JP1 Remotes

[srwalter]

I built the three transistor version of the JP1.x (flash) serial cable, and have had no luck getting it to work. When I hook everything up and run jp1xtest.exe, the remote control "reboots" (all segments light on the LCD) and the LED blinks twice. The remote is an RS 15-100. However, the computer reports "**** NO JP1.x COMPATIBLE REMOTE FOUND! ****". I've tried with both a pl2303-based USB adapter and directly to a serial port.

Here's the output from Debug_Tester.exe:
http://pastebin.com/f64f457c3

From what I can gather from the above output, I'm not getting any data back from the remote. Interestingly, if I hook a scope up to either pin 2 of the DB9 or pin 6 of the remote, I do see logic transistions.

Ideas?

[WagonMaster]

Hi 'srwalter' and welcome to the JP1 forums!

I took a look at your output and see that 'jp1xtest.exe' tried both types of interfaces (the DTR-controls-reset type followed by the RTS-controls-reset type) on COM1 but got no response from either technique.

Now, given that you've built the 3-transistor interface (for the JP1.2/JP1.3 remotes, I assume), it's the 2nd of those 2 techniques which should have succeeded. Since it failed, my best guess at this point (assuming you're running with good, strong batteries in the remote) is that your interface is miswired somehow. Can you visually re-check all your connections and, if practical, post a picture of your interface wiring for us to inspect?

I'm sure we can figure this out.....

Bill

[srwalter]

Thanks for the reply. I have visually rechecked the wiring, and I can't see any problems. here's a photo:

http://twitpic.com/rd8rv

The DB9 is connected at the bottom left, 7-5-4-3-2 from left to right. the remote connect is at the top left, 6-4-3-2-1 from left to right. All transistors are 2N2222, all diodes 1N4149, all resistors 4.7k.

[WagonMaster]

I've taken a preliminary look at your photo. Even at full resolution, it's hard to be sure of the wiring because it's a bit out-of-focus and the angle makes some things hard to see.

However, based on the pinout of the 2N2222 transistor, I think, as a minimum, you've got all 3 of the transistors wired backwards. in other words, in your picture, they appear to be wired as if the pins were EBC but they're really CBE. If you merely flip the transistors 180 degrees, you may have a working circuit.

Regardless of your success or failure, please let us know. If that doesn't fix the problem, try taking another photo or 2 from a different angle and I'll take a closer look.

Good luck!

Bill

[srwalter]

I'm pretty sure that they *are* EBC transistors. At least, when placed into my DMM with the flat side down, that's how it identifies them. However, in the interest of completeness, I swapped them all around. Now I get the following output from debug_tester.exe:

http://pastebin.com/m482cee5d

Thanks again for you help

[WagonMaster]

Interesting...

That new output shows that there is a single byte reply (0x00), which is not the expected reply to a 'ping'. That doesn't really help much in determining transistor orientation, does it? I guess if you have electrical evidence that your original orientation is correct, you should probably stick with it. I don't know if I have any 2N2222 transistors on hand to try myself.

Before I forget, what operating system are you running on? That code you're running from Tommy Tyler's utility pack is using the old library code, which is seriously broken for Linux users (like myself).

FYI, that utility attempts to put the remote into "serial comm" mode, then sends it a 'ping' command ('E' character, which I think of as 'Echo'). It's supposed to reply with ASCII 'ACK' (0x06). If it does, you can be pretty sure there's a JP1.x remote at the other end.

Since your remote isn't replying correctly with either transistor orientation, I'll take another look at that 1st photo to see if anything else looks wrong. It may be wise to take another photo from another angle if you can, so that some of the hidden connections in that 1st photo are visible.

Bill

[vickyg2003]

okay I know nothing about the hardware end of what we do here in JP1 land, but I do know that you need to becareful about pin5 on JP1.3 remotes. I can't even look at a drawing or picture and understand if that has been done or not. If what I'm reading is correct it sounds like you are getting some sort of response from the remot. In that case I'd say do a 981 factory reset to see if the remote gets more talkative. But realize that I know NOTHING about this end of things.
_________________
Remember to provide feedback to let us know how the problem was solved and share your upgrades.

Tip: When creating an upgrade, always include ALL functions from the oem remote, even if you never plan on assigning them to a button. Complete function lists makes an upgrade more helpful to others.

[srwalter]

[WagonMaster]

[WagonMaster]

Actually, on further thought, since you're running it under Wine, the bugs in the library code won't affect you. It was only when running RMIR under Linux (i.e. with Java calling the native Linux library) that there were problems, but those were fixed a while back. Sorry for the false alarm on that. It's hard to remember all the nuances sometimes!

Oh, and Vicky... JP1 pin #5 is not an issue in this case since he's wisely left it out, as implied by his 2nd post.

Bill

[WagonMaster]

Scratch that question on DB-9 pin #7. I can now see the wire in the new photo. It took a while to get those photos on a dial-up connection!

Looking at circuit more now....

Bill

[WagonMaster]

OK, I've looked at the new photos, which help somewhat.

Although all of those photos are rather fuzzy, making it impossible to be 100% sure, I cannot see anything wrong in your wiring, assuming you've flipped the transistors back around to the EBC way from the DMM report. (By the way, I did an Internet search on the 2N2222 orientation and it seems that there are conflicting reports [EBC versus CBE], so I don't really know what to believe. I took a look in my parts tray and found no 2N2222 parts, so I can't even test it myself.)

I wish I could give you a better idea of what might be wrong here. It still could be the circuit, but I can't find any hard evidence of that. Are you sure the 2N2222 transistors are good? Got any spares to try?

Oh, and until this is solved, I'd stick to using a bare RS-232 port and avoid any USB adapters. I have one that works (IoGear GUC-232A) and one that fails (Belkin F5U109).

Bill

[srwalter]

Is there anyway to tell if the remote is actually going into serial comms mode or not? Do the two LED blinks indicate anything?

[WagonMaster]

[srwalter]