trying to get two Replays to work with 8910 and KM

Mark Pierson · Post by **Mark Pierson** » Sat Sep 27, 2003 12:23 pm

leesweet wrote:(Looks like I had changed that to EFC because all the examples in the Beginners' doc used EFC.)

Keep this in mind for future reference: in KM, once Functions have been created, changing the Button Codes setting on the Setup sheet will cause all kinds of problems (as you have witnessed first hand). Instead, if you want to change from OBC to EFC or vice versa, use the [Swap EFC/OBC] button on the Functions sheet. This will properly change them from one style to the other.

leesweet · Post by **leesweet** » Sat Sep 27, 2003 12:39 pm

So, is there an advantage to doing the swap? I'd thought that EFCs were the 'current' usage and OBCs were kinda obsolete. (Impression I got from that Beginners' doc...)

Thanks for the warning!

Mark Pierson · Post by **Mark Pierson** » Sat Sep 27, 2003 1:06 pm

leesweet wrote:I'd thought that EFCs were the 'current' usage and OBCs were kinda obsolete.

EFC's are what UEI uses in all their single-byte protocols. OBC's are typically what the OEM remotes send. The only time there's an advantage of one over the other is when the Protocol requires it (as some do), but for the most part, we use EFC's around here.

leesweet · Post by **leesweet** » Sat Sep 27, 2003 1:53 pm

Thanks! I'll do the swap. I thought that was the story based on the doc and other posts...

jon_armstrong · Post by **jon_armstrong** » Sat Sep 27, 2003 1:55 pm

While I certainly agree with Marks' answer, a little more insight may be useful. OBC's are the true decimal values of the data bits in an IR command that vary from command to command. (Most IR commands have a fixed portion of the data usually known as the device code (not the setup code) and data that varies known here as OBC. There may also be check bytes but those are calculated from the device and/or OBC.)

EFC's are an encryption of OBC. If there are eight variable bits, then there is a unique EFC that corresponds to each OBC. Since the advanced code lists at www.hifi-remote.com are in EFC by setup code, then there is no need to convert them to OBC's (and KM or RM will do it for you anyway in most cases).

If you don't know the command or it isn't listed, putting the known commands in OBC order may provide an insight into the missing command.

For example Panasonic TV's use setup code TV_0250 that is Panasonic 128.0 (device=128, sub-device=0) here are the first 5 OBC's:

OBC EFC Command

000 181 TV Tuner
001 185 Video 1
002 183 Video 2
003 187 Video 3
004 180 Video 4

If you knew Video 1 was OBC=1 and Video3 was OBC=3, you would probably guess that Video 2 was OBC=2. However if you only knew the EFC's then you would probably guess it was EFC 186. Ususally there is some logic to OBC's but not always. The numerals are usually adjacent and in order by OBC, etc.

So EFC's are not newer, but they can be directly entered into IR to do key moves with one-byte commands.

leesweet · Post by **leesweet** » Sat Sep 27, 2003 1:59 pm

Thanks... I think that's what I was thinking of, that the EFCs made direct entry possible.

Post by **The Robman** » Sat Sep 27, 2003 2:59 pm

Mark Pierson wrote:
leesweet wrote:I'd thought that EFCs were the 'current' usage and OBCs were kinda obsolete.
EFC's are what UEI uses in all their single-byte protocols. OBC's are typically what the OEM remotes send. The only time there's an advantage of one over the other is when the Protocol requires it (as some do), but for the most part, we use EFC's around here.

Personally, I always prefer to work with OBCs because they are more logical. EFCs are designed to be confusing.

Lee, the files that you downloaded were fine as is, you have no need to use the SWAP feature. The main reason you would want to use SWAP is when the file you have was created using OBCs and you have just discovered some additional functions in EFC format. In this case, you would SWAP from OBCs to EFCs and then you would enter the new functions in the Functions sheet using EFCs

leesweet · Post by **leesweet** » Sat Sep 27, 2003 3:06 pm

Rob, that's what I was originally getting at, since the VCR/616 listing was all in EFCs. Thanks, all, I think I understand it now.

Someone really need to write a 'JP1 Unleashed' sort of document that has what's beyond the excellent beginners' doc (In their copious spare time, of course... )

Post by **The Robman** » Sat Sep 27, 2003 4:55 pm

Like I said before, you need to stop thinking in terms of the built in codes, and in this case that's especially true.

The upgrades that you loaded have nothing to do with the VCR/0616 code, they are more closely related to the VCR/0614 code.

Just FYI, VCR/0616 uses the Panasonic protocol. None of the EFCs that are listed for that code will work with the upgrades that you created.