B & K CT driver ready for beta testing [Archive]

rm1759

03-08-2007, 04:22 AM

I am not sure if anyone else has this device. Zaccari and I have been testing it to this point, and it is ready for general use.

Attached is the HTML description and driver pack. Please post here if you have this device and would like to test the driver.

The driver will query your unit to determine how many logical zones are configured, and create the appropriate fields for the zones. See the HTML description for a more in-depth explanation of the B&K CT series approach to zones.

This driver was compiled against the 2.0.14 version.

The latest version is .73. With this version, I have added support for IP control if you have an HD-6 coupled with your CT unit. There is one problem with the IP version. all units tested so far do not seem to shut down their socket correctly. If you use the IP driver, and remove it, you will need to do a hard reset on the unit before reconnecting the driver.

Dean Roddey

03-08-2007, 09:38 AM

Be sure to set the model name in the manifest to something with a -User type of suffix, so that when it's time to put out the real one that it won't conflict. And put 'User' in the description somewhere as well, so that it's obvious which is which.

rm1759

03-08-2007, 11:10 AM

Just to make sure I understand what you want, you want me to add my username to the end of the displayname and description lines in the manifest, so the following two lines:

CQCCfg:DisplayName="B and K CT Driver"
CQCCfg:Model="CT-300/600/602/610"

Become this:
CQCCfg:DisplayName="B and K CT Driver-RM1759"
CQCCfg:Model="CT-300/600/602/610-RM1759"

is that right?

zaccari

03-08-2007, 11:11 AM

he actually meant -user but anything unique will work :)

Russ...

Dean Roddey

03-08-2007, 11:47 AM

Yeh, just make it something like:

B and K CT Driver (User)
CT-300/600/602/610-User

Also, on the model name, you might want to change the model to CT-XXX or something like that, instead of just having a long enumeration of the models. The reason being that, if there are no other models, then the above is shorter and is good enough. If there are, or might be, then if you add another model to the driver, you cannot change the model name because you'll invalidate everyone's currently installed copy of it.

So, if there's a reasonable way to use some sort of generic name, that would probably be better.

zaccari

03-08-2007, 11:51 AM

CT-3xx/CT-6xx would probably work but there really are two products in this "series". The caveat to this is that the protocol should span all their products so the driver *could* be expanded to anything they have. Should there be a single driver the two product lines or should there be one for the whole family which would grow as folks added?

Russ...

rm1759

03-08-2007, 12:02 PM

Well, I just changed it to CT-XXX, HD-6 (User) as Dean had mentioned. (before I saw your post!)

It should handle the 300 series just fine, although I would prefer if there was someone who could test it on those versions.

I also changed the version number down to a .6, as it's still a beta, and I remembered when Dean asked for the library path to be changed so that all B&K products could live near each other, so now the lib path is:

MEng.User.CQC.Drivers.BnK.CT.DriverImpl

Hopefully that will work for Dean.

Let me know if there are any other changes I need to make.

Dean Roddey

03-08-2007, 02:17 PM

That sounds reasonable.

zaccari

03-10-2007, 11:59 AM

Ok, I figured out the bug that's been driving me crazy. When I select source by number it is translating improperly. Here's what I mean. On my CT610, I have the following inputs selected:

1 - Cab1
2 - Cab2
3 - DVD
4 - IN 4
5 - IN 5
6 - IN 6
7 - IN 7
8 - IN 8
9 - IN 9

When I change ZoneBSourceNum to 3, I get ZoneBSource set to Cab1, ZoneBAudioIn set to DVD and ZoneBVideoIn to DVD. When I set ZoneBSourceNum to 5, I get ZoneBSource set to DVD, ZoneBAudioIn set to IN 5 and ZoneBVideoIn to IN 5. Now, my expectations is that setting source to 1 should be Radio1, 2 should be Radio2, 3 should be Cab1, 4 should be Cab2, 5 should be DVD. Additionally, please update the return of these fields to trim whitespace so they're "Cab1", not "Cab1 " and "DVD" instead of "DVD ".

Russ...

zaccari

03-10-2007, 12:21 PM

Additionally, I'm watching/listening to Cab1 (input 1) but the Input1VideoDetect is False, same with Input3VideoDetect. The AudioDetect flags appear to be working.

Russ...

zaccari

03-10-2007, 09:25 PM

rm1759

03-12-2007, 05:25 AM

rm1759

03-12-2007, 05:28 AM

There appears to be a mapping problem with the AudioDetect fields. Input1 has been acting appropriately. Input2 shows up when I turn on the 777 (should be input 3). I also was wondering if this is a polled update or if the CT sends a message because it took a good while to come on and go off (when I turned it off).

I'm done testing for tonight.

Oh, one more thing. This happened when I was putting everything away for the night. The Input1 AudioDetect went off when I turned off the 777. Now I have no True indicators. Odd.

Russ...

That is a polled update. I do not get notification when the A/V detect fields change. The polling happens pretty slowly, because of the asynchronous nature of the unit. I can turn up polling of certain areas pretty easily. This setting is a "system" setting, so I can increase the frequency of polling those settings, and that would probably make sense. What frequency do you want to see changes for this?

zaccari

03-13-2007, 06:40 AM

The unit handles the input #'s a little differently than you would expect. The first 3 inputs (0,1,2) are AM, FM, and the dedicated zone inputs. The inputs labeled on the unit (In1, In2, etc) start at 3. I will check to be sure this is in the documentation.

The video detect flag I will need to look into. I had actually seen that flag was not set on my setup but I thought that was more of a function of my setup with the HD-6.

Are you using the audio/video detect flags?
I understand the difference in the SourceNums. It isn't consistent. In the following example, I set Zone0SourceNum to 5 (that would be input3 which is DVD). The ZoneXVideoIn is not properly offsetting.

http://www.zaccari.net/russ/private/sourcenum1.jpg

I believe the second bug I talked about is exactly the same. First, if I set ZoneXSource to DVD (without filling it with spaces to 5 chars) I get no change. In the example below, I changed the Zone0Source to Cab1 (with a space). ZoneXAudioIn changed appropriately, ZoneXVideoIn changed to Input5 instead of Input3.

http://www.zaccari.net/russ/private/sourcenum2.jpg

As to the polling, I have NEVER seen the VideoDetect show up. Additionally, I think I'd like to see a quick lookup of the Audio/Video detects any time that source is selected. I think every 2 minutes should work for polling though.

Russ...

Squintz

03-13-2007, 08:03 AM

Very cool, glad to see you got something working for you.

zaccari

03-13-2007, 08:16 AM

The sad part is that I believe I'll end up selling it once I get a HD solution in place. Before I bought another HD tv, it really fit what I wanted to do. Things change though.

Russ...

rm1759

03-14-2007, 04:24 AM

I understand the difference in the SourceNums. It isn't consistent. In the following example, I set Zone0SourceNum to 5 (that would be input3 which is DVD). The ZoneXVideoIn is not properly offsetting.

As to the polling, I have NEVER seen the VideoDetect show up. Additionally, I think I'd like to see a quick lookup of the Audio/Video detects any time that source is selected. I think every 2 minutes should work for polling though.

Russ...

Ok, I think I know what the problem is with the video sources. Video sources are not available for AM and FM, so I will bet the offset with the video in starts at 1. (0 for the zone dedicated in, 1 for input 1, etc). You would think that when you set the source for the zone, it would set both the audio input and video input appropriately. I will look into this when I have some time.

And just to confirm what you want with the audio/video detect, when a source is changed to an input, you want me to do a refresh of the A/V input states? (the data is a bitmap on the unit, so when I refresh 1 I will just refresh all of them).

The video detect I will also look into, there might be some kind of conversion error with that.

zaccari

03-14-2007, 07:08 AM

Ok, I think I know what the problem is with the video sources. Video sources are not available for AM and FM, so I will bet the offset with the video in starts at 1. (0 for the zone dedicated in, 1 for input 1, etc). You would think that when you set the source for the zone, it would set both the audio input and video input appropriately. I will look into this when I have some time.
It would be nice if you could fix it so I could set the source to |DVD| instead of |DVD |.

And just to confirm what you want with the audio/video detect, when a source is changed to an input, you want me to do a refresh of the A/V input states? (the data is a bitmap on the unit, so when I refresh 1 I will just refresh all of them).
How hard would it be to refresh everytime any command is sent to the device including a poll?

Thanks,
Russ...

rm1759

03-14-2007, 11:31 AM

It would be nice if you could fix it so I could set the source to |DVD| instead of |DVD |.

Not hard at all, I just don't have access to my machine at home, and the wife is sick, so I am responsible for the little 1759's. Edit, just one more thing, is it configured in the BKcSuite with the trailing spaces as the source name? I am also using inputs with 3 and 4 characters, and I don't have a problem setting them.. I will still change it to pad/strip as necessary...

How hard would it be to refresh everytime any command is sent to the device including a poll?

Thanks,
Russ...

Not too difficult, but also not as easy as you might think. Do you want every field refreshed every time a field is changed, just the zone settings for the particular zone, or the system settings?

zaccari

03-14-2007, 12:02 PM

Nah, it can't be me padding it in config. They're different length inputs so I find that difficult.

As to the refresh, I was talking the flags at a minimum. You'll have to be the judge as to what's best.

Take your time. We're fighting flu here ourselves. Unfortunately, I have sick little ones at home when I really need to be at work.

Russ...

zaccari

03-14-2007, 03:06 PM

One more thing. I had to restart my master server, which runs the CT driver. When it came back up, it turned off every zone. Is that required? It would seem better to query the current status and leave it alone.

Russ...

rm1759

03-15-2007, 04:22 AM

rm1759

03-15-2007, 09:04 AM

Ok, I have posted a new build. Version .61. This version has a couple of things:

I am trimming the spaces on sources now when I match them up with the source list.

The Video input setting, this is kind of a bugger, I double checked the documentation, and sure enough, when you change the value of the Zone Source, it is supposed to automatically change the zone Audio and Video in fields. This does not appear to be happening, so now when the source is set (by the name, not by the index field - SourceNum) I will also set the AudioIn and Video In zones.

I could not reproduce the problem with the video in settings, and I am still trying to figure out what is wrong with this. In fact, I am curious, with this build if it continues setting the Video In to a setting that is off by 2. If so, then there must be a difference between the two versions (my 600, and your 610) so I will need to test for that first.

zaccari

04-02-2007, 09:36 PM

Have you been playing with your CT6xx lately? I had the darn thing go into sleep mode this evening. It wasn't obvious that this was why I couldn't get any video out of it. Is there a way to tell from a driver field that it is in sleep and wake the thing up?

Russ...

rm1759

04-11-2007, 04:50 AM

I have been using mine pretty flawlessly for the last several weeks. I have not had any issues with the CT600 going into sleep mode (I am still having video issues with the HD-6, but I have determined this is not related to the driver, it is a problem with the hd-6). I was not even aware there was a sleep mode. did the unit respond to any commands? was the audio switching?

Sorry I haven't been on as much, I am in the middle of building my theater (right now I am stuck in drywall/mud world).

zaccari

04-11-2007, 06:17 AM

nothing was switching that I could tell. I'm having problems where the video is still switching to different offsets than the audio (because of the tuners). When I change the selections, it automagically changes the video select to a later selection. What a pain!

Russ...

joebobcooter

04-26-2007, 09:58 PM

Just purchased a 602. Will be testing, but am an absolute newbie WRT CQC.

IVB

04-26-2007, 10:00 PM

Just purchased a 602. Will be testing, but am an absolute newbie WRT CQC.

If available, you should try to attend either this Saturday's CQC webex or next Friday night's "Intro to HA" webinar - you'll get a feeling for what's possible, how to do it.

joebobcooter

04-27-2007, 01:04 PM

Thanks.

Has anyone seen a situation where the "Interrogation of Device" takes forever?

I used the B&K Hardware Quick tools, and get valid responses from the interface; also did a Reset Unit, and watched the output from Zone A, and it worked.

Any thoughts?

zaccari

04-28-2007, 07:39 AM

Hmm, the 602 has the same resources as my 610. I can't imagine what the problem might be.

Russ...

rm1759

04-30-2007, 04:13 AM

I have to say that the B&K hardware quick tools software is kind of flaky. Especially with my config where I have it coupled with the HD-6.

Sometimes the tools see the units as an HD-6, and sometimes it sees it as the CT-600.

And yes, I would say one time out of 3, I get stuck on the "interrogating device" screen, and it just sits there. Normally, I just wait for a while, and try again, the unit seems to self-recover from the issue.

I want to address the two known issues with the driver now. There is an issue with units that have 2 tuners and switching. I can query the number of tuners, but I do not know what the sequence is for the sources. Russ, I am pretty sure I put a field in the driver that shows a list of all of the inputs, I am not sure if that field reflects the multiple tuners, but I think it might. on mine the inputs read:

FM, AM, Dedicated, HTPC1 (Input1), HTPC2 (Input2) etc

can you tell me what the value of this field is for you?

What I was thinking is using an offset for the inputs, so if I query the device and it has 2 tuners, then I will offset the source selection accordingly, I just do not know how they show up (FM1, FM2, AM1, AM2, Dedicated, In1?)

I think the next problem is with the Audio/Video detect? It might be a similar thing with the tuner issue, so once I get the source selection resolved, I will look at that...

rm1759

04-30-2007, 04:20 AM

Oh, and one more thing, the last build had the fix for the source names and stripping off any spaces, did that work for source selection on your unit?

zaccari

04-30-2007, 07:18 AM

joebobcooter

04-30-2007, 08:50 AM

This is like in college when the math got *really* hard, and the questions got real esoteric. That's where I am at.

I will hopefully be up-to-speed soon, but right now, I had the whole family gather round as I paused the Sony 777 from the computer. I will be happy to provide testing on my 602, but, realize most of my issues right now are being on the other end of the learning curve for the whole system.

I am satisfied that I am talking with the B&K and also with my Sony Changer. I think the software from B&K is the issue, honestly.

JBC

rm1759

04-30-2007, 09:17 AM

yeah, like I said, the BKcSuite software is a little flaky.

The good news is that once you get it set up, you won't need to use that software anymore. You can just use the driver and CQC to do all of your day-to-day stuff. Use the BKcSuite to configure your zones and inputs. The rest you can do with the driver, and it's alot more reliable (even though i'm still testing it)

zaccari

04-30-2007, 09:35 AM

I can assure you that many of us came from the same place you're talking about. I got through it by creating what I'd call a functionality screen for each device. I have an overlay for the CT610 that you can have. It basically shows the settings of each zone along with a/v indicators etc. I can then test the functionality of each of the drivers and see what my interfaces are doing as I move along. What it doesn't have is the individual Zone#Source, ZOne#SourceNum, Zone#AudioIn and Zone#VideoIn but I use the Admin Interface if I need information that specific.

As for the BKSuite, I only used it to change the labels on Zones and Inputs. The rest just didn't work well enough for me to do anything worthwhile.

Russ...

joebobcooter

04-30-2007, 07:58 PM

I am on the road, but thank you very much for posting this. I will check it out later this week.

Thanks again.

rm1759

05-01-2007, 10:38 AM

actually, the spaces bit is a mess. If you look at your input list for example, there's "FM, AM, Dedicated, Cab1 , Cab2 , DVD , IN 4, IN 5, ... I'm not able to select inputs with "Cab1" as the value will change back.
The problems I'm aware of are as follows:

You can't select by number (the offsets of video and audio do not match because of the AM/FM tuners
You can't select using Zone#Source again because of offsets
The audio and video indicators don't work. I've never had anything but Input1AudioDetect come on Russ...

hmm, this is defintely strange.

When you select a source by name, I loop through the configured sources which I read from the device. when I get a match, I set it to that input #. I wonder if this is all related to the same thing.

So, your input list has: "FM, AM, Dedicated, Cab1 , Cab2 , DVD , IN 4, IN 5,..." as the values? I wonder how you are supposed to select between the two tuners?

zaccari

05-01-2007, 11:01 AM

So, your input list has: "FM, AM, Dedicated, Cab1 , Cab2 , DVD , IN 4, IN 5,..." as the values? I wonder how you are supposed to select between the two tuners? Do you think they mean AM & FM each as a tuner?

Also, note the spacing in the list. IN 4 has a space BEFORE, Cab1 after, etc. The problem with setting by name was probably broken when you stripped spaces. Also, before, the offset of video would screw that up so you'd get audio right and video off +2.

Russ...

rm1759

05-01-2007, 12:33 PM

Do you think they mean AM & FM each as a tuner?

Also, note the spacing in the list. IN 4 has a space BEFORE, Cab1 after, etc. The problem with setting by name was probably broken when you stripped spaces. Also, before, the offset of video would screw that up so you'd get audio right and video off +2.

Russ...

Well, the spaces shouldn't matter. what I do is trim any trailing whitespace from the name, loop through all of the inputs from the device, and if the names matched (the inputs I already trimmed the spaces off the end). I do not believe I trim any preceding spaces, so maybe that is the issue. Once I find the match, I set the source by the source number by the index in the array (0 = AM, 1=FM, 2 = Dedicated, 3 = In1 etc) so, it should work irregardless of how many tuners you have...

As for the tuners, I was wondering how you selected different tuners. I can select from inputs numbered 0 - 11. (AM = 0, FM = 1, Dedicated = 2, in1=3....In9=11). I assumed that if you had 2 tuners, you could select either tuner 1 or tuner 2, so you would have 2 AM and 2 FM tuners to pick from...

Crabber

05-09-2007, 03:31 PM

Hello, I have the BK600 and BK HD6, as well as the BK50 for the theater. I would be happy to help test anyway I can, that is the good news. The bad news is I have just started looking at CQC. I am fairly familiar with the BKSuite and have good luck with it. I use Presets etc. to watch one source while listning to another.

I have also found BK customer support to be excellent.

Let me know if I can help in anyway.

Crabber

rm1759

05-11-2007, 07:34 AM

Let me know if I can help in anyway.

Crabber

This would be great! It would be good to see another install with the HD-6.

Zaccari is having problems getting the driver to switch properly. He has the 610, so it would be great if you could also install the driver, and we can confirm that the issue is between the two versions of the units (his has 2 tuners).

Additionally, I am having problems with video switching on the HD-6, although it has nothing to do with the driver. Whenever I switch sources from a keypad, I have to first power down the hd-6, and then power it back up. I did not have the problem at first, and I think this may be related to a flash update I did on the unit. Have you flashed your HD-6? how long have you had the units?

Crabber

05-12-2007, 09:36 AM

I have had my 600 for approx 2 years and my HD6 for 6 months or so. I have not flashed my units, can I ask why you did? Mine switches fine.

I have had to turn off and unplug the units from time to time. It is usually after a power outage or something odd like that.

Could you have IR feedback? An IR loop that blocks the signal or something?

I have a short hand made cable between the 600 and the top port "CT RS-232 Link" on the HD 6. That is my only control connection to the HD6. (I am all IR right now) I tried a nicer looking store bought cable and couldn't get the video to switch, not sure if it was a bad cable or what. But you may want to try a different cable? I wonder if cables that have the nice rubber boots on the end interfer with proper connection on the BK.

Crabber

05-12-2007, 09:37 AM

It may be a few weeks till I can install the driver, but I will do as soon as I can.

Crabber

05-12-2007, 09:47 AM

want to address the two known issues with the driver now. There is an issue with units that have 2 tuners and switching. I can query the number of tuners, but I do not know what the sequence is for the sources. Russ, I am pretty sure I put a field in the driver that shows a list of all of the inputs, I am not sure if that field reflects the multiple tuners, but I think it might. on mine the inputs read:

FM, AM, Dedicated, HTPC1 (Input1), HTPC2 (Input2) etc

can you tell me what the value of this field is for you?

What I was thinking is using an offset for the inputs, so if I query the device and it has 2 tuners, then I will offset the source selection accordingly, I just do not know how they show up (FM1, FM2, AM1, AM2, Dedicated, In1?)

I think the next problem is with the Audio/Video detect? It might be a similar thing with the tuner issue, so once I get the source selection resolved, I will look at that...

This is over my head at this time, but in trying to learn about this issue I found the following document that ~seems~ to address this issue on page 6 (appendix A).
http://www.bkcomp.com/pdf/hd6_bkdip_2000.pdf

Forgive me if I am off track.

Crabber

zaccari

05-12-2007, 09:54 AM

This is over my head at this time, but in trying to learn about this issue I found the following document that ~seems~ to address this issue on page 6 (appendix A).
http://www.bkcomp.com/pdf/hd6_bkdip_2000.pdf

Forgive me if I am off track.

Crabber
Once you install CQC and connect the CT to the machine you're having the driver on, we'll walk you through what that means. The Admin Interface allows you access to all of the fields. One of them contains all of the enumerated devices that the CT told it about (as configured by BKSuite).

Russ...

rm1759

05-14-2007, 05:00 AM

This is over my head at this time, but in trying to learn about this issue I found the following document that ~seems~ to address this issue on page 6 (appendix A).
http://www.bkcomp.com/pdf/hd6_bkdip_2000.pdf

Forgive me if I am off track.

Crabber

Thanks for the help! Unfortunately, I am intimitely familiar with that document. One thing I have been impressed with is the level of documentation they give for the protocol. It's not always accurate, but it is still much better to have the documentation.

The problem isn't necessarily with the protocol. When the HD-6 and CT are interconnected, they appear as 1 device. You connect the CT to the HD (as mentioned above) and then the HD to the PC (serial -> RJ45). I flashed the unit because I was having trouble while developing the driver. Turns out I was sticking extra characters on the end of the commands (had to use a sniffer to figure that one out) and it was causing the units to occasionally overflow. That is fixed now, but ever since I flashed it, I have had this video problem. There is an updated flash file out there, and once I get a chance I am going to apply that...

Bugman

05-14-2007, 11:42 AM

The problem isn't necessarily with the protocol. When the HD-6 and CT are interconnected, they appear as 1 device. You connect the CT to the HD (as mentioned above) and then the HD to the PC (serial -> RJ45). I flashed the unit because I was having trouble while developing the driver. Turns out I was sticking extra characters on the end of the commands (had to use a sniffer to figure that one out) and it was causing the units to occasionally overflow. That is fixed now, but ever since I flashed it, I have had this video problem. There is an updated flash file out there, and once I get a chance I am going to apply that...[/QUOTE]

Based on your response, it appears the basic driver is fully functional on a CT602, for example? Have most of the earlier issues been resolved? Thanks.

Dan

Bugman

05-14-2007, 11:44 AM

The problem isn't necessarily with the protocol. When the HD-6 and CT are interconnected, they appear as 1 device. You connect the CT to the HD (as mentioned above) and then the HD to the PC (serial -> RJ45). I flashed the unit because I was having trouble while developing the driver. Turns out I was sticking extra characters on the end of the commands (had to use a sniffer to figure that one out) and it was causing the units to occasionally overflow. That is fixed now, but ever since I flashed it, I have had this video problem. There is an updated flash file out there, and once I get a chance I am going to apply that...

Based on your response, it appears the basic driver is fully functional on a CT602, for example? Have most of the earlier issues been resolved? Thanks.

Dan

rm1759

05-16-2007, 05:28 AM

Based on your response, it appears the basic driver is fully functional on a CT602, for example? Have most of the earlier issues been resolved? Thanks.

Dan

It *should* work fine. Zaccari and I are still debugging a problem with source switching on his 610. We are going on the assumption the problem is because his unit has 2 tuners. It would be a big help if you could install it and see if you see the same source switching problems he is seeing.

What is this Bugman I see as the poster on some messages?

Bugman

05-16-2007, 02:05 PM

It *should* work fine. Zaccari and I are still debugging a problem with source switching on his 610. We are going on the assumption the problem is because his unit has 2 tuners. It would be a big help if you could install it and see if you see the same source switching problems he is seeing.

What is this Bugman I see as the poster on some messages?

Yes, I'm an Entomologist, thus the moniker and have a select few posts here and there. I just purchased CQC a few weeks back and I'm in the "exploring options" mode, so looking at equipment. I just purchased, however, an AudioControl Director 46 plus their 16 channel amp off of fleabay, so beginning to think about developing a driver. Off subject, of course. Since this equipment is looking good, I may not go the B&K route as I was looking at a B&K unit as well. Thus my questions on the driver. Thanks.

Dan

rm1759

05-17-2007, 05:16 AM

I was asking b/c it appeared that a post I had made looks like it came from "bugman"?? very strange...
EDIT: Nevermind, I see my confusion. You quoted a post of mine, and took out the Quote tags, that threw me for a loop...

Well, if you do go the B&K route, the driver has been working great for me on my CT600/HD-6, but there are some switching issues with the CT610 that Zaccari and I are still debugging.

Bugman

05-17-2007, 08:39 AM

I did say I was a noob didn't I! :-D I messed up the quote and tried to fix it. Oh well.....

sic0048

06-18-2007, 05:49 AM

I have my CT600 up and running now, but I have come accross an interesting bug. I'm not sure if it is something I did in the B&K setup software, or if it is driver related, so I wanted to see if anyone else is experiencing it.

I have created some favorite station buttons that when selected field write to the selected zone's "ZoneXFMFrequency" field. So I might have a button that when selected will send a command to set the frequency to 93.7. I can see the ct600 respond and set the frequency to 93.7 (via a dynamic image set the the ZoneXFMFrequency field) but then the ct600 immediately tunes 5 steps lower. So pushing the 93.7 favorite button initially sets the frequency to 93.7 and then it immediately changes it to 93.2.

For the moment, I simply have designed my templates with a built in 5 step pad. So if I really want my favorite to be 93.7, I field write the frequency of 94.2.

This doesn't happen if I manually set the frequency using a keypad setup that I put into my IV. If I type 93.7 and enter, the ct600 will stay on 93.7.

Has anyone seen similar things or has a suggestion as to where I should look to find my error?

On a similar note, I cannot seem to connect to the B&K Setup software anymore. I could before getting the CQC Driver set up, but cannot now. I even have tried stopping the CQC services thinking that CQC was holding those ports. Any suggestions on this issue would be appreciated as well.

sic0048

06-19-2007, 05:51 AM

Last night I realized that this "step back" issue also occurs with the bass and treble sliders that I have created. I set the slider on a number and it will decrease a specific amount after releasing the slider. I had seen this a couple days ago, but didn't realize it might be the same issue as the radio frequency issue.

I don't have a numeric field associated with the bass or treble control, so I cannot say exactly how much it is stepping back. I'll try to look into it more tonight. Yesterday evening was spent installing speakers in the kitchen (makes a total of three zones used on the CT600 now).

rm1759

06-19-2007, 11:58 AM

I use algorithms on both of those to convert the number input to the hex value the CT needs. There is probably a problem with the conversion somewhere... We really don't listen to radio, so I have not tested the tuner frequencies too much, I will take a look at it tomorrow to see if I can figure out what is wrong.

Also, the data conversions happen for both the am/fm freq and the bass/treble controls.

How is your source switching via CQC working? have you tested switching between multiple sources yet?

I have never had issues with BKcSuite hooking up to the unit, but I do have to uninstall the driver first. I do not recall if I had to restart the CQC service or not.

Also, the BKcSuite software is known to be a bit flaky. I just downloaded the new version (3.6.10, I believe) but I have not tried it yet...

sic0048

06-19-2007, 12:26 PM

Individual zone and source switching is working great. Of course I am really only utilizing two actual source inputs, but I have 5 that I plan on using and have already implemented in my templates. I know that I have selected some of these other inputs (like DVD or DVR) and the templates all update as expected. I can't really tell if the CT600 has switched both the audio and video inputs correctly since I don't actually have components hooked up to those sources, but I have no reason to think they are not working. I haven't tried any virtual zone switching to control more than one zone at a time.

I have not tried removing the driver before trying to connect to the BKcSuite software, I only tried stopping the CQC service. I'll try removing the driver instead to see if that works.

I haven't had any problems with the BKcSuite software (the couple of times I used it) except for the fact that it is weird the hoops you have to jump through for the software to actually upload the changes to the CT600. It seems like there would be a simple upload button that we could use rather than having to save, restart, reconnect, exit, reload, blah, blah, blah - whatever the process is suppose to be.

All in all, I am very pleased with the system so far. I don't have any keypads yet - I'm controlling via CQC exclusively.

Edit - I also wanted to share how I am using GVar to handle my switching between zones and sources. I really like the fact that the protocol has a decent naming structure.

My driver moniker is "ct600" and I set my GVar:Zone to B, C, D, etc (selecting the Sun Room in my interface sets the GVar:Zone to "B")
then I can simply fieldwrite my volume, mute, source, etc commands using FieldWrite::ct600.Zone%(GVar:Zone)Volume or FieldWrite::ct600.Zone%(GVar:Zone)Source as an example.

rm1759

06-20-2007, 03:43 AM

On the bass and treble,

I remember now, the range is -12 to 12 dB, however the settings on the unit only allow for steps of 2 dB. I believe I use an integer division to get the actual setting, so I drop any fractions.

If you set the bass/treble to 4, the setting will be at 4, however, if you set it to 3, the value will get set to 2.

There probably is a better way I could handle this. Maybe I should just make the range -6 to +6 (this is what the keypads do) even though in the documentation the range is -12 dB to +12 dB.

Any suggestions?

I am sure the issue with the FM freq is also a rounding problem. I will keep looking into that...

rm1759

06-20-2007, 03:49 AM

All in all, I am very pleased with the system so far. I don't have any keypads yet - I'm controlling via CQC exclusively.

Edit - I also wanted to share how I am using GVar to handle my switching between zones and sources. I really like the fact that the protocol has a decent naming structure.

If I were you, I would hold off on spending a bunch of money on the keypads. They are somewhat customizable, but are somewhat clunky. I have not yet completed my interfaces, but I foresee using CQC exclusively to control the unit. If you really want to get keypads, try getting just 1, and setting it up first. I wish I had...

That is the same way I am setting my zones...

rm1759

06-20-2007, 04:30 AM

OK, here is a new version.

This is version .70.

Please keep a backup of your current version. I compiled this, and the fix for the FM freq seems to be working, however it seems that I am having trouble setting my sources to the radio. I am unsure if this is a problem with the driver or my unit.

sic0048

06-20-2007, 04:56 AM

It will be a few days before I can try out the new version. I appreciate your willingness to create this driver.

I agree on the keypads. At this point, I don't plan on getting any, but eventually might for some of the "secondary" zones that may not have good access to an IV. Right now I only have three zones hooked up, and they are all in the main living areas of the house - within easy access of an IV.

rm1759

06-21-2007, 04:01 AM

Ok, I no longer have the source issue, my unit just needed to be reset. So the issue with the FM freq. should be fixed. AM appears to be working fine.

Again, the tone controls are in steps of 2, so if anyone has a good suggestion on how to handle that, let me know...

sic0048

06-29-2007, 02:17 PM

Sorry, I kind of forgot about the new driver and just tried it out. However, the new version still has a computation issue.

For example - to get 89.3 - I have to input 89.4
I cannot tune 93.3 - 93.3, 93.4, and 93.5 all miss the mark and I get nothing but static
For 93.7 - 93.8 comes close to tuning, but there is still enough static to realize it isn't a perfect match.

So it isn't as big of an error as the original driver, but I don't think it is perfect yet either.

rm1759

07-02-2007, 03:44 AM

OK, I will take a look at if again, but it won't be for a little while. I am going out of town tomorrow for a week and a half, and will be away from any pc for that time. but I will get it fixed when I get back... How is the AM tuning?

sic0048

07-02-2007, 05:42 AM

I honestly haven't tried it, but I will.

Thanks for your hard work on this! I'm just happy to be able to have a driver - even if it isn't perfect :)

rm1759

07-02-2007, 06:14 AM

well, it's still very much in beta. It's only been used by 3 people, you, Zaccari and me. Zaccari is having troubles with source switching, he is on the CT-610, so apparently there are subtle protocol differences that are undocumented.

I expect there to be a few more issues, I have been using it pretty flawlessly for some time, but that is only in my setup. I don't listen to the radio, which is why I had not found this particlar problem. I imagine we'll work through a few more issues, and hopefully some more people will start using it and testing it more before we release it to dean to include if he wants....

kblagron

07-18-2007, 07:57 PM

I received my CT610 (purchased from IVB's friend), installed the latest beta driver, and did a quick test of the unit. I did not use the BKsuite software, just reset the CT610 to factory defaults for the test. Essentially, it worked great in this test setup:

4 Inputs - AM, FM, In 1, In 2
2 Zones - Zone A, Zone B

Everything functioned as expected, and I didn't get any switching issues that Zaccari had (at least with these inputs/zones).

I did pull the trigger and ordered an HD6, and should get it later this week or next week. Will do additional testing with it to see if there are any issues.

Blake

rm1759

07-26-2007, 04:32 AM

Have you guys been using the driver for some time now? How is it functioning for you? I know there is still the bug with the FM tuner frequency, but other than that, how are things going?

sic0048

07-26-2007, 05:16 AM

No issues except for the FM tuning.

I've just been slack and haven't tried to tune any AM stations per your request.

kblagron

07-26-2007, 05:54 AM

Okay this is where I stand with the CT610 and the HD6 (which I just received on Tuesday).

My house is still being built, so I did a test setup at the rent house I am in:

I currently have AM, FM, Satellite, Sony 777, and Sonos ZP as inputs. I plan to also add my cable box, but I have to do some more wiring.

For Outputs, I have 3 Zones with Component Video - Office, Family Room, and MBR, the fourth is audio only - a set of wireless speakers that I move around from the garage to the patio area.

I adjusted Zaccari's template he posted to help check all the various zones. I have not had any problems switching from zone to zone along with the power, mute, volume, etc. The AM and FM frequency seems to work fine on mine from what I can tell. I don't have a good antenna (just rabbit ears), but the 3 or 4 stations I can pick up seem to be in the right spot. Same for AM, I have a crappy antenna but the one station I can pick up is in the right spot. I will see if I can get a better antenna and double check those.

Where I have seen some issues are on the Audio and Video Detect. It doesn't work at all in some zones, and the zones it does work on there is a pretty long delay between when the zone is turned on and the flag is changed.

I will try and check this out further and give you exactly which ones aren't working. I don't think this is a big deal as I am not sure I would even need it.

I did not try anything on the composite video signal.

What I will do in the next few days:

1) Provide you with the Audio/Video detects that aren't working.
2) Double check the AM/FM frequencies to see if I have the same problem as Sic0048's.
3) Go ahead and check the other inputs/zones to make sure they work.

I also had a few questions/comments:
1) Did any of you flash the firmware to the latest version on the HD6 / CT? I just used what came on my systems, although the HD6 is probably the newest.
2) The HD6 I received can now be controlled via Ethernet. Would there be any benefit to adjusting the driver to use that? Serial seems to work fine, but I was curious.
3) If I wanted to add another CT which I plan on doing, I assume the driver would just add those additional zone outs? Is that correct?
4) The default zone names on the CT610 are off by one with the driver. i.e. Zone B is Zone C, Zone C is Zone D. Not a big deal if you know that, but I did get a tongue lashing from my wife when I was testing this out and selected the wrong Zone (the one in the MBR where she was sleeping).

Blake

rm1759

07-26-2007, 07:42 AM

Okay this is where I stand with the CT610 and the HD6 (which I just received on Tuesday).

Where I have seen some issues are on the Audio and Video Detect. It doesn't work at all in some zones, and the zones it does work on there is a pretty long delay between when the zone is turned on and the flag is changed.

I will try and check this out further and give you exactly which ones aren't working. I don't think this is a big deal as I am not sure I would even need it.

I did not try anything on the composite video signal.

What I will do in the next few days:

1) Provide you with the Audio/Video detects that aren't working.
2) Double check the AM/FM frequencies to see if I have the same problem as Sic0048's.
3) Go ahead and check the other inputs/zones to make sure they work.

I also had a few questions/comments:
1) Did any of you flash the firmware to the latest version on the HD6 / CT? I just used what came on my systems, although the HD6 is probably the newest.
2) The HD6 I received can now be controlled via Ethernet. Would there be any benefit to adjusting the driver to use that? Serial seems to work fine, but I was curious.
3) If I wanted to add another CT which I plan on doing, I assume the driver would just add those additional zone outs? Is that correct?
4) The default zone names on the CT610 are off by one with the driver. i.e. Zone B is Zone C, Zone C is Zone D. Not a big deal if you know that, but I did get a tongue lashing from my wife when I was testing this out and selected the wrong Zone (the one in the MBR where she was sleeping).

Blake

I have flashed the firmware on my HD-6 twice now. I have a problem with my HD-6 in that I have to hard -reboot it whenever I begin switching sources, either with the driver or keypads. I keep meaning to get with customer support, but have not had the time.

I was not aware the new HD-6's could be controlled via ethernet. That would be nice, and eliminate the serial port. Do you know if this ability is part of the flash update, or is it restricted to only newer versions? The biggest issue I would have with this is that now we would need 2 versions of the code, b/c the CT series is still only controlled via Serial, so I would rather keep it simple if possible...

You should be able to daisy chain another CT right into your system, and the zones should show up automatically. This has not been tested.

The zone config you are talking about in your last question is actually the way the CT works. The zones you see in the driver are actually "logical zones" configured on the unit. You can use the BKcSuite software to attach physical zones to the logical zones. You can have up to 255 (I think that is the limit) logical zones. I have 8 in my setup. You can combine multiple physical zones into a single logical zone.

If you wanted, you can go into BKcSuite and change the logical zone numbers to match your physical zones. However, I did read a recommendation in some of the documentation that said this is not a recommended practice.

kblagron

07-26-2007, 08:26 AM

I will check the documentation on the ethernet control when i get home - it came with the unit, but I just glanced over it.

kblagron

07-27-2007, 08:13 PM

rm1759

07-31-2007, 04:03 AM

Thanks for the detailed info. I hope to get working on these at some point this week. I will post when I have a new one available...

rm1759

07-31-2007, 05:18 AM

Started working on the testing of this driver with the CT610, and having alot of the same issues that Zaccari had with his. Only difference I have is that the HD6 is installed.

1. ON the AM/FM Tuner, it ends up that each zone has to be manually assigned to one of the 2 tuners (in BKcSuite). Once a zone is set up for one tuner, it can't switch to the other tuner unless you go and change it in BKcSuite. The app - "BK CT & HD6 Hardware Quick Tools" can change the AM/FM station settings on any zone assigned with Tuner 2 without problem. With the CQC driver, you cannot change "Tuner 2" with the driver. It shows the station # for Tuner 1 in the field and CQC won't allow it to be changed. On my setup, Tuner 2 is set to a different station and is playing in that zone, but the driver shows it to be on a different station My guess is that the driver should be capable of changing stations on Tuner 2 since the BKc application could do it.

2. I am having similar problems with Zone?Source and Zone?SourceNum like Zaccari is having. If I write to either, they will perform the switch immediately without any issues. After 30 - 60 secs, the driver must re-poll, and then the Zone?VideoIn will switch to a video location 2 spots up. Audio stays the same.

3. If I choose to not use Zone?Source and Zone?SourceNum and just write directly to Zone?VideoIn and Zone?AudioIn, this problem doesn't happen, but their is 30-60 sec delay before Zone?Source and Zone?SourceNum get updated.

4. Whenever the driver writes to Zone?Source, the driver pads it with a leading space. It doesn't do it if their is not a space in the Name (i.e. FM, AM), but if you have the default IN 1, IN 2 input names, it makes them " IN 1" and " IN 2" with the leading spaces. There are no trailing spaces, just leading spaces.

5. I am having the same issues with Sic0048 on the FM #'s. This may help:

If I change to 89.3 -> It will go to 89.1
If I change to 93.7 -> It will go to 93.7
If I change to 94.5 -> It will go to 94.5
If I change to 100.3 -> It will go to 100.3
If I change to 101.1 -> It will go to 100.9
If I change to 104.1 -> It will go to 103.9
If I change to 106.9 -> It will go to 106.9
If I change to 107.9 -> It will go to 107.9

I plan on checking the inputs and outputs of all zones to make sure they are referenced properly and will get back to you on that.

Hope this helps.

Blake

1) I have not seen the protocol yet to change the tuner number, but I am sure it is in there, this might take a little time to get in there. But, this makes alot more sense now.

2)When the Zone?Source VideoIn field changes in CQC, does the B&K unit switch the video input for that source, or is just the field value wrong?

3) This is actually by design. I poll very infrequently, if a field is changed, I will write the changed value to the B&K, and then do a request to get that field's value back from the unit immediately after the write (to make sure the driver fields match what the unit has). However, if one field affects another (in this case, source and Video source) the related fields will not be updated until the next polling cycle. Additionally, when I poll I do not get back all of the values (too much data). Instead I have groups of commands to get some of the data (I think there are 5 groups), so the first cycle I get group 1, the second group 2, and after the last group I start over. I can pretty easily decrease the polling times to make this more real time.

4) This helps alot, hopefully I can find this source issue now...

5) again, that looks like a rounding issue on the FM freq. It converts the freq to a hex value with this formula, and I imagine I am just not rounding correctly somewhere...

rm1759

07-31-2007, 05:37 PM

OK, I am having a problem with a cast on the FM frequencies.

Dean, I hope you read this, this is the line of code:

crdData := TypeCast(MEng.Card4, fltData);

basically, I have a float variable, I am trying to cast it into a card data type and then append it to a string. The value by this point is a whole number, no decimals. My problem is that if the value in fltData is 10, after the typecast, the value of crdData is 9.

Can you give me some insight to what I am doing wrong? Should I choose a different data type?

rm1759

07-31-2007, 06:59 PM

OK, I have made some progress.

On the source changing issue. I cannot reproduce this on my system, so it must be related to the 610. While working on this with Zaccari, I did put in the code to manually set the audio/video in fields whenever you change the source. I did find a problem with this code, and corrected that. So, try it again, and see if it fixes it for your unit.

If it does not, there are some debugging messages in there. Set your verbosity level to low, and change the source on a zone. then please post what the driver logged, and it might help me...

On the tuner assignment, I cannot find anything in the protocol spec about changing the freq on seperate tuners. However, I did see where you can assign tuners to specific hardware zones. I have added these fields, they seem to work to me, but I have a CT-600 with only 1 tuner, so I cannot test that the assignment takes on my unit. My guess is that when a hardware zone is assigned to a specific tuner, and if you change the frequency on a logical zone that is assigned to that tuner, the frequency on that tuner will change. Hopefully that makes sense... oh, and one thing, on the tuner assignment, the range is 0-2. where 0 = tuner #1, 1= tuner #2, 2 = Tuner #3. If this works, I will change the driver to a range of 1-3, and correct on the backend...

I think I have found the problem on the FM frequency, but I don't have a fix for that yet (I posted a question for Dean, he may not read this thread so I will also post it in the support forum).

The issue with the leading spaces. I changed one of my inputs to have a space (I have never tried that) but, of course, my 600 does not exhibit this behavior, it is possible the change I made for the source settings above may fix this issue (but I doubt it) I will keep looking to see if I can figure that one out...

From now on I am going to edit the first post in the thread with the driver updates. I will post this most recent version there, the # is .71.

Thanks for the help on testing this driver!

Dean Roddey

07-31-2007, 06:59 PM

The cast is just truncating, but floating points cannot exactly represent decimal numbers, so it's really probably 9.9999999999999.... not 10. So you should be ok if you just add 0.5 to it and then cast that. That will insure it will always truncate down to the right value.

I should probably expose some of the standard floating point stuff to extract out the various parts of the floating point value and whatnot.

rm1759

07-31-2007, 07:07 PM

Thanks Dean, that did the trick! I have updated the .71 driver in the first post with this fix as well...

Dean Roddey

07-31-2007, 07:21 PM

Actually, that's not totally correct. That will give the wrong result in some cases. I wasn't thinking very well there. Do it that way will give the wrong result if you are above the x.5 range. You really want to add a very small number, more like 0.00005. You know you want have a legitimate number that's like 9.999999, so that's small enough that if it's 9.99, it won't knock you over into the next integral value incorrectly.

kblagron

07-31-2007, 08:44 PM

I checked all inputs from 1 to 9 with the composite video, and they all worked fine, sending output from the CT as it should. I am assuming that the composite video port will work with digital audio (since B&K says it will), but unfortunately it would be a big pain in the arse to test this with my test setup in my rent house.

I also checked all 6 audio / video outs, and all is good there.

The Audio? and Video? detect flag is hit or miss. I have never seen the Video?detect turn positive, and I have seen the Audio?detect flag turn on and off at random, when I know that I have 4 inputs with audio going to it. Again, not a show stopper, because it can be worked around.

Also, I made a mistake in my earlier note saying that the fields in the AM & FM in tuner 2 did not show the correct station. It actually does show the correct station, I just couldn't change it with the driver. Maybe this additional setting that you added will allow it to be changed.

I will download the new driver and check it out.

Thanks a ton for working through all of this. If you need me to check out anything else with this setup, please let me know.

A couple of side notes:

- I just missed out on a bid for another 610 on e-bay (darn it!), but do plan on getting a 610 or 600 somewhere down the road, so I will give it a spin with 12 zones when I can get one on the cheap.

- I am using an Intelix Component Video Balun from the Scientific Atlanta 8300 cable box in my living room back to the B&K HD6 in my office, and then sending that same video signal back to my TV in the LR via the HD6 (mainly to test this out). I also have another direct component hookup from the 8300 to that TV, and after switching between the 2 video feeds, both me and my wife cannot tell any difference. It is about a 100' cat5e run between the LR and office.

rm1759

08-01-2007, 03:46 AM

rm1759

08-01-2007, 03:53 AM

I checked all inputs from 1 to 9 with the composite video, and they all worked fine, sending output from the CT as it should. I am assuming that the composite video port will work with digital audio (since B&K says it will), but unfortunately it would be a big pain in the arse to test this with my test setup in my rent house.

I am using the composite video on my 600 to send the digital audio signal, and that works well.

So, the when changing the inputs with the driver, the unit changes properly, it's just that the driver doesn't display the correct value for the input after 30 seconds or so?

The Audio? and Video? detect flag is hit or miss. I have never seen the Video?detect turn positive, and I have seen the Audio?detect flag turn on and off at random, when I know that I have 4 inputs with audio going to it. Again, not a show stopper, because it can be worked around.

The audio/video detect flags have always been flaky for me as well. I am not convinced the problem is with the driver here, I believe it is in the A/V detection on the unit. I also think this is a problem with my system since I run digital audio through the component video jack. I will look at them, but I have a feeling I may end up taking them out...

- I am using an Intelix Component Video Balun from the Scientific Atlanta 8300 cable box in my living room back to the B&K HD6 in my office, and then sending that same video signal back to my TV in the LR via the HD6 (mainly to test this out). I also have another direct component hookup from the 8300 to that TV, and after switching between the 2 video feeds, both me and my wife cannot tell any difference. It is about a 100' cat5e run between the LR and office.

I have 3 HD displays using the B&K baluns. The longest run is 50'. The display is only 31" but the picture is very good.

But, I still have a problem with my HD-6. I leave the unit on all of the time, and it appears after a certain point I can no longer change the inputs on the HD-6, with the driver or with the B&K keypads. The audio switches, but not the video on the HD-6. I have to do a hard re-boot on the hd-6, and then it works again, for a while. I keep meaning to get in touch with the B&K tech support, but I have not had the time...

sic0048

08-01-2007, 06:00 AM

Dean, the formula for the frequency calculation should always come up with a whole number (it does when I do it in notepad), so for this situation, adding the .5 works for all frequencies used. However, I will change it to add .05 in my next build, just so it will be more accurate.

That matches my experience with the original driver. I simply had to add .5 to the desired frequency and it would work just fine. The .70 driver wasn't the same. The rounding problem was smaller, but inconsistant. Meaning I could not simply add a fixed number and make the frequency work - each frequency was a little different.

So, I suspect if you go back to the original driver code for the frequency and add .5 it should work just fine.

rm1759

08-01-2007, 07:05 AM

That matches my experience with the original driver. I simply had to add .5 to the desired frequency and it would work just fine. The .70 driver wasn't the same. The rounding problem was smaller, but inconsistant. Meaning I could not simply add a fixed number and make the frequency work - each frequency was a little different.

So, I suspect if you go back to the original driver code for the frequency and add .5 it should work just fine.

I did that in the .71 version that is in the first post.

kblagron

08-01-2007, 09:09 PM

Version 0.71 Notes -

Fixed:
- The FM Frequency thing seems to be fixed!
- When you write to Zone?Source, it switches to the correct the Zone?AudioIn and Zone?Video?In immediately and does not increment the Video?In by 2 as it did before. However, a bug exists on Zone?SourceNum below.

Problems::
1. When you write to Zone?SourceNum, it switches initially to the correct Audio and Video, but doesn't update the Zone?AudioIn and Zone?Video?In immediately (as it does above). Then when one of the driver re-poll occurs, it moves the Zone?VideoIn up two spots as it had done before. Maybe you could apply the same code fix you did for the Zone?Source to fix this one.

2. Leading Space still being inserted in the Zone?AudioIn, Zone?VideoIn, and Zone?Source if the input is say "In 2". What I find interesting is that I have that I have that field displayed in my IV, and it will initially show the field name as I wrote it - mixed case and no spaces, then it will switch to a capitalized version of it with the leading space, after a second or 2, maybe when you are trimming the trailing spaces?

3. Good news and bad news on the 2nd Tuner fields.

Good - I can change the fields Zone?AMFreq and Zone?FMFreq on Tuner 2 and it will change to those stations on the CT610 which I couldn't do before.

Bad - The new fields you added don't seem to do anything - If I change HWZoneBTuner, it changes B-F to same thing, if you change C, it changes C-F, and so on. Also, it lists tuners 0-2, when I only have 2 tuners. Even when it changes the fields, it doesn't change anything within the CT. I am thinking that since they didn't provide it as an option in the BKcSuite software to switch between tuners, it may not be possible to do so.

Recommendations:

- I would take out the driver fields for Audio/Video detect. They are unreliable and I doubt anyone will use them.
- If you can't get the HWZone?Tuner thing to work properly, I would not worry about it. As long as I can hard code the tuner to the zone with the BKcSuite software and then change it (as I can do now), that is good for me.
- When I change the FM freq in Zone 0, it changes both tuners to that frequency. However, it is slow to update the fields for Zones A-F. Maybe have it update all of the fields when that happens. It eventually will, but I would recommend updating all of the fields when this is done.
- Whenever a station is changed in the driver, I would recommend going and changing/polling all values Zone?AMFreq / Zone?FMFreq fields. The reason being is that I can change an FM station in Zone C, and it will change Zone A, but will not update that field.

Great work!, thanks for everything.

Blake

rm1759

08-02-2007, 03:53 AM

Version 0.71 Notes -

Problems::
1. When you write to Zone?SourceNum, it switches initially to the correct Audio and Video, but doesn't update the Zone?AudioIn and Zone?Video?In immediately (as it does above). Then when one of the driver re-poll occurs, it moves the Zone?VideoIn up two spots as it had done before. Maybe you could apply the same code fix you did for the Zone?Source to fix this one.

No problem, I will get this in the next build. This is good news.

2. Leading Space still being inserted in the Zone?AudioIn, Zone?VideoIn, and Zone?Source if the input is say "In 2". What I find interesting is that I have that I have that field displayed in my IV, and it will initially show the field name as I wrote it - mixed case and no spaces, then it will switch to a capitalized version of it with the leading space, after a second or 2, maybe when you are trimming the trailing spaces?

Hmmm, this one is strange. There is a field called InputList, can you post the value of that field?

Bad - The new fields you added don't seem to do anything - If I change HWZoneBTuner, it changes B-F to same thing, if you change C, it changes C-F, and so on. Also, it lists tuners 0-2, when I only have 2 tuners. Even when it changes the fields, it doesn't change anything within the CT. I am thinking that since they didn't provide it as an option in the BKcSuite software to switch between tuners, it may not be possible to do so.

What value are you setting the field to? If I can get this working, I will eventually set limits on the field based on the number of tuners on your unit, and also add 1 to the field, but I want to wait to add that stuff in until we can be sure this works how it is supposed too...

- I would take out the driver fields for Audio/Video detect. They are unreliable and I doubt anyone will use them.
- If you can't get the HWZone?Tuner thing to work properly, I would not worry about it. As long as I can hard code the tuner to the zone with the BKcSuite software and then change it (as I can do now), that is good for me.
- When I change the FM freq in Zone 0, it changes both tuners to that frequency. However, it is slow to update the fields for Zones A-F. Maybe have it update all of the fields when that happens. It eventually will, but I would recommend updating all of the fields when this is done.
- Whenever a station is changed in the driver, I would recommend going and changing/polling all values Zone?AMFreq / Zone?FMFreq fields. The reason being is that I can change an FM station in Zone C, and it will change Zone A, but will not update that field.

OK, if you wouldn't mind helping me test the tuner issues, I would like to see if we can get this to work. I can't test at home as I only have 1 tuner, so changing the values does nothing in my unit.

I think I will do 2 things here with the next build. I am going to increase the polling times, and see if I can update those other freq fields when the freq changes. I think I also might hard code any changes to zone0 to just update all zone values afterwards. That zone is defaulted to be all zones on all of the units, so I think it would be safe to assume a change there could affect all zones.

I will work on these, and try to get a new build up soon...

kblagron

08-02-2007, 07:01 AM

When I get home, I will follow up on your questions.

One thing I said I was going to post was the release notes that came with the HD6 related to Ethernet Command and Control. Not sure if this would be an easy thing to do with the CQC driver, but it states that it is just sending the same serial commands over ethernet.

HD6 Transcoding Video Switcher Version 3.05 Software provides the following software enhancements: (rear panel denoted with “HD6_VER_3 05_032 707. fbk”):

Two-Way BKC-DIP Ethernet Command and Control
Use this feature to achieve command and control of an HD6, and a “linked” CT Receiver over an IP Address.

To control either the HD6 or the linked CT Receiver over an IP Address, connect the HD6 Ethernet port to a network router. The router will assign an IP Address to the HD6 Video Switcher. To determine the IP Address of the HD6 Video Switcher, you may use the “B&K CT/HD6 Hardware Quick Tools, Version 1.09” application (see www.bkcomp.com). Install the application, along with the B&K Tool Suite to a PC connected to the same network, open the Quick Tools application, and click on “Ethernet Properties”. Next, click “Scan”. The HD6’s IP Address will appear in the window under to the “Scan” button.

Once the IP Address of the HD6 has been identified, you may control the HD6, or the linked CT Receiver over that TP Address. Simply send B&K Serial Command Strings over that IP Address for full two-way control and status feedback. A complete document for the serial protocol (BKC-DIP) of an HD6 Video Switcher and the entire CT Receiver line can also be found on the B&K Website, www.bkcomp.com.

If using an HD6 linked to a CT Receiver, full two-way Ethernet command and control of the HD6 and the CT Receiver is available via the “Ethernet” port of the HD6. Simply link the HD6 and the CT Receiver as described in the HD6 installation manual, and connect the HD6 to a network via the connection method described above. Send B&K Serial Protocol (BKC-DIP) over the assigned IP Address to the HD6 Video Switcher. The HD6 will convert the commands received at its Ethernet port to serial information, and then send the strings to the CT Receiver via the HD6’s “CT RS232 Link” Port. The CT Receiver will respond to all valid command and control strings, and also provide two- way status feedback (if enabled) back to the HD6 Video Switcher via the “CT RS232 Link” port as serial information. The HD6 will then send the received status information from its Ethernet port over the assigned IP Address. Use this feature for two-way command and control with status feedback to an external controller, over an IP Address.

rm1759

08-02-2007, 07:09 AM

That may not require much of a change. At first I wasn't to keen on doing this, but now if it will free up a serial port, that would be great. Once I get some time, I will look into that...

Dean Roddey

08-02-2007, 09:52 AM

The general way to do this is to create two manifests. Put a fixed prompt value in them that indicates either serial or IP connection. The user doesn't set fixed prompts, they are just passed through to the driver from the manifest.

Since the driver always has one method to read messages and one that writes them, it's pretty easy in those two methods to look at a boolean field that was set based on that prompt and either read or write a serial port or a socket. There are some other drivers to look at for examples of this, such as the Elk driver.

So basically you have one driver that serves both types of connections, and they show up as two different drivers in the list, one for each connection type.

Mark Stega

08-02-2007, 10:14 AM

Dean Roddey

08-02-2007, 10:20 AM

Oops, that's correct. The Elk driver is that way as well. I was thinking about the IR drivers, where there's a fixed prompt to indicate which specific pluggable IR device controller class to load up.

rm1759

08-02-2007, 10:32 AM

But when does that value get set? I assume you would need to at least prompt via the manifest? I haven't done that yet, but I don't imagine it is that tough...

Mark Stega

08-02-2007, 10:37 AM

But when does that value get set? I assume you would need to at least prompt via the manifest? I haven't done that yet, but I don't imagine it is that tough...

I think you missed this part of my message: "I keep a boolean global member (m_ConnectionIsSerial) to indicate how I am connected. I set it to True in InitializeSerial and False in InitializeSocket. Since only one will be called I get the state without adding to the manifest."

Mark Stega

08-02-2007, 10:39 AM

Here is my "skeleton" driver code that I use to start new driver (at least the part dealing with communication):

Method Connect() Returns CommResults
Begin

If (m_CommunicationIsSerial)
// Purge the input buffer
m_Port.PurgeReadBuf();
EndIf;

Return CommResults.Success;

EndMethod;

Method FreeCommResource() Returns Boolean
Begin

If (m_CommunicationIsSerial)
// If our port is open, then close it
If (m_Port.GetIsOpen())
m_Port.Close();
EndIf;
Else
// Always shut down and close the socket
m_Socket.Shutdown();
m_Socket.Close();
EndIf;

Return True;

EndMethod;

Method GetCommResource() Returns Boolean
Begin

Try
// Let's try to open our comm resource (serial port or socket)
If (m_CommunicationIsSerial)
m_Port.OpenCfgBufs(m_PortPath, m_PortCfg, 2048, 2048);
Else
m_Socket.Connect(SockProtos.TCP, m_SocketIPEndPoint);
EndIf;
EndTry;

Catch
If (GetVerboseLevel() >= VerboseLvls.Low)
m_Logger.LogMsg1( "Exception in GetCommResource(), ErrorText=%(1)", $Exception.GetErrorText() );
EndIf;
Return False;
EndCatch;
Return True;

EndMethod;

//
// InitializeSerial or InitializeSocket is called when we are first loaded.
// It is just for us to do any
// data initialization, to register our fields, set our poll times, and
// so forth. We don't have any means at this point to talk to our device,
// so it's purely for internal init of driver state.
// We have InitializeCommon that does most of the actual work
//
Method InitializeSerial(
[In] String PortToUse,
[In] CommCfg PortCfg,
[In] NamedValMap PromptVals) Returns DrvInitRes

Begin

Locals=
Card4 Index;
String Source;
EndLocals;

// Store away our config info for later use
m_CommunicationIsSerial := True;
m_PortPath := PortToUse;
m_PortCfg := PortCfg;

Return InitializeCommon(PromptVals);

EndMethod;

Method InitializeSocket(
[In] IPEndPoint EndPointToUse,
[In] NamedValMap PromptVals)Returns DrvInitRes
Begin

// Store away our config info for later use
m_CommunicationIsSerial := False;
m_SocketIPEndPoint := EndPointToUse;
m_SocketProtocol := SockProtos.TCP; //TBD

Return InitializeCommon(PromptVals);

EndMethod;

rm1759

08-02-2007, 10:43 AM

Mark Stega

08-02-2007, 10:48 AM

OK, I see that, and the engine will call InitSerial or InitSocket depending on the type of connection configured. In the manifest now, I think there was a setting to force it to a serial connection, I imagine I will have to change that? If not, how does the engine know whether to call the socket or serial init routine?
One manifest has something like:

<CQCCfg:ConnCfg CQCCfg:Editable="True">
<CQCCfg:SerialConn CQCCfg:Baud="Baud_19200"
CQCCfg:Bits="Bits8"
CQCCfg:Parity="None"
CQCCfg:StopBits="One"/>
</CQCCfg:ConnCfg>
The other has something like:

<CQCCfg:ConnCfg CQCCfg:Editable="True">
<CQCCfg:IPConn CQCCfg:Port="21068"
CQCCfg:SockProto="SockProto_UDP"/>
</CQCCfg:ConnCfg>

The model in the first case should be something like XYZ-Serial, and the second XYZ-IP

rm1759

08-02-2007, 11:23 AM

I see, says the blindman, so you still have 2 manifests and 2 drivers that show up in the list, one for serial, and one for TCP.

Mark Stega

08-02-2007, 12:00 PM

I see, says the blindman, so you still have 2 manifests and 2 drivers that show up in the list, one for serial, and one for TCP.Correct - Take a look at the Russound RNet & the Elk as examples. (The Lutron HW will be that way in 2.2.1, you can see the manifests in 2.2.0).

kblagron

08-02-2007, 07:04 PM

Here are the answers to your previous questions:

There is a field called InputList, can you post the value of that field?

Inputlist: "FM,AM,Dedicated, IN 1, IN 2, IN 3, IN 4, IN 5, IN 6, IN 7, IN 8, IN 9"

LogicalZoneList: "0 B C D E F 10"

What value are you setting the field (HWZoneATuner) to? If I can get this working, I will eventually set limits on the field based on the number of tuners on your unit, and also add 1 to the field, but I want to wait to add that stuff in until we can be sure this works how it is supposed too...

I was setting this value in the CQC Field Browser - It would provide a scroll list, and 0, 1, and 2 were allowed. If I set ZoneA to 0, it would change Zones A thru F to 0. If I set ZoneB to 0, it would change Zones B thru F to 0. Same thing if I changed it to 1. If I changed it to 2, it would change the initial field to 2, then immediately switch it back. Even after it changed these fields in the driver (0 or 1), it did not switch the tuner to the different tuner. Do you think it might be because the logical zones are B thru 10 .vs. ZoneA - ZoneF?

When you get the next build, I will be happy to install it and test. Thanks again!

rm1759

08-03-2007, 04:42 AM

I was setting this value in the CQC Field Browser - It would provide a scroll list, and 0, 1, and 2 were allowed. If I set ZoneA to 0, it would change Zones A thru F to 0. If I set ZoneB to 0, it would change Zones B thru F to 0. Same thing if I changed it to 1. If I changed it to 2, it would change the initial field to 2, then immediately switch it back. Even after it changed these fields in the driver (0 or 1), it did not switch the tuner to the different tuner. Do you think it might be because the logical zones are B thru 10 .vs. ZoneA - ZoneF?

No, I don't think it is related to the logical zone settings at all. I have a feeling there might be another field I need to set at the same time, especially because of the strange behavior where it sets the remainder of the HW zones. that is curious. On my unit, it just ignores the command and does nothing. There are basically 4 types of commands to send to the unit (the protocol is actually very robust) this is in a group called system commands and unlike the zone and preset commands these commands are not grouped by zones (although the field # may be related to a zone, but not the command group). Most of these fields are read only (system version, software version, the audio/video detect flags are in this group, and the input levels) I will need to double check to be sure I am sending the right command to set the value...

kblagron

08-04-2007, 07:23 AM

One other thing that I noticed when I was installing a couple of keypads. The driver will eventually get around and poll each zone and update the fields with the correct information for On, Off, Volume, Bass, Treble, etc.

One field it does not update is the Mute however.

Is it possible within the driver to find out if a keypad has been pressed in a particular zone? If so, I would recommend it to poll all of the fields within that zone so that the CQC driver fields will be updated. Probably would need to repoll the AM/FM stations in all zones since it could affect anyone using that station.

rm1759

08-06-2007, 03:49 AM

Unfortunately, I do not believe there is a way to see any interaction with the keypads. When I first started, I had hoped I could do that (I had also hoped that I could send info to the keypads) I asked them the question, and they said they do not have a method for any type of communication to the keypad from the pc attached to the units. In the next drop I will increase the poll times, and you can try it out and we'll see if it's a little more usable...

rm1759

08-07-2007, 05:10 AM

I don't even bother with the fixed entry in the manifest to indicate serial or IP. I keep a boolean global member (m_ConnectionIsSerial) to indicate how I am connected. I set it to True in InitializeSerial and False in InitializeSocket. Since only one will be called I get the state without adding to the manifest.

Ands then, as Dean suggests, I have code that looks like this:
If (m_CommunicationIsSerial)
Res := GetASCIITermedMsg2(m_Port, EndTime, 13, 0, ToFill);
Else
Res := GetASCIITermedMsg2(m_Socket, EndTime, 13, 0, ToFill);
EndIf;

mark, thanks for all of the help. I have another question, what kind of socket class are you using for this? I cannot find which one has the GetASCIITermedMsg2 in it, this is the call I use to pull data off the serial port, so I wanted to use the same one...

Also, the communication will always be TCP, can I hard code that?

Mark Stega

08-07-2007, 05:24 AM

The socket is a StreamSocket. You will find GetASCIITermedMsg (and many variants) in CQCDriverBase. Yes, you can hardcode the protocol as TCP.

//
// When we get initialized, we are passed information about the serial port
// or the IPEndPoint. We save this away for subsequent use. And we
// need a comm port object to do our communcations in the serial case and an IP
// port in the second case.
//
Boolean m_CommunicationIsSerial;

String m_PortPath;
CommCfg m_PortConfiguration;
CommPort m_Port;

IPEndPoint m_SocketIPEndPoint;
SockProtos m_SocketProtocol;
StreamSocket m_Socket;

Method GetCommResource() Returns Boolean
Begin

Try
// Let's try to open our comm resource (serial port or socket)
If (m_CommunicationIsSerial)
m_Port.OpenCfgBufs(m_PortPath, m_PortConfiguration, 2048, 2048);
Else
m_Socket.Connect(SockProtos.TCP, m_SocketIPEndPoint);
EndIf;
EndTry;

Catch
If (GetVerboseLevel() >= VerboseLvls.Low)
m_Logger.LogMsg1( "Exception in GetCommResource(), ErrorText=%(1)", $Exception.GetErrorText() );
EndIf;
Return False;
EndCatch;
Return True;

EndMethod;

rm1759

08-07-2007, 06:56 AM

OK, I have posted a new version of the driver in the first post.

Thanks to Mark & Dean's help, I managed to get IP control implemented. This turned out to be pretty painless, and once I fixed my typo's (and the &%*@ semicolon) it worked the first time I got it loaded. Now, I have only done some random testing on it, but it looks to be functioning.

I fixed a couple of other things:

1) I applied the same source change fix to Zone?SourceNum as to the Zone?Source field, so that should be updating properly.

2) I put another trim statement where I am providing the Input names hoping to cure the problem with leading spaces on the input names. This doesn't happen on my system, it appears to be isolated to CT610 models, I am hoping this will correct it.

3) I bumped up the polling times considerably.

What I have yet to fix:

the Zone tuners is still a problem. this behavior happens on my unit (even though I have only 1 tuner) if I set the field for HWZoneC tuner, the values change for fields c-f, if I do it for ZoneB, the values change for B-F. I did some debugging on it, and I confirmed that I am only sending the one command to change the single field, but for some reason the unit is setting it for all the fields below. I will keep looking at this.

I am not pulling the data for all zones on the freq change yet. I will get that in soon...

So, please check out the new build, esp the IP version to make sure I didn't do something silly...

rm1759

08-07-2007, 07:00 AM

I did have one concern on the IP control. The HD-6 gets it's IP from your DHCP server. Now, this address could change. I assume this is a common problem. What do other folks do to avoid this issue?

Mark Stega

08-07-2007, 07:04 AM

I did have one concern on the IP control. The HD-6 gets it's IP from your DHCP server. Now, this address could change. I assume this is a common problem. What do other folks do to avoid this issue?
1) If the HD6 has a network name you can use that instead of the IP address (As long as you can "ping name" and get a response this will work).

2) The first alternative is to make an entry in the router that assignes a specific address based on the MAC address of the requestor.

3) 'd be willing to bet that you can assign a fixed address to the HD-6 also.

kblagron

08-07-2007, 09:15 PM

This testing was all done with the Serial Version, did not get a chance to check the IP version, but will try to check out ASAP -

1) I applied the same source change fix to Zone?SourceNum as to the Zone?Source field, so that should be updating properly.
- Fixed

2) I put another trim statement where I am providing the Input names hoping to cure the problem with leading spaces on the input names. This doesn't happen on my system, it appears to be isolated to CT610 models, I am hoping this will correct it - Fixed

3) I bumped up the polling times considerably.
- Seems to be much quicker, but let me watch this a bit

One thing I noticed - When you change to AM or FM via Zone?Source or Zone?SourceNum, it automatically switches the Video?In to Input 9. Not a big deal, but I could see where you are watching a program and want to switch to FM to listen to music (i.e. waiting for Barry Bonds to hit 756, but don't want to hear announcers). I realize, this could be accomplished with an AudioIn field write rather than a driver change, but it is just something to consider before it is finalized.

I will check out the IP version and let you know how it works.

rm1759

08-08-2007, 05:30 AM

This testing was all done with the Serial Version, did not get a chance to check the IP version, but will try to check out ASAP -

- Fixed

- Fixed

- Seems to be much quicker, but let me watch this a bit

One thing I noticed - When you change to AM or FM via Zone?Source or Zone?SourceNum, it automatically switches the Video?In to Input 9. Not a big deal, but I could see where you are watching a program and want to switch to FM to listen to music (i.e. waiting for Barry Bonds to hit 756, but don't want to hear announcers). I realize, this could be accomplished with an AudioIn field write rather than a driver change, but it is just something to consider before it is finalized.

I will check out the IP version and let you know how it works.

Thanks for the input.

One issue with changing the audio only when you select the source fields, I would think this would be better handled using the audioin and videoin fields, I could do it for am or fm, but what about an MP3 input? I wouldn't really know which input to change audio only for if you wanted to accomplish this. I would think it would be better to let the end user handle it...

One warning about the IP version. I have noticed that when I unload the driver, and load it back in it gets stuck in "waiting for comm resource" I have a feeling I am not closing the socket properly. I will look into this soon...

rm1759

08-08-2007, 05:36 AM

One more question. I am going to put in the code to refresh all of the zone data when an AM or FM freq. change is done. Are there any other fields you can think of that I would need to update other zone info for when they are changing?

One issue is when you change logical zones that contain multiple hardware zone. I have two choices, I can try to only update the logical zones that use the same hardware zones. That could get a little hairy, if you have a zone setup like this:

Zone 0: All HW zones
Zone B: HW Zone A
Zone C: HW Zone B
Zone D: HW Zone C
Zone E: HW Zone D
Zone F: HW Zone E
Zone 10: HW Zone F
Zone 11: hw zones: A, B, C
Zone 12: HW zones: B, C
Zone 13: HW zones: A, C

If you make a change in Zone 12, I would need to update zone data for Zones B, 11, 12. I would do this in the field write routines, so an update on Zone 11 would also cause an update on Zone 13, which would then cause an update on Zone B, so you would in effect be updating data for 5 zones.

I think it would be alot easier if I just updated all zones whenever a zone field is changed....

just thinking out loud, let me know if you have any input...

sic0048

08-08-2007, 08:45 AM

One thing I noticed - When you change to AM or FM via Zone?Source or Zone?SourceNum, it automatically switches the Video?In to Input 9. Not a big deal, but I could see where you are watching a program and want to switch to FM to listen to music (i.e. waiting for Barry Bonds to hit 756, but don't want to hear announcers). I realize, this could be accomplished with an AudioIn field write rather than a driver change, but it is just something to consider before it is finalized.

I will check out the IP version and let you know how it works.

I'm going off memory here, but isn't that an option that can be changed with the B&K Config software? I think the default is to change to video 9, but I think you can change it to something else (or hopefully not change the video setting at all when you select the tuner).

rm1759

08-08-2007, 09:27 AM

I'm going off memory here, but isn't that an option that can be changed with the B&K Config software? I think the default is to change to video 9, but I think you can change it to something else (or hopefully not change the video setting at all when you select the tuner).

Yes, I recall something that you can configure this in the BKSuite software. However, that will cause problems with the driver. B/c of the problems with the 610 not switching the audio and video correctly, I had to force it to switch the audio in and video in fields whenever a source is selected. This will override the default settings in the bkcsuite setup...

kblagron

08-08-2007, 08:05 PM

One more question. I am going to put in the code to refresh all of the zone data when an AM or FM freq. change is done. Are there any other fields you can think of that I would need to update other zone info for when they are changing?

I think you should put the code in to refresh all zones whenever a change is detected. Can't think of anything else.

I checked out the IP version, and it seems to work identical to the Serial Version. Let me check it out for a bit, and I can comment more on it.

I noticed that my DHCP server assigned the name "BK-" for the IP connection. Not sure what ASCII code is at the end of that, but very odd they wouldn't use a number or lower ASCII character for it. Do you know how to change this? I looked in the BKcSuite software and didn't see how. Unfortunately, my DHCP server is a 3 year old Vonage Box that doesn't allow me to take a Mac addy and assign a IP addy to it. Will probably upgrade sooner rather than later, but if you know how to configure either the Hostname or IP addy, please let me know. I tried to input the "BK-" as the driver name in CQC, but received the message "The IP end point was not validly formatted, or the DNS name could not be resolved", which doesn't surprise me with the "" in the name.

Here are the outstanding items I see:

1. The Audio? and Video?Detect flags do not work reliably, so personally I would simplify the driver and remove them. Maybe B&K will figure out how to make this reliable, but I doubt they will be used until they do.

2. I ran into the same problem you did when I uninstalled the IP driver and then reloaded, and it won't reconnect. Since I was typing this note, I haven't rebooted to clear yet to see if it is fixed.

3. I would fix the AM / FM selections so it does not change the Video?In selections, but not a big deal if it isn't changed.

4. Update the "Mute" in the regular fields you poll, it is not being updated, at start up or when a change is made, say via keypad - No big deal if it is not updated immediately, but it should be eventually updated.

Overall, I think this is very, very close to an official release, but let me use it a bit before you finalize - Any comments Brian? I think it is the three of us that are doing the testing. Zaccari must be lying low on this, maybe he is waiting for me to buy his :-)

One note - I am going on vacation from the 12th-19th, so won't be able to check anything out during that time.

Great Job Rob, and I do appreciate your diligence to get this thing working well!

Blake

kblagron

08-08-2007, 08:32 PM

One warning about the IP version. I have noticed that when I unload the driver, and load it back in it gets stuck in "waiting for comm resource" I have a feeling I am not closing the socket properly. I will look into this soon...

Yep - I am getting this problem, and haven't resolved it yet - I rebooted, but it didn't clear, and uninstalled/reinstalled the driver. Still getting a "Wait for Comm Resource" message in the "Administer Server Drivers" window from CQC Admin.

One great thing about the IP driver is that you can continue to have your Serial port hooked up so that you can access the BKcSuite software. Well, at least it worked 1 time, maybe I will get this IP driver back online.

Will uninstall, reboot, and then see and post back.

Dean Roddey

08-08-2007, 08:49 PM

You should close the port in the FreeCommResource() callback. If you are doing that, that's all you have to do. If you want to be really paranoid, in GetCommResource() do a close the port before you try to open it, just in case.

kblagron

08-08-2007, 08:57 PM

Okay I have rebooted and deleted/reinstalled the driver multiple times, and can't get the IP driver to work. In Admin Interface it says "Wait for Comm Resource". Going to reset the HD/CT --

I reset the HD/CT and that allowed me to get the driver back running. It does sound like a port not being released. Funny thing, I mentioned that I could use Serial to access BKcSuite, but when I reset everything, it couldn't find the port. Then I said "Ethernet" and it found it, which makes it all the better, since I can access both CQC and BKcSuite with one ethernet connection to the HD6. I will check this out further and let you know how it is all working.

One question for the CT600 users? Are you able to access the IP Driver without an HD6. I know the CT600 has flash upgradeable firmware whereas the CT610 doesn't. Just curious as I am thinking of adding a Ct600 to get to 12 zones.

rm1759

08-09-2007, 05:19 AM

I am doing the close port. I have a feeling the port issue is not on the PC side, but on the HD-6 side. I had called B&K the other day to talk about my problem with the HD-6 not changing the video source. I was told to flash update the firmware on the HD-6. I asked about ethernet support and she said they still do not support connection of the unit to a router, only a direct connection to a PC, but the connection via a router is coming very soon. I have found that once I connect via IP, I need to do a hard reset on the unit to get it to accept another connection. I think I can do this reset in code, but I am not sure about that yet...

I definitely prefer the IP connection over the serial, not only does it free up the serial port, but it also is much more reliable. I am finding I get fewer bad checksums on the messages.

Only the CT 600.1, 600.2 and 600.3 are flash upgradeable, not the 600 (which I have). My version does not support IP.

I think I found the problem with the mute, and possibly even a problem with the A/V detect bits (but I am not sure on that last one yet). I will be posting a newer version yet. I still think the A/V detect flags won't be very reliable, but let me get this fix in before I pull the fields out completely...

There are fields on the HD-6 for Hostname and Domain. you cannot set the IP address. I am adding the hostname and domain to the driver, and have been updating them on my system, but as of yet I cannot ping the unit by the hostname. It is possible this feature has not been fully implemented yet. I am hoping this will be implemented soon as my router also does not allow you to assign static ip's by mac addy...

rm1759

08-09-2007, 07:59 AM

On resetting all of the zones when any zone field changes. I tried that, and it isn't so great. For my system, to refresh all zones is a refresh of 8 zones of data. I think there are 15-20 fields in each zone, so this amounts to decoding and updating around 150 fields. I put it in, and whenever I made a change to a zone field there was a pause of a second or two while the unit updated everything. Now, I am currently sending the commands all at once, I might be able to slow them down a bit, but that could take some work. I did put it in the AM/FM freq change, so try using it like this and let me know if it works alright for you...

Dean Roddey

08-09-2007, 11:06 AM

asked about ethernet support and she said they still do not support connection of the unit to a router, only a direct connection to a PC, but the connection via a router is coming very soon. I have found that once I connect via IP, I need to do a hard reset on the unit to get it to accept another connection. I think I can do this reset in code, but I am not sure about that yet...

Seems kind of wierd that they would even know the difference. But anyway, if it only can support a direct PC connection, then it's pretty much useless until they fix that. You'd have to put a second etherboard port in the machine just to talk to the device.

kblagron

08-09-2007, 01:21 PM

Actually, it works fine through the router, it just requires a hard reset of the CT6 in order to reconnect if you ever lose your connection through CQC to it.

Well that and the odd default hostname it gives with the high order ASCII character. it sounds like the hostname is configurable as per Rob, so maybe he will be able to set that when the driver starts up.

Crabber

08-09-2007, 02:37 PM

I am sorry that I have been no help, I just have not had time to start on CQC yet. I have a question though on the driver, will it let us use BKs presets? for example I have set up presets in BK that let's me have audio from one source and video from another at the same time. I really enjoy this feature.

Thanks

kblagron

08-09-2007, 04:28 PM

If it is within CQC it is not a problem - You would just program a button so that when it is pressed, CQC would write, for example, "FM" in the Audio?In field, and "DVD" in the Video?In field, so you could watch DVD while listening to FM.

If you already have B&K presets, to my knowledge, you can't access those.

rm1759

08-10-2007, 03:56 AM

I have not integrated the presets into the driver. There are a possible 99 presets per zone. If I were to implement those as 1 field per preset per zone, well, you can see that would make the driver unusable.

I could make a set preset command that takes in a zone and preset number.

This came up once before, and we decided that since we can independantly set the audio and video in fields then the presets really weren't required.

There are other settings you can do with the presets too, I believe, so if there is another reason that I need to implement these, then let me know, but for now I don't really see a big advantage to putting them in...

Plus, to configure them, you have to use BKcSuite, others have had good success with this package, it is still very flakey for me, and I don't like using it...

rm1759

08-10-2007, 04:11 AM

Seems kind of wierd that they would even know the difference. But anyway, if it only can support a direct PC connection, then it's pretty much useless until they fix that. You'd have to put a second etherboard port in the machine just to talk to the device.

Like KBlagaron said, the driver does work via IP, (connecting via router) but from a customer service standpoint, they are not supporting it yet. I guess there are still some issues with it, the only one we have encountered so for is the problem closing the socket.

Just to make a sanity check, this is my code in the freecommresource routine:

Method FreeCommResource() Returns Boolean
Begin
Try
If (m_CommunicationIsSerial)
m_Log.LogMsg("InFreeCommResource. about to check to see if the port is open.");
If (m_Port.GetIsOpen())
m_Log.LogMsg("InFreeCommResource. just checked to see if the port is open.");
SendMsg("FF,X,6");
m_Port.Close();
EndIf;
Else
// Always shut down and close the socket
//First, initiate a cold boot. the unit does not shut down
//the socket, and needs to restart. Hopefully this bug will be addressed
//in the future.
SendMsg("FF,X,6");
// blnRslt:= WaitMsg(kMsgTimeout, False);
m_Socket.Shutdown();
m_Socket.Close();
EndIf;
EndTry;

Catch
If (GetVerboseLevel() >= VerboseLvls.Medium)
LogMsg($Exception.GetErrorText());
EndIf;
Return False;
EndCatch;
Return True;
EndMethod;

Ignore the two sendmsg statements, I am trying to send a reset to the unit before closing the port to see if that will fix the issue...

rm1759

08-10-2007, 04:50 AM

I have a new version of the driver posted in the first thread, .73.

This version corrects the following problems:

The mute field should now be properly updating.

I made a few changes to the A/V detect fields, but they still don't seem right to me...

I am now forcing a setting on the unit called the reply status. I am forcing this to provide more status back to the unit, I had thought I wouldn't need it, but for the A/V fields to update properly, I had to turn this field up...

I again cranked down the poll times and update intervals.

HostName and Domain are now updateable fields. However, I have not yet been able to ping the unit by the hostname, or hostname.domain (when I supply it with my domain name) there may be some domain security on my network blocking it, but this also may not yet be supported. I can ping the unit by IP so I know ICMP is turned on in the unit...

Dean Roddey

08-10-2007, 08:25 AM

If there's any chance that SendMsg() might throw, you need to catch any exceptions from it to insure that you don't skip over the shutdown and close calls.

rm1759

08-10-2007, 08:39 AM

If there's any chance that SendMsg() might throw, you need to catch any exceptions from it to insure that you don't skip over the shutdown and close calls.

I have error trapping in the sendmsg routine to handle that. and I only put this in there when we were having problems re-connecting after shutting down.

Actually, with this in there, it seems like I can now re-connect the socket after unloading the driver, but I need to test some more... and, doing this reset may adversely affect the unit, like flickering the screen while the unit restarts, but i have not tested that yet.

kblagron

08-10-2007, 08:32 PM

Okay, did a quick test of this version (0.73), and:

1. The Mute Is Fixed and is updating.
2. The A/V detect flags are better, 3 of 4 Audio flags correct, none of the video detect flags (all CT6 HD based) are correct. Maybe it is using the composite video out? I will look at this closer.
3. I am connecting via IP, but it is painful if I lose the connection. I have to reset the unit + uninstall/reinstall the CQC driver to get it to connect back up. I was hoping that I could assign a hostname and make it permanent within the CT6, but even if I set it with your driver, it will reset it back to the BK-[] if you do a hard reset. I cannot find how to set this within the BKcSuite software.

No big deal, but if you lose power or IP connection, it will require removing the driver and reinstalling. This would almost push me toward the serial driver, since it works fine even after resets.

Won't be able to test for the next 8-9 days, as I am going on vacation, but will check it out more when I get back.

Blake

Crabber

08-12-2007, 09:49 AM

Thanks for your reply, I do not know CQC well enough to understand that side of things yet. It sounds like you have it covered since you can choose video and audio sources independently. BK Presets for the 600 series also let you set volume, bass, treble and Loudness. Another bit of information in case it is of value, a preset number can be input like a channel, (i.e 1 + enter on my remote) and channel up down scrolls through presets. I have no trouble with BkSuite and use it both for the 600 and the 50 in the home theater for setup only.

Thanks again for all your hard work on this, I look forward to using your driver.

I have not integrated the presets into the driver. There are a possible 99 presets per zone. If I were to implement those as 1 field per preset per zone, well, you can see that would make the driver unusable.

I could make a set preset command that takes in a zone and preset number.

This came up once before, and we decided that since we can independantly set the audio and video in fields then the presets really weren't required.

There are other settings you can do with the presets too, I believe, so if there is another reason that I need to implement these, then let me know, but for now I don't really see a big advantage to putting them in...

Plus, to configure them, you have to use BKcSuite, others have had good success with this package, it is still very flakey for me, and I don't like using it...

rm1759

08-13-2007, 03:52 AM

Thanks for your reply, I do not know CQC well enough to understand that side of things yet. It sounds like you have it covered since you can choose video and audio sources independently. BK Presets for the 600 series also let you set volume, bass, treble and Loudness. Another bit of information in case it is of value, a preset number can be input like a channel, (i.e 1 + enter on my remote) and channel up down scrolls through presets. I have no trouble with BkSuite and use it both for the 600 and the 50 in the home theater for setup only.

Thanks again for all your hard work on this, I look forward to using your driver.

For my situation, in my main zones where I will be sitting down and listening to music/watching tv, the sound is coming from a different amp (using the line outs on the CT) so volume control is done outside of the CT. I always try to leave my tone controls flat, so I haven't really had a need for the other presets.

Once you get into building your UI, let me know if there are times when you will need the presets...

Also, once you get more familiar, for kicks, try the driver hooked up to your ref 50. The ref 50 uses the same protocol as the CT, and while I may not be pulling back many of the fields for this unit in particular, it may be that this driver will work for some things on the 50... but I don't promise that, but am more than curious how it will work...

zaccari

08-13-2007, 07:28 PM

I played w/ the new driver over the weekend and I'm still seeing the problem where I have to set the Audio and Video to "Cab1 " in order to get the switch to take place. I could not get the Source to change both at all this time (using "Cab1 " or "Cab1"). I did not try the source by number.

Russ...

rm1759

08-14-2007, 03:36 AM

kblagron

08-27-2007, 03:01 PM

Maybe this is a key to the different results between the CT610's in your driver --

Since I needed 11 zones in my new house, I purchased another CT610 off of e-bay, and it came as advertised, in excellent condition as advertised. Unfortunately, it was an older version of the CT610, Ver 1.08 of the firmware .vs. 2.54 of the firmware of the one I already had. It ends up that the older versions don't do "RS-232" well, as per their customer support dept - But, of course if I pay for shipping and labor they will be happy to upgrade mine to the most current, which she said was 3.06 (Same as my HD-6).

Essentially it will grab most of the driver fields when started, but it will not control it. I have reset it numerous times, and changed it to look exactly like the newer version, but essentially, it can't be controlled by CQC.

I am going to make a run at the guy I bought it off to see if he will take a return, but my guess is that I will be paying for shipping and labor or trying to resell on e-bay.

I guess if I had to do it again, it would be worth it to go with the newer 600.1 / 600.3 versions of their Whole House Audio. Not saying the CT610 is not capable, but without flash upgrade ability like the newer versions, it can cost you a bit if you have one of these older units.

Zaccari - you may want to check your version of your CT610 and see if it is below the 2.54 version - that may be the problem with the CQC driver you are having.

zaccari

08-28-2007, 01:35 AM

Actually, I'm likely to sell my CT610 once I get a larger switch in place. I want to do component switching and the HD6 is not available in reasonable numbers in the used market and isn't really as large as I'd like. I may look into the upgrade none-the-less.

Russ...

Russ...

rm1759

08-29-2007, 05:29 AM

Ok, well, that makes sense. I guess I will have to put into the documentation that there are issues with ealier versions of the firmware. Does anyone have a firmware version before 2.54 that works?

That being said, what issues are still outstanding?

rm1759

08-29-2007, 05:31 AM

Looking back through the posts, I think I need to look at the A/V detect fields again, and the shutdown process for the IP version.

kblagron

08-29-2007, 08:03 AM

I had to rebuild my rack to accomodate the extra CT610, so I have not had a chance to look at it again, but plan on getting you an update on how the driver works later this week.

Also, I did send my older CT610 in for the firmware update, and if anyone wants to know, total cost was $148 which includes shipping both ways from Houston and the firmware update.

The things that are outstanding in 0.73 are:

- IP - A disconnect from the network requires a driver re-install
- IP & Possibly Serial - Reboot of the CQC Server turns the CT off. I think it does this on the Serial version also, but I will have to recheck.
- IP & Serial - A/V Flags don't work - I will be interested to see if they work with the updated firmware
- IP & Serial - Tuner Selection doesn't work - I will be interested to see if they work with the updated firmware

One other thing - Multiple CT610's will (from what I can tell) require two instances of the driver (and 2 connections to CQC) with different monikers. RS-232 control to the 2nd CT610 is only 1 way, so I am almost positive you can't get to it from one driver. Do you see any problems with this? Since the 2nd CT610 did not work with the old firmware, I didn't check this. I guess this also means that with an HD-6, you will have to set up the HD-6 to work with the 6 zones of the CT610 that it is linked to, and the 2nd CT610 would just be a Audio/Composite Video device, which really isn't that big of a deal.

klindy

08-29-2007, 08:34 AM

One other thing - Multiple CT610's will (from what I can tell) require two instances of the driver (and 2 connections to CQC) with different monikers. RS-232 control to the 2nd CT610 is only 1 way, so I am almost positive you can't get to it from one driver. Do you see any problems with this? Since the 2nd CT610 did not work with the old firmware, I didn't check this. I guess this also means that with an HD-6, you will have to set up the HD-6 to work with the 6 zones of the CT610 that it is linked to, and the 2nd CT610 would just be a Audio/Composite Video device, which really isn't that big of a deal.

I suspect this is similar to how I have two Intergra receivers running. I have two drivers loaded (IntegraAV1 and IntegraAV2) one for each receiver.

The speakers are hardwired obviously so the main speaker outputs and the zone 2 speaker outputs are in a static location. Incorporating them into a template isn't difficult. I do use the zone2 out also to go into an Autopatch switcher with in turn ends up as a source for my whole house audio. I haven't fully implemented that yet but I anticipate using a variable (1 or 2) to dynamically select the proper Integra receiver to use.

I suspect your system will be somewhat similar.

rm1759

08-29-2007, 09:29 AM

One other thing - Multiple CT610's will (from what I can tell) require two instances of the driver (and 2 connections to CQC) with different monikers. RS-232 control to the 2nd CT610 is only 1 way, so I am almost positive you can't get to it from one driver. Do you see any problems with this? Since the 2nd CT610 did not work with the old firmware, I didn't check this. I guess this also means that with an HD-6, you will have to set up the HD-6 to work with the 6 zones of the CT610 that it is linked to, and the 2nd CT610 would just be a Audio/Composite Video device, which really isn't that big of a deal.

hmmm, i am not so sure this is what we will need to do. I designed the driver to handle any number of logical zones, and it is my understanding that this is how the BKC-DIP protocol is configured how it is. When you add the second CT, it will connect as a "slave" to the first. Then you can use the BKC-Suite software to configure the hw zones to logical zones. this unit is connected via the driver, and you should have access to all of the zone data (at least that was my hope when I wrote it). I only have one unit, so I am not sure this is how it works, but that is my hope...

In the last version I purposeful put in a command to do a reboot when the driver unloaded - this was an attempt to get around the unit not closing it's socket properly. I cannot remember, but I think I only did this for the IP version...

kblagron

08-30-2007, 11:34 AM

You may be right since I didn't get to test it out. The reason I was thinking this is because of what the CT610 user manual stated was only 1 way communication via RS-232, but 2 way was possible using IR.

From the CT610 manual -
• IR will have an immediate response time, but IR is more prone to outside interference. RS-232 could have a slower response time than IR, but it is more reliable. RS-232 will be used for unidirectional communication only.

I think this probably just applies to the CT610. The way you link a CT610 via RS-232 is through the same 5 pin Phoenix pin that controls the keypads, it plugs into the RJ-45 connector. On the CT600 I am pretty sure you have two dedicated RJ-45 ports on those to link multiple CT's and/or the HD-6.

zaccari

08-30-2007, 07:46 PM

Huh? that "RS-232 will be used for unidirectional communication only." comment makes absolutely NO sense.

Russ...

Dean Roddey

08-30-2007, 07:49 PM

That would generally mean outgonig commands to the device only, no feedback.

zaccari

08-30-2007, 08:01 PM

I should have been more clear. Given what I know about the CT610 and the statement about IR being bi-directional, the whole thing is just plain gibberish.

Russ...

Dean Roddey

08-30-2007, 08:07 PM

Oh, OK. Well, that's pretty par for the course with protocol documents :-) They tend to have a high gibberish ratio.

kblagron

08-30-2007, 08:44 PM

rm1759

09-04-2007, 09:39 AM

As per the B&K manual, to setup the IR "2-way control", a flasher is run from the back of one CT610 jack to the front of the other, and vice versa for the other. I guess that could be classified 2-way control depending on what it does with it. I have a Sony Receiver that provides 2-way IR control with the remote - It gives me status feedback on which audio Sound Field and Source is selected.

And as Dean states, the RS-232 setup only will transmit data in one direction which it states later in the manual.

That is why I am hoping I can install 2 instances of the same driver. I guess I could install one IP version and one Serial version without any issues if two of the same will not work.

Hmmm, well, as has been our experience to date, the CT610 does do bi-directional control over RS-232. The quality of the control appears to be related to the firmware version. I believe version 2.54 and up has been pretty reliable... I have version 3.06 and it is working really well for me (I still have a few issues with the driver, but aside from the IP connection issue, that is due to the driver and not the protocol).

I don't see any reason why you couldn't run 2 versions of the driver to control two units, but I really don't think you will need to. Like I said I designed the driver to control multiple units, and while I fully expect to have to work through some issues, I am hoping it will work for the most part out of the box. I am curious to see how it goes...

kblagron

09-04-2007, 11:09 AM

Hopefully I will get the receiver with the updated firmware back in a week or so and can check out the multiple unit setup.

Also, just to follow up with you on a couple of more things:

1) The Serial Driver does shut-down the CT when the CQC Computer shuts down - I had told you I would check that.

2) I was having a few problems with zone switching when I started using the ZoneSourceNum. I would like use that method because it gives me a way to not worry about zone names that are programmed in, but it still doesn't seem to be working correctly. If you ever switch to Source # 2 (which is Dedicated Input on mine, it will switch all zones to that. I was also having problems with Zone F (which is the 5th logical zone) using the SourceNum. I will check into this further, but I am working on the interface now, and want to get it going so I can fully test it.

Overall it is pretty reliable. I may have asked this before, but is there a way to detect a Keypad change? That is the one thing that I would like to have to trigger an automatic update of the fields.

rm1759

09-06-2007, 03:59 AM

Are you sure you weren't setting the sourcenum for Zone 0? Zone 0 is all zones (by default). I use the sourcenum field all the time, and haven't had this problem.

OK, I will have to pull out that reset in the next drop.

There is not a way to detect a keypad change in the protocol.

However, I believe this may be possible through another method. The keypads are programmed like remote controls. You use the software, and select devices, and program the buttons to send IR signals. These are then generated when a button is pressed, sent to the unit and it is routed through to the correct input IR repeater. The RS-232 protocol is not involved at all. (I even asked them if this is something they might put in, but they said it was not something that is planned).

In any case, it should be possible, using some kind of IR receiver to read the IR signals from the keypad, and have CQC interpret the signals and do what you need. This is kind of a hack, but it is really the only way to get keypad input back into CQC...

kblagron

09-06-2007, 05:28 AM

I wouldn't worry about the keypad thing. I timed the driver poll refresh, and it looks like it takes about 30-40 secs to make the complete loop through and update all the fields, and that will be fine by me. You would think, though, that since a keypad change automatically switches the CT/HD, that they would have built in the ability to make that change known in their RS-232 control.

I wasn't changing Zone0SourceNum, but I am thinking I was changing a zone that was powered off. You definitely get some strange results when you do that. I will check this again. Just about done with my final interface screens for this setup, and it will be much easier to check/test everything out.

kblagron

09-25-2007, 06:10 PM

I received the CT610 with the updated firmware (V 3.01), and it works as expected from what I have tested out.

One note that might help explain some problems Zaccari has had with his. The V2.54 that I have on Unit #1 will still not correctly switch Zone?AudioIn and Zone?VideoIn as it should when it is done via the Zone?SourceNum. It initially makes the switch on both audio and video, then after about 10-20 seconds, switches the Zone?VideoIn up 2 logical units but the Zone?Source and Zone?AudioIn remains the same.

On Unit #2 with the new firmware, this is not the case, so it has to be a firmware issue.

What could be a work around in the driver is when the Zone?SourceNum is changed (and possibly when firmware is less than 3.01), it reads the new Zone?Source, then writes those changes to Zone?VideoIn and Zone?Audio?In.

I am torn between sending my V2.54 CT off to get it upgraded when I think that is really the only issue I have with it. So I will wait and see what you can come up with and see.

I have been using the serial driver for a few weeks with no issues other than the one above, and it seems very stable. I plan on working on the combination of the 2 units together. I am still not sure reading the documentation how I can link the 2 together with just one driver since they mention 1 way control only on the CT610. I will give it a try and if I can't get it communicating, will probably go to the 2 driver scenario.

kblagron

09-28-2007, 09:16 PM

I haven't had much luck with the B&K driver with the 2 CT610 units combined.

With the CT610, you have this 1-way control via a 5-pin phoenix connector to a crossover 568B cable, and I spent some time making sure it was correct, but could not get it to ever communicate with the other CT. If you have any suggestions on how to troubleshoot this, please let me know.

The other option is the pseudo 2-way control they talk about in the User Manual with the IR flashers that hook up between the two units. I may get a couple of flashers and just see if this actually does work.

I am able to use the two CQC B&K drivers on separate serial ports without any issue, and unless the IR thing above works, I will probably just go this route. A bit more coding within CQC is involved to turn on the zones you want, but it should work fine.

One thing I did verify in this process is the driver does add the proper fields for each logical zone you create in the BKc software. So if you create a "Downstairs" logical zone, it has the fields added in the driver to control that. I just can't get it to work with the additional CT610.

However, the one thing that I did note about this, is that if you select say a "Downstairs" Power ON button, it will immediately change that logical field, but it will not change the field of the zone it is referencing until the driver has a chance to re-poll that zone. So it may take 30-40 seconds before it is switched to its correct choice.

I have talked to the Customer Support at B&K several times, and they are quite helpful, but haven't discussed this last issue about the inability to communicate between the 2 units. I guess if I had to do it over again, I would get the 600.1 or 600.3 that has firmware that is flash upgradeable plus has 2-way RS-232 control built into the system.

I still love the power and flexibility the B&K system gives, it will just take some time to work through some of the growing pains.

rm1759

10-01-2007, 04:38 AM

i don't know if the IR control would be very good. You are probably better off using 2 drivers and have CQC handle it. the keypads (if you are using them?) will still control the sources from either one, if you want. Plus, CQC will give you more flexibility...

if you can get the two units talking, that would be best, although I had thought the units were 2-way, kind of like the HD-6 and the Ct communication works - ie it looks like 1 device to the controller... I coded the driver to take this into account, and I had thought this was the reasoning for B&K to do the logical zones how they did.

It may be possible to update all of the hardware zones that a logical zone contains, but this would require some amount of work. I have alot on my plate now, but I might be able to get around to it in the next couple of weeks...

kblagron

10-01-2007, 08:57 PM

I agree, I tried both methods (IR and 1 way RS-232) and couldn't get it working as I wanted, so with 2 CT drivers I have both CT610's working with full 2-way RS-232 control.

For my setup, it would have been better to have them linked with just one driver that controlled both CT's, since I have 5 Video Zones and 7 Audio Zones. Both zones that I planned on linking had one video zone and 1-2 audio zones Unfortunately with 2 drivers, the HD6 will only link up with one CT, and I had to be creative on which CT was used.

On the CT with the HD6 attached, I have 5 Video Zones, with one Video and one Audio only zone linked virtually. On the 2nd CT, I have 6 Audio zones with 3 linked virtually. It seems to be working well with 2 drivers at the same time.

When you do get time, and if it is possible, having the virtual zones to update the driver fields for the zones it references would be great. I can take care of it in the code, but it would be a nice addition for the driver.

sic0048

04-08-2008, 11:49 AM

OK - time to bring this thread back to life. I have exciting news I think. I've know that B&K has come out with some new keypads, called the CK 2.2. I just got around to taking a look at them, and there is some exciting news. It seems that B&K has improved their communication to include two way communication. It also includes provisions to allow a third party controllers to send text to the keypads. So it sounds like with some modification to our existing driver, we may be able to pass text like the Russound and Nuvo systems allow.

I don't think I need to explain why we should be excited about that!

I've contacted B&K and they gave me the e-mail address of the person that I would need to speak with concerning the new protocol. I have sent him an e-mail explaining what we are looking for and hopefully I will hear back from him soon.

So I think this is great news for all the B&K users out there. Unfortunately, I know squat about writting drivers, so I will have to leave that to the experts, but I hope B&K is responsive and someone here is willing to take the task on so that we can get better B&K keypad functionality.

sic0048

04-08-2008, 01:24 PM

I have the protocol now!

kblagron

04-08-2008, 08:55 PM

Well I would be interested. I wish they would develop a 1 gang keypad, as I really like the CK 1.1's. Maybe this could be incorporated into the current B&K driver. The last version 'rm1759' put out (serial version) has worked flawlessly.

rm1759

04-09-2008, 04:47 AM

This is good news.

I am very curious how they implemented it. is the protocol available on their web site? if not, could you email it to me at rm1759 at gmail.com?

There are probably a couple of ways to go about this, depending on how they implemented it.

Previously, the keypads were designed to stand alone, if needed (you can use the keypad as a universal remote control, in fact, the 1.2 and 1.1 versions use the same programming application as their universal remote control). If they implemented this protocol as standalone devices, it might make sense for them to have their own driver.

However, I suspect they are more integrated with the CT units now. In this case it might make sense to just modify the driver we already have.

One important point to note, if you do have to control these via the units, then this will only work for units with flash update capability. (the HD-6, 600.1, .2, .3 and 602.1, .2, .3) this will not work with the 610 or original 600's (like mine). But I do have the HD-6 which is flash upgradable, so hopefully it will work in that configuration...

sic0048

04-09-2008, 06:07 AM

E-mail sent. I've read over the protocol and it doesn't say which units it works with, so perhaps it will work with all the units (let hope).

The manual states...
The B&K CT Series Receiver has the ability to send RS232 messages to the CK 2.2 keypad when triggered by a B&K IR command, video sense, audio sense or voltage sense. These messages can instruct any or all keypads to jump to a specific device and page (this is what is done to provide keypad status of a zone input change) or in more advanced systems, to instruct the keypad to jump to a specific device, page and button
(thus triggering the macro or infrared command stored in that button).

Any automation system with the ability to send RS-232 text strings can successfully control a B & K CK 2.2 keypad as well, offering complete local control of IR devices by running a single CAT 5 cable to a locally installed CK 2.2.

I actually think that in the end, these new keypads may be better than the Russound and Nuvo. I say this because the new protocol allows you to send text to the entire screen. There are up to seven lines of text and each line can have up to 11 characters. The text will not scroll accross the screen like it does on some other competitor's screens, but there are 7 lines of text available. That is more than the other systems I believe.

Anyway, the more I look at the documents and specifications, the more I get excited about these new keypads. They need to drop in price I little, but I can definitely see myself buying these keypads for some rooms in my house.

rm1759

04-09-2008, 08:48 AM

OK, I have briefly looked over the supplied documentation.

I have made this comment before, but B&K really is pretty good at making this documentation available to the public. Much better than other companies.

OK, so here is my first take on this.

First off, you CAN control these units independantly from a control system. So, it would be possible to write a driver specifically for the keypad. The downside for this is that each keypad would need to connect via rs-232 to the CQC server, not the B&K CT unit. Additionally, all of the default functionality would need to be done by hand in CQC. I don't think this would be a good approach.

That leaves us with connecting the device to the CT unit, and communicating with them directly from the same driver as the CT driver.

There is a LOT of functionality in this protocol. here are some of the highlights I noticed:

You can instruct the keypads to jump to any of the pages you have configured in the programming tool.

You can execute any of the programmed buttons via the protocol as if you were pressing the buttons manually.

You can Send text to the keypad to disply in any row/column. however, there are limitations to this (see below).

It appears as though the protocol now will transmit button presses through the rs-232 on the CT unit. (I think this feature could be bigger than the text display. more on this later)

On the text, there are 2 modes, a 7 character display mode (default, this is for compatibility with legacy CT units) and an 11 character mode. I will assume we will want the 11 character mode, I will probably have to hard-code this in the protocol.

Here is the bigger issue, the display is limited to 11 characters per line (and command, it will not break up the command to display on multiple lines), and from what I can tell, it is just going to overwrite whatever is currently on the screen with whatever you send it. It does not appear to allow any kind of scrolling marquee-type display. this means this will have to be handled in the driver (or possibly even from the user in how you program CQC to utilize this feature).

Now, on the feedback from the keypad, I think this could potentially be extremely powerful. You can program any of the hard buttons on the keypad to execute any IR code (or macro) you have configured. From the looks of the protocol spec, it appears that the protocol will then attempt to convert this and provide the feedback to the serial interface. This may be difficult to implement, but this would mean that you could program buttons on the keypads to do anything CQC can do. It looks a little quirky, almost like they are breaking apart the associated IR command and sending each IR byte in the protocol, but I think this would open up many new possibilities for control.

Does anyone know what these are selling for? Do any dealers have them yet? I think I will definitely need to pick up one.

This is just from a quick perusal, so any of this could change.

This will have significant impact on the driver. I will need to re-code much of the core communications (I currently assume you are only talking to 1 device) this means we will have to keep track of the device ID's for each keypad. I think the # of fields we expose to CQC will increase significantly (it is already rather large). Hopefully I can limit the # of fields somewhat by using some generic fields. So, I am definitely on board for doing this, just please don't expect anything next week... My first order of business will be acquiring a keypad, and then I will need to flash my HD-6...

I wonder, if by flashing the HD-6, some of this functionality will be exposed from the current keypads. I have a feeling it might be...

rm1759

04-09-2008, 12:38 PM

Another point to make, is that it may very well repeat any IR signals received via the IR sensor, but I am not sure about this... this could open up possibilities for IR control outside of the B&K. (basically, it would be like having zoned USB-UIRT's at each keypad location)

sic0048

04-09-2008, 12:53 PM

So with your first glance, you think that the keypads will pass the IR information through the serial protocol? That would be pretty neat.

It already will pass through the IR signals via IR, but that means you have to have a USB-UIRT at the CT receiver that will accept the IR commands and get them into CQC so we can act on it. If you think the keypads will "convert" the IR to the serial protocol, then you are right that we could get rid of the USB-UIRT. Even better would be if the IR signals were both directions (send and receive). If the local keypad could blast out IR signals via a connected IR blaster, that might help some people. I know you can hook up a local IR blaster already, the question is if it will only work with the built in IR system, or if the serial to IR conversion would take place.

Either way, I'm pretty excited about this. It will certainly make the keypads more attractive as far as functionality is concerned.

I tried to find the new keypads online and could not find any retailers who sold them. I guess I will contact B&K directly and see if they have been released yet.

kblagron

04-09-2008, 06:19 PM

A couple of grey market retailers are selling them for $299 each ->

www.extremeliquidator.com
www.audiophileliquidator.com

This may be the same place with a different storefront. I had bought a CK 1.1 and CK 1.2 from hifitrader.com a while back, but apparently they are just doing e-bay stuff now (as they have no website), and they have nothing posted on e-bay for that keypad.

I will call the dealer I bought the HD-6 from here in Houston tomorrow and let you know what the price is. He gave me a great deal on it (same as what the grey market was selling) and it came with their 5 yr warranty since it was bought through a dealer.

sic0048

04-09-2008, 06:26 PM

I've contacted B&K and was told that the 2.2 keypads have been released since October 07. They are going to send me information on a local supplier. I'll let you know what I find out.

rm1759

04-10-2008, 04:41 AM

I have reviewed them a little more, and I guess I misread the document. Apparently, they are bulding the framework to use this to send IR messages in the future. Right now, it just used to send status back to the unit, I do not think this will be useful to us...

kblagron

12-04-2008, 06:22 AM

I get the following error messages occasionally from both of the B&K drivers I have installed, and not sure what they mean. Doesn't seem to affect anything but I thought I would ask:

12/03 19:43:36-CQCSERVER, CQCServer, CQCDrv_CT610_Thread9
{
CQCKit, MEng.System.CQC.Runtime.CQCLogger.729, Status/App Status
Could not extract a checksum, CurPos=
}
12/03 19:43:36-CQCSERVER, CQCServer, CQCDrv_CT610_Thread9
{
CQCKit, MEng.System.CQC.Runtime.CQCLogger.751, Status/App Status
Bad checksum, counter:1. In Text:(FF,K,D10,P1;
}
12/03 19:43:42-CQCSERVER, CQCServer, CQCDrv_CT610_Thread9
{
CQCKit, MEng.System.CQC.Runtime.CQCLogger.729, Status/App Status
Could not extract a checksum, CurPos=
}
12/03 19:43:42-CQCSERVER, CQCServer, CQCDrv_CT610_Thread9
{
CQCKit, MEng.System.CQC.Runtime.CQCLogger.751, Status/App Status
Bad checksum, counter:1. In Text:(FF,K,D3,P1;
}
12/03 22:42:28-CQCSERVER, CQCServer, CQCDrv_CT610_Thread9
{
CQCKit, MEng.System.CQC.Runtime.CQCLogger.729, Status/App Status
Could not extract a checksum, CurPos=
}
12/03 22:42:28-CQCSERVER, CQCServer, CQCDrv_CT610_Thread9
{
CQCKit, MEng.System.CQC.Runtime.CQCLogger.751, Status/App Status
Bad checksum, counter:1. In Text:(FF,K,D3,P1;
}
12/04 00:34:23-CQCSERVER, CQCServer, CQCDrv_CTHD6_Thread13
{
CQCKit, MEng.System.CQC.Runtime.CQCLogger.751, Status/App Status
Bad checksum, counter:1. In Text:=" IN 9",09=" IN A",0A=" IN B",0F=03,10=03,11=03,12=03,13=03,14=03,15=03,16=03,1 7=03,18=03,46=00;2630
}

rm1759

12-04-2008, 06:27 AM

The message format includes a checksum on the end, this message:

(FF,K,D3,P1;

is missing it's checksum (it appears after the semicolon). I am not sure how this message is sent.

However, when i was building the driver, I did have issues with checksums occasionally being incorrect. In that case, I will throw out the message (I assume that an incorrect checksum means there is bad data there). Additionally I keep a running track of the number of bad messages. If I get a certain number in a row (3, I think) the driver will automatically close the connection, and attempt to re-open it.

If I recall, the FF message was just a status message, and probably not important for setting your fields. It's a very chatty protocol, and the driver really only needs 10% of the messages that get sent back and forth. so that is why this has probably not caused you any issues.

rm1759

12-04-2008, 06:30 AM

One more thing i should point out.

The driver automatically refreshes all of it's fields at certain intervals. so even if a field change is missed due to a bad checksum, the full refresh will correct it. I forget the frequency of doing the full refresh, but it shouldn't be longer than a minute or so...

kblagron

12-04-2008, 07:02 AM

Assuming that the above error messages are nothing to worry about, do you think you might want to release this driver to Dean for inclusion in the release (V 0.73 serial). I haven't really used the IP version, although it seemed to work fine.

I have been using this for over a year now and it is rock solid - One driver is installed on an HD6-CT610 combination, and the other is on a standalone CT610.

Also, based on IVB's comments in another post about programming the Nuvo keypads to activate the Squeezecenter driver and perform an action, I am going to look into doing this via IR and a USB-UIRT with the CK keypads. I have 10 of the CK 1.1 keypads installed, and from what I have read in the documentation, you can just plug a wire from the IR emitter out on the back of the unit and go directly into the USB-UIRT. Then you can program the CK keypad to send an IR command on a keypress, which in turn could be read by the USB-UIRT and perform an action.

I will play around with this some and see how it goes. From what I can tell, there is no way to get RS-232 from the keypad to the unit, just from the unit to the keypad.

rm1759

12-04-2008, 07:14 AM

I did give the driver to Dean for inclusion. I also did the HTML help for it, but I think that since only a few of us use it (3-4) he didn't include it.

That sounds like a cool use of the keypad. And it would be useful even without the CT multi zone system, kind of like an IR extender for the UIRT...

Now that I think more on it, you could also use it this way to zone your IR...

sic0048

12-04-2008, 08:11 AM

Also, based on IVB's comments in another post about programming the Nuvo keypads to activate the Squeezecenter driver and perform an action, I am going to look into doing this via IR and a USB-UIRT with the CK keypads. I have 10 of the CK 1.1 keypads installed, and from what I have read in the documentation, you can just plug a wire from the IR emitter out on the back of the unit and go directly into the USB-UIRT. Then you can program the CK keypad to send an IR command on a keypress, which in turn could be read by the USB-UIRT and perform an action.

I will play around with this some and see how it goes. From what I can tell, there is no way to get RS-232 from the keypad to the unit, just from the unit to the keypad.

Keep us informed of your progess along these lines. I am about to start down the same path myself. I don't have any keypads, but I will be using a couple at my parents house. Specifically one in the bath room that will be located directly below the TV. While there will be a remote in the bath, I think most times it will be easier to use the keypad to do control the overall system. Plus I plan on using the IR receiver that is built into the keypad rather than having to run a separate IR receiver in that room. So I'll need those signals to pass though to CQC somehow.

I'll probably have a button on the keypad to turn the TV on and then list several of their favorite channels on the next screen. I've also planned on having a weather button that will announce the current weather and forecast for the day.

I also think it is as simple as having a IR emitter out of the B&K receiver and attaching it to the USB-UIRT. I actually want to see if I can use a direct connection and attach the wire directly from the receiver to my IR distibution block and forego the emitter. The block has an output that is connected to the USB-UIRT already. So this would simply things and potentially give me a more reliable system. I just need to check that the output voltage of the B&K is similar enough to the expected input voltage of the IR block to make sure it would work.

kblagron

12-04-2008, 10:03 AM

I actually want to see if I can use a direct connection and attach the wire directly from the receiver to my IR distibution block and forego the emitter.

I plan on doing the same by just plugging an 1/8" mono cable between the IR outputs and the USB-UIRT (or connecting block).

I just need to check that the output voltage of the B&K is similar enough to the expected input voltage of the IR block to make sure it would work.

From the CT610 Manual:

The IR outputs are compatible with any standard 1/8” (3.5mm) miniature flasher/emitter from Niles, Xantech, Elan, Sonance or Speakercraft, etc. The IR outputs operate at 5V and can supply up to 10mA of current (475Ω internal output resistance).

rm1759

12-05-2008, 09:03 AM

I am not at home, but is there an all output on the unit? I know there is 1 IR out for each of the 9 devices.

sic0048

12-05-2008, 11:08 AM

The newer 600.3 units have a dedicated "All Out" IR connection. The older units do not. They only have 9 "dedicated source" IR outputs. By default, they are set up to only blast out the IR information for the source device connected to that zone. But according to the manual...
IR Flasher Emitter Output
Each of the nine shared sources can be controlled from any zone in the system using the
CT610/600/310/300 built in IR routing circuitry. When the IR Flasher outputs are set to “selected input,”
(Default) IR is routed from the keypads in each zone to the corresponding source according to the input
selected for that zone. This way multiple identical sources can be controlled without changing the source's IR
code. For the system to operate properly, an IR emitter connected to the IR output must correspond to the
source input, i.e. IN 6 with IR 6. The IR outputs are compatible with any standard 1/8” (3.5mm) miniature
flasher/emitter from Niles, Xantech, Elan, Sonance or Speakercraft, etc. The IR outputs operate at 5V and
can supply up to 10mA of current (475Ω internal output resistance). Carrier frequency ranges from 32 kHz to
42kHz. Make sure to use IR shields when working with multiple identical sources in the same rack.

The IR outputs are factory default set for selected input operation thus requiring the device input and IR out
to match. Simultaneous or “All Inputs” flash can be configured for the 9 IR outputs using either the OSD
menu or BKcSuite. When using matrix video switching (i.e. audio and video from different inputs), IR routing
will follow the audio input only for that zone.

So it looks like with a change in the settings, you can program the CT to blast out ALL IR signals through the individual source outputs.

kblagron

12-21-2008, 07:34 AM

12/03 19:43:42-CQCSERVER, CQCServer, CQCDrv_CT610_Thread9
{
CQCKit, MEng.System.CQC.Runtime.CQCLogger.729, Status/App Status
Could not extract a checksum, CurPos=
}
12/03 19:43:42-CQCSERVER, CQCServer, CQCDrv_CT610_Thread9
{
CQCKit, MEng.System.CQC.Runtime.CQCLogger.751, Status/App Status
Bad checksum, counter:1. In Text:(FF,K,D3,P1;

I finally figured out what is triggering these messages - Whenever I make a change via the keypad, these show up in the logs, however it is on the CT610 that has the older firmware (V2.54). The CT610 with the newer firmware (V 3.02) rarely generate the messages.

Doesn't seem to affect anything, but it is pretty consistent now that I know what is doing it.

rm1759

12-22-2008, 06:26 AM

Ahh, I am 3.06 so that explains why I am not seeing this.

Apparently on the older firmware the unit is echoing the command and not putting a proper checksum on it. This should not cause any issues to you. I would rather not take out the checksum validation as I think that is pretty important to determine if it is a valid message...

vicsd

10-08-2010, 10:30 AM

Shakey

10-08-2010, 12:39 PM

Looks like B&K might have not survived in this economy.

http://www.remotecentral.com/cgi-bin/mboard/rc-custom/thread.cgi?22701

vicsd

10-08-2010, 12:56 PM

Looks like B&K might have not survived in this economy.

http://www.remotecentral.com/cgi-bin/mboard/rc-custom/thread.cgi?22701

Not sure if this is true. Have shipped my CT602 for service in September with no problems.

rm1759

10-13-2010, 07:35 AM

Hello,

Just started to use CQC software B&K Comp driver with my B&K equipment via serial connection:
CT602 - 3.02 Firmware
HD6
Noticed, that the video feed is lost on all the zones, once serial connection established to B&K unit and zone has been powered off/on. In order to restore the video on all the zones in the house CT602 and HD6 have to be rebooted.
Any help greatly appreciated.:-)
Thanks

Victor

Hi Victor. I am running an HD-6 with a CT-600. I have occassionally seen the behavior you have mentioned, but I had always attributed it to the firmware itself. The driver is just connecting and sending signals, it should not have any impact on the video output of the unit.

However, for me, it does not happen every time a zone is powered on/off. It seems to happen only very rarely for me (perhaps once every three months or so) When I have seen this problem, the decription field is showing "HD-6 T-Router" when operating normally, the description field returns "CT 600 Receiver" so I believe that has something to do with it. It's almost as if the HD-6 is taking over as the responder sometimes.

what firmware version is your hd-6 on? Can you test to see if this behavior happens when the units are not interconnected? Have you tried the TCP version of the driver?