JP1 Remotes

mathdon · Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 7:38 am Post subject: IR 8.03 now beta testing

I have posted IR 8.03 Beta 5. This is the first public Beta version of IR 8.03, the earlier betas were privately distributed for testing during development. Its main new features are:

* Improved support for JP1 (as distinct from JP1.x) remotes, including support for 64-bit versions of Windows.

* Ability to import and export learned signals in Pronto format,

* A new Analysis display on the learned signals page, which shows the signal in IRP notation. This is derived directly from the signal. No look-up is involved, so it should work with a wide variety of protocols even if they are not recognised by DecodeIR.

The import, export and analysis features are provided by ExchangeIR.dll. This is a new DLL that is now included in the IR.exe distribution. The current version is v0.05.

The improved support for JP1 remotes comes in two forms. First, the package includes version 0.16 of jp12serial.dll. This version supports the JP1 EEPROM Programming Adapter that enables uploads and downloads of JP1 remotes to be performed with JP1.x interfaces and software. Secondly, the library routines that support the JP1 interface have been substantially rewritten by Dave Reed (3FG). The interface cables for these remotes use a Delcom chip and need an installed driver. The Delcom drivers have proved not to be very reliable and they do not support 64-bit versions of Windows. The new library routines compensate for some of the problems of the Delcom driver when used with 32-bit systems and they also support a WinUSB driver for the Delcom chip that does work with 64-bit systems. The initial development of these new routines is discussed here, but the work has continued and is now ready for the wider testing that its inclusion in this Beta should provide.

Import of signals in Pronto format is available through the Add and Edit buttons of the Learned Signals page. The dialog that then opens now has radio buttons to choose between UEI Learned and Pronto formats, UEI Learned being the standard learned format of UEI remotes. Switching the format has no effect on the data in the Add/Edit window. Instead, it tells the import software how this data is to be interpreted when the OK button is pressed.

Pronto export is available through a new Export Pronto button on the Learned Signals page. Pressing this button will append the Pronto format of each signal selected in the left-hand pane (multiple selections are allowed) to a text file called ExportedPronto.txt. This file is created if it does not exist. The directory for this file can be set by a new entry, Set Export Path, on the File/Set Directory menu.

Information about the Analysis feature can be found in the thread Automated analysis of IR protocols where it is illustrated in the context of IRScope 2.01 Beta 3, which was the first program to make use of this new feature.
_________________
Graham

3FG · Expert Joined: 19 May 2009 Posts: 3367

If you wish to try IR8.03 Beta 5 with WinUSB drivers, the installation instructions are a short download. The WinUSB driver is about 7 Mbytes, and there are 32 bit and 64 bit versions. [I've revised the link names in response to later posts in this thread.]
Note that the drivers were posted here in January 2010, and the drivers have not changed since then, so users who already downloaded the drivers need not download again. The instructions and supporting information have been considerably streamlined and are the only content that has changed.

Here’s the text of the FAQ (also available in the instructions download):

Why use the WinUSB driver?
There are two situations in which the WinUSB driver may help.
1. The Delcom-provided drivers can't be installed, typically because the target computer is running 64bit Windows.
2. The Delcom driver is installed, but gives errors, typically because the computer has a OHCI type USB host controller rather than UHCI.

Is it safe to install the WinUSB driver?
The WinUSB driver was written by Microsoft, and is supposed to work with Windows 7, Vista, and XP (32 bit only) with Service Pack 2 or better.
The JP1 community has generated the necessary inf and cat files to allow associating the WinUSB driver with the Delcom interface.

The WinUSB download is 7 MBytes! How much room does the driver take?
Less than 50 KBytes. The installation package is big because it provides different drivers for each version of the operating system, the bit size of the CPU and OS, and other variations.

What's OHCI and UHCI and why should I care?
Open Host Controller Interface and Universal Host Controller Interface are competing hardware implementations of USB host controllers. In principle, any USB device should work with either, but apparently the Delcom interface has a firmware bug which gives frequent errors when the computer reads data from some OHCI-based hubs. Most of the work to make IR.exe work with WinUSB has been spent trying to tame the OHCI related problems.

If your computer has an UHCI hub (or both, but you plug into a port which is serviced by an UHCI hub) then you should expect error free performance. Actually, a Delcom driver should also work if it can be properly installed. If your computer has an OHCI hub, then probably IR.exe will work with infrequent errors. However, we know that for some circumstances, it may not work. At this point little is known about the behavior for EEPROMs smaller or larger than 2K Bytes.

Do I have OHCI or UHCI?
Click Windows Start. Type devmgmt.msc in the Search Box (use Run in XP) and press Enter.
Click the plus sign next to Universal Serial Bus Controllers. Ignore the entries which say Enhanced Controller and look for either Open Host or Universal Host.

I have the Delcom driver already installed. Do I need to remove it?
No. In fact you can switch between the Delcom driver and the WinUSB driver by starting at instruction 3 in the file WinUSB Installation Instructions.rtf. The WinUSB driver is called "Delcom Proxy", and the Delcom driver is called "Delcom USB IO Driver".

The Robman · Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 11:45 am Post subject:

I'm trying to test this new beta out but am running into issues. First, when I edit a learned signal or try to add one, the Pronto radio button is not selectable. Secondly, when I look at a learned signal, it's says "Analyzer: Not available" and "N/A" on the IRP form line.

Am I doing something wrong?

Btw, I'm testing this on a WinXP Pro box (version 5.1, SP3) without admin rights.
_________________
Rob
www.hifi-remote.com
Please don't PM me with remote questions, post them in the forums so all the experts can help!

mathdon · Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 12:18 pm Post subject:

The Robman · Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 12:28 pm Post subject:

Unfortunately, I can't install vcredist_x86.exe on this computer as I don't have admin rights (work PC) so I'll have to test it at home.
_________________
Rob
www.hifi-remote.com
Please don't PM me with remote questions, post them in the forums so all the experts can help!

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

3FG · Expert Joined: 19 May 2009 Posts: 3367

Well, taking the message at face value, perhaps a file is missing. I'm not at the correct computer, but I believe the directory should contain the files jp1del.inf and jp1del.cat, besides the 2 rtf text files. It should also contain the subdirectory X86.

ElizabethD · Advanced Member Joined: 09 Feb 2004 Posts: 2348

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

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

3FG · Expert Joined: 19 May 2009 Posts: 3367

I believe that for both Vista and Win7 the logs are:

• Setupapi.dev.log. This file contains logging information from Device Management and Installation (DMI) components specific to device installs. This is the primary log that should be used for most troubleshooting investigations.
• Setupapi.app.log. This file contains legacy Setupapi logging information unrelated to device installs, such as associated application events.

These files are simple ANSI text logs that are written to the %windir%\inf directory.

So typically, C:\Windows\inf\setupapi.dev.log.

Kevin Timmerman · Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 5:29 pm Post subject:

Kevin Timmerman · Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 5:37 pm Post subject:

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

3FG · Expert Joined: 19 May 2009 Posts: 3367

Well, I'm glad that you got it installed. It's my confusion, not yours--in fact, I'm still confused. The original installation package was built with both AMD64 and X86 subdirectories, and I split them apart to try to reduce the size of the download. Maybe that was the wrong thing to do.

But the bigger question is: Does your JP1 interface work? And please look to see if you have UHCI or OHCI. I'd also like to know the EEPROM size.

Thanks.