I'm trying to make a macro to access cinemax/movies on demand on my cox cable box. The box is a Motorola DCT6400. When you go to chanel 998 you have to press select to enter the "on demand" interface.

The remote goes to ch 998 but it can't seem to send the "select" code for long enough to enter the interface. Now, when I say long enough, I'm talking about a fraction of a second here. I did some testing manually and when I tap the "select" button nothing happens (same as when the macro performs this operation). If I hold the button for a very small amount of time longer, it enters the on demand interface without a problem. Apparently on demand requires a split second longer of a button press because the "select" command works fine for all the other macros that it's envolved with.

I'm linking all my buttons to a hidden IR database as I think most people do. I tried learning the "select" code directly into the macro but that didnt work either. I read through a lot of old threads about "long presses" among other things and I tried everything I could think of but it still wont work.

I'm using a TSU7000 and here's the "select" code:

0000 006C 0012 0002 0159 00AD 0012 00AD 0012 0057 0012 0057 0012 0057 0012 00AD 0012 0057 0012 0057 0012 0057 0012 0057 0012 0057 0012 0057 0012 0057 0012 0057 0012 00AD 0012 00AD 0012 00AD 0012 04A2 0159 0057 0012 0D23

Thanks,
Dave

Try adding a .1 second delay action in front of your "select" IR code. This is a common work around many have had to employ after the latest round of firmware updates for both the TSU3000 and TSU7000. Give it a try and let us know if that does it for you.

-Lowpro

If that delay doesn't work, the following might work to extend the duration of the function (with PENG you always need to guess and experiment for extending duration. You can't just edit the Pronto Hex and trust PENG not to mangle it).

0000 006C 001A 0002 0159 00AD 0012 00AD 0012 0057 0012 0057 0012 0057 0012 00AD 0012 0057 0012 0057 0012 0057 0012 0057 0012 0057 0012 0057 0012 0057 0012 0057 0012 00AD 0012 00AD 0012 00AD 0012 04A2 0159 0057 0012 0D23 0159 0057 0012 0D23 0159 0057 0012 0D23 0159 0057 0012 0D23 0159 0057 0012 0D23

The select command is preceeded by a 10 second delay to give it plenty of time to get to the chanel and for the guide to go away. I'll try adding the .1 sec delay too, when I get home from work today.

Yeah, I played around with the code a lot last night but it always said "invalid IR" or something when I tested it after I changed it.

You need to guess and experiment within the range of valid Pronto Hex as documented by Barry Gordon, and valid Pronto Hex that is still the right signal for your device.

I can't experiment (lacking a Pronto). I assume you can't usefully "guess" the right Pronto Hex. So guess and experiment, means I or one of the other experts guesses and you experiment.

Well, I tried adding the delay and that didnt help. I also tried the code you gave me john and it did activate the "select" command but still not enough to enter on demand.

Now, what you did to get that code johnsfine... I assume it's just extended. Is that something that can be explained briefly or should I look for Barry Gordon's documtentation?

I made a color coded copy of your original signal below in order to help explain it.

0000 006C 0012 0002 0159 00AD 0012 00AD 0012 0057 0012 0057 0012 0057 0012 00AD 0012 0057 0012 0057 0012 0057 0012 0057 0012 0057 0012 0057 0012 0057 0012 0057 0012 00AD 0012 00AD 0012 00AD 0012 04A2 0159 0057 0012 0D23

Skipping the purple part, the red is a count in hex of the number of PAIRS of values in the black part (so 12 hex equals 18 pairs equals 36 values in the black part). The blue is the count in hex of the number of pairs in the green part.

The black part gives the portion of the signal that is sent once when you press a key. The green part is sent over and over while you hold the key.

So to lengthen it, I inserted 4 copies of the green part onto the end of the black part and I adjusted the red number, changing 18 decimal to 26 decimal in order to account for 4 times 2 extra pairs.

That ought to lengthen the code within a macro, but with PENG you never know. Maybe inserting even more copies would help. Remember the red number in hex must count the number of pairs in the black section.

Wow, I had no idea it was that simple. Are all IR codes set up this way?

I added 4 more copies of the green part on top of the 4 you added. So far so good, the new macro passed 10/10 tests entering Entertainment on Demand without a problem.

Thanks so much for the easy color coded explanation.

Dave

ps. Any idea how people come up with the "hidden" codes for dvr (or other) boxes? Like the "commercial skip" on the Motorola DCT2608 that's not actually on the remote supplied by the cable company. Is that likely something that was found through expiramentation or was the IR code leaked by someone on the inside? I've seen IR codes around for that particular action... Unfortunetly, I've got a newer DVR and it dosent work for mine.

It's the most common form, but there are others.


With my MakeHex program (or similar tools) you can generate all possible commands of a given code set, then test them and see what they do. (Though I think the released copies of MakeHex did not the IRP file needed to do that for the G.I. cable protocol used by these Motorola boxes).


I think these boxes can be customized for individual cable services, changing which IR commands the box will recognise.

Extra commands (not on any of the remotes supplied by the cable service) for these boxes are quite rare. I assume that is because the cable company limits the firmware of the cable box to no more than the best of the remotes they distribute.

My best guess is that a "commercial skip" command is known because some cable company included it in their remote.


For most devices the extra commands were found by experimentation. For some devices the manufacturer officially releases such information (on some web page or via email to customers persistent enough to ask the right people). For a few devices (DVD players and PVRs typically), someone has read out and decoded the firmware to find all the commands it understands and sometimes to find what to change in order to add commands.