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Philips DVD player remote


Segfault

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I'm trying to use a Philips DVD player remote. First, recording buttons failed often, but by repeating the procedure I finally managed to record all buttons. I read this means the frequency is non-standard? Second, when using it the keypresses pretty much give random results. I. e. pressing arrow down moves left instead, so on.

I'm ready to buy an another remote, can anybody point me to a remote on eBay that works?

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You mean the software or the firmware? I updated the software, it is v2.3.2 and flashed in the firmware that came with it. Same problem, changing keycodes. I ordered a Harmony, should arrive soon. Will see then if it works, although I just learned I have to use Congruity software to configure it and I'm not sure how well it works. 

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OK, thanks. It's a remote for Philips DVD player models DVP3962 DVP3980 DVP3982. I've programmed my universal remote for one of those players.

Protocol being used is RC6, so I was right about that. The carrier frequency is standard for RC6 (36 kHz) so it in range for Flirc.

RC6 is similar to RC5, so it has a toggle bit which is alternating between key presses. But the bit encoding is reversed compared to RC5.

I've tested with old Flirc (fw 3.8.0) and the behaviour is exactly like described by @Segfault. I've been able to record all 4 directional keys (with some errors that the key is already recorded) but after that some keys are alternating between different recorded functions. For example, in my case, pressing left dir key on remote once executes cursor left, but another press on left dir key executes cursor right.

On new Flirc (fw 4.0.0.10 and 4.0.0.15) the keys are properly recognised. There were no issues at all with recording all 4 direction keys (each key recorded twice because of toggle bit in RC6). Normal operation was ok: I've been able to properly navigate in the foreground app using direction keys. No issues like with v1, that the key is recognised as something else.

Jason, if you have a Harmony, you should be able to add one of the DVD models I've mentioned at the beginning.

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It is not clear for me. Is it flirc hardware issue or firmware issue? In other words, is my flirc device too old for new firmware?

The new device is more capable and faster. Able to recognize tighter timing requirements of some of the RC6. PM me, and I'll send you a new one.

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Thank you! What a great piece of hardware. :) 

But. The damned Philips remote is still acting up. Now all the buttons record fine and there is no messed up keycodes. However, when using it I need to press every key twice. The first keypress does not generate any output in xev at all. 

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Both RC5 (used for example in MCE remotes) and RC6 protocols use something called a toggle bit. It's a single bit in the data frame which is toggled between key presses. For example when you press "up" the first time, the bit is equal 0. Then you release the button and press it again, the bit is set to 1.

Like @jason mentioned, it's for detection whether or not the user really pressed the button again.

A dedicated hardware (like IR receiver in the TV or DVD) which understands a specific protocol, knows how to decode the signal and properly retrieve command which is being sent. The toggle bit doesn't change the command itself.

On the other hand, Flirc is more like a generic IR receiver in a sense, that it doesn't decode the signal (doesn't retrieve the command), but analyses the signal itself. Changing only a single bit causes the signal timings to be slightly different, which is recognised by Flirc as a different signal. It's like that because Flirc needs to work universally with any IR protocol.

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  • 4 months later...
8 hours ago, Segfault said:

I have been using this remote ever since. Yesterday I plugged the Flirc into my PC first time to reprogram a button and it offered a firmware upgrade. After upgrade my remote is behaving erratically. How can I downgrade the firmware?

Save your config and post it here please. I'll take a look.

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My remote is described earlier in this thread. Not sure how you exactly want me to get the log. I plugged it into my desktop and pressed a few keys on remote, mostly the keys that give me trouble. Some I need to press twice sometimes (not always) and some - like arrow down seem to send two commands in one keypress, but again, not always. It was working much better with previous firmware. Normally I'm using it with an Intel NUC, Kodi. The debug log is attached.

my_flirc_config

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