JP1 Remotes

I decided this morning to add another macro to my remote.

Connected it like normal, then noticed I had a broken cable (which im guessing caused my issue).

Every time I try and read or write to the remote I get the "No Remote Found!" error.

I have tried another identical remote and the cable now works fine.

I'm guessing the cable issue led to wiping the remote, none of the buttons do anything on the remote now and new batteries unfortunately dont help (just to illiminate the obvious).

I guess my question is, is there anyway I can reflash the remote to defaults without it being detected? It simply wont respond to any of the tx data sent to it.

Let's start by finding out if the remote can communicate with a computer. Download JP2Sniffer, which can interact with the remote at a much lower level than RMIR. It is a Windows program.

You'll need to tell JP2Sniffer which COM port your cable is on. Then click on the "Low Level" tab. Click Begin Comm. The text box should display:
00 02 51 53 00 02 00 02
Click Get Info. The text box should display:
00 02 50 52 00 06 00 xx xx 4B 80 xx where xx will be some hexadecimal numbers. The text box next to the button Get SigBlk should fill in with 4B80.
If the remote has gotten that far without error, click GetSigBlk.
Finally, click End Comm. This will take the remote out of communication mode. On a functioning remote, this step is necessary to get response to any button presses.
Copy all the text (don't worry about the colors), and paste into this thread.

Thanks for the help. Not a good start im afraid:-

Begin Comm: "operation timed out"
Get Info: "Read operation timed out"

I'm guessing this is far from good news!

00 02 51 53 00 00 02 50 52 00

I think it is unlikely that you have corrupted the firmware. It is probably the user area of the flash that is corrupt, what we (incorrectly) call the E2 or EEPROM area. The problem when that is corrupt is that as soon as you insert the batteries, it tries to read that area and crashes. So no buttons respond and neither does the interface, as it has already crashed.

But communication through the interface doesn't actually rely on anything in the E2 area. The communication has failed as the remote has already crashed before you even connect the cable.

I have found the solution in similar situations to be as follows. Take the batteries out. Connect the remote to the PC with your cable. NOW put the batteries back. It should go into communication mode without ever trying to read the corrupt E2 area.

I like the suggestion. Unfortunately symptoms remain the same...

Graham,
I understand how the recommended procedure can help with e.g. SimpleSet remotes. It's less clear to me why it should work with a JP1.4 remote. IIRC, to put the remote into communication mode, first the Reset line (pin 2 on the 6 pin header) is pulled low, and this causes the S3F80 micro to enter a reset state. Then pin 2 is allowed to return to high, and the micro starts its bootup routine. During the first 100mS or so, I think the micro polls the serial TX and RX lines, looking for the 4 byte command shown in a previous post. If such a command arrives, the micro goes into the communication mode; if it doesn't arrive, the remote goes into ordinary mode, and does things like check the E2 area. But this reset sequence should take place even if batteries are connected.

However, assuming that the procedure works, I suppose that the design of the interface cable matters. Cables which supply +5 or +3.3 volts can typically supply operating voltage to the remote even if it doesn't have batteries. Slattynan, can you describe the USB interface cable you have?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281817469877

One of those if that helps?

Well, that looks like a pretty solid construction, so I'm wondering what you meant by a"broken cable" in your first post?
One way to get this behavior would be for the reset line/pin to become shorted to the ground of the remote. But I have no idea how that might have happened.

I too have a similar issue with my URC-7960 and I'm hoping for some assistance.

I have followed the JP2Sniffer directions given by 3FG and below is the text I got from JP2Sniffer:

00 02 51 53 00 02 00 02 00 02 50 52 00 06 00 01 04 4B 80 C8 00 06 01 4B 80 00 2C E0 00 00 02 52 50 00

3FG wrote:Well, that looks like a pretty solid construction, so I'm wondering what you meant by a"broken cable" in your first post?
One way to get this behavior would be for the reset line/pin to become shorted to the ground of the remote. But I have no idea how that might have happened.

Fair point, although I suspect the USB section of the cable to be the same as mine, however mine has individual pins rather than a single DIL header.

The cable which broke free from its crimp was the white pin 6 cable (sorry couldn't find the pinouts to confirm function despite 5 mins of searching).

It is possible that pin could have shorted to another, but it would be unlikley, which is the pin number it would have had to short against?

slattynan,
JP1 remotes use pin 6 to transmit data to the interface and computer.
Regarding shorting, I didn't mean a transient short. Instead I mean the possibility that the Reset line (pin 2) has become and is still shorted to ground (pin 3). This could for example be a fault on the printed circuit board. It isn't very likely, though.