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Newbie looking for confirmation

Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2025 3:35 pm
by MrReize
Hello folks, I just learned of these JP1 remotes in the last day or so and I have a question I hope you can answer.

For some background, I've been on a bit of a personal journey these past few months to take control of my digital life, I am tired of being in the thrall of big tech. As part of that goal, I purchased a Sofabaton U2 thinking it would suit my needs only to be dismayed when I learned I would be required to download an app on my phone and create an account with a no doubt onerous EULA. Maybe it's not, idk, I didn't get that far. Anyway, chatgpt made me aware of these devices and assures me they can do exactly what I want but I do not fully trust AI. It is a wondrous tool but it is not perfect.

So my question to you fine folks, I have a SAMSUNG QN65S90DDFXZA television, a SAMSUNG HW-B750D soundbar and a Raspberry Pi 5 with raspberry pi os (64bit) running Kodi to stream media from my network attached storage. Can one of these remotes that I see for cheap on ebay, such as the URC8820N, be programmed to control my TV, soundbar and navigate Kodi's user interface? I have a FLIRC device connected to the PI to receive IR signals.

Please let me know if it's even possible to do this with a JP1 remote. It seems like I can but I am very OCD and I need a real person who actually knows to reassure me. because AI has led my astray several times despite it's incredible potential.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post. I hope to hear from someone soon.

Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2025 4:38 pm
by The Robman
Yes, you can make a JP1 remote control just about any IR controlled device. A remote like the URC-8820N is a good choice because it also has learning. For normal users (ie, non-JP1), learning is used to fill in the blanks in existing setup codes, but for us it is a useful tool to capture the signals from an un-usual device.

The one thing that you need to keep in mind is, to connect a JP1 remote to your computer, you need a JP1 cable. The easiest way to get a JP1 cable is to buy an FTDI FT232RL or Prolific PL2303HXD USB cable on ebay (see here), but you can also make one from an Arduino device.

As for your devices, we have readymade upgrades for Samsung TVs and soundbars. As for your Raspberry Pi/Kodi setup, is there an IR control in there somewhere?

Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2025 8:20 pm
by MrReize
Hi Robman, thanks for the reply and the tip about the jp1 to usb cable. To answer your question, yes, the Pi has an USB IR sensor connected to it to receive signals. I think I will give this a shot. This is a great forum with tons of resources. Thanks again.

Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2025 8:27 pm
by The Robman
MrReize wrote:To answer your question, yes, the Pi has an USB IR sensor connected to it to receive signals.
Do you have a remote that works with the Pi? If so, you should be able to learn the signals with a remote like the URC-8820N which will give you the info on what the signals look like, which is all we need to create an upgrade to work it.

If you don't have a remote for the Pi, do you have any documentation on what remote signals it requires?

Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2025 12:39 am
by MaskedMan
Is this urc-8820 black with white and color keys? Or silver with black keys?

Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2025 4:23 am
by pH7_jp1
Robman, the FLIRC device that he has connected to his Raspberry Pi acts like a USB keyboard to the Pi. It does not have a hard coded set of IR commands it receives. For JP1 - pick a device - any device - just not a device that you actually have anywhere in your system. Add that device to your JP1 remote, plug the FLIRC temporarily into your computer, aim the JP1 remote at the FLIRC and train it each IR command it should recognize to send a keystroke. After the FLIRC is completely trained, unplug it from the computer and plug it into the Pi. Now when it sees any of the learned IR commands it simulates the key press associated to that IR command.