IP / Serial Plugin for HS3 (by "drule") - Discussion Thread

[cheeryfool]

Hi,
I'm trying to communicate with my Grand Concerto and I'm not able to send any successfull commands.

I'm using COM4 baud 57600,N,8,1 as recommended.

If I'm using Putty (terminal emulator) on the same COM port (after stopping my connection in the plugin of course) and sending the string *Z1ON to turn on the zone, it works perfectly I'm receiving the confirmation from the Grand Concerto that the zone is on.. The string type is ASCII, I'm assuming that selecting Raw Text in the plugin is the equivalent...

When I do the exact same thing in the plugin:
- Setting COM4 to 57600,N,8,1
- Creating a connection with type = serial and address = 4
- Creating a command with raw text type sending the text = *Z1ON

I see that the plugin sends the string (log shows successfully connected to COM4 and sending 9 bytes) I don't have any feedback and the zone stays OFF.

Even more interesting, If I manually turn ON and OFF the zone with the keypad on the wall, I receive the feedback in the plugin!! It shows that I'm connected to the Concerto... I suspect that sending "Raw text" will modify in some way the string we are sending...

Can someone help?

Thanks!

Try changing it to type C-Escaped and appending \r to the command so it looks like this: *Z1ON\r

[jpsavaria]

Great it's working!
What exactly is different between sending a "CR" in raw text and "\r" in C-escaped?
Thanks!

[mikee123]

I am trying to install this plugin, but in the zip file is only the .exe no .ini file. Is that not needed any more or do I download that from somewhere else ?

[sparkman]

I am trying to install this plugin, but in the zip file is only the .exe no .ini file. Is that not needed any more or do I download that from somewhere else ?

It'll create it when you configure the plugin.

Cheers
Al

[mlconti]

Install

I am having a difficult time getting the plug-in to install on a HS3 windows machine. Can anyone tell me a good step by step procedure to get this installed. I have installed many "beta" plug-ins in the past, but this one is just not wanting to go. I have an old override text file - changed the names in the file, actually using the posted text file as a template.

Any thoughts would be appreciated - or sample override file.

Thanks.

[sparkman]

I am having a difficult time getting the plug-in to install on a HS3 windows machine. Can anyone tell me a good step by step procedure to get this installed. I have installed many "beta" plug-ins in the past, but this one is just not wanting to go. I have an old override text file - changed the names in the file, actually using the posted text file as a template.

Any thoughts would be appreciated - or sample override file.

Thanks.

All you need to do is drop the exe that's in the zip file in the main hs3 directory. No override file needed.

Cheers
Al

[mlconti]

All you need to do is drop the exe that's in the zip file in the main hs3 directory. No override file needed.

Cheers
Al

Perfect! I don't know why I was making it so hard....lol.

[VickVinegar]

Samsung J-series TV control via serial

With the help of cheeryfool, I was able to control my Samsung J-Series (UN60J620D) via serial port.

I run HS3 on a Windows server, so I purchased a db9 to 3.5mm cable from amazon with the correct pinout to use with exlink port on the Samsung.

I then used Drule's serial/IP PI to create serial commands for the TV in Binary format. For example, TV onis:

0x08 0x22 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x02 0xd4

Since I'm using a com port on my HS3 server, I setup a serial connection with the following settings:

Baud Rate:9600
Data Bits:8
Stop Bits:1
Parity:None
Flow Control:None
Threshold:1

I call those commands via a minimote event and everything works great. I have tested the following commands work on my J-series:

TV On:0x08 0x22 0x0a 0x00 0x05 0x01 0xC6
TV Off:0x08 0x22 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x01 0xD5
HDMI 1:0x08 0x22 0x0a 0x00 0x05 0x00 0xc7
HDMI 2:0x08 0x22 0x0a 0x00 0x05 0x01 0xC6

[drule]

With the help of cheeryfool, I was able to control my Samsung J-Series (UN60J620D) via serial port.

[VickVinegar]

Thank you very much for this PI!!

I also want to say thank you very much for this plugin! It is a really big timesaver!

I'm now trying to trigger an iTach to send IR signals to an old TV of mine and for some reason, probably my own ignorance, The commands never get revived, but only when I use this plugin.

Firstly, I have my iTach setup with a static IP from my router. I found a list of hex codes for my TV, which I convert to GC format with iConvert, then send those to the iTach with iTest and the TV responds as it should for the given command. When I try to send those hex commands via the plugin, it does not work. I believe there could be something wrong with the way that I'm inputting the hex codes, possibly?

My other settings are:
Connections Tab:
Name:iTach
Type:TCP
Host/Client:Host
IP:192.168.x.x
port:4998

Then in my event trigger, I use these settings:
Connection:iTach
Type:Global Cache
LED:1:1 (I have tried them all for every test I run)
Repeat Count:1

I also tried converting the codes from pronto hex to hex and raw and tried those with the plugin and they did not work.

I feel like I've checked everything, but I know I'm missing something...

[drule]

Firstly, I have my iTach setup with a static IP from my router. I found a list of hex codes for my TV, which I convert to GC format with iConvert, then send those to the iTach with iTest and the TV responds as it should for the given command. When I try to send those hex commands via the plugin, it does not work. I believe there could be something wrong with the way that I'm inputting the hex codes, possibly?

You can just cut & paste the code straight from remotecentral.com. E.g., for a Samsung TV, the power command hex code would be:

0000 006C 0022 0003 00AD 00AD 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0041 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0041 0016 0016 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 06FB 00AD 00AD 0016 0016 0016 0E6C

Cheers
-David

[cheeryfool]

Vick

This might be as simple as changing your connection to Client instead of Host. You should then see an IR Receive Type and choose one of the GC options in there. I am not sure which one, so experiment. You should also set the persist flag to on.

I have an IR Trans device not GC and this is what my connection config looks like



Let me know how you get on.

[drule]

Vick

This might be as simple as changing your connection to Client instead of Host. You should then see an IR Receive Type and choose one of the GC options in there. I am not sure which one, so experiment. You should also set the persist flag to on.

Let me know how you get on.

Good spot cheeryfool! Yes, the host type does need to be set to client. IR Receive Type can be left at N/A, the iTach only sends IR.

-David

[VickVinegar]

Vick

This might be as simple as changing your connection to Client instead of Host. You should then see an IR Receive Type and choose one of the GC options in there. I am not sure which one, so experiment. You should also set the persist flag to on.

Hi James,

Indeed, that was the problem! Setting the iTach connection type to host and setting the receiver type to GC-IRE allow everything to function normally.

Wife is going to love this! Thank you very much for your help and for this great plugin!!

[mikee123]

I am trying to control a HS3 device via iRule. I think that might be possible with this plugin, but I have no idea how to. If I could trigger a HS3 event that would help too, ideally I want to be able to turn a device on or off. I have looked but what I have found either I do not understand or it doesn't work. I found a json route on the irule forum, I tried it but it did not switch the device, and did not get any response on the irule forum.
I am using iRule with Global Cache iTach and iTach flex.