i must be doing something wrong, i've downloaded the IRTool program from the source advised by John, also downloaded the additional file decode ir DLL v 2.36 from RC, it seems to work but i don't get the same results as when others use it, all my results seem to be "kenwood/yamaha" any ideas? i think it may be something about them being in the same folder, i have done this but maybe not correctly.

"kenwood/yamaha" is a result produced by the obsolete internal decoder inside irtool.

The decodes you want (that come from decodeir.dll) should appear in a small pop up window before you see the decode in the main window (the obsolete decoder should only be called after you dismiss that pop up window).

The decodeir from RC is also obsolete, but not so obsolete that it should explain your problem. You should get decodeir.dll from hifi-remote.com

If you don't get the small pop up window, there are several possible reasons, some of which are:
1) You got the wrong version of IrTool (one that doesn't use decodeir.dll)
2) You didn't put decodeir.dll in a place irtool.exe can find it (but putting them both in the same folder ought to work). I assume you put decodeir.dll in that folder; you didn't just put the .zip containing it in that folder.
3) You are using Pronto Hex that your obsolete version of decodeir.dll doesn't understand.
4) You are using Pronto Hex that no version of decodeir.dll understands.

hi john, i got both downloads from hifi-remote, definitely unzipped them and put them in the same folder, not yet seen the popup window, anything to do with me running vista?

Some people have managed to use those on Vista, but I don't know what strange security options Vista might sometimes use to make it harder for you to run non MS software. So far I have managed to limit my own use of Vista to a few short tests in Costco just to verify that Vista really is nasty enough I want to continue avoiding it.

What URL did you use for IrTool from hifi-remote? RemoteCentral has three versions of IrTool, one that works with decodeir and two that don't. I forget what version(s) of irtool are at hifi-remote. I know the newest decodeir.dll is at hifi-remote because that is where I put it.

Post a sample of the Pronto Hex you are trying. Maybe something is wrong with that.

This is the version of IrTools that works with DecodeIR that works fine on XP pro,don`t know about Vista.

[Link: remotecentral.com]

Also if the code you paste into IrTool does not start with 0000 it will not work.

it's working!!! thanks guys. i think my error could have been that the files were in the same folder just weren't opened in the same file.... told you my pc skills were nonexistant. thanks again.

I'm glad you got it to work. I haven't a clue what the above phrase might mean.

One of the places IrTool looks for decodeir.dll is in the current directory. When you double click the icon to start IrTool, Windows sets the current directory to be the folder containing IrTool.exe at the same time it starts IrTool running, so decodeir should have been found if it were in that same folder.

thanks john, i must be on a roll, i've just mastered makehex!!
i'm just testing to see if what i've figured out actually works.