JP1 Remotes

crosstalk · Joined: 30 Apr 2006 Posts: 45 Location: PA

Hello. I am trying to reprogram my comcast 1067 jp1.2 with the extender to control my bose cinemate 2. The original remote has only 4 buttons (power, vol+, vol-, mute). I am using the bose lifestyle v20 file for the device upgrade. I just noticed there is a specific upgrade file for my 4 button remote, but I haven't looked at it yet. It seems I have the correct protocol and functions, but when I use them in a macro in the extender the signal duration seems very short (based on the quick flash of the aux light on the remote) and the cinemate misses the signal most of the time. It seems to me like the cinemate needs a longer duration signal to be able to decode it. I am also repeating the IR commands via a repeater system, so that could be a factor too. The original remote seems to need the button held down for a moment also to work correctly. How do I extend the duration of the signals? The discrete power commands in the upgrade file don't work currently, but maybe they need to be sent for a longer duration?

crosstalk · Joined: 30 Apr 2006 Posts: 45 Location: PA

I looked at the specific bose cinemate2 upgrade file and it has the same nec2 codes. How do I adjust the number of times a code is repeated for a keypress or macro?

I also called Bose and they confirmed that the discrete codes are unlikely to work with the cinemate. They didn't have a remote code document for this model with hex codes (their terminology for the commands).

3FG · Expert Joined: 19 May 2009 Posts: 3367

The Cinemate and Cinemate II use NEC2 186.160. One of our upgrades lists NECx2 186.160 for the CinemateII, but I don't believe that is correct. So make sure that you're using NEC2. Does Power toggle work when you use the 1067 without using a macro? If you can't get the signal to work reliably just using the remote and pressing the button to which the Power toggle signal is assigned, then changing the number of repeats won't help.

But to change the number of repeats, one way is to write a different executor, in which a minimum number of repeats is specified. I'm not able to do that (or test it) for a HCS08 micro.

crosstalk · Joined: 30 Apr 2006 Posts: 45 Location: PA

Thanks for the reply. Yes, it works ok when I assign the power toggle to a regular button (pip on/off in this case). Pretty much never works in a macro. I will check the protocol also to make sure it is nec2.

Which microcontroller can be made to work with this? Would it help if I used a jp1.3 comcast or atlas?

3FG · Expert Joined: 19 May 2009 Posts: 3367

Well, both HCS08 and S3F80 processors will work, but I'm not familiar with the HCS08 processors. Vicky usually works on those. If you do have a JP1.3 remote, this protocols.ini entry should give you 5 repeats of NEC2.

crosstalk · Joined: 30 Apr 2006 Posts: 45 Location: PA

Thanks, 3FG. I have switched to a jp1.3 comcast with the extender. The macros seem to execute even faster with this one so i have found i need to add more delays overall.

Anyway, your protocol is great. I have done some experimenting and think I will need 8 or so repeats for power on to be reliable. The downside is that vol+/- doesn't work well with so many repeats (loss of precision on the vol level). Is there a way to have the best of both worlds--lots of repeats on power toggle and no so much on vol control? I am thinking I need to use two different devices and some keymaps. Device 1933 is built-in so I am thinking I will setup key moves for the vol+/-.

I also noticed that I am sometimes having a problem with the extender deactivating or generally flaking out. Not sure what is going on, but reverting back to an extender base config and adding the device upgrades back fixes it. Maybe it doesn't like protocols with a lot of repeats?

crosstalk · Joined: 30 Apr 2006 Posts: 45 Location: PA

The protocol was working--now I am having a problem. Every time I use the custom protocol to send a commend (manually or via a macro), the remote sends the command continuously (have to remove the batteries to stop it) or it sends and then aborts with two flashes of the cable device key.

I tried disabling the extender and trying with an unextended file. That is not working either. Did I break this remote?

3FG · Expert Joined: 19 May 2009 Posts: 3367

No, this is my mistake. I copied in the wrong assembler code. Replace it with this:

crosstalk · Joined: 30 Apr 2006 Posts: 45 Location: PA

Thanks, 3FG. The new protocol is working well. I still need to fine-tune a few things with my setup. I discovered that my LCD TV emits a bunch of IR at startup that blocks reception for 30 seconds or so--not sure there is much I can do about that. I also discovered that my IR extender system has a reception range problem with one receiver module (plastic shell with dark black tint that should filter more extraneous light) but seems to be ok with another one (plastic shell with red tint). It's possible that the bose cinemate will turn on reliably with a few repeats with the red tinted IR receiver provided that I setup the macro to turn the TV on last.

crosstalk · Joined: 30 Apr 2006 Posts: 45 Location: PA

Just wanted to post a short update on this. I have the cinemate working reasonably well with 3 repeats now. I decided to put a piece of regular masking tape on the IR receiver for the IR extender. I also moved the receiver back into the cabinet a bit more. Those things seem to have cut down on the startup noise so I don't lose control of everything (except the TV--seems to have a filter) for several seconds when the TV starts.