JP1 Remotes

jeetkunejoe · Joined: 18 Apr 2007 Posts: 8

Hi,

I've been lurking on this forum for a while trying to solve my problem, but looks like I'm stuck. I ordered a Simple JP1 cable from DIY Gadget. I have had difficulties getting it to communicate with my 8910. I am running XP and the driver is in the correct place. Before I get into my problem let me give you a breakdown of the scenario.

1. Parallel is on in BIOS, set to 378.
2. ECP, EPP and ECP+EPP have all been tried
3. IR has the correct port selected for parallel
4. When the cable is plugged into the PC and the remote I get a "No response from interface"
5. When cable is plugged into PC only and no remote I get "No response from remote" (odd, huh?)
6. When plugged into PC and remote I have tried all listed battery combinations, paper clip, button presses with no batteries, transmission delays, MFR Reset, etc. Still receive "No response from interface"
7. I have tried on 2 different desktops and 1 laptop.

Now here's the kicker. I saw a suggestion to try and reversing the orientation of the cable. So I flipped the JP1 connector and connected it the other way (was bit of a squeeze) with all batteries in correctly. When i tried "Check Interface" in IR.exe the REMOTE HAD THE SMELL OF ELECTRONICS BURNING! I quickly unplugged it and it and saw faint smoke rising plus that burning ozone smell. I tried the remote and saw it still controlled my devices. But here are some problems I ran into.

1. Remote would not hold more than 8 learned codes. "Mem Fault" error would appear.
2. Manufacturer reset without JP1 plugged in would clear fine 50% of time.
3. Manufacturer reset with JP1 plugged in always gave "Bad E2" error.
4. When I took out the batteries and put them back in I would get a "Mem Fault" on start.

I read in the forums and confirmed with DIY Gadget that a JP1 cable could not fry the remote. Anybody care to weigh in on what happened here? I am planning on getting another 8910 and still want to do JP1 but am afraid this will happen again. Anybody have any tips to get JP1 working aside from what I already tried? Thanks for any help.

vmac1996 · Joined: 27 Jul 2007 Posts: 2 Location: Nevada

I had kind of the same problem. I made a DIY cable, and when I plugged it into the remote I smelled electronics burning very faintly. As far as I know the remote works properly, but I can't get the interface to work. Does anyone have an suggestions to why this happened?

I am going to try the batteries trick tonight to see if that helps.

tpaxadpom · Joined: 19 Sep 2007 Posts: 64

shooot. Same crap happened to my URC-8910. It never gave me any problems (except resetting the clock which I never care about).
Though I don't get "No response from interface". I can get this message only when I attach the connector incorrectly.
When I try to load from remote with IR.exe open I get: "No data found in signature. This indicates that interface isn't working properly...".

Sad

greenough1 · Joined: 30 Jan 2005 Posts: 659

Burning up the remote with JP1 seems unlikely. I have an 8910 and a simple interface also I bought from Robman. Connecting the connector backwards does no harm.

Since your remote seems dead at this point, try a 981 manufacturer reset. Go here:
http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4057
for instructions for the LCD remotes.

Post back with the remotes behavior after reset(s).

Best,
jeff

tpaxadpom · Joined: 19 Sep 2007 Posts: 64

thanks for the reply. I did a bit more searching yesterday and found a MFG reset thread. Though before that happened my remote was disassembled. When I put everything back my remote started to display MEM FAULT all the time. It doesn't respond to any buttons. When I opened it up, the modem portion (antenna) got disconnected. I had to resolder it though. I don't see how this might corrupted the content of EEPROM.
I guess at this point I have to buy a new remote.

tpaxadpom · Joined: 19 Sep 2007 Posts: 64

got it figured out. Connected the remote to testbench PSU started at about 4.5V and then raised it to 5.5V. Then by pushing one of the buttons got it back to normal mode of operation, basically got rid off MEM FAULT message. Then performed a MFR reset.

The Robman · Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 1:52 pm Post subject:

Does that imply that you must have been using weak batteries and if you had used fresh batteries (ie, batteries that would be closer to 6v in total), you would have been able to clear the problem without requiring a testbench?
_________________
Rob
www.hifi-remote.com
Please don't PM me with remote questions, post them in the forums so all the experts can help!

tpaxadpom · Joined: 19 Sep 2007 Posts: 64

I had a fresh pack of batteries installed in my remote. So I think it was the other way around. Lowering the voltage seemed to help clearing MEM FAULT message. I'm not quite sure at what point of the time or I should rather say a voltage I was able to clear the message. My screen was making an intermittent contact since I removed screws holding PCB to the front panel making a solid connection with the LCD device.
I appreciate everyone participating in this forum. It helps a lot!

tpaxadpom · Joined: 19 Sep 2007 Posts: 64

The problem I had was probably created by unsuccessful flash. I tried opening the same file in IR.exe and got "No data found in signature..." error message. Though I had no problems opening other files.

The Robman · Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2007 7:37 am Post subject:

You should load a copy of the IR file to the Diagnosis Area (and post a link to it) and one of us could tell you what's wrong with it.
_________________
Rob
www.hifi-remote.com
Please don't PM me with remote questions, post them in the forums so all the experts can help!

tpaxadpom · Joined: 19 Sep 2007 Posts: 64

Robman,

I should've done it but I have erased as soon as I figured out it's a non-working script.