Hi,
Can anyone point me to a good resource for controlling gear via TCP/IP. I'm looking for an Idiot's guide to controlling a/v and anything else TCP/IP controllable...

Thanks....

Pete - I don't know of such a guide, but if you share a bit more background about what you're looking for perhaps posters to this thread can help get you started.

Cliff

put your flame suit on. There isn't really such a thing. There are some variables like what control system you are using? What gear are you are trying to control? Lots of the a/v manufacturers use the same protocol for serial as they do TCP/IP. Sending the information usually isn't that hard (depending on your program environment). It's creating the string to send which is dependent on the manufactures protocol and their willingness to document and share in a reasonable manner.

Scott, I'll be sure to dig the flame retardant suit out of my closet. The reason I'm asking is that I found this company online called Command Fusion and they talk about controlling a/v with TCP/IP. I am an a/v dealer and sell several products that can be controlled TCP/IP, however, docucmentation is very limited and vague. I want to learn more about it...

You can divide what you need to know about TCP/IP control (in this context) into two areas:

1. TCP/IP networking
2. Two-way ASCII based control protocols

How would you characterize your understaning of the first area?

You already know about the second area if you've done two-way serial control. Is that the case?

A good way to get yourself up to speed is to use Telnet from a computer in order to manually communicate with IP devices. That will let you see what Command Fusion is doing under the hood.

The Complete guide to IP Control is Right next to the Complete guide to RS-232 Control on the shelf. ;)

Most IP Protocols I've dealt with have been identical to the RS-232 Protocal for any given device. Your just sending/receiving it over a IP Port rather than a RS-232 Connection.

If you want a real idiot's guide to TCP/IP control, get your hands on a Zektor matrix and their RS232/IP documentation.  It was the first piece of gear I controlled over TCP/IP.

I used a program called Hercules HW.  You "open" a connection to the IP address of the matrix.  Then you send a string that is exactly the same as an RS232 string and the matrix reacts.  Their RS232 and IP protocols are exactly identical.  It's just a matter of opening a TCP connection instead of a Com Port connection.

I have a good understanding of RS232 and how it works, used it in both the Vantage and RTI worlds. This is my first real foray into the TCP/IP realm. I'm trying to get my integra gear ( i have the proper command strings) to work with telnet and eventually would like to play around with the command fusion software. Seems like it's doable, I'm just having a hard time communicating from my computer to the Integra via the network. The Integra shows up on my network ( i can see integra icon in network places), I can ping it, but I don't know how to communicate w/ it via telnet. I've tried sending a proven host command via telnet, nothing happens.

Try downloading Hercules HW and give it a shot.  Type in the IP address of your receiver, click Connect and you've got an open connection.  You can fill in the 3 boxes you see at the bottom of the window with 3 different strings you want to send, then you can fire them off by hitting F1, F2, or F3.  Very useful for testing when you want to send Power On and Power Off and you can do it with 1 finger... F1, F2, F1, F2, etc.



[Link: hw-group.com]

OK I can help with this actually. I've been playing around with the same protocol on the Onkyo's. When I created a telnet session with the mac os x terminal program I needed to send control codes not hex as floydbob pointed out to me at IP.org. Something that is really useful in TCP/IP control is wireshark http://www.wireshark.org/ I could see if I was sending the correct command or not. So I was trying to send this

ISCP\x00\x00\x00\x10\x00\x00\x00\x09\x01\x00\x00\x00!1MVLQSTN\x0D

But I needed to send this
telnet *IP address* 60128
ISCP^@^@^@^P^@^@^@^I^A^@^@^@!1MVLQSTN^M

to enter \x00 I typed
control-v
control-shift-2 (or ^@)

Here is a list of them.
[Link: pcguide.com]

That is another thing that is complicated with TCP/IP control or RS232 is you can get a mix of protocols like the Integra. So the platform will determine how you have to enter in the hex values.

Hercules HW as Jim stated will help out alot. I'll work up a tutorial right now on how to turn an integra on and off with Hercules HW.

Using Hercules HW to request volume of Integra Onkyo over TCP/IP

install the following programs

[Link: hw-group.com]
http://www.wireshark.org/

1) enable control on the integra/onkyo
a) go to hardware in setup menu
b) go to network
c) go to control and enable
d) get the IP address of your receiver

2) wireshark
a) open up wireshark and select the device you are using to connect to your network.("start capture on interface...")
b) create a new filter by clicking Filter button in upper left corner
c) click "New" in the new window that opens
d) Filtername ="TCP 60128 Filter" Filter string ="tcp.port == 60128"

3) in Hercules HW go to TCP Client in Module IP enter IP address in port enter 60128. If successful it should say "Connected to ***.***.*.* "

4) in Hercules HW below send paste this command and click hex then send.

49 53 43 50 00 00 00 10 00 00 00 09 01 00 00 00 21 31 4D 56 4C 51 53 54 4E 0D

5) It should now return the volume of the receiver.

To make sure it is transmitting correctly look in wireshark and you should see source and destination communication matching what was sent in Hercules. This is helpful to see if you maybe did an incorrect hex conversion.

using the table I linked to before you can convert the ASCII to hex for your commands.

49 = I
53 = S
43 = C
50 = P
etc.

That should get you started let me know if you have any question. Also there might be an easier way to mix ASCII and hex in hercules I am not that familiar with the program.

also search "How to learn IP control" that jim started at IP.org and there is some helpful info and another tutorial there.

I thought Command Fusion only talked to an AMX or Crestron Controller. They publish their API so you could create another controller but I didn't think it talked directly to a TCP/IP enabled device does it? If so I may have to revisit them for an application.

www.openav.co.uk not released yet but soon...

Scottedge267,
Thanks for taking the time out it is greatly appreciated. I will try Wireshark this weekend and I'll let you know how things turn out.
On another note, we were able to get our Vantage Infusion Controller to work with CommandFusion's Iviewer via an Iphone. Vantage is doing all the heavy lifting...
Thanks again!