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need JP1 cable for URC-8910 and URC-8811

Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2016 3:48 pm
by kasm
Hi there,

I have a URC-8910 and a URC-8811 remotes. I have been programming them using a JP1 parallel cable on Windows XP. Well, I finally upgraded my computer and new computers do not have parallel ports.

I was wondering where I can get a new USB cable that I can use to program my remotes. I tried searching ebay and it looks like there are a few cables, but they are JP1.2 and JP1.3. I believe my remotes will not work with them because they are EEPROM based JP1. Please correct me if I am wrong.

My new computer is a Dell XPS 8900, which only has UBS (no parallel and no serial).

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2016 4:09 pm
by kasm
I was thinking that I could get a Parallel Port PCI-E card like this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/161941762941

and just reuse my existing parallel cable. Will that work?

I recall having problems on windows 7 and had to run windows XP in a VM to get it working.

I now have windows 10. Will I run into problems with this setup? Thanks!

Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2016 4:52 pm
by The Robman
I believe that people used to use PCI cards like that, but I have no idea what would happen under Windows 10.

One source for a USB JP1 cable is this ($54):
http://www.txsat.net/JP1_EEPROM.html

Another option is to buy a JP1.x cable and an EEPROM adapter:

Get this $9 cable:
https://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=16360

then get this $10 adapter:
http://www.diygadget.com/jp1-1-1-1-2-1- ... apter.html

Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2016 3:36 pm
by kasm
So I bought the following PCI Parallel card from ebay for about $8:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/161941762941

It installed fine on my new Dell XPS 8900SE running Windows 10. Windows was unable to install a driver automatically, but the card came with drivers on a CD. The driver was not signed, so I had to boot windows 10 with option 7 (Disable driver signature enforcement) after hitting shift-reboot as per this guide:
http://www.howtogeek.com/167723/how-to- ... d-drivers/

When I tried to launch the Windows XP Virtualbox image, it would not go because the LPT port was moved from LPT1 to LPT3. I first had to disable it and then remap it:

VBoxManage modifyvm "My VM Name" --lpt1 off
VBoxManage modifyvm "My VM Name" --lptmode1 "LPT3:"
VBoxManage modifyvm "My VM Name" --lpt1 0x378 7

Once I got my image running, I was able to run IR 8.0.3 and download the data from my remote.

Woohoo! success.

So, to conclude, I can still use JP 1.1 design over parallel port on the latest Intel Skylake build running Windows 10, as long as I run Windows XP within a VirtualBox image.

Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2016 4:34 pm
by The Robman
Did you confirm that none of this works under Windows 10, or did you just assume that you needed the virtual Win XP?

Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2016 9:33 pm
by kasm
Yes, I had previously tried under Windows 7 and now with the new computer Windows 10. Neither worked. I always had to go with XP within a VM. If others were successful, I'd like to know.

Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2016 9:41 pm
by mdavej
Gotta love the lengths JP1ers will go to in order to save $11.