RMC definitions for AV-AMP devices

[pep]

Hello list,
I have a Clie T675 and I would like to use the remote command application with my home cinema A/V Amplifier (by the way it's a Sony).

The remote command application that came with my clie only has the definitions for TVs, DVDs and VCRs. However I saw some screenshots on the web where people had a "AV-AMP" category in the remote commander application menu. How can I get the definitions for the AV-AMP devices? Are you capable to command a home cinemas and stereos AV-AMP?

My CLIE came with a CD with the software, inside, there is a directory RMC that contains the following files: DVDref.prc, VCRdef.prc, VCRdef_de.prc and VCRdef_fr.prc. But no AV-AMP definitions at all.

Perhaps someone could send me a copy of the file AVAMPref.prc or similar to install the AV-AMP category?

Thanks.

[DIGITALgimpus]

AFAIK, there is none

[cehaney]

If you search on this site for remote, you will find several postings regarding remotes. One particular thread, "How many different devices can clieremote control?", has a member referring to the rmcenhancer group on yahoo. It's stated that the group has a website with additional definition files.

[pep]

That's good!
Thanks.

[Mr.B]

Umm... My 615c has a AV-AMP catogory, and that came with it!

[DIGITALgimpus]

Originally posted by Mr.B
Umm... My 615c has a AV-AMP catogory, and that came with it!

And look how few devices it supports

[Frostie]

I'm tempted to go with the OmniRemote software and teach it myself. It's definitely less pretty but I just found my Kenwood cd changer remote so I can teach it all the stuff I need for my 6 remotes in one place.

[JasonO]

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RMCEnhancer

It's expanding. Two satellite receiver definitions have just been added (Sony and Hughes).

[DIGITALgimpus]

Would love to see my Panasonic Stereo supported... the remote is setup button wise to work rather welll with it... Just no support for it.

[JasonO]

If you're willing to spend some effort doing the research, I can help you add it to RMC.

[DIGITALgimpus]

Originally posted by JasonO
If you're willing to spend some effort doing the research, I can help you add it to RMC.

i'm listening :cool:

[JasonO]

Ok. First, tell me what screen definition you think is the best buttonwise for your stereo (TV, VCR, AMP, or DVD?). This will help determine where to put the definition in later.

Stage one is to determine the protocol. I have a spreadsheet on the RMCEnhancer group in the files section (research) called devices.xls. This spreadsheet shows protocols and devices that JP1 type remotes work with. Scanning down through the list, it shows Panasonic uses the NEC1, Panasonic, Panasonic (old), Panasonic2, RCA and Zenith protocols in addition to some others that were undefined. The NEC1, Panasonic, RC, and Panasonic (old) protocols are built into RMC. So if it ends up being any of those, you're in luck. Side note: The technics receiver uses the same device number and protocol as one of the panasonics. Try the technics AV/AMP definitions and see if you get any response from your stereo (even if doesn't do the right thing). A positive response solves the protocol and device number issue immediately. If it doesn't, then proceed as follows:

Obtain Omniremote. Omniremote by neotek is a learning remote. You can download it from their website (a demo version). Delete all of the buttons from the omniremote screen (all of them on every category). Then create one button on the screen. Go into preferences and set the IR frequency to whatever omniremote suggests for your specific remote. Now train that button. Train it to something non-repeating on your remote, like a "5" or a "Play". When you are finished, hotsync back to your computer. There will be a file named Omniremote.pdb. Get to that point, and then I'll continue.

[DIGITALgimpus]

Attached the omniremote.pdb file containing a replica of the remote, that works good.

Possible to adapt as much of it as possible to the Sony remote? I know not every button will, but most are better than none.

[DIGITALgimpus]

Do moderators have to approve attachments first?

[JasonO]

Robert,

I've PM'd you with my e-mail address. Just drop the attachment in there.

Which remote style screen best fits (AVAMP, TV, DVD or VCR?)

What is the remote model number? It may be printed on the remote, or behind the batteries. This is not the Stereo model number. Quite often the same remote can be used to control multiple stereo models.

It's getting late in the day. I'm off the net until Monday. I'll instruct you further then. In the meantime, please read up on IR:

http://cgl.bu.edu/GC/shammi/ir/

http://sbprojects.fol.nl/knowledge/ir/ir.htm

Also, what IR frequency did you use to train Omniremote for your CD?

[DIGITALgimpus]

Either TV or DVD seem to accomidate most of the buttons.

the remote model number is ur64ec1987 S7

seems to be set to 39.2 as far as IR requency goes.


thanks!

[Ayamd1]

Hi there Pep!

If you still need that AmpDef file for Clie remote, I can send it to you via an email attachment.

Just send me your email address to ayamd1@hotmail.com

stay cool, dude:cool:

[JasonO]

Robert,

Ok, time to get cracking again. Recheck the IR frequency. I don't mean check which one it was learned under. Go into training settings and beam a code from your stereo remote.

This is what I did over the weekend (oh yeah, I've got great weekends): Deleted most of the buttons in the definitions you sent me (it makes it much easier to deal with just a few). Then I used RsrcEdit to view the records in the Omniremote database. You can use a variety of different programs for viewing the hex values of records in databases. One such program is called PDB and it will unload the database into a text file. Another one is RsrcEdit, and another is Examinator. All found on palmgear.

There are two principle sizes of records in the database you sent me. The small ones (around 80 bytes) are style identifier records. These wouldn't exist if you empty out all of the buttons and just create the one.

The other ones are 200 bytes or more. These are the button records. Examining them, the 9th byte into the record is the start of the name of the button. So I found the "1", "2", and "3" records to decode. I chose these buttons because they are not repeating buttons (like volume, or channel change).

Starting with "1". Scanning down through to find a large set of zeroes. You'll find some at about position 88. Skipping the zeroes, we see the second transmission of the button (you'll find the first transmission just before, but this will help you identify it). It starts with (in hex):

01 FF FF FF F0 00 78 F0 07 C7 9F 3E 78 F1 E3 C7 8F 1E 3C 00 F1 E3 C7 9F 3E 7C F8 03 C7 80 1E 3C 78 01 E0 07 80 1E 7C F9 F3 C7 8F 1E 00 78 F1 E3 C7 8F 00 3C 01 F3 E0 0F 1E 00 78 00 00 00 00
And the zeroes repeat from there until we get to the third transmission.
Convert it to binary. Do it one nibble at a time and put all of the digits together. Here's a table in case you don't already know how to do this:
0=0000......8=1000
1=0001......9=1001
2=0010.....A=1010
3=0011.....B=1011
4=0100.....C=1100
5=0101.....D=1101
6=0110.....E=1110
7=0111.....F=1111

Now, to demonstrate, I'll take the first piece:
01 FF FF FF F0 00 78 F0 07 becomes
0000 0001 1111 1111 1111 1111 1111 0000 0111 1000 1111 0000 0000 0111

remove all of the spaces
00000001111111111111111111110000011110001111000000000111

Ok, what you are looking at is a sampling of whether the light was on, or off. 0 = off, 1 = on.

Ignore the leading zeroes. The first pulse of 1's and the next pulse of 0's is usually an "attention" signal and the pulse of 1's is usually very long in comparison to the others. Now, looking at the remaining that I translated:

11110001111000000000111

Notice the length of the 1's are always about the same (within one occurance) but the length of the zeroes is either about 3 or about 9 (again, give or take 1). Because of this, we can assume that the length of the zeroes indicates a 0 or a 1.
1111000 = 0
1111000000000 = 1
So now finish the whole thing. It is:
010000000000010000000101001110000000100000110101
That's 48 bits.

In the RMC Enhancer group file research section, there is a comparison matrix.xls that shows different protocols. Panasonic is the only 48 bit protocol, and it seems to match everything except the frequency (thus why I want you to check the "best" frequency again). According to the spreadsheet, the panasonic is 2:8, 32:8, D:8, S:8, F:8, C:8

keep in mind that you decoded the signal from left to right at the remote translated it. But it is stored from right to left.

2:8 means "01000000" (in 8 bits, the #2 is represented)
32:8 means "00000100" (in 8 bits, the #32 is represented)
D:8 means the next 8 bits represent the device #.
S:8 means the next 8 bits represent the subdevice #.
F:8 means the next 8 bits represent the function code.
C:8 means the next 8 bits represents a checksum.

Ok, The Panasonic protocol is #4. Looking at other tables that use "#4" protocol in RMC Enhancer, you can see that 8194 is always the device number, and the subdevice # changes. The 8194 (0x2002) appears to be the first 16 bits of the stream, then the subdevice # (as defined by RMC) is the next 16.
0100000000000100 0000010100111000
That matches what we're seeing. The "0100000000000100" is 8194 (1*0 + 2*1 + 4*0 + 8*0 + 16*0 + 32*0 + 64*0 + 128*0 + 256*0 + 512*0 + 1024*0 + 2048*0 + 4096*0 + 8192*1 + 16384*0 + 32768*0). That leaves 0000010100111000 as the device number, which is 32+128+1024+2048+4096 = 7328.

Next is the function code.
00001000
function code = 16.

Then the checksum. We don't need to worry about the checksum because RMC calculates this in the panasonic protocol.


So let me save you some time. In the TV Definition file, table #16 is for the panasonic and has the device # as 8194, and the subdevice # as 8. Button "1" has the function code as 16. Change the subdevice # to 7328. Save and put that PRC file into your palm. Then try out that table (panasonic type 2) and see if anything responds. If it does, then we can proceed to the next step: Skin design.

There is bound to be something there you didn't understand because it's very complicated. Ask me questions and I'll try to help you through each step in the process of understanding. You'll need to know how to do it because the TV definition doesn't have all of the function codes you need, and you'll need to decode the additional ones you do want from your omniremote database.

Yeah, it's not easy, nor fun (well, ok, it's fun for me but I'm weird). All I can do is impart what I know and hope some other people catch on and can build additional definitions.