Note to the JP1 experts/regulars about the Slingbox

[The Robman]

As you may have noticed, we're starting to get quite a few posts here about the Slingbox, so I've started a new forum for them to keep them all in one place.

I thought it might be a good idea to give you all a quick run down on what a Slingbox is, so you will know how to help the new posters, should you chose to do so.

A slingbox is a device that let's you watch a device, such as a Tivo, from any remote location that has a high-speed internet connection.

The Slingbox itself sits on top of the device that it's controlling. You would run an IR blaster cable from the Slingbox to the device being controlled.

Now, what does any of this have to do with JP1? Well, the Slingbox has a UEI "remote control" chip on board, it uses this chip to control the device being watched. There is also an EEPROM on board which can hold upgrades. When the user installs the "Slingplayer" software on his computer, a folder is created called "SBAV" which holds lots of upgrade files. These upgrade files are supplied with the Slingbox. There is also a file in the Slingplayer folder called SBAV.cfg which is the link to these upgrade files. These upgrades files are binary and have names like S1377_PL.bin

Greg has recently modified RM so that it can be used to create upgrades for the Slingbox. RM can not only create Slingbox upgrade files, but it can also import them. So, if a Slingbox user says that the code that he is using to control his device is missing a function or two, he could import the binary file that he is using into RM and then he could add the missing functions, if he knows the OBCs or EFCs for those functions, which is where you might be able to help out.

If a Slingbox user says that he can't find a code to work some device or other, if there is a JP1 upgrade available, he can use RM to convert that upgrade into a binary file for his Slingbox. The first step in converting a JP1 upgrade into a Slingbox upgrade is to change the selected remote in RM to the Slingbox.

There are currently two flavors of Slingbox on the market, where the only difference is the UEI chip that is installed. The older model is known as the "JU" box, and the newer model is the "PL" box. The user can tell which model he has by checking which version of the "IR Blaster" firmware he has. Version 2.0 = JU and 2.1 = PL.

Also, just FYI, for some unknown reason, there is a size limitation on Slingbox upgrades, which is a problem when a large protocol upgrade is needed.

The name of the binary file should not be changed by the user. The first letter corresponds to the device type selected (eg, S = SAT, Y = DVD, etc). The next 4 digits are the setup code, then there's an underscore, followed by the box type (ie, JU or PL) and then the "bin" extension. The device type/setup code is also encoded into the file itself and this needs to match the file name or the code won't be accepted.

If JP1 is used to replace an existing upgrade file, all the user has to do is store the new binary file in the SBAV folder and the Slingbox will find it, but for new codes, to make the Slingbox find the code, the SBAV.cfg file also needs to be edited. I have loaded a sample copy of the SBAV.cfg file here. All the user needs to do is add the new code to the existing list of codes for the brand.