JP1 Remotes

sidiko · Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 11:09 pm Post subject:

kupakai,

Thank you very much! I knew yours was a voice of experience!

I was a little intimadated by all of this. But after getting my feet wet by installing the drivers (JP1.2/3 cable bought from Tommy) and using IR, I have gained a little confidence. By the way, thanks to mdavej for promptly providing the RDF files for this remote (Radio Shack 13-135), shortly after the remote was made available to the public (I think, anyway, thanks mdavej)!

On the other hand, I know I have only tapped 1 or 2% of the power of the tools available here. I have a lot to learn about the concepts and the terminology is still giving me trouble. (Keymoves, Device Specific Macros[I think that was the term, VickyG mentioned to me. Her explanation of its value: To avoid a macro from being global, thus "tying" up a button on the remote-unavailable to any device thereafter].

EDIT: kupakai, vickyg2003, I have some observations and a question or two now. I just used IR to upload to my 2nd RS 12-135. That was sweet! Apart from using mdavej's RDF files, and having NO clue how he wrote the files, I see how IR and the RDFs work together beautifully! I think for me now, another thanks mdavej for the RDFs and move on.

Sounds like I should focus on Remote Master now. vickyg2003 has convinced me I need to archive the codes/signals of my OEM remotes. vickyg2003, THIS MEANS I NEED TO LEARN THE OEM CODES ONTO MY RS 15-135, CORRECT????? kupakai, indirectly, it sounds like you agree, if I understand your last post correctly.

So I need to find a good tutorial or "paper" on RM!?!? Incidently, mdavej says RM is mandatory at this point due to my remote being so new.

I have begun Tommy's JP1 tutorial, which I think will discuss KM, but not RM. I'll probably breeze on through the rest of the tutorial to make sure I am at least familiar with IR. Then concentrate on RM. Then plunder the upgrades, replace my global macros with the Dev Spc macros, and investigate the pause protocol I have heard about from Capn Trips (I think).

vickyg, that record pause and record stop you hooked me up with is sweet. I can press rec pause and que up my Sony DVD recorder, cue up a show on my TIVO, and begin recording simultaneously. Thanks.
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Sidiko!

unclemiltie · Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2008 12:52 am Post subject:

In general to build an upgrade with RM you need to do the following:

1: learn a bunch of keys from your OEM remote onto a learning JP1 remote (doesn't matter which one)

2: read those learned signals into RM, remembering which buttons on the JP1 remote you learned which OEM remote button.

3: Transfer (by typing it in) that information into RM, give the "functions" that you have learned a name for RM to use, then assign that function to a button on the target remote

4: repeat until you have all of the buttons learned and transferred to RM. You have to repeat since the learning memory on your remote may not allow you to learn all of the buttons at once.

5: copy the upgrade from RM into IR and upload it into your "target" JP1 remote

Of course, before you do all of this, check to see if there is a built-in code that will work for your device (even if it's just 90% of the buttons, you can get the rest with keymoves) If there is already a code in the remote that works, by all means use it since that will save you upgrade memory on your remote. Next check to see if someone already did an upgrade for your device, or one similar. For example, you'll find that a lot of Samsung TV's use the same code set, so many of the upgrades in the files area for Samsung may work with your Samsung TV.

If those fail, build an upgrade! It's simple once you get started. The only difficult part is the tedious work of learning all of the OEM remote buttons and transcribing them from IR to RM.
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this JP1 stuff is a sickness!

gfb107 · Expert Joined: 03 Aug 2003 Posts: 3411 Location: Cary, NC

There isn't a true tutorial for RM, but there's always the RM version of JP1 - Just How Easy Is It? and RM's Readme.html
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-- Greg
Original RemoteMaster developer
JP1 How-To's and Software Tools
The #1 Code Search FAQ and it's answer (PLEASE READ FIRST)

mdavej · Expert Joined: 08 Oct 2003 Posts: 4501

sidiko,

To reiterate what other's have said, there's a good chance all the device upgrades you need have already been built. So there's really no need to learn every key of all your OEM remotes unless you can't find an existing upgrade. I believe what vicky means is gather all the RM files for all your devices, only building the ones you can't find. Don't just blindly start building upgrades for everything.

Forget about device specific macros for now. That's an extender term, and your remote has no extender. (Could possibly work using a special protocol, but I'm not sure if it would work on the 135). Take baby steps for now, and don't try to learn everything there is to know about JP1 at once. Find an existing upgrade for one of your devices and tweak it in RM until you understand how it works. Then maybe try to build one from scratch.

Thanks for the kudos regarding the RDF file, but I can only take partial credit. I did the easy parts, but other experts did all the hard parts. It was also a learning experience for me, as I'd never done one before.

vickyg2003 · Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2008 2:38 pm Post subject:

sidiko · Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2008 3:44 pm Post subject:

unclemiltie, qfb107, mdavej, vickyg2003,

Hey! Thanks for all the pointers. I was about to think not too much was shaking on this thread. For real, I appreciate ALL guidance. Sounds like I needed the clarification on vickyg2003's advice. I certainly don't want to reinvent the wheel - and there is no reason to get frustrated over this stuff, possibly where I was headed before your posts.

unclemiltie, you pointed out something very important that I had not considered. The remotes memory. From your comment, I surmise there is some "ROM" type memory, fixed, not available to us JP1 folks. Then, some "EEPROM" type memory which IS AVAILABLE to us. So why duplicate a command in EEPROM which is already present in ROM? I guess I am following your advice already without even realizing it. I am controling my Sony DVD Recorder with my JP1 remote, via a preset device code. Only adding 2 advanced codes (entered without interface cable) for record pause and record stop, thanks to vickyg2003!
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Sidiko!

plugh · Joined: 19 Nov 2008 Posts: 7

mdavej · Expert Joined: 08 Oct 2003 Posts: 4501

You're welcome. Rob deserves all the credit. All I did was pilfer from all the great pages he's made and put the commands relevant to the 135 into a table.

It may take 992 but it's meaningless on the 135. Any device key can be any type of device based on the first digit of the device code. So redefining isn't necessary. I have no idea what 977 does.

Capn Trips · Expert Joined: 03 Oct 2003 Posts: 3990

mdavej,

According to the remote chart you just updated:

mdavej · Expert Joined: 08 Oct 2003 Posts: 4501

Didn't see that handy list way over in the corner. Very nice.

plugh · Joined: 19 Nov 2008 Posts: 7

mdavej · Expert Joined: 08 Oct 2003 Posts: 4501

Didn't think about it in the context of My System. You could be on to something. In the context of what device codes are valid for a certain device key, I think 992 is not required. Honestly I've only assigned key groups in IR, not manually, so there is no such restriction in that case. It will be interesting to see what you find out.