is available only as a Java file. Support for the separate stand-alone Windows compilation produced from the Java code with Excelsior JET has now finished. This multi-platform Java version requires a Java 1.7 or later runtime environment, either 32-bit or 64-bit. Note that this is a change from v2.03, which required only Java 1.6 or later. The release package includes the following support files:

  • DecodeIR v2.45 and jp12serial v0.22 as library files for Windows (32-bit and 64-bit), Linux and Mac OS X.
  • digitmaps.bin with digit maps up to number 689.
  • protocols.ini including support for remotes that use Maxim and Texas Instruments processors.
  • RMIR.sys that contains the data needed by RMIR to perform firmware upgrades of the XSight remotes.
  • The RDF File Specification, Version 4.
  • The RDF File Specification, Version 5 as revision 10 of an Addendum to Version 4.
An update to any of these files will result in a new build being released, so there is no need for separate updating of any of them. Version 4 of the RDF File Specification covers RDF files for remotes with interfaces up to JP1.3. Version 5 is required to support remotes with interfaces from JP1.4 onward. Version 5 is under continuous review as UEI remotes with new features are discovered, with revisions of the Addendum being issued as required.

Please visit the JP1 Community Wiki for information about how to use RMIR. A link to the Tutorial in the Wiki is also included in the Help menu. Please note that as this project is supported solely by volunteers, the Wiki may not be up to date. This version of RM/RMIR contains many new features required to support the newer types of remote. At the time of its release, these are not covered by the help files contained in the Wiki. RM/RMIR itself, however, shows notes and tooltips (the text shown when you hover the mouse pointer over a button or table entry) designed to make its use as self-explanatory as possible.

The download package is available in the following folder. Just click on it to start the download. The corresponding folder for future builds will contain both the full and upgrade packages.
Please see above for installation instructions.

Links:
The RemoteMaster project home page.
JP1 Community Wiki
Tutorial (part of the Wiki)
Getting started with XSight and Nevo (also part of the Wiki)
Nevo and XSight Remotes (thread specific to these remotes)
RMIR XSight Support (development thread)
RMIR Simpleset Support (development thread)
RemoteMaster on Raspberry Pi with Raspian (development thread)
RMIR: Prototype IR function in RM (development thread)
RM/RMIR v2.04 available (announcement thread for last official version)
ChangeLog.txt (also included in the installation package)
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Graham


Last edited by mathdon on Sat Dec 23, 2017 9:41 am; edited 2 times in total
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The Robman
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 16, 2017 9:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow, this is a major build, well done Graham and thank you!
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vickyg2003
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 16, 2017 9:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Works great! Good job Graham!!
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mdavej
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 16, 2017 4:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Fantastic work as always Graham! Thank you very much. I've also posted an announcement in the Xsight thread at AVS Forum.
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Barf
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 17, 2017 10:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Release tagged as https://svn.code.sf.net/p/controlremote/code/tags/v2.05build02/ (on Graham's request).

Congratulations Graham! Cool
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mathdon
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 24, 2017 10:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have now posted build 3 of RMIR v2.05 in the RMIR Development folder on SourceForge. This contains just one file, a RemoteMaster.jar to replace that in build 2.

The changes from build 2 are primarily of interest to developers. I have fixed a bug in the action of the Edit Protocol button on the Devices tab and have enhanced the facilities of the Learned Signals tab. For more information on the Learned Signals changes, see this post. (You might need to scroll down that page to see my post, as when I tested this link it took me to the top of the page, not the actual post.)
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vickyg2003
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 24, 2017 9:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

mathdon wrote:
I have fixed a bug in the action of the Edit Protocol button on the Devices tab

Thank you!!! Hopefully this will make RMIR much friendlier to custom protocols. I've only given this a minimal testing and it seems like a huge step forward.
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yaworski



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PostPosted: Mon Sep 25, 2017 3:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've been thinking about adding a feature to RMIR which would allow loading an additional protocols file from a second location, for example user-protocols.ini. Or even something like a protocols.d directory where user could put multiple ini files. That way user protocols would not be overwritten when doing software updates.
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unclemiltie
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 25, 2017 7:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

you could probably do something like what is done in C source files with a #Include directive in the protocols.ini file. then make a separate folder to hold the include file.

When RMIR starts, it reads the #include, and if the file exists load it, if not just carry on.
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yaworski



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PostPosted: Mon Sep 25, 2017 8:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

That would also be doable, but then you'd still need to modify original protocols.ini file to add your #include directive. When you unpack new RMIR version and overwrite the file you'd still need to redo this. I was thinking that RMIR could try to read some standard location, which would be optional. So without the extra file everything would work the same way. But if the file is present, then it gets loaded after loading the standard protocols.ini. The path could also be settable in properties file.
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unclemiltie
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 25, 2017 9:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

yea, that makes sense, I see where you're going.
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 25, 2017 9:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just to confirm it works with mac os sierra and on my nevo c2.
Thanks.
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mathdon
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 12:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've now uploaded development build 7 of RMIR v2.05 to the RMIR development folder. This adds further to the improvements to Learned Signal Timing Analysis that was begun in development build 3.

The build also includes a revised protocols.ini with an Onkyo Combo entry written by The Robman, and revised RDFs for the XSight Touch/Color and Nevo C2/C3.
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mathdon
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 13, 2017 12:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

yaworski wrote:
I've been thinking about adding a feature to RMIR which would allow loading an additional protocols file from a second location, for example user-protocols.ini.

Rob has independently made a similar suggestion in a PM. I propose to add a new subfolder "AddOns" to the RMIR installation folder into which text files but with an extension .prot could be placed. Each file would contain normally one, but possibly more, entries in the format of protocol.ini entries with the filename indicating what protocol it contained. The File Section already contains a currently empty folder Tools > RM Protocols that could be used to post these .prot files. That folder is a legacy from long ago that has never been deleted, this would give it a new use.

The generic name "AddOns" allows for the possibility of other add-on types distinguished by their own extension type. This is why I suggest .prot rather than .txt. Protocols in this folder would take precedence over those in protocols.ini if the protocol has the same name. The expectation is that protocols put into the RM Protocols folder would be included in protocols.ini in later builds of RMIR and would then be deleted from that folder, so that folder would at any time be expected to have only a small number of protocols.

How does this sound? Unless I come across unexpected snags, I will include it in the next build if it meets with approval.
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 13, 2017 12:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I like that idea. I would extend it by making the path to the addon folder configurable in properties file.
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