I have been searching for an IR HEX converter to convert codes such as "AA 1A" to hex code strings and have been unable to find a downloadable version. Yamaha has a converter on their PAB website which will translate strings but it is not downloadable. I've found the discrete IR codes from both Pioneer and Yamaha to be in this format. Pioneer had some of their codes in pronto and ccf available on their website but not for all components. The problem I am having is needing to convert strings at customers houses' without easily accessable internet connections. Any help is appreciated.

If you learn how to use it, you can generate all those Pronto Hex strings using MakeHex
[Link: hifi-remote.com]
You'll need to do some hex to decimal translation outside MakeHex, and you'll probably need a few other programs such as IrTools and DecodeIr.dll to help get the information you need to feed MakeHex.

MakeHex does not convert directly from the "AA 1A" form. No general purpose program could convert from just that.

"AA 1A" is not enough information to uniquely identify an IR signal. It is enough to uniquely identify a Pioneer IR signal. A similar amount of information would be enough to uniquely identify a Yamaha IR signal. But if "AA 1A" were a Yamaha signal it wouldn't be the same signal that "AA 1A" is as a Pioneer signal (It would be close enough that some devices could be fooled, but even that is specific to Yamaha/Pioneer. Pick some other brand and signal translation may be totally different).

I don't think there is any program that knows about the different concise formats used by several different manufacturers and knows how to translate them all to Pronto Hex.

Makehex knows about a single more generic concise format and how to translate signals for hundreds of manufacturers into Pronto Hex. But you need to know how to get from the manufacturer's concise format to the generic concise format used by MakeHex (and by a variety of other free tools).

I think I understand what you are saying. I looked at the translater again from Yamaha and this is what it states:

Enter a NEC IR code like:
7F 4A (normal NEC IR code )

7F01 4A (16bit custom NEC IR code - used in MusicCAST, MCX-2000 and some of the new AV Receivers)

7F01 4A33 (32 bit nec code - currently not used in Yamaha products)

7F014A33 (32 bit nec code - currently not used in Yamaha products)

NEC IR CODE

Press generate button and the generated code will be copied to clipboard.

Generated Pronto IR HEX;

I have looked at the make hex program and already downloaded it but I couldn't figure out which of the numerous codes I would generally use, and how to make the .irp files? The AA 1A is Pioneer's discrete off for a PDP-6010FD.

What I am looking for is a better understanding of how to generate hex codes on my own and how to translate the IR information available on Yamaha, Pioneer and other vendors websites.

You wouldn't make a .irp file:
1) Select the correct .irp file
2) Edit it to change just the device number
3) Drag/drop the .irp file onto MakeHex.exe
4) Open (in a text editor) the resulting .hex file and copy out the Pronto Hex strings for the desired function(s).

Device numbers and function numbers used by MakeHex are decimal (even though the Pronto Hex strings are of course hex). Manufacturers more often give device and function numbers in hex. Use Windows calculator in view/scientific mode to convert hex numbers to decimal.


What Yamaha calls "normal NEC" is what I call "NEC1" so use NEC1.irp
The device is 127 (7F hex is 127 decimal)
The function is 74 (4A hex is 74 decimal)


Still NEC1. Still function 74. Now the device is 127.1 (because my generic form for concise signal identification treats the 7F and the 01 as seperate parts of the device code rather than as one big number).


That isn't NEC1. I haven't come up with a good MakeHex representation for those codes (used mainly by Apple, but never with the value 7F01).


Pioneer's simple codes are NEC2 at a frequency of 40000 (instead of the usual NEC frequency of 38000). I forget whether there is an .irp file for that. If not, you could change the frequency in a copy of NEC2.irp.

Pioneer's more complicated codes (specified more than two 2-digit hex numbers) use one of a few Pioneer specific .irp files.

The AA is the device (170). The 1A is the function (26).
When there are more than two 2-digit hex numbers, knowing which Pioneer irp file it needs and where each of the numbers goes gets tricky. Usually it is easier to find the Pronto Hex on Pioneer's website. I have been told some of their employees used MakeHex to generate some of the Pronto Hex they have on that website.
I understand you want to translate when you don't have web access, but translating Pioneer signals will require learning some strange Pioneer specific details.


For other vendors, you should use DecodeIr.dll with IrTool or DecodeCCF to get the info you need for using MakeHex.
[Link: remotecentral.com]
[Link: hifi-remote.com]
[Link: hifi-remote.com]

First get some learned signals for the same device/model in a CCF file or in Pronto Hex. Then decode those with the above tools to get protocol name, device number, subdevice number (if any) and function (also called OBC) number.
Then put the function numbers you got from manufacturer documentation together with the other information you got from learned signals to produce Pronto Hex for whatever signals are missing from the original remote.

How would you know which .irp file to use?
Which device number would you use and why?
Which pronto hex string would you use and how would you know which the desired function is?

Thanks

In post 4 of this thread, I pressed submit before I finished typing, so I pressed Edit and continued typing. Meanwhile you asked the above questions. So I think the answers to your questions are back in post 4. If not, please tell me more specifically which aspect of it you don't get.

BTW, if you want any of what Yamaha calls "NEC" codes (which cover a lot more brands than Yamaha) and you have all eight digits (as they gave in their "32 bit" example) and you want the Pronto Hex for a Pronto (which understands the concise form of Pronto Hex, unlike URC Universal Browser etc, that understand only long form Pronto Hex) you can just prepend 900a 006d 0000 0001 in front of that 8 digit code (so you don't need MakeHex and you don't need Windows Calculator).

For related details see the thread
[Link: hifi-remote.com]

I downloaded all of those programs/apps.

I am going to get on Pioneers' website get a ccf to compare with the short version hex and see if I can do the conversions to get usable codes.

Here is another example:

Toshiba

Discrete on: 40 BF 7E 81
pronto hex: 900a 006d 0000 0001 40BF 7E81

Now, how do I get from that to:
0000 006D 0022 0002 0157 00AC 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0041 0015 0016 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0016 0015 0041 0015 0016 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0016 0015 0041 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0041 0015 0689 0157 0056 0015 0E94 for urc?

Toshiba uses NEC1. (If you just had the above info, you'd need to either be experienced enough to know Toshiba uses NEC1, or find some learned signals or CCF files to find out that Toshiba uses NEC1).

Knowing that, you then find the device and function numbers:

The 40 is the device number in hex. So device is 64 decimal.
In some signals the BF would be hex for the subdevice. But in NEC protocols, when those first two numbers add up to FF there is no subdevice. 40 plus BF equals FF so in this example there is no subdevice.
(BF hex is 191 decimal. MakeHex would work just as well with Device=64.191 as it would with Device=64 so you don't need to check for that special case if you don't want to.)

The final two numbers should add up to FF. In fact 7E plus 81 does equal FF. If it didn't add up correctly it wouldn't be NEC1 protocol (it would probably be that Apple protocol that is similar to NEC1, but there are other possibilities).

After confirming the 7E plus 81 is FF, you get the function number by converting 7E to decimal, which is 126.


From there it is a little easier.
900a always means it is something at least very similar to NEC1 protocol.
The 006d means you have the standard frequency for NEC1. A different value would indicate a nonstandard frequency (though often that means the correct frequency really is standard but the Pronto that learned this signal made an error in learning the frequency).
The 40BF 7E81 are then interpreted just as I described above when they were "40 BF 7E 81" from Toshiba documentation.


From: NEC1, device 64, function 126
It is easy to get the long form Pronto Hex with MakeHex.

SoCal,
There is no need to recreate Pronto hex for Pioneer (the long version not the "900" version) unless you just want to.
I used all of Johns tools to make the ccf files that are on the Pioneer CI site. They are clean codes as opposed to learned codes. I assume that you already have ProntoEdit so all you have to do is view the hex in a ccf then cut & paste it to the app you are programming.
I haven't used Pronto hex with URC remote software though I have tried with the 850 (it never works). One of these days I'll try with my other URC remotes.
The mxf files on the Pioneer CI site are a combination of functions from the URC database with a few learned commands for newer functions. I do that so I can get the files out as soon as possible because it takes URC a while to keep up with all of us manufacturers and update their database with all models.
In the next couple of weeks I will post Pronto hex for all the models I have codes for as a text file so that there will be no need to open ccf's in ProntoEdit.
By the way, what models are missing from the CI site that you need codes for. I have had some problems with our new web software and haven't been able to get some new models published. I may already have what you are looking for and could email it to you.

Another John

This is an old thread but I just wanted to update the following.

There is a NEC to HEX converter that can now be found here :

[Link: awe-europe.com]

I had to program a Definitive Technology SoloCinema XTR with URC Total Control and all the drivers provided from URC are NOT working.

The technical data that I received from Def Tech was in NEC protocol. Using the previous link, I was able to convert it to the Pronto format and then copy the string in Total Control and finaly get a working driver with all discreet codes.

For example, the Def Tech data sheet state the following:

Power ON = 0x0A 0x58 0x55 0xAA

I then formated the following in the converter 0A58 55AA and this is the result for Pronto Power ON

0000 006D 0022 0002 0155 00AA 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 05ED 0155 0055 0015 0E47

The Def Tech sound bar finally responded to the pronto code !

Voila !

Hey Alesis!
Do you have a way (preferably a tool ) of doing the opposite. That is having a pronto code and extracting something like this "Power ON = 0x0A 0x58 0x55 0xAA"??
That will be vey helpful!

Ugh. I am sure there is a simpler way. The easiest way is to get a protocol sheet from the manufacturer.

However, it is has been my experience that if a manufacture gives you a protocol sheet, they usually haven't bothered to generate the pronto hex for you.

Here's what you could do. Download IRScrutinizer.


Take your pronto hex and copy and paste it into the scrutinze signal box. (This would be better with screen shots). Scrutinize it.

If we take the code from above, using the steps I just listed, we see that this hex string is

protocol = nec1 device=10 subdevice = 88 obj = 85. We expected this to be an nec1 signal, so we are on the right path. Now we do a little decimal to hexadecimal conversion. If you don't want to do the math mentally: [Link: mathsisfun.com]

10(d) = 0A(h)
88(d) = 58(h)
85(d) = 55 (h)

knowing that hex is usually formatted starting with "0x" we have our pieces and have worked backwards.

Using IRScrutinizer again, we use the Generate tab. It spits out a pronto hex code which we dump back into the scrutinizer tab to verify that it is the same protocol and device as listed above. I am not sure what the 0xAA stands for or does. I don't quite have it all figured out yet. I am also not staring at the protocol sheet. At least this is push in the right direction.

Thank you so much on your advice about irscrutinizer! It works but sadly not always . For example codes such as [Link: remotecentral.com] are very easily reckognized. BUT codes such as [Link: remotecentral.com] which are much longer cause the programm to crash. Do you know if it is something in the settings?
cheers

the same happens with IRmaster...