JP1 Remotes

I recently bought a RCA RCRP05B Universal Remote Control and received a JP1.2/1.3 (FLASH) Serial Cable for Universal Remotes from Diygadgets today.

When I plug the cable into J3 the remote quits working meaning when I push a button nothing lights up and no IR comes out. Even after I remove the cable it still behaves the same. The only way to get the remote to work again is to remove the cable and remove and re-install the batteries.

The TROUBLESHOOTING A SERIAL JP1.2/3 INTERFACE.pdf says it should be fully operational with and without cable. It also fails the test program when plugged into my laptop.

What am I doing wrong? What should I try next?

Any help would be much appreciated.

It's possible that you got a JP1.1/2 cable by mistake. The only difference between the JP1.1/2 and the JP1.2/3 serial cables is that the wire to pin5 has been cut (very close to the IDC plug) on the JP1.2/3 cables.

If the wire to pin5 has NOT been cut, that could explain your symptoms.

Even with Tommy's JP1.2/3 USB cable this remote behaves oddly when plugged into the cable.

Neither the Channel keys, nor the Volume keys will operate when plugged in to the interface, they either reset my remote or don't work at all.

The remote finally just quit working. Nothing I did made the LED light up. So I returned it for another one. This one seems to work and after I install the cable I get the following when I ran JP1xTEST.BAT:
**** FOUND A JP1.x COMPATIBLE REMOTE ON COM1! ****
Signature is 31793179
Memory address is $0600
Memory size is $1400 (5120)

But it doesn't seem to run in IR.EXE. The about screen for IR.EXE says:
---------------------------
Information
---------------------------
Remote Control Programmer
Version 8.03

Learned Signal Decoder: DecodeIR (Version: 2.41)

ExchangeIR Version: 0.08

JP12Serial Driver Version: 0.16

Copyright © 2001-2010 Mark Pauker
Some parts Copyright © 2010 Dave Reed
Some parts Copyright © 2009-2010 Graham Dixon
Some parts Copyright © 2008 binky123
Some parts Copyright © 2006 Alain Berguerand
Some parts Copyright © 2000 John Fine
Some parts Copyright © 1998 Graham Wideman
Icon designed by Scott Robuck

Special thanks to Rob Crowe for doing all the real work.
---------------------------
OK
---------------------------

When I select Interface -> Check Interface... it complains with

---------------------------
ir
---------------------------
Failed to open JP1.x interface.
---------------------------
OK
---------------------------

And when I select Interface -> Driver Status... The following alert pops up:

---------------------------
Information
---------------------------
Serial/Parallel Error:
Problem with NT port driver:
StartDriver: Unable to start service.
The system cannot find the path specified. Please make sure you have Admin rights.

Delcom USB Error:
Unable to find Delcom device driver.


---------------------------
OK
---------------------------

Is there a special driver that needs to be installed? How do I set paths?

Thank you for your help!!
[/i]

I'm experiencing similar error messages with the same remote. I have a JP1.2/3 cable from Tommy Taylor. Like you, I read the troubleshooting PDF and I get the reset signal. However, that's as far as I can get. Have you had luck with IR? If so, did you adjust any settings?

Choven

Hi Choven1218,

My issues seemed to be related to manufacturing quality of the remote. I returned the first one for a new one. Things started to work better but were still intermittent. I found that pushing the connector on to JP1 caused some of the pins of the connector to push through the circuit board. When I opened up the case of the the remote I found the connector pins were not very well soldered to the backside of the circuit board. I adjusted the pins and re-soldered the connector. Since then everything seems to work just fine.

BTW I still see the same error when I check driver status. I think that's a red herring.

Ron

Thanks Ron. I think that you are correct. Since reading your post, I tried to wiggle the connector different ways while testing the connection. It seems like I have to apply some pressure in a specific direction to connect a connection between the computer and remote. You mentioned that the pins are not soldered to the board very well. Is there a trick to opening the remote? And did resoldering the pins improve the connection?

I was able to download the remote info in IR, so I'm not going to bother with the driver error. Now I have to boot up my antique 800 MHz PC and transfer all of my old device files to my current computer.

Thanks for the quick response...

Choven

I have found that this remote in particular will not work with the cable plugged in. I can download and upload, but nothing works until I unplug the cable

I used brute force and pried it open. It left marks. After I re-soldered the pins, it works fine with and without the cable plugged in. I bought my cable from DIYGADGET.COM.

Ron