Using Nevo C2 to find discrete and hidden commands?

[pelago]

Hello. I have a Nevo C2, and a couple of devices which I'm interested in looking to see if I can find discrete power commands, or other hidden commands. The devices are:

- Joytech AV Control Center 2, JS965B
- Maxell MXSP-SB3000 soundbase

Neither of these seem to have published codes online, but I do have the OEM remotes and can learn the OEM buttons OK on the C2.

What I'm not sure is what to do next to brute force try to find hidden commands. I have read http://www.hifi-remote.com/wiki/index.p ... ding_Codes but I'm afraid I don't really understand as I'm new to this, and am not sure how much of that page is relevant to the Nevo/Xsight remotes.

Can anyone explain what I should do? I have RM if that helps, although I'm not sure what to do in that either!

[mdavej]

Nevo is not the best tool for this, but it can be done in a multi-step process. Rather than overwhelm you, let's take it one step at a time. First thing is to learn those two remotes and post your RMIR file when you're done.

[pelago]

Thanks for the reply. Actually, and I don't know why I didn't notice earlier, but I see a device upgrade downloadable for the Joytech from http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... le_id=3291 . I've loaded that into RMIR and put it on my Nevo and it works fine. I see that it includes the same buttons as the OEM remote (so only a power toggle, not discrete power). It'd be great to know how to brute force search to see if there are any discrete power commands.

For the Maxell, I have learnt all the buttons. I have posted the .rmir in http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... e_id=25211

Thanks in advance!

[mdavej]

I converted the Maxell learns to a device and posted it here. So download that and add it to your RMIR file.
http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... e_id=25214

Next step is edit each device, go to the functions tab, and click New, then type an OBC not listed so far, type a name, and assign to a button. Repeat approximately 235 times.

For example, on the Maxell I just posted, if you edit the device, go to functions, double click the OBC heading to order by OBC, you'll see OBCs 111-179 in the OBC column. All possible OBCs range from 000-255. So to find hidden commands, we try all OBCs NOT in the list so far but in the 000-255 range. So you want to try 000, 001, etc., thru 110 (next OBC 111 is used, so no need to try that one). And try 180-255. And try all the gaps, like 114-116, 128-146, and 148-173 that you see on the functions tab, which comes out to 235 functions to try.

If you use just soft buttons, you could make 8 copies of this device, filling the soft buttons with functions 000-030, 031-060, 061-090, etc. until you use all the OBCs above. I would make the function name the same as the OBC to keep things simple. You could do it with fewer devices if you assign a function to every key, but that's a little harder to keep track of.

If you want to take some shortcuts, we can make an assumption that they probably will use codes in or around the 111-179 range. So you may just want to try codes in the gaps and a few above and below that range. So you could probably skip 000-100 and 200-255, if our assumption is correct.

We can also make some guesses about what sort of functionality a given device might have. My gut tells me neither of your devices is going to have any hidden commands. If your device was a TV or Receiver, then odds are better that you'll find more commands. But I think the manufacturer has already covered most of the commands for these two devices.

That's the process in a nutshell. Hope that made sense.

[The Robman]

Thanks for the reply. Actually, and I don't know why I didn't notice earlier, but I see a device upgrade downloadable for the Joytech from http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... le_id=3291 . I've loaded that into RMIR and put it on my Nevo and it works fine. I see that it includes the same buttons as the OEM remote (so only a power toggle, not discrete power). It'd be great to know how to brute force search to see if there are any discrete power commands.

This one uses the NEC1 protocol and all the OBCs are in the range 0-9, so the brute force method is really easy here. Create a new device upgrade using the same protocol and device codes and create a bunch of buttons using OBCs greater than 9 (also include OBC 7 as that's a gap) and then test them to see if they do anything. Given the range of the known OBCs, if this device supports any other functions, they are going to be in the low numbers IMHO.

For the Maxell, I have learnt all the buttons. I have posted the .rmir in http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... e_id=25211

Another easy one, as this also uses the NEC1 protocol and all the buttons clearly show the OBC, so you can use the automatic function to create an upgrade here, which I did...
http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... e_id=25214

OOPS: I didn't see that Dave had already replied.

[unclemiltie]

To add what Dave said

When trying to find hidden codes I generally use this approach

Frist, take the OEM remote and learn all of the functions and create an upgrade. Or download one if it exists

Second, sort the list of functions by OBC and then create new functions (I label them OBCnnn) for all of the unused OBC values

Third go assign those to buttons. When you run out of buttons, save the upgrade with a name (e.g. OBC000-OBC056), then erase all of the button assignments and get the next batch (OBC057-OBC122). No need to assign the functions you already know. Once you have 4 or 5 upgrades saved it's time to load them into a remote

Fourth, start creating new devices in your remote. Any remote will do. Put the first upgrade on the TV button, the second one on the CBL button, the third on the DVD button and so forth. Load that into your remote

Now comes the fun. Sit down in front of your device and start pushing buttons. If something happens write down which device (TV) and which button (digit 8) and what it does. Sometimes you have to go through this multiple times because different buttons don't work in different scenarios (e.g. the picture mode function on a TV might only work when the input is an HDMI)

Once you're done, go back to the device upgrades and find the codes that did things, and add them to your original upgrade with the other defined buttons in it.

One thing of note: Some devices (Samsung DLP TV's for example) have remote codes that put the device into a service mode and you have to know how to get the device out or it is a brick. you need to be careful in code hunting.

Good luck

[pelago]

Thanks all. But I'm stumped already. Dave and Rob, you've both pointed me at http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... e_id=25211, but that's just the file I uploaded isn't it? I don't see a Functions tab when editing the device... But I'm probably missing something.

[mdavej]

Wrong link. Sorry about that. Try this one.
http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... e_id=25214

[The Robman]

Dave and I both ended up creating files for you, the link that Dave just posted is to the file that I created. Dave also created a file (probably pretty similar to mine) here:
http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... e_id=25212

Dave originally posted the link to your file by mistake, but my post had the right file in it.

[mdavej]

Great minds think alike.

[pelago]

but my post had the right file in it.

Whoops, sorry, my mistake, turns out I can't read URLs!

So I've downloaded both of your files and compared them in a text editor and they do look almost identical. I've loaded Rob's one into my Nevo and can confirm that it works to control the Maxell, many thanks.

So, on to the next bit, and I understand what you're saying about creating new functions with the missing OBCs and assigning them to buttons.

I was wondering if there was a less manual way than clicking new and typing in names and OBCs etc. Looking at the .rmdu file, I see it's a text file, with functions appearing like:

Code: Select all

Function.0.name=Power
Function.0.hex=71
Function.1.name=Vol+
Function.1.hex=61

It's using hex codes rather than OBCs, but I assume there's a one-to-one relationship. Could I not just put something like:

Code: Select all

Function.0.name=hex00
Function.0.hex=00
Function.1.name=hex01
Function.1.hex=01

etc., followed by:

Code: Select all

Button.31=Function.0|null|null
Button.32=Function.1|null|null

etc. (I think 31, 32 etc. are the soft buttons on the Nevo) into the RMDU and load it? Such text could be generated pretty quickly by a small program, or by Excel.

Or it would be a nice advanced feature in RM to automatically generate OBCs, filling in the gaps, naming them appropriately, and assigning them to buttons/soft-buttons (in batches).

[mdavej]

Just copy/paste entire ranges from excel straight into RM, not the text file. Drag the OBC column over next to the name column first.

But your idea would be a nice shortcut for the button assignments.

Here's one I did for searching codes on a Roku that you could also copy/paste from.

http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... e_id=25216

[The Robman]

So, on to the next bit, and I understand what you're saying about creating new functions with the missing OBCs and assigning them to buttons. I was wondering if there was a less manual way than clicking new and typing in names and OBCs etc.

It's a lot easier than you think. I have just created an RMIR file for you that has the upgrades for you 2 devices added, plus I have added a bunch of test upgrades that you can use to test unknown OBCs.

http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... e_id=25217

Due to a mess up on my end, I didn't use the POWER, LIST, STOP or RECORD buttons, so don't bother testing those. I way I assigned OBCs wasn't entirely random, so the buttons in test file 1 are more likely to be good than those in test file 6.