JP1 Remotes

Posted: **Tue Jun 09, 2009 4:49 pm**

I would like to install an appropriate (OSX/Linux/Windows) FTDI driver which allows me to access JP1 remotes connected with a Tommy TYLER made USB JP1.2/3 cable. If the remote were a modem, I would just then connect over the command line and give AT commands.

Can I do something similar to AT commands with JP1 remotes using the FTDI driver? Where is the JP1 protocol described and is it text or binary?

How do I simply copy the target codes to the JP1 remote? My target is the Popcorn Hour A-110:

Code: Select all

Name:,Popcorn Hour A-100,,,,v9.10,,,,,,,CURRENT DATA
Devices:,NEC1,4,203,20,,,,,,,,
Manual:,,0 = 1-byte,LSB-COMP,88,NO,,,,,,,
[...]

What happens if I just copy the codes file to the USB device?

Regards,
Michael

Posted: **Tue Jun 09, 2009 5:16 pm**

Michael, the free software you'll find here is way more sophisticated than a command line prompt. Start reading here Beginner's read this The learning curve is a little steep, but the software is wonderful.

Posted: **Tue Jun 09, 2009 5:55 pm**

The only thing a JP1 cable is good for is either copying data from your PC into the remote, or downloading data from the remote onto your PC so you can save it.

What is it that you're hoping to be able to do via AT commands that you can't do using the JP1 software?

Posted: **Wed Jun 10, 2009 2:35 am**

The Beginner's read this is quite good, thanks. I didn't find blueprints for the JP1 protocol that I'm looking for.

If configuring a JP1 device requires paying for new operating systems, hardware, and losing hours securing them on a network then it's time to give up. I'm only willing to lose time when learning valuable things, for example about the JP1 protocol.

the software is wonderful

That's a bold statement, since the software doesn't work at all on any system on my network (8+ hosts.) Where is the source code repository and is the software written in a portable and standard (ISO/IEC/IEEE) programming language? I could try to reverse engineer the protocol from the 'wonderful' source code.

Regards,
Michael

Posted: **Wed Jun 10, 2009 2:40 am**

The Robman wrote:What is it that you're hoping to be able to do via AT commands that you can't do using the JP1 software?

Program my remote over a remote TCP connection.
Program my remote without a graphics card.
Program my remote on a PPC, SPARC, or RISC architecture.
Program my remote on any arbitrary operating system.
Program my remote at a friends house.
Program my remote on a computer without downloading software.

But most of all...

I want to program my remote in the quickest and most direct way possible for me.

Regards,
Michael

Posted: **Wed Jun 10, 2009 3:05 am**

The Robman wrote:The only thing a JP1 cable is good for is either copying data from your PC into the remote, or downloading data from the remote onto your PC so you can save it.

Is it safe to assume that reading all data (until EOF) from the FTDI device produces a text file which can later be written to the same device, restoring it to its original state? For example could I make a backup of the logic in my JP1 device without using the IR.exe or RM.exe applications in this way?

Does a plain data download from the FTDI device driver produce a text file that looks like this:

Code: Select all

Name:,Popcorn Hour A-100,,,,v9.10,,,,,,,CURRENT DATA
Devices:,NEC1,4,203,20,,,,,,,,
Manual:,,0 = 1-byte,LSB-COMP,88,NO,,,,,,,
Setup:,1227,24 = URC-881x / 801x / 601x,06 - DVD,EFC,USE,20 DF 2C,1,No,,,,
[...]

Thanks,
Michael

Posted: **Wed Jun 10, 2009 4:30 am**

jilmbig wrote:Does a plain data download from the FTDI device driver produce a text file that looks like this:
Code: Select all
Name:,Popcorn Hour A-100,,,,v9.10,,,,,,,CURRENT DATA
Devices:,NEC1,4,203,20,,,,,,,,
Manual:,,0 = 1-byte,LSB-COMP,88,NO,,,,,,,
Setup:,1227,24 = URC-881x / 801x / 601x,06 - DVD,EFC,USE,20 DF 2C,1,No,,,,
[...]

No... that's a device upgrade created by the KM program that gets loaded into a remote.

Posted: **Wed Jun 10, 2009 5:31 am**

Thanks Mark,

Mark Pierson wrote:
Michael wrote:Does a plain data download from the FTDI device driver produce a text file that looks like this:
Code: Select all
Name:,Popcorn Hour A-100,,,,v9.10,,,,,,,CURRENT DATA [...]
No... that's a device upgrade created by the KM program that gets loaded into a remote.

Any idea how the above data looks when being transferred from IR.exe as it is loading into the remote? Do you have a raw dump of the data stream in text or hex? I'm still trying to determine if JP1 logic is worthless without the existing nonportable software.

Regards,
Michael

Posted: **Wed Jun 10, 2009 6:52 am**

I can't help but think that you're trying to do this the hardest way possible. If the question is simply that you're using an operating system that you think is not supported, we've got some people working on making sure that IR.exe works with every OS that we know of.

Before trying to answer your specific question, here's a little bit of background on what JP1 is all about.

The main thing that we do in the JP1 world is create upgrades for devices that are otherwise unsupported by the remote. We create upgrades using KM and/or RM. The file snippet that you quoted was created by KM.

Then, to load these new upgrades into the remote we use IR.exe. IR's main function is to communicate with the remote (ie, upload and download), but it's also used to organize the data in the remote (ie, program macros, add upgrades, etc).

If, beyond just communicating with the remote, you want to avoid using any of the JP1 tools and write your own, you're looking at a HUGE undertaking.

So, to your question about what the data looks like that gets uploaded into the remote, that's easy, it's the output file from IR.

JP1 Remotes

Sending codes with the command line

Sending codes with the command line