Coby DVD938

3FG · Post by **3FG** » Sun Nov 25, 2012 9:55 pm

Here is one version of instructions to add an EEPROM to a 6131.

A parallel interface cable will work, provided you have a computer with a parallel port and an operating system that will let you access it. A USB to parallel adapter will not work.

USB interface cables for JP1 remotes are no longer available. Instead, you can use a flash JP1.2/1.3 cable and an adapter block that will translate the serial commands into the I2C format used by the EEPROMs. But if you're going to go that route, it would be far better to just get a JP1.3 remote, which uses the serial format natively. The adapter is roughly the same cost as a JP1.3 remote (e.g RCA RCRP05B). You can also build your own serial cable for JP1.2/1.3 remotes, if you have a computer with a serial port, or own a USB to serial adapter.

Comcast remotes are very cheap on eBay, and will work with a JP1.2/1,3 cable.

At least one Cablevison remote is made by UEI, and probably can be made to work.

gmaslin · Post by **gmaslin** » Mon Nov 26, 2012 7:33 am

The Cablevision remote I'm looking at is a UR2-CBL-CV02. There isn't an interface under its battery cover. It looks very much like the Atlas but with less buttons.

Post by **vickyg2003** » Mon Nov 26, 2012 8:38 am

gmaslin wrote:3FG
I read the thread you linked in your post and believe I understand the inconvenience I'll have to accept using this remote. Since I am new to JP1, I'd like to proceed frugally so making use of what I have is desirable.

I got into this hobby because of frugality.

If you have an old computer with an LPT port, then a simple interface might be your most frugal entry point, provided your remotes have the EEPROM and Pins already added.

If you are buying eeproms and pins and a JP1.2/3 cable and a JP1 adapter, then you are not going the most frugal route.

A JP1.3 remote with a JP1.2/3 cable is probably the best buy in the long run. In general, the JP1 EEPPROM remotes have less user memory than the Flash remotes. So as you add new equipment, you'll need more and more upgrades, and you will soon hit bump into the size limit.

The 6131's have a special appeal. The old ones are really cute, and the 6131Ns have a very clean design, even if its hard to know which is the business end in the dark.

As much as I like my cute little 6131, I found that whenever I did a remote for someone else, and was offering that model as one of the ones to choose from, nobody ever chose it. It seems that the small closely packed buttons just frightened them away.

I hope you enjoy your new hobby. It is really fun.

gmaslin · Post by **gmaslin** » Mon Nov 26, 2012 10:32 am

vickyg2003
A new modern remote will be ~$15 and as I understand it, I will still need a cable or some other method of communicating with it. I believe the 6131 has the EEPROM chip and pin interface. I will know better when I receive it. The cable cost me ~$5 so even if I need an EEPROM I will likely still be ahead. What would you budget for a functioning setup?

Whatever I do spend, I can recover by selling my old remotes

Post by **The Robman** » Mon Nov 26, 2012 11:31 am

gmaslin wrote:Are any of the new cablevision remotes that ship with the Scientific-Atlanta 4200 boxes or those that shipped with the Dish 500 IRD's suitable for JP1? In other words, are they also 'Atlas'?

I don't know.

Post by **The Robman** » Mon Nov 26, 2012 11:35 am

gmaslin wrote:Which EEPROM is the best to use on this unit and where are the instructions to put it in a 6131? Looking at the unit at hand, it appears to have a JP1 header without pins. Are there variations on this design for this model? Is a usb cable preferable to a parallel interface on this remote?

Read this...
https://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2590

If you have a parallel port on your computer, your best bet as far as a cable is concerned is to build your own. Here's the design for one of those cables:
https://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... le_id=4562

If you need to buy a soldering iron, you can get one at Radio Shack for $12:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index ... Id=2062738

Post by **vickyg2003** » Mon Nov 26, 2012 11:48 am

gmaslin wrote:vickyg2003
A new modern remote will be ~$15 and as I understand it, I will still need a cable or some other method of communicating with it.

Or if it has learning, you could just learn it from the OEM remote if you still have it.

I believe the 6131 has the EEPROM chip and pin interface. I will know better when I receive it. The cable cost me ~$5 so even if I need an EEPROM I will likely still be ahead. What would you budget for a functioning setup?

Wow, the cable only cost you ~$5? Is this an LPT cable? I can't imagine anyone getting so little for a USB EEPROM cable, or a Flash cable with an EEPROM adapter.

I know a cheap JP1.2/3 cable can be built, but the EEPROM adaptor is needed for those. I don't pay much attention to the build instructions because I don't like to solder.

I do know that I wouldn't invest heavily in yesterday's technology.

I know that my first cable cost me more than my remote, and I was really worried about that investment. I have never regretted that purchase. I just leveraged it by using it a lot!

I have 40 remotes in service, not to mention all the remotes I have made for friends over the years. My boxes containing "spare" remotes, stand as tall as I do. I'm a total nut case when it comes to these remotes.

Enjoy

gmaslin · Post by **gmaslin** » Mon Nov 26, 2012 1:29 pm

vickyg2003
I only had to buy the 1k resistors, everything else was salvage. May I ask why you would keep a mountain of remotes if they have all been cataloged? I am under the impression that once a remote is read and its command map extracted, there doesn't seem to be any use for it so why keep it? Are there situations where some commands don't translate or can't be mapped so that the original is still required?

The Robman
Bingo! That thread and its links appear to answer just about everything on my mind about what I plan on doing. I'm looking forward to getting started.

Post by **vickyg2003** » Mon Nov 26, 2012 3:06 pm

gmaslin wrote:vickyg2003
I only had to buy the 1k resistors, everything else was salvage. May I ask why you would keep a mountain of remotes if they have all been cataloged?

Oh these are not my original remotes. I keep the originals in a small box, for when I donate my equipment. The mountain is my JP1 spares. You wouldn't want me to have a panic attack if a JP1 remote ever failed, would you?

Actually I really used to panic, when ever Rob's website would go down. That's why I worked so hard learning to decode and write protocol executors. It was obviously over my head, but I just kept banging away until I got it. I was always afraid that someday this site would disappear and I wouldn't have the support I needed to keep my JP1 remotes working. Once I got used to JP1 remotes, I would never want to go back to a regular universal, or heaven forbid, juggling multiple remotes.

gmaslin · Post by **gmaslin** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 5:06 am

vickyg2003
The convenience of having one remote is sort of mitigated when you reach your level of commitment

The Robman
I read one of your posts in another thread from 2003 that stated a 6131 remote was limited to a 2k EEPROM. Has anything changed since then to allow a larger memory space? About how many individual commands will fit in 2k?

Post by **vickyg2003** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 5:28 am

gmaslin wrote:vickyg2003
The convenience of having one remote is sort of mitigated when you reach your level of commitment

They haven't committed me yet, although there has been talk.

We have his and hers remotes in every room, and in our main viewing areas we have guest remotes. So no matter where you're seated you have total control of the AV equipment in that room.

gmaslin · Post by **gmaslin** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 5:43 am

vickyg2003 brings new meaning to 'control freak'

Post by **The Robman** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 7:48 am

gmaslin wrote:I read one of your posts in another thread from 2003 that stated a 6131 remote was limited to a 2k EEPROM. Has anything changed since then to allow a larger memory space? About how many individual commands will fit in 2k?

No, it's still 2k bytes (or 16k bits - ie, a 24C16 type chip). But... for this remote that is a TON of memory! This remote doesn't support learning and the second 1k of memory is normally set aside for learning, so in this remote about 80% of the EEPROM memory is available for upgrades. It's only a 6 device remote, so even if you need to add 6 upgrades and each of them uses a big protocol upgrade, you'd still have plenty of room left over.

Post by **vickyg2003** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 7:52 am

gmaslin wrote:vickyg2003 brings new meaning to 'control freak'

Nah, that's not being a control freak, that's being a good hostess.

A control freak is when you go into someone else's home, and set up your own personal remote to control all of their equipment.

Been there, done that!

BTW hope you saw Rob's 2K response above.

gmaslin · Post by **gmaslin** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 8:31 am

The Robman
Understood. What do they mean by 6+2 phantom devices? Does it mean two additional devices are programmable via a shift, function or macro key?

vickyg2003
LOL. Yes, I can think of only one other thing that would make you a better hostess but your husband would need to be 'Inuit'