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    More on GC100 Commands & help request

    More from a very steep learning curve and a long saga!

    I have now progressed to a working infrared network using HS 2.0.2014.0, a GC-100-12, a Xantech 282SM mouse emitter, a Powermid transmitter and three Powermid receivers. I can now successfully control Sony TVs and other devices, having used a GC-IRL device to learn the codes and meticulously entering them all in one at a time. I can hear the experts hissing already!

    I have a couple of by the way questions and one show-stopper that I really do an answer for:

    The show stopper (HELP!):
    A Denon RC-929 remote operating a Denon AVR-1804 receiver. I can get none of the codes to work, except one. The GC-IRL gives different code strings every time (although I am told by GC that this is normal and should not be a problem). None of the strings entered seemed to work, except one, the "Tuner select" button - this with a repeat count of 12 and a 100mS timeout. Anybody any suggestions - I have tried more repeat counts and timeout interval combinations than I can count. Because of the one code that does work, surely it cannot be a data rate or other fundamental tranmission or compatibility problem?

    Other snags in passing:
    A Samsung DVD-HD911 combo DVD player with an 00012A remote seems to require an average of three button presses per operation to get it to perform the action. Any ideas, or is some sort of script the only answer? (and, if script is the answer, anybody got an example of running one from an IR-defined device control?)

    Homeseer web pages running on an IPAQ HX2410 seem to have some problems. The Pocketseer IR control screens cause the screen to change to a "bubble" type screen reporting that the command has been sent which appears not as a bubble but as a new web page. You have to press the back button to get back to the IR control screen - makes entering multi-digit channel numbers impossible from the IPAQ. Also, when using the normal web page control on the IPAQ, some of the "Control" buttons on IR devices from the status screen do not work at all - nothing happens. HS is working on these problems (I believe/hope!).

    Has anybody successfully found a CCF code on one of the web sites (e.g. Remotecontrol.com) and converted it into a GC100 code string and got it to work from HS via a GC100??? How does the CCF convert software from GC work? I can find nothing that resembles a guide or data on how to achieve these steps, or even how the CCFConvert utility is supposed to work. All I've seen is the enigmatic "Enter CCF code" in the DOS window, and do not know if it is looking for a file name, a hex string entered manually, or what? Anybody????? GC support appears to be good, though, and I am waiting for answers from them.

    Positive notes - those X10 Powermids are the answer to a lot of problems, but do seem to be a bit noise prone, but do work like magic. Saved me cabling and attaching eleven separate emitters to each of the A/V equipment from the GC100.

    #2
    This is beginning to feel suspiciously like the SETI project . . . Beam me up, Scotty, . . . . Perhaps (1) my questions are just toooo stoopid or (2) the answers are worth serious bucks (let's talk) or (3) I should feel alone, very alone!! However, at the risk of being though insane, this is my own reply to my previous post.

    I got the Denon receiver to work with single commands with a repeat count of 2. The problem appears to be that Homeseer and the GC-100 plugin do not always accept changes in parameters, or post them to all the places that they should go? I found this out by starting with a clean sheet, having deleted out the Denon receiver device and all associated signals on the Global Cache Infrared Signals page and entering everything anew. Just changing a control string on the Signals page and clicking the Update key does not always seem to work - in fact, probably not at all after several attempts at code string changes. Now if I am trying a new code string from the GC-IRL, I delete the original entry and then add the new one at the bottom of the page (with the same number as the original had). For good measure, I also delete the applicable control from the IR device screen and add that back in when the new code string has been entered, reentering the screen column and row locations. This seems to work every time, without reloading the plugin or restarting HS, as far as I can tell.

    The GC-IRL seemed to give more reliable results with signals learned from a pre-programmed Pronto, although some signals from the Pronto did not work with the receiver (e.g. the volume down) and I had to get the signal from the Denon remote. All this with a repeat count of 2 in the GC-IRL software.

    Does anybody know how to get the left hand column on the Global Cache Infrared Signals page to display the command descriptor from the IR Signals page as well as just the [xxx] number? I have never seen the verbal description appear on this page, and it makes life more difficult when you have to try and remember the number associated with the control signal that you are working with. Enough problems, already!

    Also, I have only been able to successfully learn all the single Denon codes. However, the volume on the receiver has over a hundred increments. A Vol Up or Vol Down command only changes the setting by less than 1%. Does anybody know how to modify a single command GC-100 string to allow it to repeat, say 25 times so that I could program Vol+++ and vol--- buttons? I give an example of the Denon working vol up command string below:

    sendir,#addr#,11,42000,2,1,10,33,10,76,10,33,10,33,10,33,10, 76,10,33,10,33,10,33,10,76,10,76,10,76,10,76,10,33,10,33,10, 1818,10,33,10,76,10,33,10,33,10,33,10,33,10,76,10,76,10,76,1 0,33,10,33,10,33,10,33,10,76,10,76,10,1818,10,33,10,76,10,33 ,10,33,10,33,10,76,10,33,10,33,10,33,10,76,10,76,10,76,10,76 ,10,33,10,33,10,4156

    Is there another way to get the GC-IRL to learn the code sequences generated by a continuously-pressed remote control button, without an expensive IR emitter, a memory scope and a lab?? I believe that the GC-100 itself will respond to a correctly-coded repeat command, as the problem is touched upon in their API Spec (www.globalcache.com/files/Documentation/API_GC-100.pdf)

    In passing, I took a CCF string off the internet and manually decoded the 4-digit, space-separated hex codes into a supposedly GC-100 control string with comma-separated decimal numbers. I then replaced the data part of a GC-100 code string with what seemed to be the corresponding data part of the decoded CCF string - dead as the proverbial doornail - so I am still no further along in finding out how to go from CCF to GC100 code strings!! Surely, somebody!?!?!?!?! Must be a really, really stooopid question. As an old colleague once said, there are no stupid questions, only wrong answers (or in this case, no answers at all!!)?

    This is beginning to feel like a blog!! OK, I will get a life, sometime . . .

    Chris G

    Comment


      #3
      any success with ccf convert?

      I am trying to set up control of simple tv,dvd, cable via Global Cache and home seer. I have all of the IR signals learned from a USB-UIRT, but can not convert these to be usable with the GC. Anyone learn how to do this yet, without hand entering all the codes?

      Comment


        #4
        After having spent many frustrating hours trying to type in the command codes from the suggested website, I had to finally give up and buy the GC-IRL. Even having done that, it isn't all that easy to get the codes right the first time. Distance from the remote, when you push the button, etc., all play a significant factor in getting the thing to work.

        My only suggestion is to bite the bullet and pay the hundred bucks for the $2.50 worth of electronic components and be patient. When I finally got all the codes learned, it has continued to work perfectly.

        Best regards,
        -Todd

        ____________________________________________________________ ________________
        HS2Pro: 2.5.0.81 :: HS3Pro (beta) || Plugins:| SmartHome PowerLinc USB, Global Cache, BLBackup, DooCPU Monitor, DooMotion, BLOutlook, BLIcon, BLOutgoingCalls, OutgoingCalls, ROC-Rnd, HSTouch iPhone, UPS Monitor, DooMenuBar, BLSpeech, HSTouch Server, WAF AB8SS, mcsTemperature, VWS, BLChart, RFXCOM, ISY Insteon, iAutomate RFID, iTunes, NetCAM, DSC Security, Nest

        Comment


          #5
          Progress Report

          I finally gave up on trying to use Homeseer with the Global Cache plug-in - mainly because there were just too many roadblocks using Homeseer on the IPAQ - the touchpad interface on a PPC is just not ready for prime time, and I got zero assistance from Homeseer in the end. I got NetRemote and have been successful using NetRemote to directly address the Global Cache unit directly across the network from the IPAQ. It was a very steep learning curve to get NetRemote screens, etc, written and working but it has been almost 100% reliable since then, and the NetRemote on the IPAQ is basically a killer application. I have had some hiccups using the HSGirder plug-in with Homeseer and NetRemote, but have always been able to find solutions. The NetRemote support network via their message board is absolutely first class - I've never been left hanging with any problem - most solved within hours, not days.

          I have used three methods to get all the infrared commands into the IPAQ NetRemote client, as follows:

          Using the IR learn mode on the NetRemote client on the IPAQ. This works 80 to 90% of the time - it's a bit buggy, as sometimes NetRemote reports a missing CIR.DLL file at start-up, and sometimes it thinks that the IR port is busy, whether Activesync is running or not, but, if you are persistent, it does learn IR commands this way and they generally work. One of the advantages of this method is that you can switch the NetRemote IR instance to Direct, learn a command from the remote, switch off IR learn mode and then try the command directly from the IPAQ to the equipment to see if it works (the direct infrared mode on the IPAQ works, but only from a range up to about 3 feet, at least on my two IPAQs - an HX2410 and an HX2490). However, if you can get a command to work this way, it's likely to work when you switch it through the Global Cache device, although in some instances, a command has worked using IR direct and then not worked using the network, GC device and Powermids. Go figure!

          Secondly, using the GC-IRL device. This has worked almost every time for me, but it requires a considerable amount of patience. It is a good idea to have NetRemote and NetRemote Designer installed on one desktop on the network. You can then use the GC-IRL device on the desktop, paste the IR command into the NetRemote IR command and then test it straight away using the NetRemote on the desktop. This lets you play around with repeats, delays and so on while trying the command straight away. The same would also be true of using the GC-IRL device with Homeseer and the Global Cache plug-in.

          Thirdly, using the old Pronto remote control. Using the Pronto edit software from Philips, you can upload learned infrared command strings off the device and copy and paste the command string from there into the NetRemote command. This method is a bit hit and miss, and is similar to trying to get infrared commands off the internet. You have to learn the infrared commands into the Pronto. I was unable to get at command strings that were pre-programmed into the software by Philips - the command strings are not displayed in this case.

          I was able to successfully get commands that worked off the internet in only one case. I got a file from RemoteCentral with control codes for a Denon receiver. The commands that I was able to extract from the CCF file did work. With the other nine devices that I tried, I was either unable to find command strings in the on-line CCF files (the command strings were empty in most cases) or the command strings that I tried just did not work at all.

          I have to say that the GC-IRL device proved to be worth the money in the end. When I could not get a device to work any other way (for example, a hand-free, infrared-controlled telephone), the GC-IRL proved to be the way to get something working in the end. As I said, patience is definitely required, though.

          Hope that this helps

          Comment


            #6
            Chris G,
            After reading these sagas it appears that maybe the Global Cache isn't a very good IR solution. I have never had a single problem learning commands from my Denon receiver, Sony Receiver, and 7 different TV's into my Ocelot. Couple that with the fact that I haven't heard much from the Global Cache line up and I wonder if it's ready for prime time?
            💁‍♂️ Support & Customer Service 🙋‍♂️ Sales Questions 🛒 Shop HomeSeer Products

            Comment


              #7
              Actually, I disagree. The Global Cache device is hardware that has always worked, and worked reliably.

              The problems that I have had were basically in finding user-friendly software that worked and controlled the GC device in a useable manner. I have never had real problems in the hardware. Once I got it working, it worked and works well.

              However, Homeseer and the Global Cache plug-in are fine as desktop applications, but with many reservations. I know that I am sticking my neck out here, but I don't think that Homeseer is the vehicle to use for hand-held control of infrared devices, unless you really want to make a career of it. Homeseer is an excellent home control platform, but has just too many drawbacks as a platform for control of home entertainment equipment from a hand-held device, at least in my experience.

              The learning of infrared commands is, I think, a problem that I would have had no matter what system or chain I was using to get the commands from a user interface to a controlled device. The more that I have read on the internet concerning this problem, the more that I think that I am right in this assumption - IR control is more of an art than a science.

              I agree that it's possible that going the Global Cache route in the first place was maybe a mistake, and there were/are possibly better ways, but it's definitely debatable, and I do stand by my original decision - I have got an X10/infrared home control system working for a quadraplegic who needs 100% reliability. The system is understandable, maintainable and reliable.

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