RDF and other help with Odyssey (URC-8600B00)

thised1 · Post by **thised1** » Fri May 14, 2004 11:47 pm

Just got the URC-8600B00 (Odyssey) remote and looking for some assistance.
Rob, am I really the first one to have it and try to use JP1 with it?

http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/viewt ... 1208#11208
I've been reading a lot about the JP1 interface and all the cool things that could be done with it, but was yet to try it myself. A couple days ago I built JP1 interface and was successful in trying to download/upload to/from this remote using IR5. However, I couldn’t find the correct RDF file for it. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
My current plan is to add Replay codes to it (it seems like it does not have it) and maybe more advanced things later on…
I don’t have a manual or list of codes for it either. The only reference I could find for it is at this site http://www.hifi-remote.com/hag/urc-8600.htm.
As I am new to this, any pointers/suggestions/advices are welcome.
Thanks,
Ed

mr_d_p_gumby · Post by **mr_d_p_gumby** » Sat May 15, 2004 3:00 am

Step #1 in defining an RDF for an unupported JP1 remote is to determine the remote's "signature", which is contained in the EEPROM. To do this, you need to download from the remote in IR, and make sure it does not use any RDF. (You'll basically only have the Raw Data tab.) Save this to a file within IR, and post the file (.txt or .ir) in the Yahoo JP1 group file area diagnostics folder. Then post a message here saying you've done this, and include a link to the file (see Sticky post about links to Yahoo).

This will give the JP1 experts enough info to name the new RDF file, and maybe a little more than that. Then you'll be ready to proceed to Step #2. 8)

Post by **The Robman** » Sat May 15, 2004 6:35 am

I have an Odyssey somewhere, but I don't remember if it's the URC-8200 or URC-8600, I'll have to look for it and dig it out, but yes, you are the first JP1 user to admit to owning one!

I don't know what the story is with this remote because it doesn't seem like they ever put any effort into marketting it.

thised1 · Post by **thised1** » Sat May 15, 2004 8:22 am

Thank you for your responses.
I've uploaded .txt and .ir files (Odyssey_Urc-8600.zip file) to the diagnosis folder http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jp1/files ... C-8600.zip.
One interesting observation is that when I download from the remote using IR, it seems to think/want the definitions for HT80HT8A, but if i try to use this file, the devices are totally different then what my remote has and also it looks like it has different set of regular buttons (including shift). The HT80HT8A is labeled to be for URC-8080/URC8090 B01 Producer 8.
Thanks,
Ed

Post by **The Robman** » Sat May 15, 2004 9:15 am

In that case, could you post what setup codes you have assigned to each of the device buttons on the URC-8600. I suspect that this remote uses the same firmware as the URC-8090, it just might have a smaller subset of device buttons.

This is a common practice for UEI, it means they can mass produce one chip and use it in different remotes, to save money. They did this recently with the URC-8811, URC-8011 and URC-6011, where all 3 remotes share the same firmware even though only the URC-8811 has learning and the URC-6011 only has 6 device buttons.

thised1 · Post by **thised1** » Sat May 15, 2004 10:19 am

Rob,
I've uploaded the picture of the remote so you could see all present buttons:
http://www.hifi-remote.com/ofa/pic2.shtml?URC-8600
As far as device buttons go, I did not assign any codes to them. When I was playing with download/upload, I've uploaded emty file to it (i.e. I've started IR and then just did upload - I was trying to start fresh). After remote and IR was restarted and I attempted download from the remote, I got this: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jp1/files ... 00inIR.jpg.

I realize that these image files are quite large, and I'll remove them as soon as you let me know you got them. Also, if you'd like you can use the remote picture on the manual page for this remote (it seems like the file is missing) http://www.hifi-remote.com/hag/urc-8600.htm.

Thanks,
Ed

edit: forgot to mention how I found device discrepencies:
The picture of the IR screen above shows device button assignments and their type the way IR interprets it, yet when i select device on the remote I see following:
press TV - screen reads TV
press VCR - screen reads VCR
press CBL - screen reads CABLE
press DVD/LD - screen reads LDP
press RCVR - screen reads TUNER
press CD - screen reads CD
press SAT - screen reads SAT
press AUX1 - screen reads AMP

Post by **The Robman** » Sat May 15, 2004 12:29 pm

Well, just based on those pics, I don't see too much of a problem. They obviously re-labelled some of the device buttons for the URC-8600, as follows...

URC-8090 --> URC-8600
AUX1 = DVD/LD
TUNER = RCVR
AMP = AUX1

I would suggest that you either use the RDF "as is", or if the device button names bother you, you can change them in your copy of the RDF.

Btw, I changed your IR image from a BMP file to a JPG file and it reduced the size from 1.3MB to 50KB. I have saved the image of the remote on my server now (thanks for that) so I also deleted that file from the Diagnosis Area.