What's a protocol code?

blintner · Post by **blintner** » Sat Nov 15, 2003 10:29 am

I am having difficulties With the KM spreadsheet. I am stumped at this message:

*** The Protocol Code below is REQUIRED for this Upgrade ***
#VALUE!

It looks important, but I really don't have a clue how to respond.

Please stay tuned, I'm sure I will have more questions.

Please help

Bill

PS I am so glad there is a forum for dummies.....

johnsfine · Post by **johnsfine** » Sat Nov 15, 2003 10:57 am

KM always provides a device upgrade that you must copy/paste to add to the devices tab in IR. KM sometimes also provides a protocol upgrade that you must similarly copy/paste to add to the protocols tab in IR.

That message is to make sure you notice the protocol upgrade is required.

sfhub · Post by **sfhub** » Sat Nov 15, 2003 11:07 am

The #VALUE! part probably means some invalid value was entered as
the "Device/SubDevice #" or whatever the section is called for the
device you are trying to upgrade (basically the 2nd grouping in the
first column on the KM/Setup panel).

blintner · Post by **blintner** » Sat Nov 15, 2003 11:27 am

Thanks Guys-

But I really think maybe this is way beyond me... I read and reread your replies and I am not getting it. I am trying to add Kenwood VR407 to a URC 6131, I can open the spreadsheet, the next thing I do is change the Remote (C2) to URC-6131 PVR then I get this:

" ***the protocol code below is required for this upgrade***
enter Device Code; 'byte2'=sub-device"

.. (C9) is a field that appears to be labelled "device code" so that is where I enter the above phrase ( 'byte2'=sub-device ) No?? That's when the "#VALUE!" message I mentioned in my first post appears.

Please....I am a complete newbie and am struggling to understand..So be patient with me.

Johnsfine, you said "KM always provides a device upgrade that you must copy/paste to add to the devices tab in IR." The devices tab in IR has a number of fields that appear to be changeable by the user, as does the protocols tab. Into which field is this information to be pasted?

If this info is in the "JP1 for beginners" document, I didn't see it, and if it is tell me and I will reread it.

Bill

Mark Pierson · Post by **Mark Pierson** » Sat Nov 15, 2003 1:01 pm

blintner wrote:I can open the spreadsheet, the next thing I do is change the Remote (C2) to URC-6131 PVR then I get this:

" ***the protocol code below is required for this upgrade***

That indicates that the selected protocol is not native to the remote, so you'll need to copy and paste the protocol code into IR's Protocol's tab

enter Device Code; 'byte2'=sub-device"

.. (C9) is a field that appears to be labelled "device code" so that is where I enter the above phrase ( 'byte2'=sub-device ) No?? That's when the "#VALUE!" message I mentioned in my first post appears.

That's a help prompt telling you to enter a Device Code (a decimal numer) into the Device Code field. The "'byte2'=sub-device" is telling you that on the Functions sheet, the byte2 field is where you enter the Sub-Device number.

"KM always provides a device upgrade that you must copy/paste to add to the devices tab in IR." The devices tab in IR has a number of fields that appear to be changeable by the user, as does the protocols tab. Into which field is this information to be pasted?

On the Devices tab in IR, click the Add button. The window that opens up is where you paste in the Device Upgrade Code from KM.

If this info is in the "JP1 for beginners" document, I didn't see it, and if it is tell me and I will reread it.

It's in there, though it may be be clear as both KM and IR have had numerous revisions since that document was created. The concepts are all the same, but what you actually see on screen has probably changed.

blintner · Post by **blintner** » Sat Nov 15, 2003 2:50 pm

Mark-

Thanks fo your reply, I think I'm almost there. I am now getting an instruction that says "2DEV: Enter Main Device and Sub Device (Parm optional)" On the the device4.xls the fields for Main and Sub device are blank. How am I to respond to the instruction?

Bill

usblipitor · Post by **usblipitor** » Sat Nov 15, 2003 3:18 pm

I just found a KM file for your specific receiver. This should make your life much easier. Download Kenwood VR407.txt and then use the "load" key (on the first page of KM) to load it, and then all you have to do is pick the 6131 remote from the drop down box in the upper left corner of the first page; on the buttons page you can associate the receiver functions to whichever 6131-remote buttons you like. From there, you know the rest (pick the right .rdf file from the file/select in IR, then copy KMdevice and then KMprotocol to IR device and protocol pages by hitting the device or protocol tab then click add, etc) If you need these last details in more detail just ask or read the beginners guide.

I like this JP1 stuff quite a lot and admire the experts for their inginuity.

blintner · Post by **blintner** » Sat Nov 15, 2003 3:41 pm

Steve-

Thank you--I ws using that very file but I guess I was trying to make it too complicated on myself. I just ignored the Green and Red warning and plowed ahead as if I knew what I was doing and Voila! it worked.

Thanks again

Bill

Post by **The Robman** » Sat Nov 15, 2003 4:20 pm

There's a big difference in philosophy between OFA and the JP1 group. OFA expects that their remotes will be used by the technically challenged, so they skip all the good stuff in their manuals, and they program in lots of stupid restrictions all designed to stop the idot user from messing up his remote.

Here in the JP1 world, while we try to make things as easy to understand as possible, we provide enough tools, etc that you really can make a mess of things if you don't know what you are doing. In other words, we give you enough rope to hang yourself.

In most cases the correct approach is not to do too much. If you're wondering what a certain box in KM is for, just leave it alone, if you don't have a good reason to change it, don't.

It's usually alot easier than it looks.

ilsiu · Post by **ilsiu** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 9:20 am

I have the same receiver (Kenwood VR407) and I tried to use this with the device combiner protocol - I copied the PID and fixed data into the device combiner section in the KM setup tab, but the remote (9910) didn't work. Because I was able to successfully add two other devices with device combiner, I assume that I can use device combiner correctly. Since the VR407 uses special protocol code, is there something else I need to do?

Thanks,
I-Liang

Mark Pierson · Post by **Mark Pierson** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 9:28 am

I would suggest trying the upgrade by itself (not part of the DC) to see if it in fact works your device. If it does, then the problem may be in the DC itself. It's supposed to be able to use protocol upgrades for S3C8 remotes, but perhaps there's a problem.

Post by **The Robman** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 10:18 am

The Kenwood upgrade that you downloaded is itself a combo, so it can't be used "as is" with the device combiner. You would need to break the Kenwood combo out into it's component parts and then mix them in with your other devices in the device combiner.

I don't have time to explain how to do this right now, so I'm hoping someone else will jump in and give you a step by step.

Post by **ElizabethD** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 2:31 pm

Mark Pierson wrote:It's supposed to be able to use protocol upgrades for S3C8 remotes, but perhaps there's a problem.

Mark - far as I know S3C8 remotes and DC coexist just fine, but i only used 8910 (similar to 9910) and DC for Denon and Panasonic combos conversion, and this one uses NEC protocol. So should it work in this instance? I would think so. What would stop it?

Regarding change from combo protocol to Device combiner, let me try to give you a starting point. Unfortunately I'm not doing it as I write, nor have I done NEC protocols

. So if something goes wrong, please, call on the experts to correct/fill in the holes.

Given a 2-byte NEC1 combo protocol, change to Device combiner as follows:
1. From your current Functions sheet in KM collect the numbers in subdevice (byte2) column.
2. From the Setup sheet, note the main device.
3. On the Setup sheet, given those values, for each set of byte2 numbers, ask KM to manufacture the fixed bytes for each subdevice:
4. Select NEC1 protocol, enter device (184) and one subdevice.
5. Take a note of fixed bytes.
6. You should end up with a list giving yourself these points of information. Something similar to this:

Code: Select all

Sub#	protocol	fixed bytes
0		00 5A	   00 E2 FF	
1		00 5A	   00 E2 7F
and so on for other byte2 values.

7. Now, with that list in hand, to build DC from scratch in KM:
8. On the Setup sheet, switch to Device combiner and immediately switch from OBC to EFC mode if not already there.
9. In the DC box fill protocol ID, fixed bytes. KM fills the index. Don't worry about duration.
10. Back on the Functions sheet, the meaning of byte 2 changes from real subdevice to the index 0,1,2,3... in the list you just built.
For instance, if in the second line of DC box your values correspond to what used to be byte 2, you'd enter 1 into byte 2 for that function command, since DC counts the protocols to use from zero.
KM does the rest.
11. You can repeat this process for other equipment such as CD, or DVD, and just keep adding to the list which I believe can hold 15 items.
Hope something along these lines will work for you

Mark Pierson · Post by **Mark Pierson** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 4:12 pm

ElizabethD wrote: Mark - far as I know S3C8 remotes and DC coexist just fine, but i only used 8910 (similar to 9910) and DC for Denon and Panasonic combos conversion, and this one uses NEC protocol. So should it work in this instance? I would think so. What would stop it?

First off, I'm making a note to myself to stop answering at work when I can't check into things first!

Apparently, the way I read Rob's reply, the upgrade that ilsiu is trying to add to the combiner uses 2-byte commands. As is clearly stated in all the DC documentation, that won't work since the DC can only process 1-byte commands.

I think your advice regarding splitting a "combo" into individual components is good advice, assuming it can be done with the Kenwood upgrade (which I haven't checked for myself).

ilsiu · Post by **ilsiu** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 5:04 pm

Thanks for all the responses. I'll try 'splitting the combo' and building the DC from scratch tonight and report back tomorrow.

I-Liang

JP1 Remotes

What's a protocol code?

What's a protocol code?

Use non-native protocol with device combiner?