IR Training

[zaccari]

I'm at the point where I really need IR to finish 2 of the last 3 pieces I need for my home theater. I have a GC100 and I have the GC-IRL for detecting the codes. My question are:

Can someone go through a rough step-by-step of how to do this "properly"?
How do I know if the sequence is "cleaned up" as Dean called it beforeThanks,
Russ...

[zaccari]

Nobody has done any unsupported IR devices?

Russ...

[Dean Roddey]

You cannot use the GC-100 for learning. It's currenty only supported for blasting. The only learner at this time is the UIRT. So generally you will need to either find a clean Pronto file and send me that to convert, or learn things into the Pronto and send me that exported IR model to convert.

[1080iAddict]

If you want my unsolicited opinion, for $50 buy the USB-UIRT and have it ready in your system. I own two so far and soon will buy a third for the bedroom system. You will then be able to train to your hearts content both now and for future systems.

http://www.usbuirt.com/

[zaccari]

You cannot use the GC-100 for learning. It's currenty only supported for blasting. The only learner at this time is the UIRT. So generally you will need to either find a clean Pronto file and send me that to convert, or learn things into the Pronto and send me that exported IR model to convert.
Global Cache sells a widget called the GC-IRL (http://www.globalcache.com/products/ir-index.html). I have one already. Do I need to buy something else for learning? You've mentioned before the concept of "cleaning" files. How do I tell if the file is cleaned? I have no issues learning the stuffs for my Yamaha gear. I also was wondering what to do with the data I learn to make it usable by CQC.

As this and the projector driver are so important in the puzzle, I'll buy the UIRT stuffs if necessary. I just hate to spend $ when I thought I had the IR part "handled".

Russ...

[LesAuber]

Russ,
I don't know anything about the GC stuff. In the case of the UIRT there is a create button in the blaster window in the admin interface. You start the process there. It's pretty self explanatory.

If the GC-IRL outputs in pronto format and you can copy from it's screen you could hand edit your own files in CQC's IRExport form. They're not but text files. This works as long as you remember to change the names as needed and preserve the formating. Just import once you're done. This is very tedious if you're doing much, however, so the cost of a UIRT might maybe be worth it.

Not sure what Dean means by cleaning. Probably extraneous characters and repeats.

[Dean Roddey]

"Clean data" is in regards to finding Pronto files on places like RemoteCentral. They are often very bad and have all kinds of junk in them that makes them pretty usless. But if you find a good one that is just for the single device you are interested in, I can pretty easily convert them to a UIRT IRExport file, and then that's what all the other formats are generated from.

[bryanb]

You can use the GC-IRL to learn IR codes that you can then spit out with CQC, but the GC-IRL does not interface directly with CQC.

Use the GC-IRL and it's learning program to build a text file. Then edit that file to make it look like the GC-100 IRExport files that are in the CQC downloads screen. Then use the CQC Admin Interface to import that IRExport file into CQC. You would also need to load the GC-100 CQC driver.

I have done IRExport files for the DirecTV HR20 HD receiver and an old Sony DVD player. They both work fine from CQC.

[zaccari]

Great. Thanks BryanB.

Dean, do you want IRExport files if we don't have a problem with you putting them on the website?

Russ...

[Dean Roddey]

Sure, yeh, send them to me and I'll post them. I have a backlog now I need to get up there.

[zaccari]

Sure, yeh, send them to me and I'll post them. I have a backlog now I need to get up there.
Can you at least put up the names (here or the website) without links so we don't reinvent the wheel?

Russ...

[Dean Roddey]

They are in the downloads section of the web site.

[zaccari]

Ok, I used my IRL to get some of the codes and I created an IRExport (I'll add more later) but I ran up against a wall. The IR emitter for my DTC6412 is on the first GC100 port and my Yamaha HTR5850 is on the second port. I was assuming that these were "zones" in the local IR driver. The problem is that if I change the HTR to zone 2, the DTC goes with it. Do I need separate drivers? What is the proper way to handle this?

Russ...

[Dean Roddey]

When you set up IR commands, you indicate what zone you want. This is documented in the IR device driver documention page. So you can send any particular command to whatever zone you want.

[zaccari]

I think we're talking different terms here. Since my GC-100 has 4 emitters, how do I send commands out emitter 1 vs. emitter 2?

Russ...

[Dean Roddey]

Each one is a zone. It's documented in the IR device driver documentation page. There's a section that describes how the ports are assigned to zones on the GC-100.

[zaccari]

Very nice. My Receiver is working, my cable box is working and my 777 is working. Last thing is to get the projector cable wrapped up and the driver then the icing will be the lighting control. God it will be nice to have something come together completely!

Russ...

[zaccari]

Ok. I'm trying to do the same thing with the USB-UIRT. I have a Sony LCD tv that I want to control. I have the pronto codes from RemoteCentral (http://www.remotecentral.com/cgi-bin/files/rcfiles.cgi?area=prontong&db=discrete&br=sony&dv=television). Has anyone done this conversion to an IRExport? These are discrete codes so I can't learn them.

Russ...

[Dean Roddey]

If you can't learn them, then send me the pronto file and I'll see if I can convert them. If it's not in a pronto file, you can create an .IRExport by hand. Just start with some othre UIRT .IRExport file and modify it and then import it.

[LesAuber]

Russ,
If you want I can send you an export of my Sony LCD file. I think most of them are the same.

[zaccari]

If you can't learn them, then send me the pronto file and I'll see if I can convert them. If it's not in a pronto file, you can create an .IRExport by hand. Just start with some othre UIRT .IRExport file and modify it and then import it. I tried that. Are the hex codes the same?

The pronto hex codes are:

0000 0067 0000 000d 0060 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0030 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018
0030 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0018 0018 0018 0018 0018 03f6

which I changed to:

<CQCIR:Cmd CQCIR:CmdName='PowerOn'
CQCIR:Data='0000 0067 0000 000d 0060 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0030 0018
0030 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0018 0018
0018 0018 0018 03f6'/>

Russ...

[Dean Roddey]

That loks about correct, syntactically I mean. I assume that the line wrap isn't literally in there, right? Be sure to change the header stuff appropriately for the file.

[sweethip]

quick ? about the USB-UIRT,
this item has to be in view in each room you want to control?
USB'ed back to the CQC PC? to the guys that have a long run, what are you doing about connecting them?cat5-USB balun?

and we dont run girder, we use CQC instead?

thanks

[Dean Roddey]

If you are looking to send IR into multiple rooms, then you'd be better off with the R2DI card, which you can then plug each of its zones into an IR block and send them off to an emitter in each room. That would give you separate control in each room. It won't get you IR receiving in each room, just blasting into each room, separately.

You could of course do some sort of USB over ethernet to get a UIRT into each room from a single, central computer, and have both sending and receiving in each room. But there's not really any support for having multiple UIRTs in a single machine. So I don't think that would work.

[LesAuber]

Russ,
I sent Dean an usb-uirt IRExport file last night for posting which probably has what you're after. Discrete on/off and video 1-7 input primarily. I think most of the Sony codes are pretty generic.

[auphan2]

Dean

Do you think that you are going to add the zone capability to the usb-uirt. I think this could help people(or maybe just me :-) )who have racks with multiple cable boxes, dvr's etc.

[Dean Roddey]

At some point yeh, that needs to be done. Not sure when it will get done though.

[zaccari]

Russ,
I sent Dean an usb-uirt IRExport file last night for posting which probably has what you're after. Discrete on/off and video 1-7 input primarily. I think most of the Sony codes are pretty generic.
Which device is it? I'm assuming it's working for you now. I'd like to have something that I know works somewhere else to be sure things are working here.

Russ...

[LesAuber]

Sony KDL-V32XBR1 LCD TV.

I believe the Sony commands are pretty generic among a given Sony product type. More a question whether the command is supported or not. On things other then discretes it's a simple matter to relearn if it doesn't work. All I can say is this file works with my set.

[zaccari]

Interestingly enough, I only want the discretes. I want Power On/Off and Video selects. I'll add more later when I get a touchscreen in the bedroom but for now, the remote will handle the rest.

Can I get that file? Dean? Les?

Russ...

[LesAuber]

Just PM me with an email. Remember you don't have to use all that's in the file in a template. If you don't need it just ignore it. The other stuff will be there for later.