JP1 Remotes

I am trying to modify my remote operation. I have IR.exe loaded on a win2k box which I think I am logged onto as an admin (I even made guest an admin). Actually I do not log in as such on this box so I guess I am guest but guest is a member of the admin group.When I run the interface check I get a "no response from remote" error message. When I bypass auto checking and try to download from the remote I get a "did not receive a response from the remote ... " message. When I connect pins 2 and 11 with a jumper I get the same "no response from remote" error message. When I hook a scope onto the shorted pin 2/11 I see a voltage toggle which confirms I have the right port address.
I have tried with batteries, without batteries, plugged into the remote and not plugged into the remote as well as with a basic shorting jumper.

I could sure use some suggestions as to what to try next .....
Do I need to have some sort of driver installed to access the parallel port under windows 2k ?

Jens

jens wrote:When I hook a scope onto the shorted pin 2/11 I see a voltage toggle which confirms I have the right port address.

Hopefully on of the better experts (for this particular question) will respond.

But meanwhile, I think your test not only confirms the right port address, it confirms that you do have the access to the port that is provided by the automatically installed driver that it needed admin rights to install. So I think ALL of that is correct.

There are all the usual questions about whether the cable itself is built correctly.

But also you may want to check BIOS settings for the printer port. There are usually a few different choices available and IR.exe seems to be compatible with more than one of the choices, but sometimes someone bumps into a choice in a particular BIOS that IR.exe doesn't work with. Try changing the printer port BIOS settings to something else.

> But also you may want to check BIOS settings for the printer port

That was a great thought .... alas, it didn't do the trick

Jens

Jens,

To get any real help you'll have to provide much more information than you have. We can't tell what kind of interface you're using, whether you bought it or made it, what kind of remote you're using (to be sure it's JP1 compatible), whether you installed the JP1 connector yourself, what steps (if any) you've taken to check the interface wiring, and on and on.

If the PC cannot see the interface when you run a Check Interface test, the error message says "No response from interface. . . . I think it might be a good idea if everyone ran the interface test with NOTHING plugged into the parallel port, and stared at the error message until it became permanently imbedded in their brain. It's the same message you'll get if you plug a good interface into a good parallel port, but deliberately select the wrong port address. That message tells you that you haven't established the most basic requirement for IR to work, communications between the interface and the PC. Fortunately, you don't have this problem.

However, if the PC can tell there's an interface connected to the specified parallel port alright but can't seem to communicate through it to the remote, the error message says "No response from remote. . . .

So there's good news and bad news. The good news is that as long as you're getting the "no response from remote" error message you know you don't have to worry about admin rights, whether you are connected to the right port, jumpering pins 2 and 11, whether you need an additional driver, etc. The bad news is that your interface is simply not working.

Tommy

Tommy Tyler wrote:To get any real help you'll have to provide much more information than you have. We can't tell what kind of interface you're using, whether you bought it or made it, what kind of remote you're using (to be sure it's JP1 compatible), whether you installed the JP1 connector yourself, what steps (if any) you've taken to check the interface wiring, and on and on.

I am using the 'simple' interface, I have made it myself and I do not know what model the remote is. It came with my Shaw/Motorola digital decoder/PVR box (6112?). The only thing on the remote is a statement that says " designed with UEI technology". The remote has a 6 pin header identified as "JP1".

Correction: after removing the two batteries I see a sticker that says "URC-1055BCO" and "C053701" .... it doesn't look llike a model number.

At this point, all of the above is completely academic as I can't even pass the basic interface test. The way I understand things, if I connect a jumper between pin 11 and pin 2 on my parallel port, I should pass the basic test. This does not happen so I am thinking the problem isn't in the parallel port extender cable, the interface I built or the remote control itself. Please correct me if my understanding is incorrect.
I can see port activity when I monitor the jumper between pin 2 and 11 so I know I have selected the right port.

Tommy Tyler wrote:If the PC can tell there's an interface connected to the specified parallel port alright but can't seem to communicate through it to the remote, the error message says "No response from remote. . . .

So there's good news and bad news. The good news is that as long as you're getting the "no response from remote" error message you know you don't have to worry about admin rights, whether you are connected to the right port, jumpering pins 2 and 11, whether you need an additional driver, etc. The bad news is that your interface is simply not working.

Ohhhh ... ok ... I think a light is starting to show at the end of the tunnel. You are saying that my error message actually means I am talking (or trying) out the port but the remote isn't replying which would be an interface/remote problem. I guess I read something into the instructions that wasn't there. I assumed that if pin 2 and 11 were connected the interface test would pass. Now that I am looking at this more closely, I see I get two different error messages between the interface plugged in and without the interface. Without it, the error message starts the same but adds "and that you have specified the correct port".

I have previously double checked that pin one on the remote's header ends up at pin one on the ribbon cable but I will triple check all of that again.

Thanks
Jens

OK, I double checked continuity between the female IDC connector and the male DB25 connector. All pins appear to be connected as per diagram. Since the JP1 header on my remote has pins 1/2/5 and 6 labeled, I have used those numbers to verify that the IDC connection is indeed proper.

Jens

Double checked the Shaw/Motorola box - it's a DCT6412 Phase III

How new is this box (and more importantly, its associated remote)? Is it possible that the connection doesn't say JP1, but says JP1.1 or JP1.2? Some newer UEI remotes have a completely different processor, and although the interface looks the same, communicating through it to the remote has yet to be hacked.

Look closely at your remote to see if this is the case.

The cable box and remote was purchased about 2 weeks ago but the remote definitively says JP1 (no additional characters). I have done some more digging and it is an Atlas 5 remote which other people seem to have had no problem with. On the other hand, there is nothing saying that they didn't change the microprocessor on the board while still calling it a JP1.

Jens

Jens,

jens wrote:You are saying that my error message actually means I am talking (or trying) out the port but the remote isn't replying which would be an interface/remote problem.

Exactly. Well put.

jens wrote:Now that I am looking at this more closely, I see I get two different error messages between the interface plugged in and without the interface. Without it, the error message starts the same but adds "and that you have specified the correct port".

You're either not paying attention to the messages, or you're not saying what you mean. The error messages DO NOT start the same. One says "No response from Interface." and the other says "No response from the remote." Each message the adds its own suggestion of what to check. Now tell me you have seen both of those messages and that you can see they don't start the same.

Tommy

the moto 6412 Phase 3 box is the latest DVR box. I have the previous version (phase 2). the remote that came with mine (that has the swap button on it since both phase 2 and phase3 6412's are dual tuner dvr's) is jp1.2. I've read that the remote coming with the phase 3 boxes is also a jp1.2 remote.

I'm suspicious of the marking. If however your remote DOES NOT have the swap feature button, then it probably is a jp1 remote.

Best,
jeff

Tommy Tyler wrote:

jens wrote:Now that I am looking at this more closely, I see I get two different error messages between the interface plugged in and without the interface. Without it, the error message starts the same but adds "and that you have specified the correct port".

You're either not paying attention to the messages, or you're not saying what you mean. The error messages DO NOT start the same. One says "No response from Interface." and the other says "No response from the remote." Each message the adds its own suggestion of what to check. Now tell me you have seen both of those messages and that you can see they don't start the same.

<blush><gulp><hanging head in shame>
You are absolutely correct. I guess I read what I wanted to read rather than what was there.
I did the tests again and sure enough, with the interface attached (plugged into the remote or not), I get "No response from the remote. Make sure your interface is plugged into JP1 properly".
With no interface connected I get "No response form the interface. Make sure that the interface is connected to the PC, and that you've specified the correct port".
Me baaaadddd .....

Jens

greenough1 wrote:the moto 6412 Phase 3 box is the latest DVR box. I have the previous version (phase 2). the remote that came with mine (that has the swap button on it since both phase 2 and phase3 6412's are dual tuner dvr's) is jp1.2. I've read that the remote coming with the phase 3 boxes is also a jp1.2 remote.

I'm suspicious of the marking. If however your remote DOES NOT have the swap feature button, then it probably is a jp1 remote.

Best,
jeff

My remote has a 'swap' button .....
Based on my previous mis-reading of error messages I decided to "damn the torpedos and forge ahead" ..... I disassembled the remote. Dang that thing is hard to get into (and it now has battle scars to prove it).
It's got a whole lot of nothingness inside ....
The PCB is marked "Atlas VR/PVR 5Device, URC-1055BCO" and "2EC103631 Dec, 2004, Rev.00". It is also marked JP1 on the component side(what components ). The micro is marked SP553312Dwe, 9RD60DWE1025, 0L33R, CTDP0532. There are a number of empty solder pads and about half of those are right by the JP1 connector. Missing (next to JP1) are R3, C6,R20, R23 and Q5.

Jens

jens wrote:I guess I read what I wanted to read rather than what was there

Don't be too hard on yourself. Those error messages could probably be improved.

jens wrote:that thing is hard to get into

Did you read any of the information on how to open up remotes?

jens wrote:The micro is marked SP553312Dwe, 9RD60DWE1025, 0L33R, CTDP0532

Whoa! That might be a clue. If John Fine is following this thread he'll be able to tell you whether that's a supported processor.

jens wrote:Missing (next to JP1) are R3, C6,R20, R23 and Q5

Missing parts is not unusual, and never has any bearing on the ability to upload/download.

Do you see a small 8-pin IC marked 24C16 or anything close to that? That's the EEPROM, and if there is none it isn't supported by JP1 technology.

By any chance do you have a digital camera that can take one or more closeup photos of the component side?

Tommy

Tommy Tyler wrote:Did you read any of the information on how to open up remotes?

LOL ... that would be entirely too simple .... but I did have a general clue before I took it apart.

Tommy Tyler wrote:Do you see a small 8-pin IC marked 24C16 or anything close to that? That's the EEPROM, and if there is none it isn't supported by JP1 technology.

Dang !!!! I guess they only stick the header onto the board to confuse people like me. I hate it when 'they' start playing with my mind .... I don't have enough of it to go around .... (no eeprom, but it could be integrated on the processor)

Tommy Tyler wrote:By any chance do you have a digital camera that can take one or more closeup photos of the component side?

done ....
http://www.pacificsun.ca/~jens/remote/dscn2984.jpg
http://www.pacificsun.ca/~jens/remote/dscn2988.jpg