I cannot believe this.

Some months ago I posted here about my near new 850 suddenly throwing a fit and stopping talking to the PC. All suggestions from you guys tried but to no avail.

A complication has been that I purchased it when visiting my son in the US last year. They would not accept my CC so my son kindly paid with his (and of course I reimbursed him). So, after all failed last yuear I sent it back to my son who eventually sent it back to Universal and they sent him a new one. But when the faulty one arrived at Universal they claimed it was not faulty and charged my son full price for another. After some argument they backed down.

In the meantime I spotted a used 850 for sale so got that, and yes, it communicated to the PC with no difficulty and has done so ever since.

Well today, I finally got the replacement 850 from my son. It has been a long time delayed because we accumulated some other goodies over the last few months so they were all sent in the one box.

But the "new" 850 will not communicate with the PC. But the other older 850 does. I've tried the usual replace batteries, MAIN/STOP etc routines and checked out the COM settings as detailed at [Link: universalremote.com]. And of course they are all correct - if not the other 850 would not talk to the PC.

About all I can think of is that there is some slight difference in manufacture with the older 850 (K111705 07054) and this newer one (A071108 0233817). This might explain it but even if so does not solve the problem.

Apologies for being long winded but this is VERY frustrating.

All suggestions gratefully received.

John

Try this.

[Link: cepro.com]

Thanks for that but I'm told that applies to a Windows Media computer for TV time shifting with an IR receiver and is totally different from the problem here.

John

The "debounce" issue is when an MCE system will accept a particular command once, but not twice or more in a row.

For your issue: is it that the MCE system is receiving NOTHING? Are you using learned or database codes? Have you confirmed that you have the RF/IR settings correct for that device in the software? Have you double-checked that the remote is in fact sending IR using a digital camera of some sort?

I fired up the MX-editor program on this PC. Connected the new 850. Then attempted to to load the data already factory installed. Immediate failure of communication.

Reconnected the working 850 to the PC. Successfully uploaded the files etc in it. Then connected the new 850 and tried to download to it. Again immediate failure.

Tried the same scenario with the notebook. Same reaction - the old 850 communicates but immediate failure with the new one.

So either the 850 is faulty or there is something about this new one different to the old one wjhich requires a different approach to wake it up.

Oh wait, MCE is a red herring. That's what I get for trying to respond at 6 AM.

Your problem is the new MX-850 won't communicate over the serial port.

Since there's no drivers and you have a functional setup with another MX-850, I would strongly suspect an issue with the remote (perhaps with its physical port). If you have an alternate serial cable try that (I have had issues with a flakey cable that worked fine on some remotes but not others).

Another thought. Which software version are you using. Is it new, old, updateable..? It could be the firmware version on the remote is newer than your software, or your software is too new for older firmware.

Thanks Daniel.

I fear the cable is not the problem. Remember I tried it on two different computers with 2 different cables.

I did wonder about the software. The one I'm using is MX-850 version 1.00.000 downloaded August last year. I did try registering the newest 850 to see if there was any difference in the software but got nowhere :-(

So does anyone know if there is a later release which would help & if so where I can download it? I wasted several fruitless hours the other day trying to find another download.

TIA

John

Are you sure about that version number? What do you get if you register your remote on URC's site?

I think current is around 1.12.2xx.

Yes I'm sure and that could explain the problems.

Any ideas where I could download 1.12.2XX? I seem unable to register the replacement remote and connect to download any new firmware. The frustration continues.

Thanks for your interest and help.

John

If anyone can help with a later version of the firmware I'd br grateful if you would email me at j_coulsonatbigpond.com

TIA

John

EDIT ADDENDUM: Finally managed to register this remote. I have email acknowlegement but no link to software yet. Progress????

The newer MX-850s often will not work with the old software. I always tell customers to update the software before using it with their new MX-850s. However, the non-updateable software you get from URC should work as well.

Looks like it IS the software after all so I should be able to solve it now.

Thanks everyone for bothering to respond and help. URC should include that as a possible reason for error in their list at www.universalremote.com

John