Hi all,

Has anyone successfully programmed the RFX9600 to control a Toshiba HD-XA2 via serial? I got the hex codes for the HD-XA1 from another member of this forum and was told that the codes for the HD-XA2 are the same. However, I haven't been able to get them to work. The relevant part of the document reads:

1.1 Serial Communication Protocol consists of start code (4 bytes), function code (2 bytes) and reversal function code (2 bytes) for Toshiba HD DVD player.

Start code is shown in the table of the following page.

Start code 0x45 and 0xB5

Example to send a pause code "00"
0x45,0xB5,0x00,0xFF

Example to send a Play code "15"
0x45,0xB5,0x15,0xEA


I've been trying to get Play to work. So far, I've tried:

45 B5 15 EA

and

04 50 B5 01 50 EA

I've also tried changing pins 2 & 3. The Toshiba serial protocol lists "pin 2 is receive, pin 3 is transmit pin 5 is signal ground". I'm using Serial 2 on the RFX9600. I couldn't find documentation on the pinout, but, I'm assuming that pin 2 is Tx, 3 is Rx and 5 is GND -- the same order as the Phoenix connector. If so, it should be a straight connection.


Any thoughts? Anything obvious I'm missing?


Thanks in advance.

The codes they gave you look like the Device and Function IDs for what looks to be the NEC IR protocol. I suspect that these are not RS-232 command codes. Do you have a link to a PDF that you referenced to get this information?

Thanks for your help. In another thread, another user (who sent me this file) says that he has programmed two of the HD-XA's via serial with Crestron, using the codes in this document. That thread is here
[Link: remotecentral.com]

In his last post, he suggested replacing the last two reversal function characters with '00'. I tried this to no avail.

I posted the protocol here:

[Link: homepage.mac.com]

I would assume pins 2 & 3 do need to be reversed. Just a guess on my part. I find it difficult to believe they are already reversed in the either the DVD or the RFX9600.

I don't get the reversal byte with two bits, as shown in the Toshiba .pdf doc. Usually the end byte is always the same, so the unit knows the string is completed.

Lastly, you are putting these into the "Hex" area for the RFX9600, not the ASCII area?

I assume you have set the rest of the RS-232 serial communications settings within the "Add RS-232" button properties?

Dave

Thanks for the response, Dave.

I did add the codes into the Hex field.

I created a new button, opened it, clicked on the first tab (Action?), named, the button, set the fields to match those specified in the Toshiba protocol, set it to port 2 (which is the port to which the HD DVD player is connected) and entered the different permutations of the code I listed in previous posts into the Hex field.

When I press the button, the green LEDs for Busy and Serial Port 2 both light, but, nothing happens, and no errors appear in the logs.

The Toshiba serial protocol states that pin 2 is receive, pin 3 is transmit and pin 5 is ground. I can't find the pinout for the RFX9600 in the documentation or on this board (does anyone know what this is or where I can find it?), but, the Phoenix connector, from left-to-right, is Tx, Rx, Gnd. Seems like a reasonable assumption that the DB9 ports are similarly configured, such that pin 2 would be transmit, pin 3 would be receive and pin 5 would be ground. If this assumption is correct, pin 2 on the RFX (Tx) should be connected to pin 2 on the HD DVD player, and so on. In any case, I've tried switching them around.

You did define the # of the extender in that Action and that # matches the extender setting?

I guess you could also experiment with the # of transmits in that same Action box.

Is there any setup in the DVD player menu to activate RS-232 or something similar?

Dave

sometimes RS-232 controlled equipment needs some of the control signals to bet set fixed at high or low levels. any mention of this in the documentation of HD-XA?

after much time trying to figure out what was wrong with my hex codes, I tried some deviation in Serial settings. In Crestron, the 9600 baud deosn't work, it is 19200... Give that a shot.

The serial ports of the RFX9600 only use pins 2, 3 and 5 and are functionally the same as a PC com port. So pin 3 is data from the extender to the device and pin 2 is data to the extender from the device.

Manufacturers often use the terms TX and RX but these can be confusing without knowing if the device is DTE or DCE, as TX may mean an input that has to be connected to a TX output. (Recall that when connecting DTE to DCE a pin-to-pin cable is used so a signal wire has the one name but at both ends, even though one end is an input and the other an ouput)

A quick way of determining if a pin is an input or an output is to use a voltmeter. Measure the voltage between pin 2 (or 3) and pin 5. If the voltage is somewhere in the range -3V to -12V then it is an output. If it is about 0V then it is an input.

When testing RS232 connections, it is often worth swapping over pins 2 & 3 at one end, however some devices lock up if connected the wrong way round and even when the connections are swapped to be correct will still not work. So a good tip is to switch off the extender and the device during any rewiring.