Problem programming

[Danijel_Pticar]

Yes I have tried two different remote, a panasonic and a sony, and both behave the same way. Maybe the Sony is a bit better, so it reproduces the same code easier than the pana, but still I thought it should work better and more reliable.

pk

I dont understand "Sony is bit better". Is uirt giving same code or not ??

I have tested uirt on lotsa computers and all worked on all firmwares (ruud, mine, jons). (UIR mode)

I found 2 problems on uirt :

1) programming problem that mabe can be solved using schematics1,2 and solved using schematics 3

2) bs170 are very sensitive (at least this what Im using), and sometimes they got damaged and than uirt wont work ok. (it comunicate with pc but IR sensor wont work, or it only receives from pc but wont send, etc, etc)


DPM

[pk]

Yes I have tried two different remote, a panasonic and a sony, and both behave the same way. Maybe the Sony is a bit better, so it reproduces the same code easier than the pana, but still I thought it should work better and more reliable.

pk

[Danijel_Pticar]

Have U tried another remote. ??

I found one (Telefunken) remote that repeats code while button is pressed and pause betwen codes is too short. Maby your remote is that kinda.


DPM

[pk]

Hi everybody!

I have a problem too. I can basically program the device with both prommer sw and hex, but with Ruud's sw I get an error at the end (error writing config word). Then I use the test mode and what happens is, that whatever button I press there is always a different string shown at each buttonpress. I assume that pressing the same button on a remote should end up with the same code, but this is not the case.

I have tried both the 4 and 10MHz versions, no luck. I also added the 22pFs to the crystal, nothing changed.

Danijel's sw works ok, no error messages, but still I get the same problem. He also has a tool to check the signals (RCV12.exe) but that does not work for me at all. No errors I can open the device(?) but does not show anything on the screen.

Any comments/idea welcome.
pk

[pk]

Hi Danijel,

Here are some more detalis. I have used the pcremote sw test mode to get the strings from the remote. Here is what I get if I press the button 1 on the sony rm-pp402 remote:

224 0 160 74 128 0 192 2 170 32 128 0 224 2 160 137 40 0
160 0 40 34 136 0 192 2 162 160 160 0 192 2 160 138 40 0
176 0 42 12 168 0 192 2 162 168 160 0 192 2 162 170 128 0
224 0 162 170 0 0 192 2 130 42 128 0 192 2 160 138 32 0
224 0 42 162 136 0 192 2 160 138 32 0 192 2 170 40 128 0
224 0 42 170 32 0 192 2 160 138 40 0 224 2 160 139 32 0
176 0 42 138 160 0 192 2 170 40 160 0 192 2 168 168 0 0
224 0 154 42 128 0 192 2 170 42 0 0 192 2 160 138 32 0
224 0 170 160 0 0 192 2 160 138 40 0 192 2 160 138 40 0
224 0 170 170 0 0 192 2 160 138 40 0 192 2 168 168 0 0
224 0 174 40 128 0 192 2 160 138 40 0 224 2 174 162 0 0
224 0 42 160 128 0 192 2 160 138 128 0 192 2 160 138 40 0
224 0 170 36 128 0 192 2 160 138 32 0 192 2 162 138 160 0
224 0 42 34 160 0 192 2 170 42 128 0 192 2 160 138 40 0
224 0 170 168 160 0 192 2 168 168 0 0 224 2 160 137 40 0
224 0 170 42 128 0 192 2 138 130 0 0 192 2 130 42 128 0

Each line is a different press.

Since there is some string each time, I assume that the hw is more or less ok, and there is no problem with the transistor or other parts. If you could give me some more details on what signals to check on the board (I have all the equipments oscope...) I can investigate that further.

This is a 10MHz version with the 22p caps on the xtal legs. I did not try the shorting of the xtal, but the programming went ok, so I guess that should not be a problem.

BTW, how to use the rcv12.exe? I can not get it work. Can that mean that there is some kind of problem with the system?

I have an IBM600E laptop, should I expect any problems beacuse of that?

Actually yesterday I managed to set-up Girder, but now for each command I have 3-4 different eventstrings, and I suppose that is not the way it should work.

Thanks,
pk

[Danijel_Pticar]

Hi.

Very strane results.

Try some other UIRT firmwares ..

rcv12.exe can be used only with my firmvare .

Thats all I can help You.. :cry:

cyya

[RobJ]

Hi all.

I haven't got a working one yet :cry: but I have noticed the programing stage is very important. The sw may say that the uirt has programed properly but there could be problems.

The only way I could get it to program properly was using DP method of shorting out the xtal. Infact I found it to be more important than the 22pf caps.

I can program the device fine but recording codes isn't happening. I'm taking a break for a week or so because it's driving me insane.

As I was saying programing it is at least half the battle.

Good luck, Rob.

[Danijel_Pticar]

Hi all.

....
The only way I could get it to program properly was using DP method of shorting out the xtal. Infact I found it to be more important than the 22pf caps.

I can program the device fine but recording codes isn't happening. I'm taking a break for a week or so because it's driving me insane.

...
Good luck, Rob.


Do you got "ERROR - No OK reply" when using test.exe UIR mode,
or
you do not get any error but no codes showes when you press your remote ?

[kari]

Hi.

As Danijel said, very strange results indeed. Sony remotes can be somewhat difficult as they always send a minimum of two codes, one preamble code which is always the same, whatever key is pressed, and then a unique code for each key which may be repeated if the key is kept pressed. You, however, seem to be getting almost completely random codes. My guess is that this might be a major timing problem.

Are the batteries in the remote fresh? (Although a remote producing such random results would hardly work on the original equipment either).

Are you sure that you programmed the UIRT with the appropriate firmware version, i.e. 10 Mhz version for a 10 Mhz crystal or 4 Mhz version for a 4 Mhz crystal?

Also, if you are using the 10 Mhz version, are you sure your PIC is a 10 or 20 MHz type? You can read this from the chip, there should be a line that reads something like this: "PIC16F84-10I/P". The 10 here is the maximum frequency at which the PIC can be operated, and must be equal to or greater than the frequency of the crystal.

Rob, have you tried to create an eventstring with the UIRT, rather than trying to record a code for replaying? Or simply tested it with f.x. Danijel's UIRT test program? This might give an indication of where the problem is as those two types of recording use different modes of the UIRT.

-Kari.

[RobJ]

Hi.

Once programed I can configure it and I don't get any errors from test.exe in either UIR or UIRT mode. I can also get rcv.exe to open the device but I don't get any codes showing.

I have used several remotes of different makes but with no luck.

Cheers, Rob.

[oe1k]

OK, what kind of IR receiver are you using in your UIRT? Are you sure it is in the 36-40 KHz range? This won't work with a 57KHz one...
-Richard

[kari]

Can you receive codes with test.exe, either in UIR or UIRT mode? I wouldn't worry to much about rcv.exe not working, I can't get it to work either but my UIRT works perfectly otherwise.

If you can receive codes with test.exe it is a configuration problem with Girder. Are you sure you're using Danijel Pticar's plugin (I assume you're using his firmware)? Different firmwares use different protocols.

If you cannot receive codes with test.exe you should start looking at the circuit itself. Double check all connections and possible short circuits. Check which type of IR receiver you're using and the pinout of it.

-Kári.

[pk]

Hi guys!

Good news. Just now I have changed the pic in the circuit and added the jumper for the xtal (can there be any pic problem?). I used Danijel's package (10MHz v1.22) and it works now quite well. At least so far I tried to learn the signals to girderfor a sony dvd player, and it is now quite reliable.

Maybe that xtal shorting helps the problem than.

Actually what I noticed is that in Girder at the bottom right corner the code is not matching the learned one. I thought it should be the same string as the learned one. Why is that so? What is then displayed there?

I found that testing the module is best with pcremote, there the testing seems to work quite well. Still even with this package I could not make the rcv12.exe work.

HW if it is interesting for someone:
PIC16F84-10/P
TSOP1740
22pF caps at the xtal
jumper across the xtal to program it
all the rest is as in Ruud's page

One other comment: when closing girder it does not close the device automatically, so then the serial port can not be used by other programs.

Thanks for everybody,
pk

[kari]

Actually what I noticed is that in Girder at the bottom right corner the code is not matching the learned one. I thought it should be the same string as the learned one. Why is that so? What is then displayed there?



I think you are running into the problem I mentioned in a previous post about Sony remotes transmitting two codes. The first code is a preamble and always the same, irrespective of which key is pressed, and thus useless for control purposes. The second code is the actual keycode.

In my case I got past this by using Danijel Pticar's firmware and his configuration program to skip the first 16 bits.

-Kári.

[pk]

Hi again!

It seems that by the time I took home the laptop and the IR it did not work any more as before. So what I did is changed the remote to Denon or something like that. I have a universal remote from sony (rmvl900) so I could change it quite easily.

I have tried this 16 bit skip too, but did not help at all.

I wonder is there anybody using a sony remote and had no problems with it? since the remote works well with the sony equipment I have, I assume that the code it sends is detectable and correct. So why is there so much problem with the UIRT+sony?

pk

[kari]

Actually I'm using a Sony universal remote myself, though mine is model RM-V70T. I keep mine on the default (Sony) setting. I don't know why the 16-bit skip works for me but not for you :( .

The difficulty with the Sony remotes is not that they are in any way unpredictable or unreliable, but that the UIRT has difficulty understanding their more complex code.

-Kári.