I agree with Daniel, I shouldn't use codes of any recent devices to maintain cohabitation, at least by default. The Sony BDP-S300 remote is obviously the closest thing to the PS3 remote.

I used PS2 codes for 2 reasons: first the device is ageing and the DVD player was not its big feature, second even the designer of USBIRX3 also used PS2/Sony DVD code set.

In mid October I contact Logitech to try to convince them to clone the PS2 codes in a new device and next create the missing codes. Besides the RGBY key I also asked for Power On (discrete) and Power Off (discrete). Needless to say they were not very receptive. They see me at the time as an end user. I'm pretty sure this can be done in few minutes by the tech support. I probably haven't knock at the right door, at least at Logitech.

BTW my IR decoding is valid only for Sony scheme, see [Link: users.pandora.be] for the big lines.

One thing I’m studying right now to provide support for RGBY keys is to be able to handle BDP-S1, BDP-S300, BDP-S500 (I have to check if their codes are exclusive). A key selection at PowerOn would memorize which one to use (obviously a model not own by customer). I doubt someone would have in the same rack: PS3 + BDP-S1 + BDP-S300 + BDP-S500! Could it be a reasonable solution?


For the record here is the PS2 code I’m handling:

Sony:26.73

0 1
1 2
2 3
3 4
4 5
5 6
6 7
7 8
8 9
9 0
11 Enter (menu select key also)
14 Return
15 Clear, -/--, +10
26 Title, Top Menu
27 DVD Menu
40 Time/Text
48 Previous
49 Next
50 Play
51 Scan Rev
52 Scan Fwd
56 Stop
57 Pause
84 Display, Info
96 Slow Rev
97 Slow Fwd
99 Subtitle
100 Audio
101 Angle


Sony:26.218

21 Power
22 Eject
80 Select
81 L3
82 R3
83 Start
84 Up
85 Right
86 Down
87 Left
88 L2
89 R2
90 L1
91 R1
92 (triangle)
93 (circle)
94 (X)
95 (square)

All Sony BD players use the same basic codes. I checked the manuals for the BDP-S300 and S500 and there doesn't seem to be more than one codeset reserved for BD players (at least not that they've used).

An option to switch coding would be great - say between DVD/PS2 and BD.

since we're already using most of the sony dvd player code set...why not use that for discrete on and off...

Problem is, how would discrete power on/off be implemented? The bluetooth remote doesn't have it, so it can't just be added.

If the PS3 had a *consistant* macro that could be performed for power off something could be written, but the menu steps change depending on context.

I'm not at all familiar with how the remote's bluetooth works, but even if the remote knows whether the PS3 is on or off right now Ben is tapping into what's essentially the keyboard side of it.

Let me clarify the ‘Power ON’ & ‘Power OFF’, but first some explanations on the PS button.

The PS button has 2 levels of operation:

1. If you press quickly the PS button an icon will popup on the display that identify the controller and the charge level of the battery.
2. If you press and hold the PS button for a second or two than the shutdown menu will appear. To complete the shutdown normally user has to press ‘X’ twice. Consequently the PS3 will power off. The front panel ‘0/1’ touch sensitive button fortunately don’t pass by the “Are you sure?”, “Are you really sure?”


First of all the ‘Power ON’ is a no issue because any keys of the Sony PS3 BD remote wake up the PS3. So I mapped the ‘Power ON’ in the Logitech Harmony 880 settings to ‘X’.

The ‘Power OFF’ was a bit more problematic because the behavior of the PS button differs from the PS2 power button. I did 3 things to implement appropriate behavior via the PS2 power code:

1. A quick press of the Power button will display the icon/battery of the remote.
2. If you press twice the Power button (with a little pause between the 2 key presses) it will activate the shutdown menu. Next, user must press twice ‘X’ to complete the shutdown. This mode is the manual shutdown.
3. The final case was to handle the automatic shutdown. This is the case where you close the system or you switch to another activity. In this case I’m using macro capability of the IR Remote (Harmony 880 in my case). For 3 seconds I transmit the Power code, next I throw the finals ‘X’ to answer the shutdown questions. The PS3 will power off after closing the opened files.

As explained above a discreet ‘Power ON’ (Sony:26.218.46) is not really required but can be map also to the PS button.

However with a discreet ‘Power OFF’ (Sony:26.218.47) my SW in my mod could do all steps, including the ‘X’, to complete the shutdown. No macros required in IR remote in this case.

My SW will take care of (Sony:26.218.46) and (Sony:26.218.47) as describe above in case someone can forge the IR code.

Only thing is, if you're in a game the macro changes to PS - Down - Down - X - X.

That's true. In fact depending on where you are in the menus the behavior may change or the steps may change. Obviously the remote has no way to know that. My assumption is that we are always in the top menu of the PS3. Is this a problem? A discreet PowerOFF would have been welcome but Sony guest it was not that useful :(

Not to be confrontational, or to belittle your effort, but this seems to be another bandaid for the PS3 rather than real control solution. Not that your concept as a whole isn't a leap forward but I think it's the accurate control of the powering up and down of the PS3 that most people are hoping for. So unless one is willing to write mulitple flags to passively determine where they actually are in the PS3's menus. The shutdown macro you're using isn't fool proof.

Someone please correct me if I'm misunderstanding this.

I wouldn't mind manually shutting it off. That's doable from the remote. It's the lack of control at all that I think is a problem.

I'm not a CI...but if indeed this establishes full IR control, it's just another TOAD. So using power sensing could determine whether it is on or off (I'm thinking MSC-400).

But what good does power sensing do if your PS3 isn't in the proper menu or "state" for the shut down macro to function in the first place? It will just continue to trip over itself...yes/no?

To everyone: My PCBs are in transit between Malaysia and Montreal. I should get them next Monday. I’ll have a remote for Daniel Tonks very soon, so he can review it.


Smokinghot,

I don’t think criticism on ideas is problematic. On a contrary it may help improve things. Just the idea of having to modify an existing Sony PS3 Remote is a ‘band aid’ in its big glory. There is no doubt about that. I think everyone will agree on this.

First, there is no issue with the PowerON. So this case is closed.

The problem with the PS3 shutdown is the fact that many steps are required to do the final shutdown. It has nothing to do with how the remote is sending the code(s) to the console. Unfortunately Engineers of the PlayStation OS have choose to create that multi-level steps. They probably choose that avenue to guaranty proper closure of all the open files. I don’t think it is wise to power off Windows or Linux by pulling the AC outlet; one day or another, OS will die doing this. The same logic probably applies to PlayStation 3. Will it be like that in future version? No outsider at this point can tell. But, if eventually they add some settings to control the way it safely shutdown, then the macro to do the steps will become irrelevant.

I agree with you that the macro isn’t fool proof. In my setup I only have ONE device that has discreet Power ON/OFF, my Denon amp. All other devices work with a toggle Power. If for some reason someone breaks the sequence of ‘activity switching’ or ‘powering sequence’ then you may be left in a state where one or more devices are not in the right state. So IMO all IR devices with no discreet Power ON/OFF are prone to errors, they are not full proof.

I did search for the discreet Power OFF via the BlueTooth remote with no success, but I haven’t given up.

Regards,
Ben

D'oh! I think I should have read more carefully.

So it appears there isn't even a power toggle?

For joe diy'er it would still seem to be a great solution. Myself.... I wouldn't have issue manually navigating through the menus for the shut down. I was just speaking in terms for the CI, that have more of a necessity for the complete power down macro in their systems.

Well, at minimum this is a huge step up from not being able to turn the PS3 on or off at *all*. :-)

Assuming that the bluetooth remote is 2-way, does the *remote* know whether the PS3 is on or off? Or is this some sort of 1-way implementation?

Shame there isn't a "home" command, or just something that always get you to the same spot. That way it would be as simple as adding that first command to the macro... done