Discrete Codes for Slingbox?

capaho · Post by **capaho** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 3:33 am

Well, after a bit of experimenting the mystery is finally solved. The remote mixes Kaseikyo E1 and E2 protocols. The receiver selections, favorites, 3-digit input and some other functions are E2 while power, channel up/dn, volume and some other functions are E1. Most of the E1 protocol functions will also work with Sharp protocols, but the E2 functions will not.

I am assuming that there is no way to combine E1 and E2 protocols in the same file, so it looks like I will have to make two seperate files in order to use all of the functions I need, which is a bit of a hassle because the Slingbox only allows for one remote. Switching between remotes on a Slingbox requires going into the Slingbox setup and swapping remote files.

johnsfine · Post by **johnsfine** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 5:54 am

capaho wrote:I am assuming that there is no way to combine E1 and E2 protocols in the same file,

Maybe one of the other experts has a better memory of the various Kaseikyo executors. I'm pretty sure there is one with two byte hex commands, but I don't recall where.

With a simple change to the protocols.ini entry (for the two byte version), RM could compute the final check nibble, while letting you individually set the OBC and E.

Of course, that method would generate a much bigger upgrade than the existing method. I also forget where you get hit by the Slingbox limit on upgrade size.

capaho · Post by **capaho** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 6:25 am

It would be great if there is a way to have both E1 and E2 protocols working together in the same file. I found the Kaseikyo section of protocols.ini but I'm not clear on what needs to be changed. If I can get some specific advice on on this one I'll give it a try.

johnsfine · Post by **johnsfine** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 7:05 am

I took a quick look in protocols.ini and it looks like the correct executor is
PID=00 F8
VariantName=1

That is one of three versions of 00F8 listed as [Fujitsu].
I'm not sure of the meaning of the extra features in the other two.

I'm also unsure of the no-varient version of 00F8 used as Sharp DVD. That must also be a form of Kaseikyo with two byte hex. But without digging through the Java code for SharpDVDTranslator, I won't know what that is really doing.

The Denon-K protocol is also very close to what we want here. I don't understand why that is yet another PID, since its executor should be doing the same thing as all the other two byte versions of Kaseikyo. Only the CmdParms and CmdCmdTranslator parts ought to be different.

The [Kaseikyo] entry in protocols.ini seems to be for just a one byte version of the executor, which can't allow more than one E value per upgrade.

BTW, do we know if any two byte executor for Kaseikyo is built-in on the Slingbox? That might guide the choice of which to use.

capaho · Post by **capaho** » Sun Aug 27, 2006 12:57 am

I have not been able to find a way to get both E1 and E2 protocols to work together in the same file. RM does not seem to be able to build a file that can do both and I don't know if such a file would work with the Slingbox in any case. I sent a support request to Sling Media and received the following reply:

We understand you are having difficulty creating a custom remote with
the JP1 tool.

We do not currently support the custom built remotes that are made with
the JP1 tool. If you are needing assistance with the JP1 tool, please
refer to the Sling Community forums.

As you can see, their reply was not useful in resolving this problem. For now I will just have to deal with having two seperate files as that seems to be the only method available at the moment.

johnsfine · Post by **johnsfine** » Sun Aug 27, 2006 7:15 am

johnsfine wrote:BTW, do we know if any two byte executor for Kaseikyo is built-in on the Slingbox? That might guide the choice of which to use.

I was reminded privately that, like most of the experts here, I know how to research that question myself without asking any questions here.

Sorry I haven't had time. I was hoping someone remembered such details.

Probably there is a way to fit an E1, E2 combo in a single Slingbox upgrade, but it will take some effort and some expert knowledge of Kaseikyo, protocols.ini, and Slingbox.

Post by **The Robman** » Sun Aug 27, 2006 11:12 am

The only factor to consider with regards to the Slingbox is the size of the upgrade. This makes it highly desirable that the upgrade use 1-byte hex commands so there's room to do what needs to be done in the executor. When upgrades use 2-byte hex commands, there's not much room for an executor to be included also.

capaho · Post by **capaho** » Sun Aug 27, 2006 9:05 pm

Is the version of irtool that includes the E codes in the result available for download anywhere? I want to make two complete files, one for the E1 codes and one for the E2 codes but the only method I have to seperate the two is by trial and error, which is proving to be a rather tedious process.

johnsfine · Post by **johnsfine** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 6:07 am

DecodeCCF has always displayed that info. So if you have the codes in a CCF file that would be easier.

I'll try to find one of my experimental copies of IrTool that is practical to release.

capaho · Post by **capaho** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 10:21 am

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find any remote software for my Dell Axim that can export a Pronto compatible CCF file. Remote Control II has a pronto hex editor that is very useful and I've been able to copy and paste the discrete codes with that, but DecodeCCF wasn't able to decode any of the IR files from any of the software I tried.

I finished going through all the functions I can use with the Slingbox and found some annoying problems. For example, the select key is E1 but the arrow keys are E2, which makes it impossible to use the input selector with the Slingbox if the E1 and E2 codes have to be split between two files. There are other contradictions also, such as the number keys are E2 whereas the channel up/down key is E1.

The inability to combine E1 and E2 codes into a single Slingbox file is quite an inconvenience when used with a Kaseikyo remote like this. If this remote is the shape of things to come as TVs and other A/V devices become more sophisticated Sling Media (and RM) will have to address this problem.