JP1 Remotes

My motherboard does not have connector pins for a parallel socket, so I had to use an expansion card. After a lot of frustration I finally got it to work with RMIR 2.02. Here's how I did it:

First, enter BIOS setup and disable the onboard parallel port. Even though there is no way to use it, the ...

Standard height Parallel port cards are still available for $10 -- see Newegg for examples. The cards themselves these days are usually only a couple of inches high but the bracket is standard height. I haven't seen the insides of it, but I believe that your new Dell needs one of the new "low ...

I found a few "low profile" parallel port cards at Newegg, this one is the cheapest:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815158041

Is this what you're looking for?

Price is just about the same as a USB cable from Tommy Tyler. Faced with the choice I'd go for the cable, it's ...

Just a note to say thank you to everyone who helped with various suggestions. I now have a working interface. My design is OK, my execution was not.

The root cause of all the difficulties was wiring errors. Gradually I picked up on some clues that the loopback tests had been giving me and was able ...

Thanks for the clarification, Binky.

This will require building a special set of jumpers. May take some time. I'll let you know how it works out.

Binky, I think I understand your suggestion. You are telling me to do loopback test using a crossover connection between the pins of the JP1 connectors on Tommy's USB interface and the pins of my project serial cable. Example: to test the Tx circuit of the project interface, 3 to 3 (Gnd-Gnd) and 4-6 ...

Thanks for the reply, Tom. I may well end up doing what you suggest, however, for me this is more of a project that I got interested in because I saw that a number of people were having trouble making the standard design work, particularly on laptops. I have one of Tommy's USB interfaces that I use ...

Okay, made a few changes, but no joy.

First, I added a diode between Q4 collector and ground. This was precautionary -- Tommy Tyler pointed out that some PCs like to put the Rx input voltage negative when the circuit is quiet. That is why he included the diode in his design.

Next, changed value of ...

Thanks for the reply.

Maybe I am misunderstanding how the hardware works, but from Tommy Tyler's explanation of how JP1.2 is initialized, in this article:

https://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload.php?action=file&file_id=4259

It sounds like the standard routine used by the software is set up ...

I read the history of the JP1.x serial interface designs and decided to have a go at making a simplified 1.2/1.3 interface that (I hoped) would work more reliably with laptops than the standard current design. Basically using a combination of brute force (a 9V battery) and old methodology (RTS line ...

Ah, I see... thanks for the info, Mark!

I am using this remote to control four devices. It only has three device buttons, (Cable, TV and Aux) but for Aux I created a "virtual" device I call "Sony Rcvr-DVD combo." It incorporates the functions needed for basic operation of an ancient Sony receiver and somewhat newer Sony DVD player, under ...

Wow, great suggestions! Kupakai, I took yours first but I did it without making any keymoves. Since the two Sony devices both operate under one protocol I was able to take their RMDU files and use them to create a new one for a "virtual" device I called "Sony Rcvr/DVD combo." I kept only the basic ...

Hi Vicky, thanks for the reply. Sounds like you have some experience in this delicate area of marital relations.

We have six devices in the LR/home theater but my wife only uses four of them. You've got her pegged as a "lite" user.

Sony STR-D615 receiver --has to switch between inputs, adjust ...

I love my URC-8910, but my wife can't stand it. For her, the buttons are too small and too close together, and the labels are unreadable, even with the backlight. I would appreciate recommendations for a remote with bigger buttons and Large print. Preferably one that is programmable via JP1 or JP1.2 ...