Complete newbie, help please...

[son_t]

Hello

I'm a complete newbie to JP1 and wondered if anyone could help.

I have started reading up on JP1 etc, but would like a quick guide on how to achieve the following.

I have a OFA 6 (UFR-7560) which has the JP1 connection but I have not the cable (or time to make a cable yet). I want to use the 'over-the-telephone' method of updating and programming my remote for the following devices:
Humax PVR9200T, Yamaha RX-V457, a Panasonic TV, a no-name Xbox controller.

Could someone suggest on I how I do this? I know that if I call OFA, they could update the remote for (maybe) the Yamaha and the Panasonic, but I think for the newish Humax and the Xbox, I will need to program the controller manually.

Could someone point me to the software that updates the controller by creating the WAV file for me to use the microphone on the OFA 6 remote?

Thanks for any help,
Regards,

[underquark]

You can use the software available on this site (either KM or RM) to create the upgrades necessary for your devices and you may even find that someone has already done it for you (check the File Section and you'll see plenty of Panasonic TVs, the xBox and even your Humax PVR). You can then use IR.EXE (also available here) to create WAV files which you can then upload to your remote. You use IR to bring all the upgrades together, add in any required protocols (KM or RM will advise you and generate the necessary code) and then create a WAV file which you play to your remote and which then fills its EEPROM memory with the upgrdaes. Remote manual tells you how to set up the remote to receive upgrades via its modem and you basically lean the remote against the speaker and turn the volume up half-way or so such that you hear a loud and annoying (but not deafening) screech when the WAV file is played.

BIG downside of WAV files - they are a one-way process. If all goes to plan then your upgrade gets picked up by the remote and works fine. If it fails then you can still reset your remote but you are far better off buying a JP1 cable as this will allow you to download your remote's EEPROM memory, tinker with the setup as desired (including creating complex macros) and always have a working backup.

You have one other major problem - you bought a Humax; should have bought a Toppy (note to US readers - this is quite possibly meanigless to you but see this site if you're curious. The Humax apparently works OK but the Toppy is customisable and has a forum with about 2500 members).

[johnsfine]

I think for the 7560 there is an OFA website that will give you .wav files over the internet. You don't need to use the telephone (as customers with USA model OFA remotes would).

The wav files you could make yourself are better (I think underquark said everything I was about to say about how to do that). But getting a .wav from the OFA website may be easier. Sorry I don't have that URL handy.

[son_t]

Thanks for your reply underquark and help.

I have downloaded IR but the other progs are harder to find, like ir2wav.exe, etc. I am still have a bit of bother finding the right rdf files... more pointers will be appreciated...

To have a debate about the Hummy and the Toppy... I had been thinking about getting a Fusion FVRT200, but when I came to decide to buy it, it wasn't in stock. I had an eye on the Toppy but couldn't really justify a new toy... So when I looked again (online) the Hummy was available. The reason I got the Hummy over the others was the 160Gb drive. Not having much experience with PVR (and especially about the GUI) I didn't have that sort of arguments to go for the Toppy (people say the Toppy's GUI is better).

I am technical and wouldn't mind fiddling about with a Toppy, BUT I could build myself a MediaCenter using a PC if I had personal quality time to spend with cables and machines (you know kids and family get in the way!), and it would be more fun than messing with TAPs and the like... I wanted a 'comsumer device' first, and something to fiddle with later...

You can give me some arguments to make me regret getting the Hummy over the Toppy, now that I have checked prices to see that the Toppy is only 30 pounds more ... So what is special about the Toppy - name me one feature - any feature!

[underquark]

You can give me some arguments to make me regret getting the Hummy over the Toppy, now that I have checked prices to see that the Toppy is only 30 pounds more ... So what is special about the Toppy - name me one feature - any feature!

Well, you can figure that one out for yourself once you find a bug and are waiting (and waiting, and waiting) for an OTA firmware upgrade . Oh, and the Toppy now comes with a 250Gb drive as standard. I must admit that the only reason I bought it was so that I could play with it and maybe link it up via a NSLU2 ("Slug") to my wireless network.

Now, that OFA site is here and you need to select "Product Support", "Universal Remote Controls" and then click on the pretty picture. You have to give a valid e-mail address to register and then you can go shopping for downloads. May I suggest that you don't play the WAV file straight away but, instead, right-click and save it first so that you can have everything ready and also so that you can have more than one go if necessary. You'll need a bit of trial and error now as I basically gave up on WAV file upgrading and bought a JP1 cable ($21 shipped from Canada to UK). Go on, be a man; get a JP1 cable - you know you want to.

[son_t]

I am tempted to buy a jp1 remote cable on eBay. I looked at my OFA 6 last night and found it did not have sufficient buttons to control the PVR. So I might have another thought about going down the jp1 route...

Shame, as I was progressing... 'Found' the Files section on this forum and got some progs. I was going to post what I learnt here for newbies... but I guess that is not going to happen...

I am tempted to get the Harmony 525 remote but that is not a jp1 remote and I need to talk to someone I know about the models of my equipment to see if they are supported...

I see the qualities of the Toppy (especially with the 250Gb drive - at a price). I don't regret getting the Humax (I think!). I have a modded Xbox running XBMC so I can fetch recorded material off the Hummy and store and view them on it...

One question about the Toppy - does it allow you to upload AVI or MPEGs video to it to view through the TV?

[underquark]

I am tempted to buy a jp1 remote cable on eBay. I looked at my OFA 6 last night and found it did not have sufficient buttons to control the PVR. So I might have another thought about going down the jp1 route...

You could get a URC8910 (in UK, eBuyer had some for £15-ish; I got mine from US for about $20). You could ask The Robman if he has any modded 6131's, 9960's etc. for sale (see this post) and he could also probably source you a JP1 cable. You could get a Euro Kameleon (older versions - URC8040 and 8060 - as the new ones aren't JP1-compatible) but you'd need to either invest in a pogo-pin adapter or make your own springs adapter (search this forum if you go down this route).

One question about the Toppy - does it allow you to upload AVI or MPEGs video to it to view through the TV?

Yes, software is available that can convert files into Toppy .REC format (basically a type of MPEG2) but most people transfer data the other way - i.e. off the Toppy - to free up recording space. Apparently it's quite good as an MP3 juke-box though (Only 6Mb per track as opposed to 4Gb for a 2-hour movie). It records from - and ONLY from - its inbuilt digital tuners so you can't pipe an external a/v source into it (but there are other media centre boxes and Sat boxes for this task).

Anyway, digression. See if you like what the Robman has on offer or source a different remote yourself; get a cable (or build one) and get going. Best of luck.

[son_t]

Hey! I went to the OFA site ( http://www.oneforall-int.com/index.html ) registered, clicked on Internet Download, chose the right remote and started to pulling down the menus I realised what you have been talking about.

It looks like the site allows you to program the devices you need to control and then generate the WAV file to update the remote with...

I don't have the remote on me so will have to do the update at home. I'm sure it will work...

Thanks for you help. Easy when you know how...

[underquark]

Remember that if you do find suitable files to download as WAVs that you still need to tell the remote to USE them, i.e. you still need to assign a setup code to each device button. On the page that had "Internet Download" as the bottom of a list of five bulletted options, you will note option #2 "Find your setup code". This will give you a list of setup codes, some of which will be built into your remote and some of which will (hopefully) be in one of the upgrade WAV files that you downloaded.

[son_t]

Me again, thanks for the tip.

I have not done any upgrading of the remote since I registered with OFA. I went through the procedure and got a bit worred about what was said in the notes.

Am I correct in assuming that I can not load more codes than the percentage measure at the side? For example if I choose a code for Panasonic-1 TVs and Yamaha -1 Amp/Tuner, the scale goes up to 153%, and hence I can not do it (upgrade). It also says that each download (upload to the remote) overwrites the previous and hence I can not upgrate my remote piece-wise...

BTW It is the One For All 6 - URC 7562 / B00 remote that I have...

[Capn Trips]

Am I correct in assuming that I can not load more codes than the percentage measure at the side? For example if I choose a code for Panasonic-1 TVs and Yamaha -1 Amp/Tuner, the scale goes up to 153%, and hence I can not do it (upgrade). It also says that each download (upload to the remote) overwrites the previous and hence I can not upgrate my remote piece-wise......

In a word, YES, you are correct that you cannot load more than 100% of your memory with upgrades (duh), but the reason they are so big is that OFA loads your remote up with multiple upgrades.

So for panasonic TVs, the site will load up your remote with three or four upgrades, and then tell you test each of them and assign the one that works best. The remaining extra upgrades will just consume memory and never be used. Ditto for the Yamaha Amp/Tuner. The site will push to you SEVERAL upgrades, in the hope that at least one of them will work, again unnecessarily consuming memory.

I don't know whether you can individually delete upgrades without JP1, nor if you can do that and THEN, when you again have enough room, go to download another "family" of upgrades, and NOT overwrite the one you wished to retain.

Another reason to go JP1!

[son_t]

Thanks as I suspected...

OK. I've got IR.exe and associated software and RDF files and especially IrToWav.exe. Could someone give me a simple few steps to program the OFA 6 to control these 6 devices: Panasonic TV, Ellion DVD Recorder, Metronic Satellite Receiver, Philips CD player, Yamaha AV Reciever, and a no name DVD player?

Do I simply use IR to add and setup all the devices, save the file and generate the wav file and the upload to the remote via the modem, then hope it works?

[greenough1]

I think so with the caveat that the setup codes you need already exist in the remote and that they map buttons/functions like you want. If they do not, then you need to use KM to add the devices and protocols if required, using existing upgrades.

Using km has the benefit of allowing you to tweak existing upgrades to fit your needs and give you a text file that you can go back to should the need arise.

Best,
jeff

[underquark]

If you simply must WAV, then lets get complicated:

Start, as Greenough1 suggests, by using built-in codes where possible (0250 for you Panny TV or 0650 if you want Teletext). Ditto for your Metronic Sat and Philips CD player (and maybe even the Yamaha).

Now go to the OFA site, select your basket of upgrades and download the WAV file by right-clicking and saving it. You might get lucky and find all the upgrades (setup codes) that you need in one download but there is a good chance that you would need more than one download (Some devices have several files and you can only download one of each device type at a time). Unfortunately the 100% limit is there for a reason. This is the biggest file that will fit in your remote's EEPROM. So you might get away with fitting in two WAV files if they were, say, 40% and 59% full (there is an option in IR to merge a WAV file into an existing file if space permits) but the more devices you have, then the more likely you are to hit that limit.

There is, however, a way to strip out the unwanted upgrades as follows:

Fire up IR and choose "File... Import from WAV". You can now inspect the contents of the WAV file (look under the "Devices" tab - or thingy as it is also known by some ) and read off the setup codes.

Go to the Files section of this forum and download Devices-Dev.xls (assuming you have MS Excel or other compatible spreadsheet application).

Look up each setup code in Devices-Dev and find out what the protocol name, device number, subdevice number(s) are. Enter those numbers into KM.

Go back to IR. For your chosen setup code, click on the little box just under the K of "Key Map:". This will export the button codes to the clipboard. Now go to a blank worksheet and paste the values here. Select just the last column (the EFCs), copy them and paste into KM on the "Functions" worksheet. Tidy things up a bit by adding the correct function names and assigning them to your chosen buttons etc.

Now use a second instance of IR (i.e. start up IR again running in a different Window), choose "File...New...Select" to start a brand new, uncluttered remote setup. Asisgn your devices to buttons, using in-built codes where possible. Add in the new upgrades that you created in KM one by one until you have them all done or your brain implodes, whichever comes first. Lastly, use IR to generate a WAV file ready to send to your remote.

It will, of course, all work perfectly first time just like it did for most every user of this forum

Methinks you got a whole lotta reading and one sleepless night ahead but you'll learn heaps on the way. As for your "No-name" DVD, well I tried to phone a friend but Derren Brown was unavailable.

[son_t]

I have now broken my remote!

I felt brave and started doing some tests, and started upgrading using the OFA website's wavs. After serveral trials (that went well) now I've broken the remote in the last attempt. I'm afraid the last upgrade didn't complete and now the remote is completely unresponsive. If I remove and replace the battery the TV button flashes only and the remote does not respond to any keypresses.

Is it fsck? or can I use some combination of keys to reset it to factory defaults? I guess if it is broken then I've got an excuse to get the Harmony?