As you know, there are two possible ways for RMIR to interact with the URC-7981. One is with Bluetooth, the other is with the 6-pin connector. Both present considerable problems. The Bluetooth access is designed for use with the OfA Advanced Setup phone app, not for general Bluetooth access, and uses the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) interface. UEI (Universal Electronics Inc), of which OfA (One for All) is a trade name, has implemented only that part of the BLE specification that it needs for the app. As a result, the Bluetooth implementation built into Windows 10 and 11 will not recognise the BLE interface of the remote. The BLED112 dongle is more forgiving, however, and will recognise it. That is why you need the BLED112.
I wrote the Bluetooth support for RMIR based on the BLE interface used by the URC-7980 for the earlier OfA (non-advanced) Setup phone app. Although this interface is recognised by the BLED112, that does not mean that it will immediately work with RMIR. RMIR had no Bluetooth interface. I had to write both a new RMIR interface (JP2BT) and an extender for the URC-7980. An extender is a piece of software that needs to be installed in the remote to extend its capabilities. It is specific to the model of remote concerned. There are three OfA remotes that used the original OfA Setup app, the URC-7980, URC-7955 and URC-7880. Each required a different version of the extender.
The URC-7981 will also require an extender to work in full with the BLED112. Extenders are difficult and time-consuming things to write. At present, RMIR will recognise the URC-7981 and go part way towards connecting with it before giving an error message. If you want to try this, here is what to do. First you must have the BLED112 installed in the remote. To check this, open the Device Manager on Windows 10 or 11 and select the Ports (COM & LPT) entry. The list it shows should include "Bluegiga Bluetooth Low Energy (COM3)". Make a note of the COM number, which may not be 3. If that is OK then:
1. Open RMIR and go to the Remote > Interface menu item.
2. Select JP2BT.. which opens a Port Selection dialog.
3. Select the port "COMx" where x is the COM number reported by the Device Manager.
4. Select the Options > Advanced menu on the RMIR menu bar and select "Find all Bluetooth".
5. Press the Bluetooth symbol on the RMIR toolbar. This opens a Remote chooser dialog. Be sure to read the first paragraph of the notes.
6. Press the Search button. If this is the first time you are searching, press the Devices and Activity buttons on the remote and hold them until the LED starts to flash. The "Select remote:" panel will display a list that should include an entry like "OFA Smart Control 38:c9:7c". The numbers will be different, as they are specific to your particular remote. Select that entry.
7. Press the Connect button. The Progress Bar should go up to 20 before you get an error message that says "Please note that this remote requires an extender in order to support uploading via its Bluetooth interface."
8. Press OK. You then get another error message, "Error connecting to remote OFA Smart Control 38:c9:7c" (but with the numbers for your remote).
This is as far as you can get at present. The reason for selecting "Find all Bluetooth", which has to be selected every time, is that this remote is currently unknown to RMIR. At least it confirms that RMIR is recognising the URC-7981 through its Bluetooth interface.
The other interface to the URC-7981 is through the 6-pin connector. This needs pins soldered into the holes. This too is not straightforward as they need to be soldered from UNDERNEATH, which requires opening the casing. In the article "603704 Report on URC-7980" here:
https://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/view ... p?t=100006
3FG report on his experience of opening a URC-7980, which is essentially identical to the URC-7981. He wrote:
"I disassembled the case of the remote. At the bottom of the remote, there are two rectangular 3x4mm holes under the battery cover. I could insert a small screwdriver and lever the keypad half of the case to open up a small gap at the center bottom of the remote. I used old feeler gauge blades of 0.006 and 0.009 inches thickness. Then working to one of the bottom corners, the clips at the bottom of the remote released. That gave a big enough gap to insert a plastic spudger and work around all of the remote. The remote suffered no cosmetic damage nor broken clips."
I have not tried this and don't even know if I have the tools to try. But soldering in pins is necessary for two reasons. For me, to extract the data I would need to develop an extender, and for you because any extender has to be installed without Bluetooth, using the 6-pin connector.
If all this is not bad enough, I have changed my computer since my original work with the BLED112. I will have to install the BLED Software Development Kit on my new computer before I can do anything else. I have started to do that but found problems. I am not sure if everything is still available since the BLED112 is obsolete as far as the manufacturer is concerned.
At present I have the interest and enthusiasm to start on all the necessary tasks. This is not really for your benefit, it is because it is an interesting challenge. I don't know how long I will continue with it, though. I may meet some insuperable obstacle or lose interest or enthusiasm. I will report on progress, or lack of it, here. Keep watching.
