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Topic:
Total Remote 2.0 on a UR There @migo?
This thread has 11 replies. Displaying all posts.
Post 1 made on Thursday May 20, 2004 at 06:34
nsafreak
Long Time Member
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Well I've sent an e-mail to Griffin's tech support and since I have a case of insomnia I figured I'd post here and see if anybody has any bright ideas. I just recently purchased the Total Remote 2.0 software & remote extender as the IR on my PDA isn't too terribly great. Unfortunately while I believe the software works I have not been able to get the extender to work. And the built in IR only works for one device and that's my Harman Kardon AVR-230 receiver, only if I'm 2-3 feet away from it though. Have not gotten it to work any of my other equipment.

At first I was teaching Total Remote from my Sony universal learning remote and the codes it learned. Only the receiver worked using that setup. I then tried using the original remotes as opposed to the learning remote, same result. I have even tried loading CCF files for my equipment which should have known good codes to no effect. Do I just have a defective IR extender or is my PPC incompatible with the software? I have noted that if I leave it set to the extender and remove the extender that it does emit a series of clicks from my PPC speaker on button presses like it should.

Here's a list of my equipment if that helps at all:

Samsung TXN2726 27" TV
ReplayTV 5504
Harman Kardon AVR-230
Sharp MD-R3 3 CD changer/Minidisc deck
Samsung M-101 DVD Player

Any ideas you folks have are appreciated. If Don happens to notice this before his support staff respond to my e-mail (which I'm sure they'll be prompt about) I'd like his input as well. Btw I noticed at one point in time you were looking for beta testers. I don't know how much help I'd be especially if I cannot get my PocketPC to work with the software but if you're still looking I'm interested. I have beta tested a few commercial products although mainly games namely Diablo II, WarCraft III: Frozen Throne, and a few other products. I also work for Dish Network so if you need help finding out codes for our products I might be able to help there as well to an extent.
OP | Post 2 made on Thursday May 20, 2004 at 19:37
nsafreak
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Nobody has any ideas? :( I really would like this to work as it would be a lot more versatile than my current remote.
Post 3 made on Friday May 21, 2004 at 02:58
npaisnel
Founding Member
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March 2002
244
What PDA are you using?
Is the name of it in the title of you post ? If so nothing there I recognise as the name of a PDA

OP | Post 4 made on Friday May 21, 2004 at 03:54
nsafreak
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It's a brand that's no longer manufactured. Decent PocketPC it was actually made by a company called Compal and it was sold under the brand URThere. The official name is the URThere @migo PD-600C.
Post 5 made on Friday May 21, 2004 at 08:40
blueness
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9
I have a Compal product. They made the Inspiron 5000 series for DELL. I also purchased a 16MB ATI Mobility(M3) upgrade card through them (Dell wouldn't agree to it). It reads only 8MB in Windows, but seems to work better than the original card.

I also have an AVR-230. It's a great rig. It was so tempting to go with the new DPR-1001 for $500 at JandR.com, but I stuck with analog for now.

Anyway, on TR in the URThere @migo, if you're hearing the appropiate audio cues, is there a chance the emitter itself is funky?

One way to test the IR output is to look at the emitter through a video camera.

I'm not sure if the IR is visible in the viewfinder or if it requires recording to tape...or if this is something that only happens with old video cameras. I haven't tried it in a long time, but the IR becomes visible when viewed by/through the camera.

It might also be worth finding another PocketPC to test your Total Remote IR emitter. In that case, you'd know if it was an issue with the Compal.

On the software end, perhaps selecting edit>properties and upping the repeat count or changing the timing factor would help. There's also the "warm up" sequence check box. I'm new to the application myself so I'm only guessing.

I hope something works for you or that Don's team will figure something out. It's hard to imagine there'd be any issues using something as standard as headphone as the translator/interface, but I guess all PocketPCs are not created equal.
OP | Post 6 made on Friday May 21, 2004 at 23:00
nsafreak
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Thanks for the response blueness. I've been fiddling around with the properties for a bit now without any success although I'm still fiddling. I don't have a camcorder available although I could probably drop by an electronics store tomorrow and use one of their demo models real quick. Unless it doesn't show unless you tape it, in that case I'm SOL as I'm not going to buy a video camera to test a $25 part out. Don't have another PocketPC unfortunately as my friend has an old Casio E-100 (not compatible) and my father only has a Palm that I gave him as a gift. Thanks again for the help.
OP | Post 7 made on Saturday May 22, 2004 at 17:34
nsafreak
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Well just a bit of an update. Was out shopping and had my PocketPC with me. Flashed the infrared at one of the demo model camcorders, saw nothing. May not mean anything as you may have to put it on tape but I'm beginning to lean towards that I have a defective part.
Post 8 made on Sunday May 23, 2004 at 03:06
npaisnel
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Viewing IR: No you do not need to record on to tape to see it, just looking throught the viewfinder should show it up, digital camara also does the same job.
OP | Post 9 made on Sunday May 23, 2004 at 03:24
nsafreak
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Well I'm not going to totally rule out the IR part but it actually does appear to be working. I didn't know the same trick would work with a digital camera and I do have one of those. So I turned it on, looked at the LCD viewfinder and hit the power button for my Harman Kardon AVR-230. It did flash on that emitter part. The only thing is that it still DOES NOT operate the Harman Kardon AVR-230 even though the IrDA does operate it just fine. I'm not sure what else to try here & I'm still waiting for a response back from Griffin tech support.
OP | Post 10 made on Sunday May 23, 2004 at 03:31
nsafreak
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Ok I think I'm starting to narrow this down, or at least I hope I am. I noticed that if I turned off the warm up sequence I no longer saw the infrared dongle flash when I looked at it with my digital camera. Only when I turned it on did I see the infrared flash. Does this mean I have a weak headphone port or something else?
Post 11 made on Tuesday June 1, 2004 at 18:24
Don Stratton
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190
On 05/23/04 03:31, nsafreak said...
Ok I think I'm starting to narrow this down, or
at least I hope I am. I noticed that if I turned
off the warm up sequence I no longer saw the infrared
dongle flash when I looked at it with my digital
camera. Only when I turned it on did I see the
infrared flash. Does this mean I have a weak headphone
port or something else?

ah HAAAAA!!!! This may be QUITE meaningful!

The "warm-up" sends a short burst prior to sending actual IR commands. If you turn off the warm-up and see NO output it might imply that the signal is too fast to be resolved using the audio transmitter. Do I understand that the AVR does work using IrDA, but at the typically awful IrDA distances?

I will work on quantifying this concept, but for the tech-adept among you this may make sense: Total Remote uses a 19KHz carrier, which equates to a 53 MICROSECOND pulse. This means the minimum transition COULD be 53us. If an IR signal transitions faster than this, let's say it uses 20us transitions, then for every 3 transitions on the original remote it would only be possible to do ONE transition via the Total Remote audio transmitter. In this example, the loss of 67% of the IR data would eliminate any chance of it working right.

A PDF white paper complete with pretty pictures will be forthcoming, as this topic is more difficult to explain than I thought.


--Don
OP | Post 12 made on Saturday June 5, 2004 at 04:55
nsafreak
Long Time Member
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Posts:
May 2004
13
Thank you for replying to this thread Don, I hope you respond to this post as well. Sorry about taking a bit to get back to it as I've been busy with my sister's wedding.

Don, the Irda only works at the horrid Irda range of about 2-3 feet which is definitely further than I sit from the receiver.

Do you think that it is at all possible to fix this in the software or am I pretty much out of luck? I really like this software and the hardware in how it should work but right now it just doesn't look like it'll work on my Pocket PC. I've called technical support today and they suggested a few things that I hadn't tried yet:

1) Turn the discoverable mode off for Infrared
2) Set the repeat count to 0
3) Set the timing to 1.027 (although I just read in another thread it doesn't matter for the Griffin transmitter)

I'm stumped as to what to do and it looks like the only option I have is to return the software and get a refund. I REALLY would prefer to get it to work. I'm even willing to beta test anything you have in the works on my handheld. Also, I'm not sure what this has to do with anything but the response I got from the e-mail support is as follows:


Hello,

We have started shipping a new version of the Total Remote that fits your particular handheld. The only way to order it is to call us up at 615-399-7000 M-F 9-6 central and ask for the unit that fits your 55XX. We can swap out the unit that you have already purchased.

How I got that response from this:

>I recently purchased this product from you and Iım not sure whether my
> PocketPC is just not compatible or if I have a defective unit. I am
> able to control some of my equipment with the Total Remote software
> and the IrDA port on my Pocket PC which is a UR There Amigo. But I am
> not able to control any of my equipment with the dongle. I have taken
> the dongle out and left the software set to still use the dongle and I
> hear the appropriate clicks come out of my speaker. And I believe the
> software is ok as I am able to control a few units with the IrDA port.
> So Iım not quite sure what to do next. Let me give you a quick summary
> of what can be controlled with the IrDA and what cannot:
>
>
>
> Controllable:
>
>
>
> Harman Kardon AVR-230 receiver
>
>
>
>
>
> Not controllable:
>
>
>
> ReplayTV 5504
>
> Samsung TXN2726 27² TV
>
> Sharp MD-R3 3 CD changer/minidisk deck
>
> Samsung M-101 DVD player
>
>
>
> I have even tried downloading Pronto CCF files for my equipment that
> are known to work but that does not help for either IrDA or the
> dongle. I have a Sony universal learning remote that has been able to
> learn all of these remotes so I would think that the Total Remote
> software should be able to do the same. Do you have any suggestions on
> what I should try to do to rectify this problem?
>
>
>
> Sincerely,
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Christopher Patricca

I have absolutely no idea. I can only presume that somebody accidently got confused with the email. I haven't sent back a response yet (although I really should and will) but what's new about this transmitter for the iPaq 5500? From the specifications on HP's site it has a standard 3.5mm jack just like my @migo does. So I'm not quite sure what would be different although you might. Please any and all help is appreciated as I would love to have this working and sell off my old Sony universal.


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