The chip partner FTDI cable

[Gauchero]

Update: the green channel (TXD) was not soldered correctly. After resoldering, the cable works very well. Thanks for your help anyway!

[bevhoward]

Was interested in this topic since I purchased an FTDI232 USB-JP1 cable a year or so ago, and could not get it to work on a win8.1 computer.

I confirmed the wiring (as documented in this thread) both by checking the color codes as well as opening the cable and confirming the CB pinouts.

As part of the process, I downloaded and installed a couple of drivers, but had no success with that either.

I then purchased a second cable based on a forum recommendation and that one worked out of the box.

Returning to JP1 fun and games this week, I pulled both cables out and confirmed that only the second cable worked.

Then, a couple of days ago, I moved back to my office which has a win10 computer and tried both cables on that computer. I was surprised that both cables worked with the default win10 drivers.

Obviously this points to a driver problem in Win8.1

Hope that this information is useful,
Beverly Howard

(why win8.1? because win10 does not support Windows Media Center)

[mdavej]

That's an interesting discovery.

Try this driver and see if it makes any difference. Maybe the 32-bit driver works better, even on a 64-bit system?

https://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm

[bevhoward]

Thanks... driver downloaded, but it may be a few days before I get back to the win8.1 machine. Will report back.

Beverly Howard

[siebert]

I did order the FTDI cable via the eBay link from the opening post, but I never received it within two months, so I got a refund.

So I found and ordered this cable instead on Amazon, which is almost twice as expesive (10€), but was delivered the next day and I'm happy to report that it works fine with my URC-7980 remote (using Windows 10):

https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B07BBPX8B8

[davecs]

I did order the FTDI cable via the eBay link from the opening post, but I never received it within two months, so I got a refund.

So I found and ordered this cable instead on Amazon, which is almost twice as expesive (10€), but was delivered the next day and I'm happy to report that it works fine with my URC-7980 remote (using Windows 10):

https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B07BBPX8B8

I believe that this is the same one from UK Amazon:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07BBPX8B8

And from the USA:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BBPX8B8

[speedydgon]

Using the links on the first post, I purchased a JP1.2/1.3 cable (the one with 6 separate single connectors) and the JP1.2/1.3 to JP1 adpater.

I have them both now but am stuck again. I think I wire the cable to the adapter using this pinout:

1 - (empty):VDD
2 - Yellow:RTS
3 - Black:GND
4 - Green:TXD
5 - (empty)
6 - White:RXD
Blue:CTS (not connected)
Red:5V (not connected)

but I cannot determine which is pin#1 on the adapter.

Then on my OneForAll URC-8811B00 remote I cannot determine which pin is #1. Does words JP1 go at top with #1 on top right (and #2 below)?

[The Robman]

Regarding the URC-8811, there is an image in the first post that shows you where pin 1 is on the remote. As you noted, there is a 1 in the top right corner...



Regarding the DIY Gadget adapter, it's true that he doesn't label pin 1, which is a pity, but the good news is that, when using an old JP1 remote, you can't do any harm by connecting it backwards, so try the adapter both way round, and then when you determine which corner is pin 1, label it yourself.

[ednedn]

Regarding the URC-8811, there is an image in the first post that shows you where pin 1 is on the remote. As you noted, there is a 1 in the top right corner...



Regarding the DIY Gadget adapter, it's true that he doesn't label pin 1, which is a pity, but the good news is that, when using an old JP1 remote, you can't do any harm by connecting it backwards, so try the adapter both way round, and then when you determine which corner is pin 1, label it yourself.

I just received my FTDI gizmo's ordered on eBay from China... (As shown at the start of the thread: http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=16360)

I can confirm everything still works as described in this thread! I have moved from having a flakey USB-Serial JP1.2 cable to having two fully tested and working JP1.2 cables.

THANK YOU FOR ALL THE EXPERTISE AND SUPPORT!

[Parrot]

As I have successfully procured a USB-serial cable and used it to communicate with my URC-1280, I am adding my experience to this thread.

The cable was purchased from a seller on the UK version of eBay, advertised as "FTDI FT232RL USB to TTL Serial RS232 Cable 6 Pin ARM PIC Pi Arduino UK Seller" for £7.95 (UKP). What arrived is shown below:



If you look closely you will see that the colours of the cables to the 1x6 way female connector are in a different order than those shown at the top of this thread, but the eBay listing gives each colour as the same function, ie:

Red +5V
Black GND
White RXD
Green TXD
Yellow RTS
Blue CTS

I made a temporary lash-up to connect to the 6-pin connector in my URC-1280 (which I am told is JP1.4): 2 - RTS, 4 - TXD, 6 - RXD, 3 - GND

On my Win7 machine I updated Java (now at version 8), installed the RMIR stuff, and plugged in the USB-Serial adapter. The adapter was auto-detected and the driver installed automatically.

Running RMIR and selecting Remote > Download from Remote (with Interface set to Auto-detect) resulted in a populated table with "URC-1280 Contour 8 v2" identified in the title bar.

I regard this as success and I can now suitably modify the USB-Serial cable to fit directly to the JP1. Note that the connector on the URC-1280 has a block of six pins in 2x3 layout (as per the illustration in post 1), but the opening in the case is differently shaped:



Pin 1 is identified by the white dot on the PCB, and the pin numbering is:

1 2
3 4
5 6

PS: thanks to everybody who has contributed to making this work

[mdavej]

Thanks for the report. This is why we recommend you buy cables with 6 individual connectors like this (pick the Independent option from the drop down):
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-6Pin- ... 2234679584

The individual pins can easily be assembled into the 2x3 block found on JP1 remotes. They ship worldwide, and it has transmit and receive indication LEDs.

[Parrot]

Thanks for the report.

You're welcome, always willing to contribute.

This is why we recommend you buy cables with 6 individual connectors like this... They ship worldwide

Yeah... if you don't mind delivery in 3 to 6 weeks. I prefer to buy local if at all possible, and a bit of adapting is no problem to me.

.

[Shafti]

As I have successfully procured a USB-serial cable and used it to communicate with my URC-1280, I am adding my experience to this thread.
....

This is what I've been waiting for a long time! I also have the URC-1280...two of them.

Thx so much. Now i will buy one of this cable and can copy&paste the settings to the second one easy, i hope!

[jonpo]

Hi Robman,

The post at http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=16360 has been stable for years, so it strikes me as odd that no one has identified what I feel is a serious error in pin numbering. If my logic is failing somewhere, can you straighten me out?

The arrow at upper left on a 6-pin connector identifies pin 1, and I connected the cables as per the post:

1 - (empty):VDD
2 - Yellow:RTS
3 - Black:GND
4 - Green:TXD
5 - (empty)
6 - White:RXD

RMIR told me 'Remote not found'.

The photograph showed 2 and 6 were reversed from the text, so I connected the cables as per:

1 - (empty):VDD
2 - White:RXD
3 - Black:GND
4 - Green:TXD
5 - (empty)
6 - Yellow:RTS

RMIR downloaded without issues.

I watched https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLYzsh-usTo, and the narrator identifies Pin 1 as upper right, which is actually Pin 3. This would explain why the 2/6 transposition worked for her.

The photograph pin numbering is 1-3-5 on the upper, and 2-4-6 on the lower. If you can give me an email address I can forward you a PNG which identifies each pin and could be a suitable replacement in the post.


Thanks,

JP

[3FG]

I don't know where the "failing" occurs, but the pinouts described in this thread are correct. See for example http://hifi-remote.com/forums/viewtopic ... 050#140050. There is no question about the correctness; it hasn't changed in more than a decade.

However, frequently people also ascribe a color to a function, and this is not a good way to keep track. There is nothing intrinsic about e.g. the RTS function that causes it to be on a yellow wire. The color mapping is arbitrary to the maker of the interface cable.

So when you read

Code: Select all

2 - Yellow:RTS

take "Yellow" with a grain of salt. Maybe it is right, but maybe not. But pin 2 is always RTS when using RMIR with a JP1 serial remote. Actually pin 2 is connected to the Reset line of the microcontroller -always- but we trigger it using the RTS signal.