LG TV Driver Thread [Archive] - Charmed Quark Systems

znelbok

01-29-2008, 10:12 PM

This thread is for any request for a driver for an LG TV. I have done a few so far and they all seem to be based on the same protocol with a few minor differences in the return message.

So here is what is availabel so far.

32LC2D,37LC2D,42LC2D,42PC1DG,42PC1DV,50PC1D* - Use 50PC1D driver

42LC2DR, 50PB2DR* - Use 50PB2DR

26LC7D*,26LC7DC,32LC4D,42LC4D - Use 42LC4D

32LB9D, 42LB9DF, 47LB9DF*, 52LB9DF, 50PY3DF, 60PY3DF, 42PB4D, 50PB4D - Use LG_60PY3DF

The * indicates the actual model it was tested against. Each group are covered by the same manual. Some minor variations may be needed.

Mick

rm1759

01-30-2008, 03:59 PM

OK, I tried the new driver (posted in the other thread, I assume you want to keep them all together?)

The driver does connect, and I was able to send a power on command. However, it keeps losing the connection. I have another dump from the serial port sniffer:

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb127/rm1759/LGCOMSniffer2.jpg

znelbok

01-30-2008, 05:33 PM

You should also set the logging level to high for the driver and then post any entried from the logs here as well.

From what I can see you had the input set to component 1. It appears to be falling over on the reply for some reason. (byte offset is probably wrong).

I have sent you a PM

Mick

znelbok

05-06-2008, 02:42 AM

New driver added to the list - LG_60PY3DF.CQCDrvPack

Mick

jchurley

05-19-2008, 12:47 PM

I just ordered an LG 42PG20, which is a plasma TV, not an LCD.

Is anyone currently controlling this TV with any of these various versions of the driver?

Thanks

Joe

kblagron

05-19-2008, 06:21 PM

Interesting results from the Digi Etherlite serial server I hooked up.

The driver I was playing with (for the 32LC7D) worked better, but still not perfect. The Mute Button still didn't work, although was showing active, but the "SendIRField" started working, and I could send successful commands. Unfortunatly, it lost comm and would reset after a few entries. It has to be a timing issue since before, I was using these USB to Serial Port Adapters before and they would never get past error status. I will continue to play with it and see if I can figure it out.

Mark Stega

05-22-2008, 12:14 PM

Here are two more driver packs;

The first was tested with the 42PC5D & 50PC5D plasmas and should work with the 42PC5DC and 50PC5D plasma sets as well as the 32LC7D, 32LC7DC, 37LC7D, and 42LC7D LCDs.

The second will be tested tomorrow with the 26LG30 LCD and should also work with the 19LG30, 19LG31, 22LG30, 22LG31, and 26LG30 LCDs.

kblagron

05-22-2008, 04:10 PM

I have been using a user version of the 32LC7D that I had modified from the LG_50PC1D driver that Mick had done. I tried your driver and it fixed some things mine wouldn't do, but others weren't working. Mute Field now worked, but the "SendIRField" is again in error state. Has to be a timing issue. I am running this thru a Digi Etherlite Terminal Server. I will see if I can figure out the differences and post it later.

znelbok

05-22-2008, 05:33 PM

Try a real serial cable and comm port and see if that makes a difference.

Mick

kblagron

05-22-2008, 05:43 PM

Good idea, I will move the TV up to where the CQC server is and use a port on the PC.

Mark Stega

09-10-2008, 04:01 AM

Here are a couple more:

42PC5D*, 42PC5DC, 50PC5D, 50PC5DC, 32KC7D, 32LC7DC, 37LC7D, 42LC7D - Use PC5D

26LG30* - Use 26LG30

sic0048

09-23-2008, 06:49 PM

sic0048

09-23-2008, 07:22 PM

znelbok

09-23-2008, 10:08 PM

What type of serial cable do I need to use? Null, regular, etc. Anyone have a pinout diagram?

It seems that the 26LG30 is a simple oneway driver?

I just picked up a 32LG30 and I was hoping the 26GL30 driver will work.

All this should be in your manual.

It is a null modem (3 wire) connection. The manual should also show you a 7 wire connection as well.

Mick

Mark Stega

09-24-2008, 01:42 AM

FYI - I found a copy of a manual that included the serial protocol for these models...

LCD TV MODELS
32LG30 37LG50
37LG30 42LG50
42LG30 47LG50
52LG50
32LG60 32LG70
37LG60 42LG70
42LG60 47LG70
47LG60 52LG70
52LG60
PLASMA TV MODELS
42PG25
50PG25
50PG60
60PG60

It can be found here (http://us.lge.com/filedown.do?filepath=1000004174&fileName=PG60_manual.pdf).

The protocol information starts on page 130. Hopefully this might help someone looking to modify the driver for these models.
I am in the process of consolidating the LG drivers that I have written. Coincidentally the impetus was a new LG driver that was working perfectly on Friday on a 42LG30 and is written to control the LG30/LGX/50/60/70/90 LCD tvs and 25/60/70 plasma tvs as well as the 23LS7DC LCD tv. I'm just tired of trying to maintain all of the copies.

I broke a little part when I integrated the first two drivers and will be testing today. Give me a bit and I will post the new driver.

[Edit] Added the driver pack to this post

sic0048

10-01-2008, 06:39 AM

I am in the process of consolidating the LG drivers that I have written. Coincidentally the impetus was a new LG driver that was working perfectly on Friday on a 42LG30 and is written to control the LG30/LGX/50/60/70/90 LCD tvs and 25/60/70 plasma tvs as well as the 23LS7DC LCD tv. I'm just tired of trying to maintain all of the copies.

I broke a little part when I integrated the first two drivers and will be testing today. Give me a bit and I will post the new driver.

Any luck on getting this driver out? I'm not in a rush as I haven't even installed the TV yet, but I thought it would be nice to test out.

Thanks,

znelbok

10-01-2008, 12:55 PM

I am in the process of consolidating the LG drivers that I have written. Coincidentally the impetus was a new LG driver that was working perfectly on Friday on a 42LG30 and is written to control the LG30/LGX/50/60/70/90 LCD tvs and 25/60/70 plasma tvs as well as the 23LS7DC LCD tv. I'm just tired of trying to maintain all of the copies.

I have found that while the documentation is the same (apart from slight variations) the TV's sometimes respond differently across models. That is one of the reasons why I ended up having separate drivers for them all

Mick

Mark Stega

10-01-2008, 01:39 PM

I have found that while the documentation is the same (apart from slight variations) the TV's sometimes respond differently across models. That is one of the reasons why I ended up having separate drivers for them all

MickI am handling the differences (so far) by keying on the model...

kblagron

10-01-2008, 08:40 PM

If you need any help with a 32LC7D, let me know. I built one from some of the others that znelbok put together, had to slow down some timings to get it to work, but it still crashed at times.

sic0048

11-06-2008, 05:19 AM

Wel I finally tested out the Universal LG driver for the 32LG30 that I bought for my parents. It seems to work fine, but it does show "connected" to the device as soon as you load the driver. I didn't even had the serial cable connected, but it still showed connected. I'm not sure if that is a bug in the driver or an expected result. It made me think that the driver was only 1 way, but I guess it does poll the TV some.

I also bought a Zenith TV and since LG produces the Zenith models I hoped that the TV would be controllable via the LG driver. The Zenith TV has a serial port that is labeled as a "Service & Control" port, but I called Zenith and they said that TV was not controllable.

However, the LG Universal driver (using the LG30/LGX/50/60/70/90 option) does seem to control the TV just fine. All the commands I tried via the driver worked on the TV. However, the driver does fail occationally, so I think the driver polling must produce an unexpected answer.

So here is my question. What is the easiest way to figure out what the unexpected results are? Is it best to run the driver in the test harness? Will that allow me to see the commands and responses? Or do I need to start Hyperterm or similar program and manually send out commands?

Thanks for the help.

Mark Stega

11-06-2008, 06:27 AM

Brian,

The immediate connect is expected as the protocol is a 'dead if off' protocol. In other words you can't poll when the device is off, so the only thing you can do is declare that it is connected and only accept a power on command.

In terms of the Zenith I think if you putthe driver in verbose=high mode then we should be able to see the unexpected reply to the poll and to make whatever shanges are needed.

sic0048

11-08-2008, 03:30 PM

Here is the log. At first, the TV would not turn on when using the driver to do it. But after turning the TV on manually, the TV would respond to power commands. I could turn if off from the driver, and then turn it back on from the driver. So that was kind of weird IMHO. But all the other commands seem to work. The driver does get knocked out - hopefully the log will let you know how the TV is responding to commands and polling.

I can also try something out if you need me to or provide more information if I need to.

Thanks for your help.

Mark Stega

11-09-2008, 02:55 AM

The log shows that the reply to the query for the current input is "ff", not a valid value. I've built a driver that has a special field value of input (Unknown) corresponding to the ff. You have to pick Zenith as the model.

You'll have to capture the power on anomoly for me to look at that.

sic0048

11-09-2008, 01:38 PM

Thanks for the new version Mark. It seems to work with the polling of the Zenith. At least the driver stays online now.

But.....

It seems that you might have messed something up inadvertantly. In version .13, the "remote" field has the same options as the "input" field. In other words, both fields will change the input. On version .11, the "remote" field allows you to change the channel, move the cursor, change the volume, etc.

If you can correct that to bring back the correct options for the "remote" field, I think this will work.

The TV still does not respond to a power command the first time you connect it until the TV is turned on manually. I turned the .13 version driver on high verbose mode. I can see the command being issued by the driver, but it times out before receiving a reply. So the TV must be dead for some reason.

I've attached a log so you can see it, but I don't think this is a driver issue. It has to be a TV problem. One that I hope I can figure out!

Thanks,

Mark Stega

11-09-2008, 03:53 PM

Brian,

Yep, that was a simple typo on my part that disabled the remote codes. Try this driver, it is still .13 since I am certain no one else ran out and tried it...

You are correct in your assessment of the power on. I can see the command going out with no reply. Good luck with this one...

sic0048

11-09-2008, 05:15 PM

Thanks, that fixed it.

I've also played with the TV a little more. It seems that it won't respond to a power on command from the driver until the TV is turned on manually 1 time. After that, the TV seems to respond to the driver until you unplug the TV. Then it is dead again until you turn it on manually.

After unplugging the TV (and plugging it back in) I've turned it on and immediately turned it off, and it will still turn on from the driver after that. But for some reason, it needs to be powered on manually before accepting commands from the serial plug. I've even removed the driver several times in all this, and the TV will respond to the new driver immediately.

I'll need to leave it alone for a longer period of time before I am ready to rely on my assumption, but I've left it powered off for over an hour and the TV will still respond via the driver, so it does seem to be an issue with removing complete power to the TV that kills the serial plug.

If anyone has similar experiences, I'd love to hear about it.

Thanks again for modifying this driver for me. I was hoping this TV would respond to serial commands (but Zenith service department told me it wouldn't), but I didn't think it was going to be this easy. :-)

SamVimes2

12-24-2008, 11:09 AM

I am trying this driver with an LG 42LG50 and seeing the driver continually lose and try to regain its connection. It will be usable for about 1 minute after i add the driver (tested power and input commands successfully) but then will throw exceptions about not being connected.

I've attached a log snap. Any advice?

Thanks!

Dean Roddey

12-24-2008, 01:22 PM

It's getting back some response it doesn't understand, in response to whatever the kc 01 FF message is asking for.

SamVimes2

12-24-2008, 09:36 PM

So what's the next move to tracking it down?

znelbok

12-25-2008, 02:20 AM

That is the request for a field status (can remember what C is for at the moment).

From my experience (and this is why a generic was never used), the LG's all have the same protocol, but the data comming back, while the same (most of the time) is at different positions, hence I started writing drivers for each individual model as they were requested.

I cant comment on how Mark tried to get around this with his generic driver so he can answer how it should be resolved.

Mick

Mark Stega

12-25-2008, 02:40 AM

So what's the next move to tracking it down?

Actually it is the query for aspect ratio and I wasn't handling the return value of 9 ('JustScan'). Here is an updated driver.

Merry Christmas to all!

I have to start cooking for 14 people, so tech support may slow down a bit today & tomorrow from my side :-)

SamVimes2

12-25-2008, 06:46 AM

BEST. FORUM. EVER.

Works great. Thanks very much.

Mark Stega

01-23-2009, 04:10 AM

Attached is a new universal LG driver; It has one change and HAS NOT been tested:

//
// 0.15 23JAN2009 MS Added prompt in manifest for 'no aspect ratio' poll to deal with the erroneous
// behavior of the 47LG50UA and the 60DG60F which display the aspect ratio on screen
// when polled.
//

znelbok

01-23-2009, 04:15 AM

Yes, I have come across this before and had to remove the AR field to resolve it. It was not my set that did it so hopefully the person with the set mentioned can test it for us all.

Mick

the_zooter

02-09-2009, 10:07 PM

Great posts - thanks guys :)

dangerlong

07-06-2009, 07:06 AM

Mark Stega

07-06-2009, 08:11 AM

I have a LG37LH20 (the cheaper 720p model). I am using driver version .15, option selected is the 30-50-60-70-90 LCD.

Everything works great except I think I am having the same issue with the volume as was reported with the aspect ratio polling previously. Every so often, the volume level will flash on the screen when nothing has been changed. When I loaded the driver without checking to suppress polling of the aspect ratio, it appeared at the same intervals as the aspect ratio.

Is there an easy fix for this, or should I wait until the next release of the driver? I was going to try and modify the driver, but then I realized I don't even know where to begin and don't know what I am doing.

Thoughts?
Pat
It is an issue with the TV. All you can do is play with the driver to suppress other fields from being polled.

You open up the driver in the driver test harness, find the Poll() method, and then, one at a time, comment out a particular field poll. Run the driver in the harness and see if that fixes the issue. If you can figure out which field is making the volume appear we can add another prompt to suppress that field. Another option would be to make an option for the driver to be one way and not do any polling at all.

For example, to take away volume polling this code

ElseIf (m_PollField = PollField.Volume)
If (ProcessQuery(kQueryVolume))
m_LastSuccessfulPollTime := m_TimeInfo.GetCurStamp();
EndIf;

would become

ElseIf (m_PollField = PollField.Volume)
// If (ProcessQuery(kQueryVolume))
m_LastSuccessfulPollTime := m_TimeInfo.GetCurStamp();
// EndIf;

and so forth.

dangerlong

07-10-2009, 05:05 AM

I got around to playing with the driver a little last ngiht and got it working for me. I had to comment out three fields -- volume, audio mute, and aspect ratio.

I tried each field individually and also just two of the fields in varying configurations, but had no luck. I imagine I did something wrong, or didn't need all three suppressed, but it is working for me now so I will take it.

Thanks for the help.

Pat

Mark Stega

07-10-2009, 06:45 AM

Pat,

Here is version .16 of the driver which prompts for supression of all three fields. If youcan verify that it works I'll send it on to Dean as the next release of the driver.

Dean Roddey

07-10-2009, 10:32 AM

We might want to also get confirmation from some existing users that it's still working ok.

znelbok

07-10-2009, 01:03 PM

Mark Stega

07-10-2009, 01:20 PM

Why not write the driver so that the manigest prompts the users to select which fields they want to use. Most will select all, but for the occasion where some are causing issues, the user can easily tick one at a time and determine which field is the problem.

That would prevent the need for manually editing the driver and produce a more professional look and feel.

Mick In essence I did just that starting back in January when bryanb first had the problem. The manifest prompt to suppress polling of the three problematic fields. I suppose I could have done all fields...

[edit] Having the driver edits done was just to discover what fields were an issue.

znelbok

07-11-2009, 12:49 AM

Yeah I was aware of that, I have been following this closely.

Now that we are seeing issues like this across different sets it may be a wise option to follow (that's just my opinion though).

I am looking for a new bedroom TV and it will be a LG. It looks like I need to take the laptop into the showroom and run up CQC and test the driver against the TV to see how it responds before purchasing.

Mick

dangerlong

07-13-2009, 04:30 AM

Sorry, just responding now because of my weekend honey do lists.

I have used the new driver for the last day and a half without any problems. I tested all functions that my model has, and they all worked. Of course that might not be indicative of anything since it was my model that was originally having the problems.

Thanks, all the help is appreciated.

Pat

MavRic

07-31-2009, 09:45 AM

Has anybody been able to make this driver work for a 19LG30.

It's DB9 port says 'service' and not 'control. :(

sic0048

07-31-2009, 12:26 PM

Has anybody been able to make this driver work for a 19LG30.

It's DB9 port says 'service' and not 'control. :(

I'd love to know for sure whether it worked with that TV or not. But everything I've read leads me to believe that you have to get the 26GL30 or larger size in order for the serial port to be controllable.

Personally I was able to find a 21" Zenith TV (made by LG) that had a serial port that was labeled service and control. But finding a small serial controllable TV is very, very hard. There is an old thread around here that I started when I was looking for one.

bryanb

08-03-2009, 06:06 AM

The driver works fine with a 20LS7D, so I wouldn't think it's just the size that's the problem.

znelbok

08-03-2009, 04:15 PM

My mind went straight to the gutter with that last comment :-)

sic0048

08-04-2009, 06:07 AM

The driver works fine with a 20LS7D, so I wouldn't think it's just the size that's the problem.

What I mean is that in the xxLG30 (and xxLG40, xxLG50, etc, etc) series, the 19" size is not controllable via it's serial input. It seems to only be for updates. The larger TVs in this series all seem to be controllable via their serial port. But I have not had a 19LG30 at my disposal to prove this beyond a reasonable doubt.

When I was looking for a 19-22" size TV I didn't have the ability to test this out. But I was lucky enough to find the Zenith TV (which LG makes) and it worked with Mark making a minor modification to the LG driver.

bryanb

08-04-2009, 06:27 AM

Here is a link to the xxLG30 manual. It references the 19LG30 and in the back of the manual it contains the RS-232 commands. So you would think that the 19LG30 would respond to the same commands.

http://www.lge.com/us/support/product/support-product-profile.jsp?customerModelCode=19LG30-UA&initialTab=documents&targetPage=support-product-profile#

sic0048

08-04-2009, 07:04 AM

That manual is also for the 22" size and 26" size. So the protocol could be only for the 26" size which is what the manual alludes to (notice the back of the 19/22" TV and the serial port is labeled "Service Only" while the 26" version lists it as "Service and Control". However it would be nice if someone could verify that so we could be 100% sure.

bryanb

08-04-2009, 08:05 AM

You may very well be right. My experience has been that ever LG I've tried to control has worked. But my 20" does say "Control & Service". Unless the xxLG30 manual says that the 19 & 22 TVs don't respond to the RS232 control, I would think that they would. Good luck.

sic0048

08-04-2009, 09:05 AM

Well page 94 of the linked manual states.

EXTERNAL CONTROL THROUGH RS-232C - Only 26LG30/30DC, 22LG30DC
The RS-232C port allows you connect the RS-232C input jack to an external control device (such as a computer
or an A/V control system) to control the TV’s functions externally.

Hence the reason we don't think the 19 or 22" LG30 series TVs will work with CQC. It's unfortunate because those TVs are pretty popular. Finding smaller sized serial controlled TVs has been pretty hard. I'm not sure what is out on the market today however - it's been about 6-9mo since my search.

EDIT - It does look like LG's 19LU55, 19LH20, 22LH200C, and 22LU55 models do have a service and control serial port. So there may be more options from LG in the smaller sizes now. That is good news IMHO.

zpollock

08-05-2009, 01:17 PM

I've tried controlling a 19LG30 with no luck. I poked around the service menus hoping there might be a hidden feature that would enable it, but wasn't able to find an option to enable it.

jpants

08-26-2009, 05:49 AM

Is the universal driver the one released in 3.0?

Thanks.

John

Neurorad

11-21-2009, 10:00 AM

I came across an LG LCD owners manual, detailing 232 control, appendix, p. 116.

This single manual covers these models:
19LH20, 22LH20, 26LH20, 32LH20, 37LH20, 42LH20
22LH200C
32LH30, 37LH30, 42LH30, 47LH30
32LF11, 37LF11, 42LF11, 47LF11
19LU55, 22LU55, 26LU55
32CL20
47LF21

The manual does not state that only some can be controlled with 232 - it appears that all can.

Manual link:
http://www.lge.com/us/support/product/support-product-profile.jsp?customerModelCode=22LU55-UB&initialTab=documents&targetPage=support-product-profile

Again, the serial protocol details start on p. 116.

Would a new driver have to be written, or would the 'universal' LG driver suffice?

Thanks,

Joe/Neurorad

Edit - FWIW, I'm looking specifically at the 26LH20 (720p).

Or, 26LU55 (1080p).

zpollock

11-21-2009, 04:24 PM

From a quick scan of the protocol it looks the same as past models, so the universal driver should work unless there are new featured in the LH series that weren't in past versions.

It's nice to see that in this series they've extended control all the way down to the 19" model. That wasn't true in the previous series.

Neurorad

11-21-2009, 04:26 PM

Thanks so much for looking!

potts.mike

12-01-2009, 11:02 AM

Is anyone using this driver with the LG 50PQ30? Its an older 720P plasma of theirs. The manual shows rs-232 control but does not include a protocol.

znelbok

12-01-2009, 02:22 PM

Have you tried the driver?

LG have not really changed the protocol over the years, so there is a good chance that it will work with older models.

If it does not then get a protocol doc from another model and try some simple commands from hyper-terminal, such as power status etc. If they work then it is probably just the field used to connect that is stopping it from working.

Mick

potts.mike

12-01-2009, 02:53 PM

The tv will be in at the beginning of next week and then I will need to make a cable for it. I'll set it up and see what happens.

Mark Stega

12-07-2009, 08:35 AM

Is the universal driver the one released in 3.0?

Thanks.

John No - It was not been added to the release as we kept finding more anomalies in the LG protocol. I guess since it hasn't been updated since last July it may be time. Anyhow, to further things along I've attached the current version (0.16)

Dean Roddey

12-10-2009, 03:07 PM

It was added to the last beta drop, 3.0.30, so you may want to remove the user one and use the new system one instead.

potts.mike

03-06-2010, 06:31 PM

I finally got around to running another cat5 to the new tv and I have tried each of the options on the driver install and the tv does not respond to any command. I am thinking that my model is not supported since its an older lower cost set. What is the process of connection though hyperterminal so the I can ensure my wiring is correct.

I did create a crossover cable as it showed in the manual.

Any thoughts appreciated

-Mike

zpollock

03-06-2010, 07:05 PM

What model is your set? Does it have the power saving feature? If so, make sure that function is disabled.

You can send ASCII serial strings directly from a command prompt without even getting Hyperterminal involved. Just open a command prompt and type "echo XXXXX>COM1" where XXXXX is the command you want to send. This will send it out of COM 1, but of course you can change the port number if necessary.

If I remember correctly, I'm pretty certain that you do not want a crossover cable unless your LG is a really old model that is different from the last couple of generations.

potts.mike

03-06-2010, 07:20 PM

The model is a 50pq30 its a 720p plasma set. On page 116 of the manual it shows the pinouts for the cable and they appear to be cross over to me although I have never dealt with any of this. I am not familiar with ASCI commands, what is an example of something I can put in to, say, change the input.

TV manual here: http://www.lge.com/us/products/documents/42PQ30.PDF

zpollock

03-07-2010, 01:47 PM

Mike,

You're right, the manual does clearly state that it needs to be a crossover cable. I didn't recall that as being the case, but it's been a while since I last messed with one so perhaps I just forgot that part.

ASCII commands are just basic plain text, so some example commands that you can try from the command prompt would be the following:

These commands assume that the power saving feature is disabled, your set ID is 1 (the default), and you're sending out of COM 1.

Power On - "echo ka 1 01>COM1" then enter.
Power Off - "echo ka 1 00>COM1" then enter.
Component 1 Input - "echo xb 1 40>COM1" then enter.
HDMI 1 Input - "echo xb 1 90>COM1" then enter.

I'm a bit rusty, but hopefully those commands are correct.

potts.mike

03-07-2010, 05:07 PM

So I tried these commands at a prompt and it keeps returning access denied. what does this mean? I am sure this is easier than I am making it, thanks for the help.

znelbok

03-07-2010, 05:41 PM

Try it in hyper-terminal then.

Open up hyper-terminal and then open the file attached (after removing the .txt from the file name). This will create the connection with the setting required for the TV.

This assumes that you are using COM1.

Try the commands above and there are some more below

ie

xb 1 40 (to select input DTV)
ke 1 1 (mute volume)
ke 1 0 (un-mute)
etc.

You should see a response after you type the in. If you do you have the cable right, if not then try again. You only need the three wire version.

The cable has always been a "cross-over cable" as you call it. I have not seen a LG TV that is yet to use a straight through cable.

This TV appears to be slightly different in the Input select. It appears to use the command xb instead of kb. If you don't get any

The data for the input select appears to be different from what I remember as well.

That could mean that there are other differences across the protocol. Most should be the same, but there is probably enough difference to stopthe driver working properly. The differences are only minor so it should be a simple task for someone to update the driver to get it working.

Mick

potts.mike

03-07-2010, 06:56 PM

I did not use the file because I am using port five but I am pretty sure that I set the baud rate correct and everything. The first time I tried to connect it said another program was using the port so I went in and removed the driver. now when I try to connect hyperterminal says that it is connected but it wont take any commands. When I type nothing appears.

I am using RDP to get on the master server that is using an edgeport to add serial ports if that matters.

zpollock

03-07-2010, 07:13 PM

You'll need to turn echo typed characters on in order to see the characters as you type. You can do so under File --> Properties --> Settings --> ASCII Setup.

Do you have the ability to connect a test system (it doesn't have to be the server) directly to the set via a good known cable rather than through Cat5? Make sure that you can control the set locally and then work back from there.

potts.mike

03-07-2010, 08:00 PM

The closet that I can get is to pull the edgeport and use it on my computer with a factory made cat5 cable. It will be a while before I can get to this though.

znelbok

03-08-2010, 03:08 AM

You'll need to turn echo typed characters on in order to see the characters as you type. You can do so under File --> Properties --> Settings --> ASCII Setup.

I don't think is necessary if the cable is wired correctly, the TV will echo the commands.

By turning on the echo, you will probably see double the characters (lliikkee tthhiiss). One is hyperterminal showing the character and the other is the TV returning the character

Do you have the ability to connect a test system (it doesn't have to be the server) directly to the set via a good known cable rather than through Cat5? Make sure that you can control the set locally and then work back from there.

Thats the best way to go, take a laptop and connect it via the serial port and try that. It is unlikely that the TV wont work via serial, you just need to get the cable right.

Mick

sic0048

03-08-2010, 04:54 AM

Is hyperterm set to echo characters? If not, it won't display what you are typing, even though it is working.

potts.mike

03-08-2010, 07:39 AM

THe wife pointed out that the remote does not work when the serial is plugged in so I think this is a show stopper unless I get an s70, which I wont be for a while.

zpollock

03-08-2010, 07:45 AM

Unless it's something specific to your model, having the serial port connected on an LG does not typically prevent the IR from functioning. Perhaps there is a problem in your connection that is causing a feedback loop or something?

Have you tried just connecting a known good cable directly to any PC and then testing the IR?

sic0048

03-08-2010, 08:59 AM

What I have noticed with my SharpTVs is that the polling of the driver does effect the TV. Specifically, it doesn't effect the remote control, but you cannot pull up and interact with menus on the screen. So some functions like choosing an input don't work well. Normally when you press the input button, the input menu pops up and you choose the specific input you want to use by using the direction up or down keys and pressing select. The polling will cause the popup menu to close before you can make a selection. (I think the driver polls several times per second).

That being said, any command that doesn't make a menu pop up should work just fine. So channel changes, volume changes, power on/off, etc all should work fine.

Things that don't work well include: setup, color calibration, input changes, etc. Basically anything that pops up a menu that you then have to choose from won't work with the driver connected and polling.

I have a couple LG and Zenith (manufactured by LG) TVs that I am installing at my parents setup. I believe they worked the same way as my Sharp TVs, but can double check if necessary.

zpollock

03-08-2010, 09:04 AM

If I'm reading right, Mike hasn't actually gotten a working driver connection. Just the fact that the cable is connected shouldn't impact the menus if there is no communication going on, right?

potts.mike

03-08-2010, 09:35 AM

The driver has not actually connected but last night I had the cable connected and the tv would not respond to power on commands. I unplugged the cable and the tv powered right up.

zpollock

03-08-2010, 09:53 AM

I understand what you're saying about it not powering up. My point was just that the problem could be due to a wiring problem rather than an inability for the serial and IR control to coexist. In particular, if the Tx and Rx pins are connected then the set will see all of its acknowledgments come back as commands, which it will then acknowledge as invalid, and you end up with an endless communication loop which ties up the control systems.

A test for this would be to try a known good commercial cable directly to a PC as I suggested previously.

potts.mike

03-08-2010, 10:21 AM

I think I will hit up radio shack and see if I can not find a cable this weekend and work on it.

znelbok

04-13-2010, 04:12 PM

Just want to report my experience with a new TV

Just purchased an 42" LED LCD for the bedroom yesterday (42SL90QD - borderless).

It connects fine to the Universal driver, but unfortunately suffers from the volume OSD issue when the volume and mute are polled. Other wise fine.

As this is an AU TV, the driver is not exactly right for it, we dont have cable tuners and some of the other parts are missing.

Mark - Maybe we can add a region flag into the manifest so that enumerated values like the cable tuner are added only to the US versions. I will gladly help with sorthing through what is and is not available.

Also, would it be worth trying to put this OSD issue to LG and get them to try and either fix the problem or ensure that it is not propogated through newer models. Obviously they have made a small error intheir code somewhere in the past and it is not being fixed with new models.

Mick

znelbok

11-07-2010, 07:52 PM

I think there needs to be some mods to the generic LG driver.

After using it for a while, I believe we need the following

The volume field can;t be used with a slider widget (does not show in the list of available fields) so I sync a variable driver field with the volume so I can get a slider working.

Problem is that since we are not polling the volume, the volume gets out of sync - not a big issue expect at turn on (for me at least).

Since we cant poll the volume and mute status, it would be good if the driver would poll this once after connecting and then never again. THat way the variable driver could be synced with the volume.

I know this should be easy to write, but its beyond me to work out what Mark has done.

Mick

SamVimes2

11-25-2010, 08:46 AM

Didn't see it mentioned specifically, so i'll note that this driver works with the 55LX9500 model.

SamVimes2

03-05-2011, 12:38 PM

The driver does not seem to work well with the wireless media kit, AN-WL100W. I believe the issue is that having the kit connected adds many additional inputs to the TV, that the driver is not aware of. If I load the driver connected to a regular input, it comes online successfully. If I load the driver while the TV is one of the wireless inputs, it does not really connect.

I looked online but have not been able to find good documentation of how the wireless inputs are encoded over the serial port. Is there any way to load the driver up in the IDE and deduce them?

Thanks for any advice!

zra

03-10-2011, 04:16 PM

Samvimes,

you are using the rs-232 connection, right?

im about to buy an LG - looking at the 47LE5500.

Does anyone know if i can expect the the LG driver to work?

sic0048

03-10-2011, 05:21 PM

LG is very good about printing the control protocol in their product manuals. So pull the manual for the TV you want and one of the TVs listed under the driver and see how many of the commands are the same. I suspect that the vast majority of the commands are the same. If there are a couple that are different, that is OK because the driver can be modified to work with the different commands. Mark Stega has been very helpful in doing this in the past. As long as he has some time, I hope he would continue. But you could always ask him to make sure if you find any differences. If he cannot change it, I'm sure one of the other guys could pretty easily.

zra

03-12-2011, 06:42 AM

Thanks Brian,

Appreciate that.

paul

04-25-2011, 12:10 AM

I have been using the universal lg driver on my lg tv for quite a few months now without any issues but a few days ago it stopped turning on. If i turn the tv on with the remote all works as normal. I also have two other lg's using the same driver without any issues.
Im on version 3.4.17
Looking at the log server monitor it wont respond when off, see below

04/25 17:45:30-server, CQCServer, CQCDrv_lg26_Thread26
{
CQCKit, MEng.System.CQC.Runtime.CQCLogger.511, Status/App Status
Sending a QUERY message:ka 01 ff

}
04/25 17:45:30-server, CQCServer, CQCDrv_lg26_Thread26
{
CQCKit, MEng.System.CQC.Runtime.CQCLogger.419, Status/App Status
Timeout - No message received
}

SamVimes2

04-25-2011, 03:13 AM

is it an internet connected tv? did your TV just have a firmware update? I noticed one happened several days ago.

paul

04-25-2011, 05:30 AM

is it an internet connected tv? did your TV just have a firmware update? I noticed one happened several days ago.
nah, serial control

znelbok

04-25-2011, 05:39 AM

I didn't think that the LG's responded when off anyway, hence the deadifoff setting required for a PDL driver with these TV's.

I have two running with the universal driver and one responds with hte message abve (as I would expect) and the other responds with 01 OK00 which is a surprise - it would seem that the TV's serial comms work when it is off.

The first is an LCD and the second is a Plasma.

The third LG I have is running a PDL driver and I know it does not respond when off.

Out of interest, the LCD's appear to run a slightly different firware wrt the serial protocol in that the volume and mute fields etc will pop up the in screen display when queried, but the Plasma's dont and thus allow all fields of the universal to work properly.

Run the log on high and try turning it on. We should see the command going out and the reply back from it.

Mick

SamVimes2

04-25-2011, 05:45 AM

nah, serial control

I meant do you have your TV connected to the internet in addition to serial. If it was working before, and suddenly stopped, a change in firmware could explain it.

I have two LG LCDs that both respond properly to the power on serial command when off. However one using the wireless media system does not work as well.

zpollock

04-25-2011, 08:06 AM

Make sure that the energy saving mode didn't get turned on in your set. That will cause the system to appear dead when off. Disabling that feature will allow the serial port to power it on.

znelbok

04-25-2011, 01:02 PM

I don't see this behaviour wih my set at all. Its set to maximum and it still works fine

Mick

zpollock

04-25-2011, 01:21 PM

That's interesting - perhaps they've changed that behavior. I've worked with several models over the past few years that won't turn on in power saving, but work fine with that disabled.

paul

04-25-2011, 01:46 PM

Its not a net tv, one of my others is though and connected, its fine.
The energy saving is turned off.

Here is the response when verbose on high and power on command sent
04/26 07:34:33-server, CQCServer, CIDOrbSrvWorkThread_4
{
CQCKit, MEng.System.CQC.Runtime.CQCLogger.475, Status/App Status
Sending a COMMAND message:ka 01 01

}
04/26 07:34:33-server, CQCServer, CIDOrbSrvWorkThread_4
{
CQCKit, MEng.System.CQC.Runtime.CQCLogger.419, Status/App Status
Timeout - No message received
}
04/26 07:34:38-server, CQCServer, CIDOrbSrvWorkThread_1
{
CQCKit, MEng.System.CQC.Runtime.CQCLogger.475, Status/App Status
Sending a COMMAND message:xb 01 00

}
04/26 07:34:39-server, CQCServer, CIDOrbSrvWorkThread_1
{
CQCKit, MEng.System.CQC.Runtime.CQCLogger.419, Status/App Status
Timeout - No message received
}
04/26 07:34:50-server, CQCServer, CQCDrv_lg26_Thread26
{
CQCKit, MEng.System.CQC.Runtime.CQCLogger.511, Status/App Status
Sending a QUERY message:kc 01 ff

}
04/26 07:34:51-server, CQCServer, CQCDrv_lg26_Thread26
{
CQCKit, MEng.System.CQC.Runtime.CQCLogger.419, Status/App Status
Timeout - No message received
}

znelbok

04-25-2011, 01:50 PM

The set is not replying to the on command which confirms that its not CQC that is the problem.

Check that the set ID is still set to 1 - it probably is considering you said it works fine when you turn it on manually.

You might have to go back to hyper-terminal and run a few test to see what is happening. Just run through the TV menus as well and see if there is something amiss there.

Mick

paul

04-25-2011, 02:00 PM

yeah already checked id and the rest but all seems right.
Ill connect through ht and try turning it on?

paul

04-25-2011, 02:07 PM

i sent power? with tv on and it responded
o 01 NG00x
get nothing when its off

paul

04-25-2011, 02:59 PM

i just reset the tv to factory default and now it will turn on. I went back through all the settings again to see what changed and all seemed the same. There isnt much in the settings of these tv's in order for them to work so i realy have no idea but its working now. Thank u all for your help.

znelbok

04-25-2011, 04:23 PM

Good to see it is working

The power? query was not the right. It should have been ka 01 ff

ka is the the power command
01 is the set ID
ff indicates that you want the TV to report the status of the field indicated (ka in this case)

Mick

znelbok

09-26-2011, 03:14 PM

Some feedback

I bought a 2011 model 32" LG Smart TV yesterday. Its a LCD model and it is not exhibiting any of the previous LCD issues with the driver.

The universal driver connects fine and the polling of volume or aspect ratio did not have to be turned off.

All control worked fine.

Just have to work out how to contril via ethernet now.

Mick

paul

03-03-2012, 12:21 AM

There is a new line up of slimline LG's hitting our shores next month (Australia) but information is limited to us atm. I am trying to find out if they still have the RS232 port for serial control on the back. I have visited the LG US site and have taken a look at the specs on the new slimline tv's and it doesnt say anything about the port. Is anybody from the US in a position to physically confirm this?
If the new generations of LG's dont have a serial port are they able to be comtrolled using IP? If not what other options do we have for serial controlled tv's without the LG's?

zra

03-03-2012, 08:52 AM

paul do you have a model number?

i just bought a 42 inch a month ago. 42LV5500 and it has the RS232 port. i just went on their sight and in the technical specs under rear inputs and outputs the rs232c is listed. thats what you should be looking for. dont assume that all have it because before i bought the 42LV5500 i got the lower end model(number excapes me right now) and it DID NOT have it and i had to return it.

im not sure if this is a response to your question because i dont see the discriptor "slimline" in any of the listed models on their site.
hope ive helped.

paul

03-03-2012, 11:23 AM

sorry yeah i was a bit vague there.
here are three models I have been told we are getting though there may be more
You
LS4600
LS5700
LM6200

znelbok

07-19-2012, 04:19 PM

It would appear that the 2012 models do not have the traditional RS232 port on them any more. After a scout around in the local Harvey Norman, it revealed that all models from the smallest to the largest do not have the serial port.

It would appear the LG are looking at IP as their option for control but as yet there is no information on how to do this [This is my opinion and hopes].

I did come across this page http://www.lgrs232.com/ and there is a paragraph at the top that is of interest.

2012 USB Instructions
Some 2012 TVs have no Serial port. RS-232 is supported via a USB port. A special adapter is required to convert USB to Serial.

So there is hope after all.

Download the instructions (http://www.lglearn.com/rs232/LG_2012_RS232_USB.pdf) (http://www.lglearn.com/rs232/LG_2012_RS232_USB.pdf) and have a read, it appears that a USB to serial adapter is required. it will be interesting to see if it is specific to the one in the document (ATEN UC-232A) or if any will work [probably not].

This site has an e-mail for a technical training contact so I will open a dialog with them about control via IP and hopefully we can bypass the morons on the phones that know nothing.

Mick

sic0048

07-20-2012, 04:09 PM

Uh oh. Maybe it's time to get the 32" TV for the master bedroom! I definitely needs to be controllable.

znelbok

07-20-2012, 05:09 PM

No dont a 32. Put a 42" in. I bought a 42" thinking it was too big and its perfect in there. The handbrake of course said it was way too big, but she does not coplain anymore - I think she finds it a good size as well.

Mick

sic0048

07-21-2012, 11:42 AM

I got a 42" LGTV for a smoking hot price (price mistake at Best Buy) and we had it in the bedroom for a little while. But it really was too big in there and so it went downstairs in the "playroom."

znelbok

11-12-2012, 05:43 PM

OK, went to the local Harvey Norman today to look at a 32" TV for the kids and asked them if I could try out the PC with the TV's.

I had already purchased the ATEN USB serial adapter.

I plugged it in and it worked fine. There is only one problem. When the TV is turned off the USB port is turned off as well so it cant be turned back on via a command (ka 1 01).

I may have been a little too impaitent though as this is on the LGrs232.com site
On some models, there will be a time delay between the Power ON command and the ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.
and something to note when modifying the driver
Some models, will not reply to a STATUS request or a Power ON command when the Power is OFF

Bit of a pain unfortunately as power on is an important feature.

Good news is that a query (e.g. volume) does not produce an on screen display to show (as documented in previous models).

Mick

kblagron

12-14-2012, 01:32 PM

I didn't see it listed in this thread, so maybe someone can direct me - or tell me what a dufus I am for missing it.

I have a 47" LG LCD TV, and using the LG Universal Serial Driver. Its probably the first serial driver that I plugged in, loaded in the Admin, and it worked without realizing a wire was crossed.

What I want to do is is trigger it so that the TV switches to Analog on channel 65 whenever the outside motion detector is tripped, so you can view cameras.

The trigger works great, and the driver switches to Analog and displays the camera. However, if it is not on channel 65, I don't see where I can send a command to change it. Am I missing something? Do I need to send the D6 and D5 command? It wasn't really documented in the driver docs, so I am a bit lost.

Regards,
Blake

znelbok

12-14-2012, 02:16 PM

Yeah, you need to switch to analog and then send the numbers for the channels.

An OK/Enter after the numbers will speed that up as well as the TV may wait for a third number before changing.

I do a similar thing with my camera when motion is detected, but I have PIP - gonna miss that when the TV expires.

Mick

sic0048

12-15-2012, 10:16 AM

Yeah what ever happened to PIP? I guess no one wanted or had two different sources to plug into the TV and so PIP was largely unused. However it would be great to have as I often have two sources that I want to view/switch between.

Dean Roddey

12-15-2012, 01:20 PM

There's an app for that now of course. You just tape a tablet onto the lower corner of the TV.

potts.mike

12-16-2012, 10:39 AM

The problem with pip on my Samsung is that one of the pictures has to be the Qam tuner and I don't even have coax hooked up.

znelbok

12-25-2012, 11:36 AM

OK, Got two 32" 2012 models installed now and there are a few issues

i can't power on the TV's as it appears the USB port is powered off when the tv is turned off (bummer).

As these are smart TV's there is the option to use a DLNA server etc for viewing. When doing this th TV reports NG (bad request) to everything except power status and thus the driver goes into error mode.

The number of HDMI inputs is limited with the models selected (basically one only for LCD). I think the driver needs to be re-hashed a little to ask how many inputs are available and use the new xb command (instead of kb) for input selection. This should make the driver a more generic driver instead of trying to add new model numbers (like the integra/onkyo driver).

This may need a new driver as I dont know if the older TV's will support the xb (and other) commands so it may be a genereic 2012 LG driver.

Mick

znelbok

01-02-2013, 01:58 AM

I opened up the driver and it appears to use the xb command and there is a model tha tuses more inputs. Maybe that should be renamed and made the default instead of the ont that currently is.

One thing I have notices is that the vieomute field is arse -about. Its true when the videomute is off and false when on.

Mark - can you fix the videomute. Its a simple fix that I can do but you have it as a system driver and it would be better for you to do it (around line 619).

Mick

Mark Stega

01-02-2013, 05:12 AM

Mick,

Can you check setting the video mute? I don't have access to an LG TV. See line 1060 - It appears that setting the state is similarly reversed.

znelbok

01-04-2013, 02:32 PM

sorry - holiday time and I am trying not to spend it in front of the PC

Yes, they are reversed. "00" turns video mute off and "01" turns video mute on.

Can we also make the default the second on the list - "30-50-60-70 LCD + 25-60-70 Plasma" as this is more in line with a generic model than the current default as it has all the HDMI inputs etc. A rename of it as well would be good to soemthing that is more general (General LCD + Plasma for example).

Can you also add the entire IR code list as I find what is currently enumerated way too limiting. THis list wont break existing interfaces and adds everything else listed from across all models I have (which represents a large portion of models covered by the manuals)

ChannelUp : "00"
ChannelDown : "01"
VolumeUp : "02"
VolumeDown : "03"
CursorRight : "06"
CursorLeft : "07"
Power : "08"
Mute : "09"
I-II : "0A"
Input : "0B"
Sleep : "0E"
D0 : "10"
D1 : "11"
D2 : "12"
D3 : "13"
D4 : "14"
D5 : "15"
D6 : "16"
D7 : "17"
D8 : "18"
D9 : "19"
Qview : "1A"
Favourites : "1E"
Text : "20"
TOption : "21"
Time : "26"
Back : "28"
Reveal : "2A"
AVMode : "30"
Suntitle : "39"
Subtitle : "39"
CursorUp : "40"
CursorDown : "41"
Menu-Home : "43"
Enter : "44"
QuickMenu : "45"
DAInput : "50"
List : "53"
Premium : "59"
Exit : "5B"
Blue : "61"
Yellow : "63"
Size : "64"
Index : "70"
Green : "71"
Red : "72"
Ratio : "79"
XStudio : "7C"
Mark : "7D"
Simplink : "7E"
Fwd : "8E"
Rew : "8F"
EnergySaving : "95"
LiveTV : "9E"
GuideOld : "A9"
Info : "AA"
GuideNew : "AB"
Play : "B0"
Stop : "B1"
SkipBack : "B2"
SkipFwd : "B3"
Pause : "BA"
Record : "BD"
USBEject : "CA"
3D : "DC"
Brightness + : "E0"
Brightness - : "E1"
TV-Radio : "F0"

Lastly, can we also add a passthrough field for codes that are not covered by fields and IR codes. That should complete the driver and make it very flexible and future proof.

Mick

zaccari

01-10-2013, 10:48 AM

So, I'm looking to buy an LG LED, probably the 47" model next week. How do I make sure it's controllable and what wiring to I need to run to it (besides AV)? Can it work via ethernet or am I obligated to supply USB? USB might be in the cards for the short term for control as I still do not have an excellent USB-UIRT choice for control. This is for a kitchen renovation and I'm troubled with a single tablet fitting the bill. I cannot see a tablet surviving on the table. I do intend to put a PC in the corner for the children's routine use so it's not that far away.

Thanks,
Russ...

znelbok

01-10-2013, 11:34 AM

If the TV is a 2012+ model then there is mpst likely no serial port and you will have to use the USB to RS232 adapter (Aten brand only). This plugs into the TV not the PC.

Once connected its treated just like a TV with a serial port.

My experience shows that you cant turn the TV on, but that may be just my specific model and I have not played with testing different power options yet or trying a powered USB hun to keep the USB adapter powered (a power injector will be the permanent solution if it does work).

The other issue is that when you use any network function (e.g. DLNA) the TV stops replying to everything nut the power query and thus the driver goes off line intermittently.

We are also waiting on Mark to make some minor changes to the driver.

See here for more details http:\\www.lgrs232.com

Mick

sic0048

01-10-2013, 03:51 PM

So, I'm looking to buy an LG LED, probably the 47" model next week.

Thanks,
Russ...

I'd recommend looking for a Sharp LED that meets your needs. Odds are it will work with this driver and I believe the Sharp TVs still come with a RS-232 control port.

I think a USB adapter that won't allow you to turn the TV on is a total failure, but then Mick suggests that the driver dropped out anytime the TV needs a network signal - that would be the last straw for me. Either go LG Plasma (they still have the RS-232 serial control ports) or find another brand (like Sharp) IMHO.

I have LG and Sharp LCDs and this driver works with both brands.

znelbok

01-10-2013, 05:05 PM

I was not aware that the the LG driver worked witht he Sharp panels - good to know.

Looking at the sharps the other day they still had serial ports and I am of the same opinion that its a better way to go. I am not happy that I do not have full control over the TV's like I should.

The good thing about Sharp is that they are controllable by IP/Ethernet as well - something we have all been looking for in our TV's.

Mick