Newbie Q's

[garyfritz]

Aha!!! I thought the side the cable comes out was supposed to trail down. But that puts the short jumper on the right side. I reversed it to put the jumper on the left, and voila! It works. I tried this before, but not with the old batteries. Thanks for the tip, uq!

Now I have to learn my way around IR...

[underquark]

Excellent. My cable is folded over to provide strain relief but some come straight off the plug (which is why I mentioned the jumpered side).

Now; go to IR, download from your remote and save a "First Download" and repeat this process at intervals as you're almost certain to now go on to make mistakes but can always fall back on a "last known working" setup to reload onto your remote. Give your saved files whatever names suit you; I use "IR8910 mmdd_hhmm" such as "IR8910 0122_0022" etc.

Build upgrades in KM or RM and use IR to mix them into a useable setup for uploading to your remote. Start with the normal rmote definition and then read about the extender. Then read about the extender again before actually using it. I'd disagree with Capn Trips here and say that you do "install" the extender just as you'd install any software (but I take his point and you can blame the English language for using the same word for fitting hardware). Similarly, you can always uninstall it - either because you don't like the extender or because you want to use your remote to learn codes from some new device. After you've learned you can just re-install it.

[garyfritz]

OK, last week I grabbed a .ccf file for my NEC XG CRT projector, added some additional functions that were missing, mapped it the way I wanted it, and saved it until my cable came. Some of the functions were "Control" keys that are accessed by holding down CTL on the NEC remote when you hit the desired button. This adds 128 to the OBC, and I had entered them appropriately (by entering just the OBC value and letting RM calculate EFC and Hex). Now when I open up the .rmdu file, it appears all the CTL functions have been mapped on top of the corresponding non-CTL functions, i.e. they both have the same EFC and OBC! What might have caused that? Did I just have a pilot error, or...? I re-entered all the OBC values, and it appears to be saving and opening OK now.

Next I looked at the Output tab to copy it to IR. I was surprised to find 24 keys listed in the KeyMoves section -- and I didn't define any KeyMoves! (At least none I was aware of...) The OBC values are right, e.g. the "Red" button is OBC = 0 and "CTL-Red" is OBC = 128 -- but I still have 24 keymoves, including Red and CTL-Red. The keymoves all seem to be associated with "Shifted" buttons -- e.g. I had mapped "Red" to the "F. Rew" button and "CTL-Red" to "Shift-F.Rew", and both of them have keymoves associated with them. However, NOT all shifted keys have keymoves! Is it expected that this would use up keymoves, and am I doing it the right way? Am I wasting keymoves?

I loaded the upgrade for another device, my DVD player. It seems to be intact from the way I left it. The IR help page says to paste it into a new Device, which I did. Then it says "Don't forget to assign the new setup code that you created to an actual device button!" I assume that means to go back to IR's General tab, and enter the new device code into the "Code" field next to the DVD device button?

On the IR Devices tab, I deleted everything except the devices I wanted to upload (my DVD player and NEC projector). The DVD device is code 0222, and I entered 0222 in the Code field of the DVD device button. When I uploaded the upgrade, DVD mode in the remote identifies itself as code 0503. Should it be 0222? It doesn't seem to work to control the DVD player.

I tried to do a "CODE SET" in the 9910 to set the DVD code to 0222. The 9910 said it was "NOT FOUND." I must be missing a step somewhere. How do I get the 0222 code I uploaded from IR to work in the DVD mode of the remote?

I tried to learn a key from the DVD remote to make sure I had the right functions & OBC codes. I went to IR LEARN and hit Select -- and it said "MEM FAULT." Shouldn't learning work with uploaded upgrades?

Thanks!
Gary

[Capn Trips]

OK, last week I grabbed a .ccf file for my NEC XG CRT projector, added some additional functions that were missing, mapped it the way I wanted it, and saved it until my cable came. Some of the functions were "Control" keys that are accessed by holding down CTL on the NEC remote when you hit the desired button. This adds 128 to the OBC, and I had entered them appropriately (by entering just the OBC value and letting RM calculate EFC and Hex). Now when I open up the .rmdu file, it appears all the CTL functions have been mapped on top of the corresponding non-CTL functions, i.e. they both have the same EFC and OBC! What might have caused that? Did I just have a pilot error, or...? I re-entered all the OBC values, and it appears to be saving and opening OK now.

Can't tell from here what happened. If it works, don't mess with it, but if it happens again, upload the "guilty" rmdu file to the diagnosis section, post a link to it here, and specify the precise sequence of steps that resulted in this behaviour.

Next I looked at the Output tab to copy it to IR. I was surprised to find 24 keys listed in the KeyMoves section -- and I didn't define any KeyMoves! (At least none I was aware of...) The OBC values are right, e.g. the "Red" button is OBC = 0 and "CTL-Red" is OBC = 128 -- but I still have 24 keymoves, including Red and CTL-Red. The keymoves all seem to be associated with "Shifted" buttons -- e.g. I had mapped "Red" to the "F. Rew" button and "CTL-Red" to "Shift-F.Rew", and both of them have keymoves associated with them. However, NOT all shifted keys have keymoves! Is it expected that this would use up keymoves, and am I doing it the right way? Am I wasting keymoves?

For each remote/Device Type combination, only a certain number of buttons on the remote are included in that device type's keyset. In RM, these are indicated on the layout tab by orange (amber) circles (ellipses) around the button in the image. Only those buttons can have functions assigned to them in the device upgrade. If you assign a function to a button that is NOT so highlighted, RM (KM, also) will automatically create a keymove for that function/button combination. You may notice that when you change device types in an upgrade in RM, different buttons will become highlighted, and on your output tab, the keymoves may change (you DID notice that the output screen included all of those keymoves in the same panel as the device upgrade, right? ) For example, in the "TV" device type, you cannot assign functions to the transport buttons within the body of the upgrade. Keymoves will be generated for those. I think, in general, the Cable device type routinely has more buttons in its button map than most of the others. NO device type includes ANY shifted or x-shifted (see Extenders) buttons in its keymap, so ANY function you assign to a shifted button will ALWAYS generate a keymove, so the only surprising thing about your post above is the claim that

NOT all shifted keys have keymoves!

Are you certain of that? Every shifted button assigned a function should have had a keymove generated.

I loaded the upgrade for another device, my DVD player. It seems to be intact from the way I left it. The IR help page says to paste it into a new Device, which I did. Then it says "Don't forget to assign the new setup code that you created to an actual device button!" I assume that means to go back to IR's General tab, and enter the new device code into the "Code" field next to the DVD device button?

Yes.

On the IR Devices tab, I deleted everything except the devices I wanted to upload (my DVD player and NEC projector). The DVD device is code 0222, and I entered 0222 in the Code field of the DVD device button. When I uploaded the upgrade, DVD mode in the remote identifies itself as code 0503. Should it be 0222? It doesn't seem to work to control the DVD player.

It sounds like you've NOT uploaded the 0222 upgrade into IR. Does the device type AND code of the DVD device on the general tab match your upgrade? i.e. is the device type of your upgrade "DVD" or mightn't it be something else, like "CBL"?

Questions like this are usually easier to answer (without asking a hundred more questions) if you just upload your IR file to the diagnosis area and post a link to it in a post describing your symptoms.

I tried to do a "CODE SET" in the 9910 to set the DVD code to 0222. The 9910 said it was "NOT FOUND." I must be missing a step somewhere. How do I get the 0222 code I uploaded from IR to work in the DVD mode of the remote?

Sounds like your upgrade is uploaded as a device type other than DVD, but seeing your IR file would help someone sort it out faster, as I stated above.

I tried to learn a key from the DVD remote to make sure I had the right functions & OBC codes. I went to IR LEARN and hit Select -- and it said "MEM FAULT." Shouldn't learning work with uploaded upgrades?

Yes, learning should still work, if you're not using the extender, BUT if you have MEM Fault, you might want to do a complete MFR reset (see the appropriate sticky post about how to do this) before resuming work. Sometimes the EEPROM has a glitch and you get MEM FAULTs, but a reset usually clears it up.

[Capn Trips]

Well that stinks, to put it politely. It must be a pretty marginal design if it's that sensitive to battery level.

I'm not sure it "stinks" at all, politely or not.

You seem to expect a much higher level of performance than some might consider reasonable from these hacked tools.

I'm pretty confident that when UEI upgrades remotes in their factory using the JP1 interface, they AIN'T using the simple parallel or USB interface designed here, nor any of the software available here. Nor, I would wager, do they have to concern themselves about this battery sensitivity.

However, until they (UEI) share both their hardware and sofware, we're "stuck" using the tools you find here.

There is a more expensive, harder to assemble, robust interface design (the Ultra, I believe) which I have never seen or used in which, from what I have read in these fora, these battery sensitivities do not apply, but for the price one pays for the interface and software, and the salary the hardware and software developers of these JP1 tools get for their efforts, I'd say we're getting pretty darned good bang for the buck.

[garyfritz]

For each remote/Device Type combination, only a certain number of buttons on the remote are included in that device type's keyset. In RM, these are indicated on the layout tab by orange (amber) circles (ellipses) around the button in the image. Only those buttons can have functions assigned to them in the device upgrade. If you assign a function to a button that is NOT so highlighted, RM (KM, also) will automatically create a keymove for that function/button combination.

OK, that makes sense. And now I see it's a different set of buttons for each mode. So e.g. when I used the F.Rew and F.Fwd buttons in TV mode, those were not included buttons, and those produced keymoves. OK. Those also appear to be the buttons with *'s next to them in the Buttons tab.

NO device type includes ANY shifted or x-shifted (see Extenders) buttons in its keymap, so ANY function you assign to a shifted button will ALWAYS generate a keymove,

OK. I'll avoid using shifted keys unless I really need them.

so the only surprising thing about your post above is the claim that "NOT all shifted keys have keymoves!" Are you certain of that?

Hmmm, maybe not. I think I might have gotten mixed up on that. I'll worry about that more when I get the other stuff worked out.

It sounds like you've NOT uploaded the 0222 upgrade into IR. Does the device type AND code of the DVD device on the general tab match your upgrade? i.e. is the device type of your upgrade "DVD" or mightn't it be something else, like "CBL"?

No, the DVD code 0222 is entered next to the DVD device button. (And the TV code 0074 is entered next to TV, and it doesn't seem to work either.)

BTW when I upload, the "status light" in the lower-left corner blinks red twice. Does that indicate that it's busy, or that something went wrong?

Questions like this are usually easier to answer (without asking a hundred more questions) if you just upload your IR file to the diagnosis area and post a link to it in a post describing your symptoms.

OK, but where's that? In the forum somewhere? I don't see it. For now you can find a copy of it HERE.

BUT if you have MEM Fault, you might want to do a complete MFR reset (see the appropriate sticky post about how to do this) before resuming work. Sometimes the EEPROM has a glitch and you get MEM FAULTs, but a reset usually clears it up.

I got the MFR RESET prompt (by holding Set and hitting Record, as described in the sticky) but no clue of what to do. I hit Select and it said "CONFIRM." I hit Select again and it said "RESET RAM," "BAD E2," "EXIT SETUP." I don't think the reset succeeded.

The 9910 manual has a section on "Restoring factory default settings." It uses the OPS RESET operation instead of the MFR RESET you get with Set/Record. Should I do that instead? The OPS RESET operation displays a "RESET RAM" message and then "RESET E2," so it sounds like it's doing very similar stuff. Hopefully my E2 isn't faulty, whatever that is...

Thanks!!!

[Capn Trips]

It sounds like you've NOT uploaded the 0222 upgrade into IR. Does the device type AND code of the DVD device on the general tab match your upgrade? i.e. is the device type of your upgrade "DVD" or mightn't it be something else, like "CBL"?

No, the DVD code 0222 is entered next to the DVD device button. (And the TV code 0074 is entered next to TV, and it doesn't seem to work either.)

The DEVICE BUTTON is immaterial here. The DEVICE TYPE is germane. In any event, a look at your file shows that is NOT the problem, as the device types match. I think your E2 problem is the likely cause of the upgrades not "taking". More below.

BTW when I upload, the "status light" in the lower-left corner blinks red twice. Does that indicate that it's busy, or that something went wrong?

On the contrary, it means it worked properly - i.e. the contents of IR was written to your EEPROM.

Questions like this are usually easier to answer (without asking a hundred more questions) if you just upload your IR file to the diagnosis area and post a link to it in a post describing your symptoms.

OK, but where's that? In the forum somewhere? I don't see it. For now you can find a copy of it HERE.

At the top of this page is a link to the file section. In the file section is a "Diagnosis Area". Within EACH area of the files section is a link (at the top) for uploading files - follow the prompts and fill in the blanks.

BUT if you have MEM Fault, you might want to do a complete MFR reset (see the appropriate sticky post about how to do this) before resuming work. Sometimes the EEPROM has a glitch and you get MEM FAULTs, but a reset usually clears it up.

I got the MFR RESET prompt (by holding Set and hitting Record, as described in the sticky) but no clue of what to do. I hit Select and it said "CONFIRM." I hit Select again and it said "RESET RAM," "BAD E2," "EXIT SETUP." I don't think the reset succeeded.

The 9910 manual has a section on "Restoring factory default settings." It uses the OPS RESET operation instead of the MFR RESET you get with Set/Record. Should I do that instead? The OPS RESET operation displays a "RESET RAM" message and then "RESET E2," so it sounds like it's doing very similar stuff. Hopefully my E2 isn't faulty, whatever that is...

Thanks!!!

A true expert may need to jump in here. The MFR reset is more robust than the OPS reset, so stick with the MFR reset (you did it correctly). When it works, after you "CONFIRM", you get "RESET RAM" followed by "RESET E2". The concern is your BAD E2 alert. You should try to MFR reset again immediately after the BAD E2 message to see if you can clear it. I'm not sure what BAD E2 means, but I know I have occasionally received BAD E2 following a MFR reset but it "got better" after I tried again. You might want to remove a battery, press any button for a few seconds with the batteries open-circuited, re-insert the battery and then try to MFR reset.

[underquark]

The status light blinks to let you know it's working. It stops blinking after a couple of seconds. If there's an error, a message pops up.

Upload problem files to the Diagnosis Area. Post a mesage with explanation of problem and a link to the file. Miss out the explanation or miss out the link and most people will just look at your message and walk on by. No matter what your problem, if you try to help yourself and tell others what you have already done by way of trying to solve the problem, you will usually get excellent help on this forum.

[garyfritz]

I tried resetting several times in a row -- no change. Still get the BAD E2 message.

I removed a battery, held down a button for several seconds, and replaced the battery. All LCD segments lit up and I got a MEM FAULT. (I don't remember getting this before??) I tried the reset again several times and still got the BAD E2. Repeated the whole process several times and no change.

I've searched for other cases of people getting BAD E2 and it sounds like the MFR RESET solved their problem -- except possibly some people who had faulty remotes.

This is not looking good.

[The Robman]

The "BAD E2" message is not a good one to be getting. THat message tends to imply that you've either got a bad conection with one or more of the pins of the EEPROM, or you have a bad EEPROM itself. I think the former is more likely. If it were me, I would try re-soldering all the pins of the EEPROM and if that didn't work, I'd try replacing the EEPROM.

[garyfritz]

This is a brand new remote. Wonder if I'd have any luck getting OFA to replace it? Or would they say "uh-uh, you plugged one of those nasty JP1 cables into it, all bets are off" ?

(Could I have *caused* the BAD E2 problem by plugging the JP1 cable in backwards? [Sure would be nice if it only fit in one direction.....])

If they might replace it, I probably shouldn't open it, yes? That would probably invalidate the warrantee?

*sigh*

[The Robman]

If you bought it from a regular store, I would take it back to the store and get a replacement. If you bought it from an online store, they probably have a 90 day return policy. Either way, there's no need to mention JP1 as that would only complicate matters and give them an excuse not to honour the warantee. But if you are planning on returning it, I wouldn't open it. While there's no way anyone can prove that you've used JP1 on the remote, if you leave scratch marks and dents all around the edge, they'll spot that!

[garyfritz]

It was a Christmas present. I'll have to find out where my in-laws bought it. Bummer. I wanted to play with it NOW!! OHwell....

Thanks for all the help guys -- I'll give it another go with a new remote!

[The Robman]

I have URC-8910s available for $20 each if you're looking for a replacement.

[garyfritz]

Ended up returning my faulty 9910 and buying a new one from Rob. This is great! The IR blaster on the command center means I don't have to point at my equipment (which is behind me), and I can even control things e.g. the DVD player when I'm behind the equipment rack! And once I finally finish tweaking my setup I'll actually be able to use just one remote, what a concept!

I just tried loading the upgrade for the Dish 811 HDTV receiver. When I pasted the codes into IR, the Devices file identified it as "CBL: 1775." Why CBL instead of SAT? I tried it anyway, binding 1775 to the CBL button in the General tab, but that didn't seem to work. I don't know how to change it to a SAT device. What should I do?

Gary