Griffin Beacon Bluetooth IR MCE remote for iPhone

Experiences and questions about WMC on your iPhone, Droid, WP7, and more.
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JazJon

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Griffin Beacon Bluetooth IR MCE remote for iPhone

#1

Post by JazJon » Wed Jan 16, 2013 3:31 am

Does anyone else have the Griffin Beacon Bluetooth IR Remote control setup with MCE? I'm trying to confirm a bug.

http://www.dijitcommunity.com/forum/thr ... des/#13083

See thread above. Here is my latest post:

"January 15, 2013 8:23 PM updated: January 15, 2013 9:29 PM
I got Microsoft DVR to work, but the "Playback Pad" button requires you to bring up that second screen before you have access to skip forward, backwards, fast forward & rewind.

I went to learn a dedicated skip forward and skip back button. (my most used buttons) Both learning steps completed, but for some reason Skip Backward doesn't work. (even though it reports it was learned) When I press skip backwards, I see the red led response on my MCE receiver but nothing happens. If I use the provided Number Pad created from Microsoft DVR, the skip backward works fine. Why is the learned version not working but the built in one is?
The learned skip forward button works fine. (strange?)
I have the latest firmware. (which fixed the ability to learn Lutron dimmers)

UPDATE: this has to be a bug you can fix. Here's what I've done. I used my old Harmony remote to "learn" the Microsoft DVR Skip Back command provided by dijit. I then taught the harmony's new learned skip back button back to the Beacon on a new custom learned button. Well it works 50%. The first time you hit the button MCE skips back. The second and third time you press skip back, nothing happens! Nothing happens until you send a different command and then skip back works again. I programmed TWO custom buttons (learned from the harmony) If I alternate between the two skip back buttons it continues skipping backwards no problem. Skip1,skip2,skip1,skip2. (works forever)

Can you guys please test/confirm this bug with the MCE skip back button? Again my goal is to have a individual skip back button and not have to used the nested one provided."

mdavej

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#2

Post by mdavej » Thu Jan 17, 2013 1:16 am

You've made a lot more progress than I have. A few bad learns are just the tip of the iceberg with this thing. The griffin has the worst learning capability of any supposed remote control device I've ever seen. I gave up on mine a long time ago. Needless to say, I don't think it's possible to ever get it working 100%. It's a great concept, but the authors apparently know nothing about IR signals.

Good luck.

erkotz

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#3

Post by erkotz » Thu Jan 17, 2013 8:28 am

There is some de-bounce algorithm WMC uses that alternates codes like this. There is a registry key to disable it, which should resolve your issue - if you can't find it, let me know and I will dig.
Quality Assurance Manager, Ceton Corporation

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JazJon

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#4

Post by JazJon » Thu Jan 17, 2013 9:38 am

mdavej wrote:You've made a lot more progress than I have. A few bad learns are just the tip of the iceberg with this thing. The griffin has the worst learning capability of any supposed remote control device I've ever seen. I gave up on mine a long time ago. Needless to say, I don't think it's possible to ever get it working 100%. It's a great concept, but the authors apparently know nothing about IR signals.

Good luck.
You probably tried it with older firmwares, the newest firmware actually learns just about everything, and doesn't freeze up/stop learning any more.
erkotz wrote:There is some de-bounce algorithm WMC uses that alternates codes like this. There is a registry key to disable it, which should resolve your issue - if you can't find it, let me know and I will dig.
Interesting! I didn't even expect to hear this kind of answer sweet thanks. I think I found it:

http://www.cepro.com/article/no_more_qu ... ia_center/

"Solution

If your controller does not support toggle codes, use the Windows Registry to disable the de-bounce logic.

The registry key is LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\
Services\HidIR\Remotes\745a17a0-74d3-11d0-b6fe-00a0c90f57da.

Want an easier way? Autonomic Home has written a script that will change the registry code for you. Visit http://www.autonomichome.com/support.htm . Two-thirds down the page you'll find a file that contains two registry scripts. One will turn off the debounce function, and another will turn it back on.

Download the .zip file, extract the two scripts, and double click the appropriate script for the desired effect."


I don't see the script mentioned above though when I go to the automichome site.
EDIT:
I emailed them and they sent me the direct download link: http://www.autonomic-controls.com/docum ... bounce.zip

Manually changing the value from 1 to 0 is easy enough in regedit, I'll try it shortly
Last edited by JazJon on Fri Jan 18, 2013 12:05 am, edited 1 time in total.

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JazJon

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#5

Post by JazJon » Thu Jan 17, 2013 11:36 am

It works! You're a genius thanks, over all commands are more response and zippy too excellent.

I had to program things via a bit of a work around.

1) use your harmony remote to "learn" the skip fwd button the beacon puts out. (the one nested on the second level of the Playback Pad multi funtion button via the "Microsoft DVR" device page)
2) Setup a new button in your Beacon's activity page. Pick the Skip Forward icon, then learn the IR command from the harmony remote you just programmed in step one!.

I did this for both skip fwd and skip back and now I'm rocking and rolling.

For some reason learning the native skip forward/back buttons of the MCE remote didn't work. Learning the Beacon MCE commands in the round about way above proved to get the job done.

Every single device I have (even lights) now work perfect with the Beacon! Full iPhone control at my fingertips, fun stuff.

P.S. I had to do step 1 & 2 for the Pause, Play, Stop, 5, 6, buttons as well. (5 & 6, so I can do a 5 + Skip for commercials) The nested Play/Pause button Beacon uses (nested inside the multi function Playback Pad button) toggles between Play and Pause. I had to make sure I capture each one into the harmony remote, then re-teach these as individual pause play buttons.

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