JP1 remote from Comcast?

rickspindrift · Post by **rickspindrift** » Wed Dec 08, 2004 10:22 pm

Anyone recognize the remote show in the pics below? It came from Comcast with my digital cable box. (A Motorola 2244) Much to my surprise, when I looked in the battery compartment I found a JP1 header. Much to my disappointment, when I plugged in my JP1 cable and tried to download, I got the following message from IR: "No response from the Remote. Make sure your Interface is plugged into JP1 properly."

As you can see, there is only one IC on the circuit board, and a close examination shows now other unoccupied solder pads, and no "U2" in the PCB silk screen, so there's no separate EEPROM. Perhaps the E2 memory is on the CPU chip. The IC is labled:
SST (as a logo)
65P542R
8-C-SG
0346212-A6
(C) UEIC-0103

The only other info was the following on the non-component side of the PCB (I'm guessing Godo manufactured the PCB):
3139 223 6214
Godo 0348 (the Godo is a logo)
GDP-007 94HB
6214 2

and the following was on a label under the batteries:
RC1384701/00MB
3139 228 62602
MADE IN INDONESIA
BS: 02 02402 0 016228

It would be a kick to be able to play around with this, so any info you have would be appreciated.

pic 1
pic 2
pic 3

Post by **The Robman** » Wed Dec 08, 2004 11:15 pm

Yeah, we've seen this one many times, it's a "JP1.1" remote and is not JP1-compatible, despite the fact that it has a 6-pin.

rickspindrift · Post by **rickspindrift** » Wed Dec 08, 2004 11:17 pm

Has anyone figured out how to use the 6 pin interface on this guy?

Post by **The Robman** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 7:29 am

Like I said, no. And this remote uses discontinued technology, so there's very little incentive to do so.

Plus, it would most likely require a new interface cable and new software.

mr_d_p_gumby · Post by **mr_d_p_gumby** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 9:52 am

Looks like you've done a pretty thorough preliminary investigation on this one, but, like Rob says, we have to disappoint you. This remote uses a processor with flash memory, and even though the JP1.1 connector looks the same, it needs different hardware and software to communicate with it. At one time we were starting to look into supporting this remote, but UEI decided to move on to a different technology, so this remote is destined to be somewhat of an orphan. (They are already starting to release remotes with a JP1.2 interface.)

You can easily overcome your disappointment with a quick visit to WalMart for a URC-8810w, or maybe pick up an Atlas DVR on eBay...

rickspindrift · Post by **rickspindrift** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 12:43 pm

Thanks for all the info. I'm not that disappointed, as I'm quite happy with how my 9910 has shaped up. I was looking at this as more of a free backup kindly provided by my friendly neighborhood cable people.

As you say, though, there's no point in doing a lot of work and research on some orphaned technology.

By the way, speaking of cheap remotes, it looks like UEI has dumped a bunch of 6131s onto the resale market. There's a whole bunch on ebay. Looks like you can pick them up for about $8 delivered to your door. Of course, from what I gather, you have to open it up and add the connector and EEPROM to make it JP1 useful, but that's still pretty cheap.

On a more general note, does anyone know why UEI puts in the interface header? From posts here, it seems like they don't encourage hacking, as they don't seem to be very forthcoming with details, so what purpose does it serve for them? Just curious.

Herbie · Post by **Herbie** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 1:24 pm

The header is there for their own upgrade/diagnostic procedures. If you send a remote to them for an upgrade to a code not built into the ROM, it'll come back with a header (actually I think they replace it with one with a header, but same thing).