Basic questions - setting up Xsight Color/RMIR from scratch

[n8nagel]

Hi all,

Couple questions here. I have done a little exercise where I have programmed an Xsight Color to control an old Luxman TP-117 which was a decent high end preamp/tuner back in the day that also provided control through wired connections for a CD player and two tape decks. You NEED a remote to work this thing. However, I found it in a thrift store for $20, probably because the remote was missing, and replacements are not cheap. I initially wanted to try to get Logitech to put it in the Harmony database but they didn't do what I wanted them to, which is how I ended up here. I did buy one remote, but it came with another busted TP-117 so I'd really like to be able to fix it and sell it but again, it's worthless without a working remote. Now it's not worthless anymore, just busted I'm happy with the way this turned out, but I'm obviously trying to make it polished and professional before I call it done.

1) I'm assuming, is it a true statement that after learning all the codes you need, it is best practice to throw out the raw hex codes and re-convert the working NEC1 or whatever protocol codes to Pronto Hex in IrScrutinizer or similar before passing them on to anyone trying to program a different remote? Because the former is based on the reception of the sensor and may have little errors, but the protocol codes should be right on, assuming you got them right. Yes?

2) In my activities, is there any way to have "no device" or similar in the drop downs for device/power macro? There's a reason I might want to do this; for instance, in my "Luxman TP-117" device there are three different activities that involve sending codes to this same device; listening to the tuner, using the Tape 1 input, or using a turntable. However the play/stop/pause/rec etc buttons on this are devoted to the Tape 1 control. Is there a way to disable them when listening to the tuner or turntable? That way if you fumble the remote, you aren't inadvertantly starting the tape deck recording or something like that.

3) Can someone explain to me the use of the "assist" sections of the activities tab? Is that where you put in a power cycle or something if your stuff doesn't have discrete codes?

4) is there any convention for picking "setup code" numbers for devices that just don't exist in this format yet?

Sorry if these are dumb questions but when I get a little project like this I tend to really get into it until I feel like I have mastered whatever it is I'm working on, seeing as two days ago I'd only ever used Harmonies I feel like I'm doing all right at least

thanks for any advice.

[The Robman]

I've moved this into the proper forum so it might get more attention here.

Have you already read the wiki article on this remote?
http://www.hifi-remote.com/wiki/index.p ... t_and_Nevo

[yaworski]

I'm not an expert in this area, but here're my thoughts.

1) Pronto Hex (in it's most basic for) is actually just a raw signal data. This means it only stores a static data. So if you record and decode an RC6 signal for example, which has a toggle bit, you won't be able to alternate the toggle bit with a single Pronto Hex code (in raw format).
I think the best way is to share protocol type and data (device, subdevice, OBC and whatever other input data the protocol takes). If you just want to share your device upgrade with other JP1 users, then just save it as rmdu file.
You can import rmdu to a different remote that it was originally created for - sometimes you just need to re-assign functions to buttons (for example if there's a different button count, different button names etc).

2) I don't think there is. But you could just create a dummy device with some random protocol and assign it to the button group you want to disable.

3) When you put something in the assist sections (you can put there 1 device/function per type), you'll get an Assist button on the screen (which takes 2 slots). When you press it, it'll show the configured assist actions (Picture, Sound, Power). Their purpose is to fix any out of sync situations. For example, you have you activity macro set so it turns on the amp, but for some reason it didn't turn on. So you can also have power on for amp in the Sound Assist.
The Assist is pretty useless, you can achieve the same with just soft buttons. For example, my LG soundbar has an auto power off functionality (it powers off after some idle time). So I've added a soft button called Soundbar On to all other device upgrades and it shows when using either these devices or activities with them.

4) I'm not 100% sure but with Xsight/Nevo remotes the setup code doesn't really matter, unless you want to also use the "Add Device" functionality on the remote itself. These remotes require that there must be a device upgrade for each added device. I think the only things that matters is that the setup codes are unique amongst the added devices.

[mdavej]

Here’s my attempt to explain Assists under Activities:
http://www.hifi-remote.com/wiki/index.p ... ght.2FNevo

Each button group in an activity must be assigned to a device. But you can always make a dummy device with no/few commands, or better yet, a combo device with a mix of commands from several devices. When assigning functions to buttons in the device editor, you can pick functions from any other device. This is what we called a key move in older JP1 remotes.

Generally, every device on Nevo has an upgrade and a code. But devices that are all learned functions have neither.

[n8nagel]

I'm not an expert in this area, but here're my thoughts.

1) Pronto Hex (in it's most basic for) is actually just a raw signal data. This means it only stores a static data. So if you record and decode an RC6 signal for example, which has a toggle bit, you won't be able to alternate the toggle bit with a single Pronto Hex code (in raw format).
I think the best way is to share protocol type and data (device, subdevice, OBC and whatever other input data the protocol takes). If you just want to share your device upgrade with other JP1 users, then just save it as rmdu file.
You can import rmdu to a different remote that it was originally created for - sometimes you just need to re-assign functions to buttons (for example if there's a different button count, different button names etc).

2) I don't think there is. But you could just create a dummy device with some random protocol and assign it to the button group you want to disable.

3) When you put something in the assist sections (you can put there 1 device/function per type), you'll get an Assist button on the screen (which takes 2 slots). When you press it, it'll show the configured assist actions (Picture, Sound, Power). Their purpose is to fix any out of sync situations. For example, you have you activity macro set so it turns on the amp, but for some reason it didn't turn on. So you can also have power on for amp in the Sound Assist.
The Assist is pretty useless, you can achieve the same with just soft buttons. For example, my LG soundbar has an auto power off functionality (it powers off after some idle time). So I've added a soft button called Soundbar On to all other device upgrades and it shows when using either these devices or activities with them.

4) I'm not 100% sure but with Xsight/Nevo remotes the setup code doesn't really matter, unless you want to also use the "Add Device" functionality on the remote itself. These remotes require that there must be a device upgrade for each added device. I think the only things that matters is that the setup codes are unique amongst the added devices.

3) so this is pretty much like "help" on Harmony yes? In any case I believe all my stuff has discrete power codes so no big deal

4) OK, this was bothering me, I didn't know if I was messing stuff up by just picking a random 4-digit code because I was making an upgrade from ground zero.

thanks for the replies!

[n8nagel]

Just posted in the live file section a "V0.9" of my upgrades as I think it's good enough if anyone needs it - as stated before comments welcome

http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... e_id=25241

[mdavej]

... so this is pretty much like "help" on Harmony yes? In any case I believe all my stuff has discrete power codes so no big deal

Exactly. They intended to compete with Harmony, so this is their version of Harmony Help. I think it just takes up screen space. If I ever miss any commands, I just run the activity again.