Easy way to test a remote?

[n8nagel]

Good evening everybody

I'm still using the heck out of my Xsight Colors over here, but I did buy a Sofabaton X2 a few months ago and I am getting close to getting it functional for my living room. The problem that I am finding with Sofabaton is that they only let you learn codes, not input them in protocol/device/subdevice/OBC format - so this is very tedious. Some of my devices (LaserDisc, S-VHS) they don't have in their code base at all, and others they have, but I need to fix them.

Even more unfortunately, Sofabaton will not let me take one of their code sets, learn what's wrong/missing, and submit it as "user contributed" - to make a user contrib code set I need to learn ALL the codes. This is, of course, a pain. It really makes me appreciate this community that much more because I've gone from zero to a working code set in a few hours on several different components that I've acquired without the original remote, even if nobody has documented that exact component before.

My current project, since I have to (well, I don't HAVE to, but there are some codes missing that I would actually use in normal operation) fix the code set for my Sony UBP-X800M2, is to just make a "Master Sony BDP_UDP" code set but here's the thing. There's going to be a good number of codes that I can only learn from my Xsight, and can't test because I don't have a device that uses those commands. In this case, I have the UDP and a couple recent blu-ray players, but I bet that covers maybe only 60-70% of the codes that we have in our master lists.

My first thought is, I could just learn those back to a new device on my Xsight and examine them and make sure that they are what I expect them to be. That's about the best I can do I think.

But... is there an easier way? Is there something that could be either bought or hacked together easily by someone who can solder but is kind of an idiot that would make this process faster?

In addition to having to do LOTS of work just to be happy with my liiving room system, I do, of course, being an audio nerd, have lots of gear laying around that I've documented more or less well for this site and now feel the need to transfer that over to Sofabaton as well. Yeah, I know, this is the price you pay for being an early adopter, you don't have to tell me this...

This is also of course why I haven't brute forced for discrete power codes yet for my NEC S-VHS deck as I posted about recently. I did learn what I had to the Sofabaton hub though even if that's not ready for prime time.

[The Robman]

So, I did some Googling, it turns out that the Sonabaton X2 is a new fancy universal remote that does IR, Bluetooth, and Home Assistant control:
https://www.sofabaton.com/product/x2/

And the Sony UBP-X800M2 is a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray™ Player:
https://electronics.sony.com/tv-video/b ... /ubpx800m2

Regarding build a master upgrade or code list for Sony Bluray players, you could use the data in this Sony spreadsheet to help:
https://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/app. ... e_id=27268

If I understand the main question in this post, here's what I think you are asking. You want to use your Sonabaton remote as a source, you want to document what the codes that are present in that remote "look like" (ie, protocol, device code, OBC) and make a list. You are looking for a method that is easier than learning them from the Sonabaton into your Xsight and then downloading them. Do I have that right?

If so, yes, there is an easier way. You could make yourself an AIRWidget and then use IRScope to capture the signals. Here are the Operating Instructions.

[n8nagel]

you've basically got the idea. Here's basically the workflow

1) create an upgrade for JP1 specifically Xsight Color
2) learn upgrade to Sofabaton X2 from original remote and/or Xsight
3) but how do I test any remote codes for which I don't have the original device? e.g. verify that protocol/device/OBC is what I intend it to be and that it wasn't misread in the learn process?

yes in the specific case of the Sony stuff I was using the file I made myself for the Xsight for the X800M2 and for that I just dumped all the codes in from these two master lists

dload.php?action=file&file_id=4768
dload.php?action=file&file_id=11788

For this specific example, the X800M2 does not recognize any of the numerical keys, but an older BDP would, but I don't have one handy to test that those codes work, hence my question. (I do have a whole box full of the smaller BDPs that work off 12V wall warts, but it's in a very safe place right now. I'm sure I will find it after they are completely obsolete and I have no use for them.) I trust that the OBCs in the JP1 upgrades are correct but I'm worried about errors creeping into the learn process. This isn't completely hypothetical; one of the codes that I learned to Sofabaton for an old Adcom stereo receiver didn't work, but when I re-learned it, it worked fine, so it is possible.

I will definitely look into what you suggest.

[The Robman]

If you're asking, how can you test that you learned it to the Sofabaton properly, the best that I can suggest is that you then learn it FROM the Sofabaton INTO the Xsight and see how that looks. Of course, that gives you 2 changes to screw up the learn, so if you see a bad learn in the Xsight, is it from learn #1 into the Sofabaton, or is it from learn #2 into the Xsight?