355302 AT&T U-verse remote S30-S1A

[The Robman]

As part of our new U-verse installation, we got this new remote and the first thing I noticed was that it has a slim 4-pin connector in the battery compartment, so I checked the setup code list and I recognized some of the codes as being UEI setup codes.

So, has anyone played with this remote before? Do we know how to use the 4-pin connector and if so, is it worth it? What can this remote do?

Just for reference, here is the remote manual...
https://www.att.com/es-us/media/att/201 ... _guide.pdf

[HamburgerHelper1]

I have a couple other brands with the 4-pin connector
I have not played with them but I assume they are usb remotes just using
pins instead

[MrMoody]

If it says CON1 next to the pins, it is a URC remote, not a UEI. See this thread.

[The Robman]

It doesn't say CON1, it just says J1 above the pins (but the J1 is printed backwards). I doubt that it's a URC remote because of the UEI setup codes.

If I were to try connecting my FTDI cable, what pinout would you suggest?

[3FG]

I looked at the S20/S30 remote manual and it is clearly a UEI remote. Not only do the setup codes match, but it uses the 972 command to disable/enable the backlight.

Under the assumption that UEI have continued their existing communication protocol, the 4 pins should be Ground, TX, RX, and Reset. To identify the ground pin, if you have an ohmmeter, check for near zero resistance between the battery negative and any of the pins. For Reset, if you have a 1K or 10K resistor, you could hook one end to ground (or negative battery terminal) and touch the other end to any of the 4 pins. Touching the Reset pin should put the remote into reset mode, and I suppose that some LED will flash upon coming out of reset. The idea behind the resistor is to protect against the possibility that +3V has been brought out to the 4 pin connector. Actually it would be fairly low risk to look for the Reset pin with simply a wire, because I doubt that +V will be on one of the pins.

Assigning TX and RX is more difficult, but I doubt that the remote would come to any harm by trying it both ways.

[vickyg2003]

As part of our new U-verse installation, we got this new remote and the first thing I noticed was that it has a slim 4-pin connector in the battery compartment, so I checked the setup code list and I recognized some of the codes as being UEI setup codes.

We switched today. The first thing I noticed when I opened that Remote Control User's Guide is that paragraph under Specifications & Notices

Warning: Changes or modifications to this unit not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could violate the user's authority to operate equipment.

Do you think that means us?

[The Robman]

We switched today. The first thing I noticed when I opened that Remote Control User's Guide is that paragraph under Specifications & Notices

Warning: Changes or modifications to this unit not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could violate the user's authority to operate equipment.

Do you think that means us?

Ha ha, nah, I think they're talking about the folks who hack their DVR devices, like we did with ReplayTV and Tivo. I doubt they're overly concerned about the remote controls. Speaking of the DVR system, given that these are all network connected, it occurs to me that some smart folks should be able to reverse engineer things so that we can download our recordings to our PC hard drives, like we can with ReplayTV using WiRNS.

But back to the remote, do you have a star shaped screwdriver to remove the screw in the battery compartment? I started looking for one last night. I've also bought a new cable from chip_partner as I replaced the single connectors on my last one. I will keep the single connectors on this one for cases like the AT&T remote. The pins are too deep to easily connect the cables "as is", so I was thinking that it would be better to open the remote for two reasons: 1) to make connecting the cable easier and 2) to maybe follow the traces to determine which pin is which. Is that something you'd be interested in doing?

[vickyg2003]

But back to the remote, do you have a star shaped screwdriver to remove the screw in the battery compartment? I started looking for one last night. I've also bought a new cable from chip_partner as I replaced the single connectors on my last one. I will keep the single connectors on this one for cases like the AT&T remote. The pins are too deep to easily connect the cables "as is", so I was thinking that it would be better to open the remote for two reasons: 1) to make connecting the cable easier and 2) to maybe follow the traces to determine which pin is which. Is that something you'd be interested in doing?

I do have the screwdriver, but the last time I got into the hardware end of this, it cured me of my JP1 addiction for about 2 years. I decided to stick to software.

I'm in the stage of using the remote where I'm still trying to figure out how to use the remote, so I can make my JP1 remote the most efficient.

[3FG]

I ordered a couple of S30 remotes from Amazon today; should be here next week. At <$5 apiece, I'll get one open even if I have to use a hammer.

[mdavej]

I've also bought a new cable from chip_partner as I replaced the single connectors on my last one.

I noticed their current listing is a 4 conductor cable which won't work for JP1, as far as I know. Did they send you the 6 conductor or did you find a different listing with the right cable?

[The Robman]

I've also bought a new cable from chip_partner as I replaced the single connectors on my last one.

I noticed their current listing is a 4 conductor cable which won't work for JP1, as far as I know. Did they send you the 6 conductor or did you find a different listing with the right cable?

It's the same 6-conductor cable, but the ebay listing it misleading.

[mdavej]

I just picked up one of these remotes as well. I really like the backlighting and the layout. Any progress yet?

[3FG]

Received two of them today. I took one apart without much difficulty--just the one screw and the usual latches. The processor is a S3F80P9 (32 pin ELP package) which has 32KB of flash. As usual the RAM is located at 0xFC00, and apparently addresses 0x8000 to 0xFBFF are non-responsive. PCB is dated Feb 2015.

The wiring to the external 4 pin connector is somewhat different compared to the 6 pin connectors. With the 4 pin connector seen here, there is no connection to the +3.3V Vcc, and more surprisingly, there is no direct connection to Vss (what we typically call ground). Instead Pin 4 is connected to Test with a 10K resistor to ground. Reset is connected to pin 3 with a 100K resistor to Vcc. Note that the function of Test is not well known, but we can be sure that we don't want to put Vcc on it--that would likely erase and overwrite the flash. However, I think it's OK to connect the ground pin from our interface cables to Pin 4. The TX and RX serial pins are both high impedance compared to 10K, so the voltage on Test won't reach even 0.5V.

I haven't tried downloading from the remote yet because I need to make an adapter to the new 4 pin header, so the following is not verified as correct or safe. Denote Pin 1 as the far right pin when viewing the connector with the body of the remote above the 4 pin header. Pin 1 is adjacent to the label JP1.

Code: Select all

4 pin header                                           Corresponding pin on 6 pin 
1     Tx (referred to remote)                            6
2     Rx (referred to remote)                            4
3     Reset                                              2
4     Test (treat as Ground)                             3

ETA: clarifying that Reset has a 100K resistor to 3.3V Vcc.

[The Robman]

I haven't tried downloading from the remote yet because I need to make an adapter to the new 4 pin header

I bought another chip_partner cable for situations like this, so I might give it a try. As the hole is very narrow and quite deep, I might try taping the cable-leads together to see if that makes it easier to connect them.

Here's a reminder chart of the cable pinout with the new AT&T pins added.

6pin - color:type - AT&T pin
1 - (empty):VDD
2 - Yellow:RTS - AT&T pin 3
3 - Black:GND - AT&T pin 4
4 - Green:TXD - AT&T pin 2
5 - (empty)
6 - White:RXD - AT&T pin 1
Blue:CTS (not connected)
Red:5V (not connected)

AT&T pins numbered right to left (ie, 4-3-2-1) when viewing the remote upright from behind (right, Dave?)

[3FG]

Rob,
Yes, when viewing as pictured. Of course the choice of which pin is number 1 is arbitrary, but commonly Pin1 will be denoted by some mark or asymmetry, so I chose the right side next to the JP1 label.