RCA RCRP05B Extender

[ElizabethD]

the delay between macros is a number between $01 and $255, the longest being about 200ms. Feedback on if this is long enough would be appreciated.

$255 ?? 255 decimal maybe?

Bill, the distribution file is 1.00 zip is that what you really want?

[unclemiltie]

yes, I've edited the original post

[haama]

Do me a favor, can you test by changing the value at $0761 from $04 to $05 in the raw data, then APPLY that change and upload to your remote. Let's see if that fixes it. I may not be searching all of the keylists, and of course since Menu is the next to last, that's the one that is falling off the list.

That does the trick.

Not surprised no one noticed, I only found it by new-fu - didn't realize you needed Set_Other for any of the lights. Maybe I should ask about my other new-fu questions:

Do Toad-togs lead to smaller nested macros? I created a Toad to turn on/off my HT components. For on, there were only 3 components to turn on - 6 functions, all in the Toad and no problem. For the off, I had the 3 I turned on and possibly 3 others to turn off, so upto 12 functions and I needed to nest them. I created 2 more Toad-testers that turned off the components when the toggle was off. That was too much for it - it would turn off the first set of components, but not the others. Switch the order and the other set would turn off. To fix it, I created a DSM with all of the components and it worked fine (still called by the original toad on/off).

(ack, also, my dad keeps asking - is the source code for the extender available? I saw the rdf at sourceforge, but that just seems to be an ini file.)

[unclemiltie]

(ack, also, my dad keeps asking - is the source code for the extender available? I saw the rdf at sourceforge, but that just seems to be an ini file.)

the RDFs are maintained on sourceforge, in fact if you sync your RDF directory with sourceforge, you will automatically get RDFs that people put in there even before Chris pulls the trigger on another release. (my IR and RM programs point at my SourceForge synced directory)


I have not released the source for any of the JP1.3 extenders.

[unclemiltie]

you may have found a bug... I suspect that no one really separates the menu keys from the other keys and thus this never showed up.

Do me a favor, can you test by changing the value at $0761 from $04 to $05 in the raw data, then APPLY that change and upload to your remote. Let's see if that fixes it. I may not be searching all of the keylists, and of course since Menu is the next to last, that's the one that is falling off the list.

To everyone using this extender: this turned out to be a real bug in the logic that figures out which keyset you are using. the net is that the Set_Menu command does not work and menu keys are considered other keys.

This will be fixed in version 1.02 of the extender. Meanwhile, if you change the value at $761 from $04 to $05 in the RAW tab, apply and re-upload the remote will work properly.

[unclemiltie]

new version posted, see base topic

[R2-M0]

Version 1.01 has been uploaded and the original topic link updated to point to the new version.

What is in this version:

• Added interruptible pause protocol, any key press during pause will terminate the pause, any playing macro will continue

Even though I was one of those who asked for the interruptible pause protocol, I'm now finding it to be problematic in certain scenarios -- specifically, when I have a pause early in a LKP macro. The pause will often end up interrupted just by virtue of my still having the button held down from triggering the LKP.

Is there any way to give users the option of whether or not to allow macros to be interrupted, either globally or per pause? Would it be possible to put both versions of the pause protocol in place at the same time (with different protocol/device numbers) and let the user choose which one to use on the Special Protocols tab?

[unclemiltie]

Ah, it is summer and I would rather be sitting by the pool instead of looking at JP1 stuff!

Both is likely going to be a space issue given where the code resides (not in the upgrade area). An option? To turn it off globally maybe, on a per macro basis would require a lot of changes in IR and other tools to flag which ones are on and which are off. Doubtful

I've not had much time to work on extenders lately. Let me think about it for a bit


-bill

[dailyglen]

Hi,

I'm trying to install this extender with RM IR 2.02 Beta and by using File > Install Extender > then select v1.05 version of 3A79ext-notes.hex and I get the error:

Code: Select all

No remote found that matches the merge file. ExtInstall terminating.

Am I missing a merge file? This is my first attempt at using the extender as I want to speed up my macros and use long key press protocol. Any pointers / advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[dailyglen]

Hi,

I eventually figured this out. According to the ReadMe.txt with the extender it says to use:

Extinstall 3A79ext-notes.hex yourirfile.ir newirfile.ir -sig=$0600

I didn't know what yourfile.ir and newirfile.ir were and was beavering away at this. Eventually I found out that yourirfile.ir is the unextended ir file for the remote and that newirfile.ir is the output file from Extinstall which is the extended ir file for yourfile.ir. This is very hard for a newbie to figure out; I thought extinstall would actually flash (install) the extender onto the remote. From what I can tell ExtInstall only convert an unextended .ir file to an extended .ir file.

I also found out that I needed to copy the files into the IR803 directory (extender .hex and .rdf, unextended .rdf, extinstall.exe). Then I did a factory reset on the remote (hold Setup, 9-8-1), copied the remote to base.ir (in IR803 directory) and then ran:

cd IR803
extinstall 3A79ext-notes.hex base.ir base-extended.ir -sig=$0600

Then to install the extended base-extended.ir file onto the remote I used IR (or RMIR) to flash the remote. I had to press through the warning that the signature was different (this is expected when switching between unextended and extended .ir file).

Now instead of using base.ir as a starting point I used my configured .ir file (except I removed the macros because they would be recursive with an extender) and then I did:

extinstall 3A79ext-notes.hex config.ir config-extended.ir -sig=$0600

Then I flashed the remote with config-extended.ir.

In the ReadMe.txt is says to not flash an extended enabled remote with an unextended .ir file. To do this you should first disable the extender (hold Setup, 4 blinks). What wasn't clear was if you can flash an extended remote with the extender enabled with an extended .ir file. Flashing an extended remote with an extender .ir file with the extender enabled (or disabled) seems to work fine.

Hopefully this helps someone.

[unclemiltie]

When I finally finish the "combined source" extender for all of the JP1.3 remotes (it's actually done, I just need to test it) I will be rewriting the readme file. If you think there are areas that could be more clear PM me with suggestions.

Even better, take the RCA or Insignia read me, since that will be the basis for the new version and make the suggested changes and send those to me.

[smbs]

Hi there
I'm a newbie trying to learn
If I install this extender would there be a way of setting up 2 history buttons in order to visit previously viewed channels . This exists on the Dreambox remote (2 buttons) where u can navigate back and forth between previously visited channels.
P.S.-- excuse my ignorance but maybe this can be done without the need for the extender!!
Steven

[pH7_jp1]

If you want to control a Dreambox by having your remote send the same commands as the two buttons on the Dreambox remote, then there is no problem, no extender required. If you want to simulate this feature on some other device that does not have the same feature, then you have a real challenge. I'm not saying it can't be done, just that I can't think of a way to do it.

[smbs]

Thanx for reply
I understood that there would be no need for an extender on Dreambox.
What I want is for other devices but as u say it looks like quite a challenge thus it just "ain't for me" at my limited level.
Any ideas would be great
Steven

[unclemiltie]

The extender as currently written cannot do this


Doing this with the remote is a very difficult job. The underlying issue is that the remote is going to have to retain "state" of the TV (or STB) in order to know what the "last and previous" channel are.

Today's TV's have a last/recall feature where you send a command and the TV goes back to the last channel. But to do this the remote is going to have to remember channel numbers in the remote. This leads to things getting out of sync (if the IR command isn't recognized, etc) and can lead to some challenges in the user interaction.

In addition, the remote is going to have to check keys to see if they are digits, accumulate the digits, somehow know if the TV accepts 2, 3 or 4 digit commands and then store those away.

and finally, the amount of space in which the extender has to run is very small and getting what it does today in that space is difficult. (the Atlas OCAP extender has one free byte, the Comcast 1067B has two) So adding something this complex is going to require some new scheme to find space for the code.