Dynex blues

[raoul5244]

I've just assembled the TVBG v.1.2 kit and it generally works great, but doesn't work with at least some of the Dynex t.v.'s. There are a lot of Dynex sets out there, thanks to Best Buy. Will there be a near-future firmware release that includes these sets or does anyone have a firmware update that includes most Dynex remote codes? Question #2: if I have to reprogram the uC, can someone point me to instructions for making a suitable programming cable and using it? Thanks--

[adafruit_support_bill]

You can program it with a USBTinyISP. Be sure to check the TV-B-Gone FAQ for special instructions on programming.

[Stephanie]

FWIW, I initially found that the TV-B-Gone would not turn off my new TV (I think it's a Dynex too - budget brand from Futureshop / Best Buy...) but what I found was that the code for that TV was towards the very end of the code list - and in the source code, those last few codes were commented out for space reasons.

The default mode has both North American and European codes in it's tiny memory, so that you can select which code bank you want by soldering / not soldering a resistor. In order to fit all the codes in for both banned and EU they had to make some compromises.

Seeing as I'm in banned (Canada to be exact) and have no immediate plans to go to Europe, I tweaked the firmware to just have the north american codes, and that allowed me to include all of them - even the newer / obscure brands like the Dynex.

Cheers!

[raoul5244]

...I tweaked the firmware to just have the north american codes, and that allowed me to include all of them - even the newer / obscure brands like the Dynex...

Is your tweak available? Thx--

[Stephanie]

I can post it up if you need it - it's nothing fancy though, just removing some comments to include the extra banned codes, and changing a #define to omit the EU codes.

If you do need me to post it just let me know, I'll dig it up.

[raoul5244]

It would be great if you can post the modified code--thx.
Just wondering, was the Dynex sequence one of the codes that is commented out in v.1.2? How many banned codes are commented out?
It appears that the number of products in the t.v. universe has grown to the point where two uC versions, or a uC with more memory is a much-needed upgrade for this kit!

[Stephanie]

Ok I dug up the files and it seems I was a bit mistaken with things - you don't need to make any changes to the list of codes, you only need to make one change basically, to the makefile.

If you haven't already, download the files from Ladyada's tutorial site: http://www.ladyada.net/make/tvbgone/download.html

The bit in question is in the Makefile, lines 49 through 55:

Code: Select all

ifdef EU_CODE
  CFLAGS += -DEU_CODES
else ifdef NA_CODE
  CFLAGS += -DNA_CODES
else
  CFLAGS += -DEU_CODES -DNA_CODES
endif

Essentially it's saying that the default is to include both EU and banned codes. I'm sure there's a 'correct' way to do this but I couldn't figure it out so I just that batch of lines except for this one, that forced it to do only banned codes:

Code: Select all

CFLAGS += -DNA_CODES

With that in place when you run make it will include all the codes including the Dynex one.

As for the list of codes and where Dynex falls in that list, have a look in the WORLDcodes.c file, from line 8230 the next 150-ish lines are the list of codes included for North America. Around line 8346 is the conditional, which basically says 'only include the next batch if we aren't including EU codes'. There's 20 or so codes that get omitted if both banned and EU codes are included.

Dynex is code na134. So if you want to move that up in the list (so it gets transmitted earlier when you trigger the TV-B-Gone), cut it from where it is at the bottom of the list, then insert it towards the top of that list - I put it in at #10, around line 8241.

I had forgotten how long this file is - it's almost 8400 lines so I'm not going to paste it, but as I said, you're really just looking at one change to the Makefile and one optional change to the codes file.

Cheers!

[raoul5244]

O.k., that's helpful background and guidance. Will tackle this in a week or so when there's time. Many thanks.

[keknittle]

I am quite new to this and unfamiliar to coding in general. I have assembled the TV Be Gone V1.2 quite well. I am good with the hardware part of electronics but not the software. In short I need some hand holding.

I am not sure how to use the firmware folder or what program to access to make changes.
Could you give a more detailed description how to access and upload to the TvBG. I have a six pin connector on it but not sure what connects to it.
Maybe this question has been answered somewhere else in the forum. But could not find it.

I am also looking for a list of devices or list of tv's that the TvBG V1.2 can turn off? It was not on the TvBG product page.

[adafruit_support_rick]

Why do you want to change the TVBGone firmware? You would only have to do that if you had some oddball TV that isn't in the firmware that's already loaded on the chip.

[adafruit_support_bill]

I am also looking for a list of devices or list of tv's that the TvBG V1.2 can turn off? It was not on the TvBG product page.

There is a list of brands supported in the product description here.

[keknittle]

Sadly yes. I have an Olevia. We purchased it at Best Buy for a fathers day gift several years ago. It works fine never had a problem.

[adafruit_support_rick]

Do you actually know what your specific Olevia codes are? I just did a little bit of googling, and there is stuff going back five years with this very problem. It looks like a total quagmire. There are even some posts which suggest that Olevia uses a different IR frequency.

The whole IR remote thing is a real mess, because the original standard didn't allow for more than 255 devices/manufacturers. So it's a real scramble for manufacturers to come up with discreet codes that don't interfere with other devices.

Olevia may have tried to side-step all of this by coming up with their open proprietary "standard". But the posts I saw indicate that they've been flipping around all over the place (probably due to customer complaints), with some TV's working with standard universal remotes and others not.

[PorkRhombus]

Just getting back to Dynex again ( the subject of this thread), in my worldcodes.c, I see that code_na134Times is commented out but code_na134Code is not. Just wondering how this case is handled ( is it in fact handled properly?). I understand that it is commented because it's a duplicate of 113, but where do we tell it to use the timing table for na113 instead?

Also, a shorter hack that is equivalent to Stephanie's is to remove the hash symbol from line 10 of the makefile ( i.e. make it say NA_CODE = 1)

Just to clarify, when we talk about changing the order of transmission, are we talking about editing the very last section of worldcodes.c (the listing)?

Finally, what have all these flags to do with the US/EU pullup resistor? It seems like the US/EU selection is as much a matter of software settings as it is about the pullup resistor.

[Stephanie]

I tried typing out a detailed reply but apparently the letter N followed by the letter A is a "banned spam word" and it wouldn't let me post my reply.

On the one hand i'm curious to know what an N followed by an A might mean. Is it a bad word?

On the other hand I'm miffed that my detailed post wouldn't go through.

Sort version - yes the last section of worldcodes.c determines the order that codes are sent. The pullup resistor is only useful if you flash the chip with both regions selected -- but then you lose about 30 or 50 unpopular codes.

If you only flash one region or the other the pullup resistor is not really necessary, and you get all the codes, but for only one region.

p.s. this is not a banned spam word: nananana