Xl Irtrans and controlling individual leds

[martingreen]

I have the XL version which has 8 output zones.
It would be good to get that working for individual LEDs.
Will there be an update to the plugin for this in the near future.
Thanks
Martin

[YoYo]

Hi Marten,
I would look for it sometime before the end of the year. I think it's going to work fine for units like the LAN Controller series, but I'm still not sure of some of the others...

It's difficult to shoehorn access to the all of the IRTrans features into the native HS IR interface....

[martingreen]

Ok Thanks
I look forward to getting the update.

[martingreen]

Update To use Individual zones on XL Controller

Just trying to find out if there has been any progress on the following.

I have the XL version which has 8 output zones.
It would be good to get that working for individual LEDs.
Will there be an update to the plugin for this in the near future.
Thanks
Martin

[YoYo]

Hi Martin,

Ask and ye shall receive...

I've attached a new version of the IRTrans plug-in for testing the new capability of addressing external emitters.

You can download it and use it to replace your existing hspi_irtrans.dll file in your HomeSeer 2 folder.

Here is how HomeSeer zones map to the various IRTrans devices:

 HS     -IRTRANS-
ZONE    BUS  UNIT
----    ---  ----
   1    N/A   N/A   Send using all units on all buses using LED settings configured on the units
   .     .     .    Send using all units on all buses using LED settings configured on the units
   .     .     .    Send using all units on all buses using LED settings configured on the units
   .     .     .    Send using all units on all buses using LED settings configured on the units
  99    N/A   N/A   Send using all units on all buses using LED settings configured on the units


 100     0     0     Send using LED settings configured on unit 0
 101     0     1     Send using LED settings configured on unit 1
 102     0     2     Send using LED settings configured on unit 2
   .     .     .     Send using LED settings configured on unit ...
   .     .     .     Send using LED settings configured on unit ...
   .     .     .     Send using LED settings configured on unit ...
 115     0    15     Send using LED settings configured on unit 15

 121     0     0     Send using internal LED only
 122     0     0     Send using external LED only
 123     0     0     Send using both internal and external LEDs

 131     0     0     External LED 1 on LAN Controller
 132     0     0     External LED 2 on LAN Controller
 133     0     0     External LED 3 on LAN Controller
 134     0     0     External LED 4 on LAN Controller
 135     0     0     External LED 5 on LAN Controller
 136     0     0     External LED 6 on LAN Controller
 137     0     0     External LED 7 on LAN Controller
 138     0     0     External LED 8 on LAN Controller

 199     0    ALL    Send using all units on bus 0 using LED settings configured on the devices

 200     1     0     Send using LED settings configured on unit 0
 201     1     1     Send using LED settings configured on unit 1
 202     1     2     Send using LED settings configured on unit 2
   .     .     .     Send using LED settings configured on unit ...
   .     .     .     Send using LED settings configured on unit ...
   .     .     .     Send using LED settings configured on unit ...
 215     1    15     Send using LED settings configured on unit 15

 221     1     0     Send using internal LED only
 222     1     0     Send using external LED only
 223     1     0     Send using both internal and external LEDs

 231     1     0     External LED 1 on LAN Controller
 232     1     0     External LED 2 on LAN Controller
 233     1     0     External LED 3 on LAN Controller
 234     1     0     External LED 4 on LAN Controller
 235     1     0     External LED 5 on LAN Controller
 236     1     0     External LED 6 on LAN Controller
 237     1     0     External LED 7 on LAN Controller
 238     1     0     External LED 8 on LAN Controller

 299     1    ALL    Send using all units on bus 1 using LED settings configured on the devices

(This progression continues on up to 1699...)

What's new:
Zones x21-x23 which allow you to select internal/external LEDs typical on ethernet units which support an external emitter.
Zones x31-x38 which allow you to select individual external emitters on the LAN Controller series of IRTrans units.

I've tried to implement the new features in a way that will not break existing installations.
Let me know how it works for you...

[martingreen]

That is fantastic. I hope to get a chance to try it out over the weekend.
Thanks a lot.

[YoYo]

Hey Martin,

Did you ever get a chance to try the new IRTrans plugin; the one that supports addressing of individual external emitters? I personally don't have any of the XL controllers so can't test the software myself.

I wanted to make sure it was actually working properly before I make it the "official" version and send it up to the HomeSeer Updater...

[ccarpenter1]

Willing to test LAN Controller XL Series

Brian,

I have the LAN Controller XL series with 3 bus modules attached to it. I would be willing to test it out for you. You did a special version for me for my USB version (before I got the LAN Controller XL) that increased the number of IR commands that I could store I believe from 200 to 500. Is the 500 limit included in this release?

Thanks!
Chuck

[YoYo]

Hi Chuck,
I believe I made the 500 command limit part of the standard code, so it should be present in the version posted above...

Thanks for testing it out; I'd like to submit it to the HS Updater but would like some assurance that it works as documented.

-Brian

[ccarpenter1]

Compatible Emitters

Brian,

Basic question:

I am trying to get some external LEDs to work on my LAN Controller XL. I have tried a couple of different type of LEDs and plugged them directly into the external connections (1-8) on the back of the LAN Controller XL. But I do not seem to be getting a signal. These are LEDs that I had for some other equipment (not IRTrans emitters). Do I have to use a special emitter to get this to work?

Thanks,
Chuck

[YoYo]

Do I have to use a special emitter to get this to work?

Not to my knowledge... Do you have a camcorder or an IR Detector? You can aim the camcorder at the emitter and see if it blinks when you send commands.

Also, just to rule a few things out, maybe try sending to zone 123 (uses both internal and external emitters) assuming you're on bus zero; or even zone 1 for all busses, all emitters..)

Lastly, you may want to use the configuration utility supplied by the IRTrans folks to make sure the controller is setup to use the external LED ports...

[ccarpenter1]

Found problem

Hi Brian,

I found the problem. When I was testing, I had the small emitters too far away (about 6 feet). I did not realize that their range was only about a foot.

So far, everything is working good. Now that I have this implemented, I should be able to do some more thorough testing for you.

Thanks!
Chuck

[ccarpenter1]

Testing of IRTrans with LAN Controller XL

Brian,

Here is an update to my testing below. I have bypassed HomeSeer plugin altogether and the problem seems to be something with IRTrans sending certain commands. Your plugin seems to be working great so far.

Another question for you Brian, with the exveption of the problem above, all of my devices seem to work great except for my XBox 360. I have tried leaning the commands different ways, (with timing, without timing, repeat, etc), but no joy. Any ideas?

Thanks,
Chuck


Hi Brian,

I have been doing some testing today and I am seeing a few strange things. These may be more problems on my end. I am still trying to more precisely define the problem. In a nutshell, here is what I am seeing:

1) External LEDs seem to work great on the IRTrans XL. When I map using the value 121 for the internal LEDs on the IRTrans, the command does not seem to actually go out the internal LEDs. When I set it to something like 1, the IR command works great.

2) The other problem I am experiencing is much more difficult to track down. I have implemented 50 IR codes for my Scientific Atlanta 8300HD #1 and another 50 commands for my second Scientific Atlanta 8300HD #2. These commands are identical except for their names in HomeSeer and of course their number values in the IRTrans file. About 46 (for each set) of these commands work great, but about four of them are problematic. The best way I can describe it is that they seem to be either not being sent to the right place (internal, external, etc) or they are not actually being sent. It is probably something I am doing wrong, but I just have not been able to track it down yet. Also, There are about 492 commands in this IR file.

I have turned on logging, what can I send to you Brian to help out?

Thanks!
Chuck

[ccarpenter1]

Testing with IRTrans XL

Hi Brian,

I have been testing your plugin with the IRTrans XL and it works great! I am using 7 of the 8 external LED connections without a problem. I also have about 490 commands in the database. I don't know if this is possible or not, but is there any chance of getting a 1000 command version. I keep all of my IR commands in one place and would like to reference them via HomeSeer. The plugin seems to be very fast.

Great job!

Thanks,
Chuck

[YoYo]

Hi Chuck,
Glad to hear it! I've been so busy lately, I'm afraid I let things slip a bit regarding this thread.

And I assume you got the issues mentioned above worked out?

If not, go ahead and post a portion of the debug file here and I'll take a closer look.

As far as the as the 500 IR code limit, I think I limited the total because I had discovered HS unnecessarily iterated through the entire potential code list at times, and I felt a balance was needed to preserve performance. If I remember correctly, it does this regardless of how many codes you actually have defined. It is something I brought to their attention long ago, but am not sure if it has ever been "fixed".

That being said, the existing code for this plug-in does run awfully fast, so I guess it probably wouldn't be a big deal to increase the max to 1000.

Anyone else care to weigh in on the issue?