Where the heck is IR?

PhilBiker · Post by **PhilBiker** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 10:38 am

I'm just getting started, I can't find IR anywhere, and I've got conflicting reports of where it is supposed to be. I joined the Yahoo group (Oh how I hate yahoo groups!). The "for beginners" link http://www.hifi-remote.com/jp1/help2/ says " IR203.zip (or latest), which you can download from the Files>Programs folder at the JP1 site", it's not there. The "How Easy Is It" link points to the Toold folder on the Yahoo group. http://www.hifi-remote.com/jp1/help/#4 - it's not there either. I've downloaded all the support excel files and remote code files, but I can't see the IR program, where is it? Am I missing it?

gfb107 · Post by **gfb107** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 10:51 am

See Beginners - Read this first.

It has a link to the Tools folder at Yahoo. Just follog the link to IR515.html to IR600.html

PhilBiker · Post by **PhilBiker** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 10:57 am

OK, I'm there. I see this:

IR402.html
Version 4.02 of IR.exe. OUT OF DATE: for reference purposes only. 1 KB robman1994 11/13/2004
IR515.html
IR515 Fixed bug with history (submitted by p_hives) 1 KB robman1994 11/13/2004
IR600.html
IR 6.00 Release Candidate 3

Is there anything to indicate what is the version I should download or that these are even links to the current "latest and greatest" program? HTML files are not programs as far as I know. I'm going to try IR515 though I don't know what "Fixed bug with history" means.

PhilBiker · Post by **PhilBiker** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 11:12 am

Of course! I click a download of a file labelled as HTML at 1K with an ambiguous description to get a 500K zip file for the application! --smacks forehead--- of course!

I certainly hope the rest of this JP1 stuff is not so straightforward.

Now if only I could determine which version is the best to get.....

cdhixson · Post by **cdhixson** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 11:14 am

The IR 6.00 Release Candidate 3 is the latest version, but it has not been officially released by the author. The bugs seem to be minor so it is probably the best version to use right now. When you click on the html link, it will start the file download for you. The actual files are located on Rob's Hifi-Remote website, but this is the way he wants you to get the files.

PhilBiker · Post by **PhilBiker** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 11:15 am

great! thanks! This is what should be in the beginner's text.

Post by **The Robman** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 11:54 am

Just FYI, we use an incremental numbering scheme for all JP1 software, so a "version 4" would be more up to date than a "version 3". With that in mind, you can probably figure out for yourself that IR v6.00 is more recent than v5.15, which in turn is more recent than v4.02.

You see how it works?

johnsfine · Post by **johnsfine** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 12:05 pm

You are of course left to guess (or search forum threads) to find out whether "Release Candidate" means a test version appropriate to only experienced users who would recognise the difference between a new bug and user error, or it means the current version that most people will assume you're using when they tell you how to do something. (At the moment, it seems to be the latter).

A cooperative volunteer effort isn't going to have the polish of a good commercial product. But the level of features and support here sure beats the commercial products in the remote control market.

Mark Pierson · Post by **Mark Pierson** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 2:25 pm

In addition to the above, the Software forum here generally contains Announcment messages for the latest revisions of the JP1 tools like IR, KM, RM, etc.

PhilBiker · Post by **PhilBiker** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 10:05 am

Just FYI, we use an incremental numbering scheme for all JP1 software, so a "version 4" would be more up to date than a "version 3". With that in mind, you can probably figure out for yourself that IR v6.00 is more recent than v5.15, which in turn is more recent than v4.02.

You see how it works?

Um yeah, that's quite clear, however......

You are of course left to guess (or search forum threads) to find out whether "Release Candidate" means a test version appropriate to only experienced users who would recognise the difference between a new bug and user error, or it means the current version that most people will assume you're using when they tell you how to do something. (At the moment, it seems to be the latter).

Right on! Absolutely no indication thereof at the site. That and the fact that the links point to 1K HTML files instead of EXEs or ZIPs (and no immediate indication that they point to ZIPs or EXEs) can be quite confusing. Look at the "for beginners" text quoted in my first post, it specifically says to look for a version#.zip file in the directory, and none exists!

In addition to the above, the Software forum here generally contains Announcment messages for the latest revisions of the JP1 tools like IR, KM, RM, etc.

Maybe that text should be in the "Start here" text also.

A cooperative volunteer effort isn't going to have the polish of a good commercial product. But the level of features and support here sure beats the commercial products in the remote control market.

I hope to see that. I'm not even sure why I need the JP1 stuff to tell you the truth, I'm really just looking for an easy way to update newer codes into my Producer8 without contacting OFA (though I've sent it off to them in the past always with great service!). I just got a 9910 and I'm hoping to update a code for my HDTV receiver at home without contacting OFA.

Post by **The Robman** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 11:13 am

In order for you to get the most out of your JP1 experience, you will need to take a somewhat more "fluid" approach when reading the various documentation because as much as we try, when we release a new version of the software or change where it's located, we can't possibly find every reference to it in order to update those references. So, many of the documents that are floating around are out of date in some way or other.

We did indeed used to store zip files containing the software in the Tools folder at Yahoo, but we ran out of space, so we moved some of the larger files over to my own web site and we replaced the zip files with HTML files that link you directly to where the file is now located. Up until now that has worked without incident. Even with all of the big files moved, we're still using 20225 Kb of the 20480 Kb total space we're allocated.

Maybe if we were a commercial company and were getting paid for all this, we could take care of all those little details, but most of the key players here are all busy tweeking the tools, or doing other tasks to advance the overall JP1 effort. Plus, of course, we're here everyday helping people get their remotes set up.

mr_d_p_gumby · Post by **mr_d_p_gumby** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 11:25 am

PhilBiker wrote:I'm not even sure why I need the JP1 stuff to tell you the truth

I'd say you answered your own question

PhilBiker wrote:I'm really just looking for an easy way to update newer codes into my Producer8 without contacting OFA

PhilBiker · Post by **PhilBiker** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 12:30 pm

Well, so far I'm very impressed with this discussion board and the ability of people here to point me in the right direction with this stuff. I also know that if I find confusing stuff it's to be expected, I understand the difficulty of coordinating all these efforts into a single site and always keeping everything up-to-date all the time. It's daunting! Heck, good CM is daunting when you're being paid for it, much less on a volunteer effort where so many people are contributing. Thanks again!