find protocol & codes from 'unknown remote'

[juski]

Hi everyone.

I'm new here, and am a frustrated owner of a OFA URC-7562.

I'd like to be able to re-program my remote with some new features, mostly for my Mythtv PVR box but also to control my Samsung NTL cable box.

Anyway. I've downloaded the RemoteMaster zipfile and extracted it to a safe place - ran setup.bat, clicked 'ok' to enable writing stuff to the registry. Now what?

The remotemaster.jar file first complained it couldn't find any .rdf files, so I downloaded one & pointed the browse dialog towards it. Now whenever I open the remotemaster.jar file nothing appears to happen. BTW I'm using Version 1.5.0 (build 1.5.0-b64) of the JRE.

I don't yet have a JP1 cable - I just want to play with the program and get used to the interface etc. Is there something subtle I've missed somewhere?

[gfb107]

See if you can find the file "rmaster.err". It is probably in the directory you installed RemoteMaster.

The contents of that file should give us a clue as to what the problem is.

[johnsfine]

it couldn't find any .rdf files, so I downloaded one & pointed the browse dialog towards it.

"downloaded one" doesn't sound right.

I expect many of the RDF files you can find for individual download are obsolete and incompatible with RM.

I suggest you get the latest zip file of RDFs from
http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... y&cat_id=7
and unzip to a directory and point RM to that directory.

If your RM is so messed up it won't start, you might try deleting the RemoteMaster.properties file it created (on first startup) so it will create a clean one on next startup.

[juski]

D'oh!

thankyou for the rapid response!!

Me and my rampant clicking... I'd done something daft... I ran pedit.bat and ended up with some errors in rmaster.err about a null protocol etc.

Right - so I deleted the folder containing Remotemasterv1.22 and unzipped the stuff again.

I grabbed the RDF zipfile and put it in there - also did the same with the images & keymaps zipfile too

Now remotemaster loads..... (and it looks very user friendly and nice btw)

woohoo!

So. I have this Samsung remote, which I suspect uses RC5 but I can't find any codes for it online or any information about the protocol it uses.

I've got a home-made serial port IR receiver (primarily for LIRC in Linux)... is there a way I can capture the output of the original remote so I can tell a) what protocol it uses and b) what the codes for each key are....?

(talk about running before you can walk, I know...)

[johnsfine]

I have this Samsung remote, which I suspect uses RC5

I suspect it doesn't use RC5.

I have downloaded data from a few sources on many Samsung devices. The only RC5 I found in the whole set were the VOL control signals for the Samsung CS7271WP, and I suspect those were an error by the person who uploaded that data because other signals for the same device are typical (NECx2:5.5) Samsung VCR signals.

I've got a home-made serial port IR receiver (primarily for LIRC in Linux)... is there a way I can capture the output of the original remote so I can tell a) what protocol it uses and b) what the codes for each key are....?

Do you have LIRC or just hardware for it?

LIRC learns IR signals and stores them in a file. Most of the experts here know how to read those files (though no one ever got around to writing a JP1 program to translate them). If you post a file of LIRC learned signals, we can tell you how to get JP1 data from that file. The method for reading JP1 data from such a file is usually trivial, but there isn't a single such method. An expert needs to look at the file and decide which of several different trivial methods is required for that file.

[juski]

Okees.

I've now learned the new samsung remote with irrecord in Linux... here's what came out of it...

Code: Select all

# Please make this file available to others
# by sending it to <lirc@bartelmus.de>
#
# this config file was automatically generated
# using lirc-0.7.0(serial) on Wed May 18 20:20:07 2005
#
# contributed by 
#
# brand:                       /media/samsung
# model no. of remote control: 
# devices being controlled by this remote:
#

begin remote

  name  /media/samsung
  bits           13
  flags RC5|CONST_LENGTH
  eps            30
  aeps          100

  one           903   859
  zero          903   859
  plead         937
  gap          113326
  toggle_bit      0


      begin codes
          help                     0x0000000000001A8F
          favourites               0x000000000000129D
          ondemand                 0x0000000000000AB1
          pgup                     0x000000000000128A
          settings                 0x0000000000001A8E
          interactive              0x00000000000002A1
          pgdn                     0x0000000000001A8B
          guide                    0x000000000000028F
          back                     0x0000000000001AA8
          tv                       0x0000000000000293
          mute                     0x0000000000000A86
          i                        0x00000000000012AF
          text                     0x0000000000000AAA
          vol+                     0x0000000000001290
          vol-                     0x0000000000001A91
          rew                      0x0000000000000295
          playpause                0x0000000000000A90
          okselect                 0x0000000000000297
          stop                     0x0000000000000A91
          ffw                      0x0000000000000296
          ch+                      0x0000000000001AA0
          ch-                      0x00000000000012A1
          red                      0x0000000000000AAB
          green                    0x00000000000002AC
          yellow                   0x0000000000000AAD
          blue                     0x00000000000002AE
          1                        0x0000000000001A81
          2                        0x0000000000001282
          3                        0x0000000000001A83
          4                        0x0000000000001A84
          5                        0x0000000000001285
          6                        0x0000000000001286
          7                        0x0000000000001A87
          8                        0x0000000000001288
          9                        0x0000000000001A89
      end codes

end remote

Now I'm pretty sure it's RC5... I forgot to record the '0' key but I can probably live without that for now.

Incidentally I'm surprised by the speed of the replies here. I'm a moderator at www.mythtvtalk.com and we rarely get round to answering queries so fast. Wow.

[johnsfine]

Now I'm pretty sure it's RC5... I forgot to record the '0' key but I can probably live without that for now.

Yes, it's RC5 and the code for '0' is obvious.

The conversion for use in RemoteMaster for this one is only trivial if you're very comfortable with hex numbers.

1) On RM's setup sheet you select RC5 protocol, then put 10 in two of the Device fields, one with OBC>63 unchecked and one with it checked.

2) Switch to the functions sheet and either find (if the right one is already there) or type over the name field for each function name you have.

3) The hard part is typing in the OBC number. You need to take the botton 6 bits of LIRC's hex value and convert that to decimal. For example:

Code: Select all

          favourites               0x000000000000129D

The bottom 6 bits are 1D hex which is 29 decimal.

4) Finally the Device pull down (column on the functions sheet) may need to be changed. It should read ...<64 when there is a '1' in the position in the hex where it is in 129D in the above example. It should read ...>63 when there is a '0' in that position (as in the 0AB1 value right below 129D in your file).

[juski]

Yeah I'm comfortable with hex numbers...

this could be a breeze

Thanks very much for your help so far.

When I'm done I'll be sure to add my upgrade file to the site (if it works, that is).

[juski]

Update:

I've made myself an excel spreadsheet to do the conversion for me... turns out that the hex2bin function only does 8 bits at a time

anyway the code conversion works... so the code for the '0' key is... let me guess... 0000 ? Or is it 1A80... or is it 1A90 ?

EDIT: scratch that - I've just worked it out. It doesn't matter as long as the 6 LSBs are all '0', right?

[juski]

Ah.

I've tested the conversion, and I have as follows:

in the setup tab, protocol selected is RC-5, Device1 field has '10' in it - checkbox is not ticked. Device2 field has '10' in it - checkbox is ticked.

However in the functions tab, when I put '49' in the OBC field (the decimal of the bottom 6 bits of 0AB1) I still have <64 in the 'device' column.

Any ideas?

[johnsfine]

However in the functions tab, when I put '49' in the OBC field (the decimal of the bottom 6 bits of 0AB1) I still have <64 in the 'device' column.

Sorry. I might not have described the easiest way, and I forgot to mention an important detail.

If you type the 49 into OBC first and THEN click in the Device field and select >63, RM will correctly add 64 to your OBC giving you the true OBC of 113. That's what I was trying to tell you to do, but forgot to mention that the OBC changes.

You could also add 64 yourself whenever the '0' is in the position that indicates the >63 range. Then RM changes the Device field for you.

[juski]

It's all becoming clearer thanks again. I've updated my excel sheet to do the sums instead - should avoid me getting confused...