CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[Spanky Ham]

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Is Itai going to Cedia? Is he going to have a booth?

[ecrabb]

Yes, he's going to be at CEDIA, but no - he won't have a booth. I think he's planning to hang out in somebody's booth, though - a partner, perhaps. I'll let you know when I find out where he'll be.

I'm seriously considering going, too... You?

SC

[Spanky Ham]

Since it is in ATL, I should be there. I will be in Miami till Sep and return probably around Labor Day.

I am pretty excited about going, but the excitement is tempered by 3D. If that is really the only new thing coming along, then it will be a let down.

There is no AVS party, but a lot of people are getting together for dinners every night. I will probably do the Fri night dinner, but the rest I will pass on as they are to rich for my blood. I have no desire to drop over $100 a night on dinner. If you go, then remember that you don't have to stay downtown in an expensive hotel. Last year, I found nice hotels on the Marta rail line outside the perimeter for around $60 a night. I think Darinp2 paid $120 or so to stay downtown.

[ecrabb]

Cool... Maybe we can meet up at some point. If I go, it'll probably be with a buddy of mine, so even the $120/night hotel room wouldn't be too bad split two ways. Might be nice to stay downtown and not have to ride the train or drive at all... But, I do like cheap, so staying away from downtown is certainly open for discussion.

If we go, we'll probably fly down on Thursday afternoon/evening, go out for drinks Thursday night, go to the show Friday, do the dinner thing Friday night, hang out at the show again Saturday morning, then catch a Saturday afternoon/evening flight out. A day and a half at the show and two nights out seems to be adequate for my interest level and bank account.

We probably need to make a decision in the next week or two I suppose.

SC

[Spanky Ham]

I just checked and there are like fifty hotels under $60 for that weekend. Of course, not all of them are good. As far as hotel, you could probably still get a good deal the week of the show. Haflich made an issue of this last year, but Atlanta has like the fourth most hotel rooms in the US. As I said last year, if Atlanta can host the Olympics then I think it can handle Cedia.

The Friday dinner might get out of control pretty quick. I think they have about twenty people already lined up. For me, I prefer a smaller crowd. I guess we will see what transpires over the next two months.

[clamster]

Just found this thread and will be doing more research tonight...but:
1. Could you explain in more detail how iRule will control an HTPC? Specifically Windows 7 and Media Center? Simulated keyboard available?
2. Will iRule do 2way via IP? Specifically, iRules's ability to control music and see the music selections/tracks/album art on the iPhone/iTouch without turning on the tv?

Thx.

[ecrabb]

Clamster,

I'm really not up on W7/MCE integration, so you'd be much better in the AVS thread with those questions. I do know from reading the AVS thread that people are doing some or most of what you're talking about, including controlling MCE complete with a virtual keyboard. I believe it involves running small piece of software on the HTPC to receive the commands via IP and turn them into Windows/MCE events.

The IP-based two-way/feedback feature isn't implemented yet, but IIRC, it's scheduled for one of the next releases (if not the next release). I'm particularly excited about feedback, as you'll be able to have things like lighting, volume, or mute status indication displayed right on the phone. I would assume things like artist or track names should be able to passed back just as easily, but like I said, I'm not up on HTPC integration.

I highly recommend you check out AVS thread for answers to all your questions... You can probably just focus your fire on the last 10-20 pages of the thread - I know there was a bunch of Windows/MCE-related banter recently. Sorry I can't be of more help!

Here's a link to page 88 (of 98):
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1124844&page=88

SC

[clamster]

Ecrabb,
Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, I have quite a bit of reading to do.

I bought iRule last night, went through the video lessons and a few tutorials and had a few basic questions:

1. Is there a way to create and save different layouts so you can try different images, backgrounds and save for later retrieval as Ver1, Ver2, etc?
2. I see that I can import button images and devices and I've tried a few just to play around. Is there a way to import an entire layout? For example, is your Main Home/System Power layout available for import? Its beautiful and would certainly save a lot of time for those of us who aren't graphic designers (and aren't home sick LOL).
3. Several of my devices are not available for import: Onkyo TX-SR875 AV Receiver, Niles RVL-6 multizone speaker select/volume controller for example. What do I need to do to get those devices into iRule Builder?
4. What gateway(s) are you using? I see some chatter about the cost of the GC Gateways and others using more cost effective solutions...curious about your thoughts.
5. I see I can select a sound or vibrate on tap to know a button has been pressed...in Pronto layouts they have a pressed button state, can iRule do that? I saw some iPad buttons that were in the "on" state...can they be used so that when you press a button it switches to the on state for a sec and then back to indicate it was pressed?

Thanks in advance for the help. iRule looks like it will be an amazing solution to my needs.

[ecrabb]

Hi, Clamster -

Congrats! I think once you get over the initial learning curve, you'll end up really liking iRule. I found it pretty exciting once I got over the initial hump of figuring out the basics, and especially when I started learning the little tricks like holding down the "L" key when you're dragging a graphic to crete a link instead of a button.

On to your questions...

1. There isn't really any way to save/load layouts at this point; The only way I'm aware of is to use the backup/restore functionality. So, backup whatever you've created, nuke everything, try some stuff from scratch, then restore the old layout(s) or continue using the one you just created.

2. Unfortunately, no. See Answer 1. Thanks for your comment. I'd be happy to give you my layout, but A) all the graphics are custom to my setup, and B) it's actually a pretty simple layout. Even worse, I think I like the new default layout better, so I think I'm going to dump my old layout in favor of the new one! So, did your account have the new default layouts in it with the white on black buttons?

3. You should post device-specific support inquiries in the AVS thread or email the support email address. If they're not already in there (and just named something unexpected), the support team can add them. The Onkyo is probably a generic Onkyo code that works for a whole series of AVR/prepros. Your 875 may use the same code base that my Integra DHC-9.9 uses for instance.

4. I'm using a GC-100-12. When I bought it last summer, it was the cheapest way to control two serial devices and six IR devices. There are some other solutions now depending on how many devices you have, including the iTach series, but I'm not all up on these and where the best cost savings rest. Here again, the AVS forum thread is an excellent resource.

5. No over/down states in iRule. iRule does apply a "glow", but that's the extent of it, which honestly I think is probably adequate... I mean, if your digit is planted on the device, there isn't a lot of benefit to a "pressed" state. The "blue lights" active buttons I built were for the iPad mostly. I designed them to indicate that you were on a specific page where the UI includes persistent source buttons... So for instance, if you navigate to the Blu-ray device page, then the "Blu-ray" source button stays light while you're on that page, giving visual feedback of which device it is you're controlling. On a side-note, I didn't think there would be many who would use persistent buttons on the smaller iDevices because the screen is so much smaller.

I'd highly recommend heading over and diving into the last 10 or 20 pages of the AVS thread. I created the thread on this forum more to serve as a resource for a few the guys in this forum who have little or no interest in ever visiting AVS (long story). Not that you aren't more than welcome here - you absolutely are - just that there are dozens of active, helpful users in the AVS thread, and I'm just one user squeezing in a little iRule time between work, family, etc... In short, there are FAR more knowledgeable users over there.

Cheers!

SC

[ecrabb]

Oh, I just checked the device library... I didn't see the Niles either, but I believe the device you want to use for the Onkyo is either "Onkyo Integra AV Receiver Main Zone All Models V4" or "Integra RS232 AV Receiver Main Zone Complete", depending on whether you want to use IR or RS-232. Should be the same as my Integra (which is the same as the 876).

SC

[clamster]

ecrabb,

My GC100-6 is on the way and I continue to read AVS and play around with ibuilder. Couple of questions:
1. I need to make all of the small circle buttons 25-50% bigger (some in the family have old eyes). Whats the easiest way to do that?
2. How do I make a global (ie for all panels) change to the background? Or do I have to do it for each panel/page?
3. I see labels on the default lighting page...did I miss the tutorial on adding labels?
4. Is there a way to make the button glow bigger/more intense? It gets hidden by big fat fingers and I would like to have some feedback that a button was pressed.

Thx

PS. I continue to think that there should be a way to save multiple "Layouts" so you can try different things without backing up/delete/restore. Just a suggestion.

[clamster]

[Spanky Ham]

Crabb,
I was playing with my nephew's phone the other day and went to the Irule page. I had to laugh at the negative reviews. I can understand how some of the people who bought the app may have thought it would be simpler, but man I wonder what these guys were hoping to get. You may want to mention to Itai that it is kind of misleading to have the app labeled as free.

[ecrabb]

There always going to be people that will bitch and whine; It doesn't matter how much disclosure you do. The app is free to download and install, and there's a 14-day trial to test-drive the builder to see how it works and if it fits your needs. Of course, you'll need a hardware gateway to actually test the functionality with IR equipment, but with an IP-based device like certain AVR's, prepro's, and other gear, you'll have full functionality for 14 days.

The problem is the crowd. Many of the people who download the app then bitch about it are the "i" crowd... All they know are games. The comment that "it's too much work - I just wanna watch TV" is a perfect example.

SC

[Spanky Ham]

I understand that, Crabb. The thing is if you could turn them to the Irule side then they could become powerful allies. It probably just needs to be a little clearer in the description and then promote the power that it offers relative to the competition.

[Spanky Ham]

Any updates?

[J Kildare]

This app rocks!!

Got my Denon 3808ci working over network, my amps controlled with IR, Blu Ray Changer with IR, 2nd row of seating slides over a foot (to make room for easy access to the front of the room) by IR.

Now for the Marquee with rs-232
I have the baud rate set in both Gc-100 and Marquee to 19200
I'm using a straight thru cable, with the following codes entered into devices

Set Power Off 01 07 00 00 03 FF 08 00 00 0E
Set Power On 01 07 00 00 03 FF 08 1B 81 00 0E
Request Power Status 01 06 00 00 03 FF 88 00 0E
Reply with Power Status 01 07 03 FF 00 00 88 1B 81 00 0E (On)
Set Standby Off 01 07 00 00 03 FF 3D 00 00 0E
Set Standby On 01 07 00 00 03 FF 3D 1B 81 00 0E

So far no luck

I'm not much of a programmer so I've probably screwed something
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Jim

[ecrabb]

Hey, thanks for posting, Jim! Awesome to see somebody from here actually using iRule! I completely forgot to come back and update this thread... it's been about 3-1/2 months since I last posted here! Geez, ya just can't get good help nowadays...

OK, I'm no expert, so I'm tempted to refer you to the AVS thread, but since you're a CRT'er, let's take a quick peek together... Lemme take a look at the 'Quee serial info and I'll come back and post here.

Couple questions...
1) Have you set up the Marquee in the builder and attached the hex commands to the "Network Codes" item in your device tree?
2) Are your hex strings properly formatted in the builder so the gateway is sending hex bytes not ascii characters?

So, if the Quee Power On command is:
01 07 00 00 03 FF 08 1B 81 00 0E

Then, the command "data" in the builder should look like this:
\x01\x07\x00\x00\x03\xFF\x08\x1B\x81\x00\x0E

Confirm all that, and I'll have a look at the Marquee serial specs and see if anything jumps out at me.

Oh, and have you tried connecting a computer to the Quee to see if you can control it with raw hex strings that way?

Cheers,
SC

[ecrabb]

Oh, and do I understand correctly that you have a whole row of recliners sliding over a foot for ingress/egress to part of your room?!!?? If so, then, ummm.... I'm going to need to see video of that before we can go any further!

Seriously, that sounds awesome! What kind of actuator setup are you using to move the recliners?

SC

[J Kildare]

SC

Thanks for the reply.
Well, this knuckle head forgot the "\x". I will try that and see if it helps, and will get back to you.

As for the seating, I can't remember what actuator I used, but I know it was good for 400 lbs. I figured it was lots as I could easily roll the stage and seats with one hand. I used x-10 deuplexes to switch the forward and reverse. I have a hand contol as well as the iphone.

Will try to get some video of it this weekend, as i'm still working on the remote.

Thanks again
Jim