Problems programming a Maestro II remote

[seiko]

Hi,

I managed to assemble myself a JP1 interface and it works! Now though Im really confused, trying to hack a Maestro II remote (really cheap) to work with a Sat receiver and a TV et cetera. Really believed that if my soldering was good and the hardware worked, the upgrading would be even easier for me. Im reading as I go along, but am so confused about protocols and upgrades and I am also working crossplatform. RemoteMaster on a linux box and IR.exe on my slowpoke p150. I dont have the option of running excel at this time. Seem to have the proper definition files...ver117? and RM knows something about my Maestro.

Okay heres the question: Someone posts a upgrade file for APEXTVmymodel.txt. Is it a simple matter of pasting that file into IR.exe under windows and then uploading it to the remote and voila! ?

thanks for your time

seiko unwound

[Mark Pierson]

Okay heres the question: Someone posts a upgrade file for APEXTVmymodel.txt. Is it a simple matter of pasting that file into IR.exe under windows and then uploading it to the remote and voila! ?

You need to first open the upgrade in either KM or RM and change the selected remote to match the model you're using. Next you should check the functions assigned to the buttons to make sure everything is to your liking. Then you can copy the upgrade over to IR and upload it to the remote.

[The Robman]

Seem to have the proper definition files...ver117? and RM knows something about my Maestro.

I believe you are mistaken. If you have the current RDFs in place, and have linked them to IR.exe, when you download the memory from the Maestro, IR.exe should correctly recognize it as being the Maestro.

[seiko]

Mistaken about what. Sir? IR also sees my remote. Perhaps my mistake was not to mention that IR.exe does see my remote as a "Maestro II (Traditional)". So for that omission I do apoligise. My Pansat ird does respond to an upload I made to the remote, but the button mapping is all wierd: power shows the guide; the arrow keys turn the unit on/off; and so on. However I still get no response from the Apex file that matches my TV set. All the same, I'm enjoying the learning experience, and as I intimated in my original post, am pretty amazed that I managed to get the interface working at all! That's a personal milestone! Next thing I'll build is an infrared receiver and run it under lirc so as to glean a little more learning -- Though getting the infrared receivers locally is a non-starter. Too bad I don't live in Texas.

Seem to have the proper definition files...ver117? and RM knows something about my Maestro.

I believe you are mistaken. If you have the current RDFs in place, and have linked them to IR.exe, when you download the memory from the Maestro, IR.exe should correctly recognize it as being the Maestro.

[The Robman]

I mis-read your post as "knows nothing about my Maestro", I guess I've never heard the expression "knows something about" before.

When you loaded the upgrade in question into RM, did you then change the selected remote to the Maestro? And if so, did you then go to the Buttons tab and make sure that the functions were assigned to the buttons you wanted them to be?

If you did both of those, please zip your RM and IR files together and post them into the Diagnosis Area. Then please post a link to your file. Also, PLEASE read the link in my sig that explains how to post links to yahoo files as you will 100% guaranteed post a bad link if you don't read it first (trust me on this).

[seiko]

Okay heres the question: Someone posts a upgrade file for APEXTVmymodel.txt. Is it a simple matter of pasting that file into IR.exe under windows and then uploading it to the remote and voila! ?

You need to first open the upgrade in either KM or RM and change the selected remote to match the model you're using. Next you should check the functions assigned to the buttons to make sure everything is to your liking. Then you can copy the upgrade over to IR and upload it to the remote.

Hi and thanks for the speedy response. That's pretty much what I did: Load the Apex file in RM, set it for my Maesrtro II, copied the data to a txt file on my intermediate file server, opened the file in notepad on my xp box, and pasted it into the device section of IR.exe. However the remote did: Nothing, nada zero zilch. As I said in another post, I did get some response from my Pansat2500 with another upgrade file, albeit confused buttons. Oh well. I'll keep on truckin.'
I'm havin' a load o' fun!

Thanks!

seiko

I guess my next question is: Do I leave the protocol choice alone per the upgrade file, or is there some table somewhere that matches remotes to protocols, or are protocols the domain of the devices that are controlled by the remote, and independant of the remotes themselves? Therin lies my bewilderment.

Thanks again!

seiko

[The Robman]

Leave the protocol alone. I forget if the Maestro includes the TV/0156 setup code, but if it does, give that a try with your Apex TV.

[seiko]

please zip your RM and IR files together and post them into the Diagnosis Area. Then please post a link to your file. Also, PLEASE read the link in my sig that explains how to post links to yahoo files as you will 100% guaranteed post a bad link if you don't read it first (trust me on this).

I've kept this to the same thread. Hope it gets seen.

Okay heres goes a shot at a diagnostics request. The wierd thing is I had it almost set up correctly: i.e the power button worked for power instead of epg, the mute button worked for mute instead of sat signal, the menu button worked, but no cursor movements. I could go on with the description if you need it, as I only uploaded the data files from RM and IR.

Heres the Link:maestro_pansat.zip

Appreciate any help, pointers, suggestions.

I am directly curious about one thing. RM doesn't generate any protocol data for this pansat config except to say that it uses NEC1, but nothing shows up in RM's Protocol upgrade window below the device upgrade window. But I believe the protocol data is in the upgrade file. I even managed to extract that data and tried myself to paste it into IR. Didn't help and I think no harm was done.

My instincts make me wonder that my problem might be corruption in the cut and paste across the linux/windows platform. Windows Notepad always sees these little ascii character boxes at the end of a newline, but IR looks like it ignores them anyway.(?)

Thanks for reading

seiko

[Mark Pierson]

the power button worked for power instead of epg, the mute button worked for mute instead of sat signal

Are "epg" and "sat signal" commands on the OEM remote? As far as I can tell, the upgrade has a power and mute function defined and assigned to those buttons respectively.

the menu button worked, but no cursor movements

The Maestro II doesn't have a set of cursor buttons. The upgrade has "page up" and "page down" assigned to ch+ /-; do they navigate the menus?

RM doesn't generate any protocol data for this pansat config except to say that it uses NEC1, but nothing shows up in RM's Protocol upgrade window below the device upgrade window.

Correct, because the JP1 tools know that the NEC1 protocol is built-in to the remote... no need for a protocol upgrade.

But I believe the protocol data is in the upgrade file. I even managed to extract that data and tried myself to paste it into IR.

I think you're probably referring to the original KM .txt file. KM does save a copy of the protocol code in the upgrade file, but it's really only for reference purposes. Whether using KM or RM, you should never copy protocol code over to IR unless instructed to do so.

I think no harm was done.

Probably not, except for the wasted EEPROM storage space. I see it's gone in the IR file you uploaded, so I assume you deleted it.

My instincts make me wonder that my problem might be corruption in the cut and paste across the linux/windows platform. Windows Notepad always sees these little ascii character boxes at the end of a newline, but IR looks like it ignores them anyway.(?)

IR typically strips out carriage returns, line feeds, and tabs from the pasted input, so I don't think there's any problem here.

[seiko]

Are "epg" and "sat signal" commands on the OEM remote? As far as I can tell, the upgrade has a power and mute function defined and assigned to those buttons respectively.

Yes the OEM remote has a button for epg and sat signal. But like I said the mapping doesnt turn out the way RM sees it. Everything looks fine in the RemoteMaster Layout, Buttons and Functions tabs. What happens when its sent to the remote is a different story. FWIW I am using Tommy Tylers Serial interface. My cables are short: 18" cat5 to the serial and 6" to the JP1 side. Its somewhat modified version: A cat5 w/RJ45 male at the end plugged into an rj45<>db9f.

The Maestro II doesn't have a set of cursor buttons. The upgrade has "page up" and "page down" assigned to ch+ /-; do they navigate the menus?

Not in the menus and the best I got out of those buttons was they both tuned the channel down. Now they do nothing.

I think you're probably referring to the original KM .txt file. KM does save a copy of the protocol code in the upgrade file, but it's really only for reference purposes. Whether using KM or RM, you should never copy protocol code over to IR unless instructed to do so.

Thanks for the tip. Live and learn.

Probably not, except for the wasted EEPROM storage space. I see it's gone in the IR file you uploaded, so I assume you deleted it.

I've reset the remote a few times since. A good thing, non?

Any idea what I should try next?
Thanks

[pgk]

I don't know if this is just me, but the device upgrade in IR is slightly different to the device upgrade generated by RM, which at least means the EFC for power in IR doesn't match that in RM.

[pgk]

Having looked a bit closer though the EFC shown on the device upgrade in IR matches the KM Pansat2500, the one shown in RM doesn't.

[jon_armstrong]

If you open the upgrade in RM and paste the device upgrade into IR then power agrees (0xDF). In the device upgrade already installed in MaestroII_Diag.txt the power button is 0xAF. I noticed that Info and Power in the device upgade were both 0xDF in Pansat2500FTASatelliteReceiver.rmdu

Perhaps that was changed but not reflected in the saved device upgrade. I don't think it reflects a flaw in the tools, other than that we must remember to save the final configuration.

[seiko]

If you open the upgrade in RM and paste the device upgrade into IR then power agrees (0xDF). In the device upgrade already installed in MaestroII_Diag.txt the power button is 0xAF. I noticed that Info and Power in the device upgade were both 0xDF in Pansat2500FTASatelliteReceiver.rmdu

Perhaps that was changed but not reflected in the saved device upgrade. I don't think it reflects a flaw in the tools, other than that we must remember to save the final configuration.

Yeah in all the confusion I might have grabbed the wrong files to make a pair. Interesting all the same. I did another hard reset and this time after a clean uplaod I have a functional remote. Way cool. Thank you everyone for the Brain Jarring Input!

This Maestro II isn't exactly the most eronomic design, but at 9,95$ CAD I'll learn to live with it.

Thanks again and happy hacking!

seiko