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Dreamzapper
Joined: 02 Dec 2007 Posts: 108 Location: Norway |
Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 11:52 am Post subject: Extender for 7950? |
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Can I (I can not...) create an extender for 7950 or is that something I have to get from somebody before I can create an extender on my own remote? |
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Capn Trips Expert
Joined: 03 Oct 2003 Posts: 3990
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Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 6:06 pm Post subject: |
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Yes you can write an extender, but.....
Writing an extender is a very labor-intensive project and requires assembly and language skills that (to date) only several in these fora have demonstrated (I am not amongst that number). If you count yourself amongst that number, then you are cordially invited to do so.
I would start by pointing you at the two ongoing active multi-page threads to see how the development of extender for the URC 1055/1056 JP1.3 remotes is going and the same process for the URC 1067, just to give you a feel for what you may be getting yourself into. This is not a trivial process, and can take months.
In any event, you have to START with a fully functioning rdf (which looks to be quite new - are you sure it's got all of the kinks worked out of it?), before you can start figuring out what changes you wish to implement.
I'd recommend starting a PM dialog with one of the other extender-writers to get a steer of how to get started. _________________ Beginners - Read this thread first
READ BEFORE POSTING or your post will be DELETED!
Remotes: OFA XSight Touch, AR XSight Touch
TVs: LG 65" Smart LED TV; Samsung QN850BF Series - 8K UHD Neo QLED LCD TV
RCVR: Onkyo TX-SR875; Integra DTR 40.3
DVD/VCR: Pioneer DV-400VK (multi-region DVD), Sony BDP-S350 (Blu-ray), Toshiba HD-A3 (HD-DVD), Panasonic AG-W1 (Multi-system VCR);
Laserdisc: Pioneer CLD-D704.
Amazon Firestick
tape deck: Pioneer CT 1380WR (double cassette deck)
(But I still have to get up for my beer) |
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unclemiltie Expert
Joined: 21 Jan 2004 Posts: 1795 Location: Pittsburgh, PA |
Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 7:06 pm Post subject: |
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Writing an extender is certainly a challenge. AS Cap'n said, an incoming knowledge of assembly language programming is a must, as well as an idea of how to "hack" things. I can tell you that my first extender (the URC-9960B01 JP1 extender) took me the better part of a year to do and there is still a bug that I haven't had time to truly chase down (it's more an annoyance than anything else)
I started on the Atlas JP1.3 extender in about July tring to understand the remote and how it works. I put the first beta of the extender out in October and then got distracted with work and haven't touched it much and there are numerous outstanding issues as reported in the thread that the Cap'n mentioned in his post.
But, if you're willing to join in, it's a serious learning experience. I got Vicky hooked a while back and she's been cranking out extenders like there was no tomorrow!
jump in, the water is fine. But be aware, writing an extender can consume you!
-bill _________________ this JP1 stuff is a sickness! |
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Dreamzapper
Joined: 02 Dec 2007 Posts: 108 Location: Norway |
Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 6:13 am Post subject: |
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Thanks to both of you!
Well, being 77 and being into this stuff just to get me a remote that works the way I want it to, I am afraid writing an extender is somewhat more than I would care to engage in now. Five years back, I might have jumped on the bandwagon.
I have done my share of assembler programming - it all began when I built the SWTPC 6800 micro computer back in 1977. Writing a program consisted of writing mnemonics on paper, using a table to convert to hex codes, then counting number of bytes spanned by jump or branch instructions, and then using another table for conversion from decimal to hex code. The table also handled backward jumps; counting from FF and downwards...
A primitive debugger then allowed entering the program into the machine. It was fun!
It got even better when I built a crt interface and converted a tv I found on a garbage heap into a monitor.
But today, I am much more concerned about whether it is possible to program device select keys on the 7950 to execute a macro, or not?
Or alternatively the Dreambox URC-39930, or the Force URC-39722.
If it takes an extender, it seems I can forget all about it and begin thinking about alternative solutions.
Addendum: Searching for 39930 I found this thread, but I am afraid it is a bit over my head:
http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8266&highlight=39930 |
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vickyg2003 Site Admin
Joined: 20 Mar 2004 Posts: 7073 Location: Florida |
Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 7:25 am Post subject: |
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Extender writing is a very time consuming hobby. It takes hundreds of hours to get an extender up and running, before you can even send it out for testing.
I was very lucky in that Binky had done a lot of the ground work into telling me what was what in the remotes I was interested in. John Fine had pioneered extender writing and I've just picked up his code and transported it to various remotes. But it still takes me hundreds of hours to get an extender up and running.
Its very much a hacker's effort, and one can only wonder how the concept was ever conceived! My hobby is extending the JP1.2 remotes. Its like have super hard sudoku puzzles that take months to complete.
Its a lot of fun in a sick sort of way. Once you start, its hard to stop. |
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Evan_s
Joined: 24 Mar 2007 Posts: 313
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Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 10:46 am Post subject: |
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A lot of the newer jp1.2 and jp1.3 remotes can handle a macro on a device key with out an extender. They won't let you program it with buttons on the remote but when programed that way with our tools they handle it just fine. You can try it out. If the remote isn't going to support a macro it will just ignore it. |
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binky123 Expert
Joined: 14 Feb 2004 Posts: 1292
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Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 10:52 am Post subject: |
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I mentioned in that other thread that the URC-39930 will support macros on device keys when created with IR.exe. The remote will not allow you to create them using SET-995 on the remote itself. Also be aware of the special macro format in this remote. |
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vickyg2003 Site Admin
Joined: 20 Mar 2004 Posts: 7073 Location: Florida |
Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 11:12 am Post subject: |
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Quote: | Also be aware of the special macro format in this remote. |
Can you educate me, what is the special macro format. Is it something IR handles automatically? Can I just look in the raw data and tell? |
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binky123 Expert
Joined: 14 Feb 2004 Posts: 1292
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Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 11:47 am Post subject: |
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This post mentions it and I think another post has it back when this remote first appeared. An RDF entry was never created to handle this. |
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Dreamzapper
Joined: 02 Dec 2007 Posts: 108 Location: Norway |
Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 12:11 pm Post subject: |
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Quote: | This post mentions it and I think another post has it back when this remote first appeared. An RDF entry was never created to handle this. |
I remember now, I have saved the info. I just am not comfortable with the info and don't know what to do with it yet, but I am doing some 'research' and hope eventually to come to grips with it.
Regarding the code sample. I don't think I understand what it means when it says "Next value has to be 5." The next value is 5, but why 5, what does the 5 mean? And the 02 and 80?
I probably don't know enough about all the different codes an will have to study that. I also need to find out how it works when IR doesn't display macros correctly on the Dream remote; what happens when I try to create a macro? Guess I will find out by trying to see how it works.
But I don't think I can use the code sample as is - but maybe it contains what I need in order to create the macros that I need. |
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