Programming a Newton as a Remote Control?
Brian Porter
his Newton to control his TV. I am sure this can be done.
If anyone has any help or suggestions that I can pass on to him, that would
be awesome! I want to see someone loose 50 bottles of wine because he
thinks the Newton is worthless.
I'll pass on any helpful info! If someone already has such a monster, that
would be better.
- Brian
___________________________________________________________________________
Brian Porter Spitzer Str. 14
por...@vincere.muc.de 80939 Muenchen
(49) 89/311-7363 GERMANY
Mats Bredell
Porter) wrote:
> A freind of mine bet another 50 bottles of wine that he couldn't program
> his Newton to control his TV. I am sure this can be done.
>
> If anyone has any help or suggestions that I can pass on to him, that would
> be awesome! I want to see someone loose 50 bottles of wine because he
> thinks the Newton is worthless.
>
> I'll pass on any helpful info! If someone already has such a monster, that
> would be better.
According to one of the hardware manuals, the IR hardware supports two
different modes. One of them was implemented just to make it possible for
Newton to emulate a remote control. Unfortunately DTS haven't yet published
the programming interface, but they probably will soon.
/Mats
--
Mats Bredell Mats.B...@udac.uu.se
UDAC Communication service systems Ph: +46 18 187817
Uppsala, Sweden Think straight - be gay!
koffer
: A freind of mine bet another 50 bottles of wine that he couldn't program
: - Brian
The user manual quotes that the limitation to beaming is 3 feet, or
about 1 meter. This would seem to indicate that the Newton does not
have sufficient range. However, it could just be a limitation in data
rate (i.e. perhaps a slower data rate, like remotes use, could work
over longer distances).
+---------------+--------------------+------------------------------------+
| Ken Offer | Gemini Dreams | Wisdom: Science is the search for |
| Chief of Bits | Writing Shareware | physical truth. Religion is the |
| kof...@io.com | Macintosh Software | search for personal truth. |
+---------------+--------------------+------------------------------------+
Kent Sandvik
> A freind of mine bet another 50 bottles of wine that he couldn't program
> his Newton to control his TV. I am sure this can be done.
>
> If anyone has any help or suggestions that I can pass on to him, that would
> be awesome! I want to see someone loose 50 bottles of wine because he
> thinks the Newton is worthless.
The sample should be uploaded shortly, we are counting hours just now
I think :-).
--Kent
--
Kent Sandvik
san...@apple.com. ALink: KSAND -- Private activities on the net.
John Hoford
>
> The user manual quotes that the limitation to beaming is 3 feet, or
> about 1 meter. This would seem to indicate that the Newton does not
> have sufficient range. However, it could just be a limitation in data
> rate (i.e. perhaps a slower data rate, like remotes use, could work
> over longer distances).
Thats probably a limitation of the receiver. The HP48 has a limitation
of about 3" but as a remote it could work my tv 10 feet away. The
receiver consumes more power to be more sensitive. (that why you can
turn it off in the newton)
John
--
-----------------------------------
John D. Hoford
email: hof...@tumtum.image.chop.edu
Chris Page
san...@newton.apple.com (Kent Sandvik) writes:
> In article <H4Zygc...@vincere.muc.de>, por...@vincere.muc.de (Brian
> Porter) wrote:
>
> > A freind of mine bet another 50 bottles of wine that he couldn't program
> > his Newton to control his TV. I am sure this can be done.
> >
> > If anyone has any help or suggestions that I can pass on to him, that would
> > be awesome! I want to see someone loose 50 bottles of wine because he
> > thinks the Newton is worthless.
>
> The sample should be uploaded shortly, we are counting hours just now
> I think :-).
Kent, could you repeat that? Do you mean to say that you _can_ use a
Newton to control T.V.'s et al? There have been numerous messages here
and on other forums about whether this could be done, but it seemed to
me that nobody was really sure whether the IR hardware was capable of
this.
Given the enthusiasm with which this topic has been discussed, I find
the brevity of your reply shockingly sedate. Was the smiley intended to
indicate sincere happiness or sly sarcasim?
Chris Page
cp...@mv.us.adobe.com
Adobe Systems Incorporated
Disclaimer: opinions expressed are not necessesarily those of my
employer.
jim bailey
>Brian Porter (por...@vincere.muc.de) wrote:
>: A freind of mine bet another 50 bottles of wine that he couldn't program
>: his Newton to control his TV. I am sure this can be done.
>The user manual quotes that the limitation to beaming is 3 feet, or
>about 1 meter. This would seem to indicate that the Newton does not
>have sufficient range. However, it could just be a limitation in data
>rate (i.e. perhaps a slower data rate, like remotes use, could work
>over longer distances).
I would imagine that the limitation is caused by the IR receiver and
not the transmitter. The hp-95 thing has the same 1 meter limit but
reportedly works fine as a remote.
Jim Bailey
NewtMail: jdb (j...@online.apple.com)
Internet: jba...@world.std.com
William Kearney
wrote:
> The user manual quotes that the limitation to beaming is 3 feet, or
> about 1 meter. This would seem to indicate that the Newton does not
> have sufficient range. However, it could just be a limitation in data
> rate (i.e. perhaps a slower data rate, like remotes use, could work
> over longer distances).
>
That's if you're using the fast serial modes. IR to remotes is like using
semaphore flags, it's ________real___________ slow. I suspect the Newton
can do it. I understand that the IR input to the Newton will probably not
learn from remotes. However, from the remote that came with my new VCR, it
appears there's 'only' about 50 variations of Remote codes. The Newton
should be able to handle this with ease.
Kent Sandvik
Page) wrote:
> Kent, could you repeat that? Do you mean to say that you _can_ use a
> Newton to control T.V.'s et al? There have been numerous messages here
> and on other forums about whether this could be done, but it seemed to
> me that nobody was really sure whether the IR hardware was capable of
> this.
I was going to post something about this, but I guess I could do a
sneak announcement on Internet before the other online services.
If anyone is interested to test out how to write Newton apps for
remote control, get in touch with me: san...@newton.apple.com. We
are interested in serious development work and feedback, if you don't
get back to us with comments concerning the kit we are seeding, we might
stop sending any follow-up kits. And you can't ship any products with the
material we will provide you with. Send email with the word 'REMOTE'
somewhere in the subject line, I get a lot of emails nowadays and
I don't want to miss those requests.
Expect us to send out the kit a little bit later this month, we need
to create a new platforms file for this purpose.
When the kit works fine out there, and we don't hear of any serious
problems with it, we will officially announce the information for
everyone. Then you could also ship products or distribute public
domain material.
The main reason we are restrictive just now is that we don't want to
release something that causes severe problems with customer apps, we
do know it's working properly, but we want to be 110% sure.
> Given the enthusiasm with which this topic has been discussed, I find
> the brevity of your reply shockingly sedate. Was the smiley intended to
> indicate sincere happiness or sly sarcasim?
It was actually an expression of joy so developers could write cool
stuff.
Mike Engber
Kent Sandvik <san...@newton.apple.com> wrote:
>I was going to post something about this, but I guess I could do a
>sneak announcement on Internet before the other online services.
I'm sure Kent meant to also ask for more info on potential beta
testers:
Subject line of email:
.* REMOTE .*
To:
san...@newton.apple.com
Body of email
Name:
Email Addr:
US Mail Addr:
Phone(s):
//+ how to actually reach you, extension, office hours, time zone, ...
- since testing this will involve recieving large (200+ K) files via
email, you need to send an email addr that can handle it. With my
seeding of the alarm stuff I'm using .hqx in the body of Internet
messages and enclosures for AppleLink. Other services have gateways,
but they don't necessarily handle large message bodies or enclosures.
- realize all this will soon be made publicly available (at which
point it will have better docs and the bugs worked out). So it's
really only useful for people who will actually do testing soon
(and who like to suffer)
- The key to making this work will be understanding the IR codes
your device uses. Obviously, we can't provide this data. So you
may want to start working on getting the technical data you'll
need. (The sample code we have now controls a PowerCD)
- and most importantly - don't send email to me
-ME
P.S. in remote mode, the Newton can go ~25'. So you won't have to sit
3' from your TV. (whoever that guy was who posted about the 50 bottles
of wine bet on "Newton not working as a remote" - you'll win your bet.
Before you inform your friend of the news (and collect) see if he wants
to make any more side bets - for cash :-)
John Hoford
>- The key to making this work will be understanding the IR codes
>your device uses. Obviously, we can't provide this data. So you
>may want to start working on getting the technical data you'll
>need. (The sample code we have now controls a PowerCD)
Any one who needs remote codes looke in the hp48 newsgroups and
archive sites. They have codes for most consumer electronics
(sony,panasonic,etc.) and programs that run them on the hp48.
I have used them.
John.
Kent Sandvik
> wrote:
>
> > The user manual quotes that the limitation to beaming is 3 feet, or
> > about 1 meter. This would seem to indicate that the Newton does not
> > have sufficient range. However, it could just be a limitation in data
> > rate (i.e. perhaps a slower data rate, like remotes use, could work
> > over longer distances).
I just love disinformation. FYI we controlled a Sony TV from about
five meters (15 feet?) last night using a Newton. Note that we are
not limited to a shorter range because we use another IR protocol.
--Kent
Kent Sandvik
> Subject line of email:
> .* REMOTE .*
> To:
> san...@newton.apple.com
> Body of email
> Name:
> Email Addr:
> US Mail Addr:
> Phone(s):
> //+ how to actually reach you, extension, office hours, time zone, ...
Well, one person used the table, the others ignored it. Doesn't matter,
I have you all in my database, evil grin.
Kent Sandvik
> >- The key to making this work will be understanding the IR codes
> >your device uses. Obviously, we can't provide this data. So you
> >may want to start working on getting the technical data you'll
> >need. (The sample code we have now controls a PowerCD)
We also have resource specs for the Sony consumer remote control
units. But yes, for the others you need to get in touch with
various consumer electronics companies, or chase for specs
on ftp sites and so on.
Martin Patterson - SunConnect ICNC
ir control program for the hp48. Try downloading rem32bg.zip from some of
the servers (e.g. hpcvbbs.external.hp.com:/pub/dyo I think). it comes
with a lot of configuration information like the extract below.
Martin
******************************************************************************
DENON
******************************************************************************
Version: 3.2
Date: 15 nov 93
* Menu:
* Technical info::
* CD::
File: denon.doc, Node: Technical info, Prev: Top, Next: CD, Up: Top
******************************************************************************
TECHNICAL INFO
******************************************************************************
Code length: 15 bits
Carrier: 32kHz
Transmits code + code XOR #7FE0h
header: None
one: 275us pulse + 1900us space
zero: 275us pulse + 775us space
Space between transmissions: 43ms
File: denon.doc, Node: CD, Prev: Technical info, Up: Top
******************************************************************************
CD
******************************************************************************
GROUP: Not needed
Code Function
---- --------
#B68 Rew
#B88 Play
#B48 FF
#BC8 Stop
#BA8 Pause
#A08 Open
David Mulcihy
|> A good source of information about remote control codes seems to be the
|> ir control program for the hp48. Try downloading rem32bg.zip from some of
|> the servers (e.g. hpcvbbs.external.hp.com:/pub/dyo I think). it comes
|> with a lot of configuration information like the extract below.
|>
|> Martin
unzip rem32bg.zip
error: missing 9 bytes in zipfile (attempting to process anyway)
David Mulcihy
mul...@pat.mdc.com
Martin Patterson - SunConnect ICNC
and codes on ftp.wustl.edu:/usenet/comp.sources.hp48/volume08/remote.bg.
It unzips ok...
unzip -d remote.zip
Exploding: remote.rdm
Exploding: remote.doc
Exploding: remote.dir
Exploding: codes/sony.doc
Exploding: codes/jvc.doc
Exploding: codes/pioneer.doc
Exploding: codes/rc5.doc
Exploding: codes/matsushi.doc
Exploding: codes/oldmatsu.doc
Exploding: codes/canon.doc
Martin
mar...@france.sun.com
Steve Mann
mul...@pat.mdc.com writes:
>Unfortunately, that file is corrupt.
>
>unzip rem32bg.zip
>
>error: missing 9 bytes in zipfile (attempting to process anyway)
>
Oh, that's what the problem is. I couldn't get it UnZipped either.
Steve
Martin Patterson - SunConnect ICNC
remotes is rem32bg.zip on nada.kth.se under /home/d89-bga/hp/files/posted.
It unzips ok.
Martin
mar...@france.sun.com