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Advanced => Programming => Plugins & Plugin Development => Topic started by: guessed on January 23, 2010, 03:26:39 pm
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Folks,
I've released the source code for an "early access" version of the Panasonic TV Control over RS-232.
You can find the basic details here, including where to download the codebase:
http://wiki.micasaverde.com/index.php/Panasonic_TV_Plugin
This code only works with Panasonic TV's whose RS-232 connections are connected to Vera. Development/testing was done against a Panasonic Viera (TH58PZ850) so slight differences might exist for other Panasonic models with RS-232 connections.
I'll use this thread to take any feedback on the code, functionality (etc), and then fold the necessary changes into the Wiki page, or the Panasonic TV's driver codebase.
At this point I'm waiting for the release of certain other components, but what's there will likely be useful to others wanting to write a driver for their TV (Receiver, etc).
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Having a go at getting mine to work today as i just got back from my trip.
I think I've got everything configured, just need to try to get to the back of the TV now, plug it in and test it.
*edit
Looks like i'll have to go into work to get a serial cable as the only one i have here is a male/female :(
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I just added a note to the Plugin Wiki page to cover the need for the DB9F-DB9F gender changer. I have an "inline" version so I'd forgotten about that.
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I couldn't find the one i had in work (more like one of my coworkers stole it), so i did a trip to radio shack for a couple of female DB9's and just soldered one up with pins 2 and 3 crossed and 5 as the ground. Hopefully it doesn't need anything else. Cant really try it at the moment as my wife is in front of the TV and my vera seems to have locked up too :(
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;). That's why I include test URLs for Volume Up/down as it's fairly non disruptive to test... Once you have the cabling in place of course...
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My Vera is still stuck on the main page despite a reboot so there's going to be no testing at the moment >:(
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@guessed
in the wiki you mentioned to use a minimum of version 1.0.966; shall i use that version or is there any thing newer or more stable?
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It's 1.0.994. There are newer, but this is the version where MCV added STX-ETX Protocol support, which is needed to drive that sort of TV.
So, 1.0.994 or above, technically ;-)
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I think i have the serial port created and configured properly, although should i have anything written in the path field and also should the controlling device be zwave or the IP address listed as the serial port?
However every time i create D_PanasonicVieraTV1.xml in the devices page it then locks up my vera for some reason and i have to wipe it. Any ideas?
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@strangely,
Are you on 1.0.994 or something else? I once made the mistake of mis-typing the version# and moved to 1.0.997 (nine-nine-seven, "Porsche dreaming" perhaps?) and it fairly well hosed my Vera (it wouldn't complete the startup process as you describe below). I eventually got it back to '994 safely.
You can PM me with the logs (assuming attachments are allowed) and I can take a look at what's going on. with it sometime tonight. I believe we're both in the same TZ.
If attachments wont work, PM me and I'll give you an Email address you can send them to.
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Thanks for the help!
It is back to 994 (after going to 997) but its not very stable. when i get home tonight i'll have a play around and see if i can pin down why its not very stable, i think its something to do with my proxied serial port setup and or trying to use square connect.
I'm in SoCal so i'll see what i can get to you later log wise and i'll PM you.
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ok, I have both the SquareConnect, my Alarm and the Weather all hanging off of 994 and that part's working fine. My TV is "Ethernet" remote'd using a WIZnet 110SR, so I've switched away from the USB Serial cables (for now). My Vera is now hard-mounted into the Structured Wiring Closet, which is upstairs from the TV... hence the need for the WIZnet (or similar)
So we need to isolate a few things down. Can you elaborate on the wiring setup of your "proxied serial port" setup?
Specifically, USB-Serial Cable maker, how you have it wired (intermediate Hubs, Hacked ASUS etc). Please provide as much detail as possible on the connections between Vera and the TV to help diag.
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Like you i have my vera upstairs in a closet that contains all my AV gear.
Network wise vera is connected to an 8 port switch with about 6 other devices, upstream from the switch (in my attic) it connects to my Dlink router (wan connected to my cable modem) i then have the router connected to another 8 port switch which distributes to all the rooms via wall plates. My Panasonic TV is connected to one of these normally but i have disconnected it temporarily to plug into the wiznet.
Its not a connectivity problem as not only can i ping the wiznet from my PC but also from vera using the IP address i set it to.
I've given up trying to get my USB serial device working as vera never recognized it despite the chipset looking like its supported, its an old tripplite u209-000-r that i've had for about 5 years which i think is based on the Prolific - PL-2303 chipest.
The only things that are currently plugged into vera are my USB UIRT and the dongle.
For the wiznet i think i have just set it up badly somehow and is conflicting with the USBUIRT perhaps?
I'll write a detailed description of what i did to add it but it was largely based on one of your posts with the device number and IP addresses changed.
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@strangely,
Are you on 1.0.994 or something else? I once made the mistake of mis-typing the version# and moved to 1.0.997 (nine-nine-seven, "Porsche dreaming" perhaps?) and it fairly well hosed my Vera (it wouldn't complete the startup process as you describe below). I eventually got it back to '994 safely.
Been there, done that! The same mistake... :) MCV should probably remove that version from their servers.
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(http://www.nkb.me.uk/image/image5.jpg)
Built-in hex editor unlocks plasma TV features:
"a guide to unlock extra features on Panasonic televisions. The hack works on the G10 models of plasma TVs and uses the service menu to gain access to the EEPROM memory. With a few quick steps you can change some data with a built in hex editor, unlocking several new settings menus, or bricking your entertainment centerpiece"
http://www.nkb.me.uk/
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Nice, i might see if this works on my V10 :)
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I can see the support call now...
Um, is this Panasonic?
Yes
Um, How do I reflash my Viera V10 with new Firmware?
Why...
Um, well, I followed some instructions on HackADay.com
<click>
there is, after all only one letter difference with "Viera" and "Vera" ;-)
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I'd like to find out what extra you would gain by doing this but on second thoughts i think i might give it a skip
Guessed, after you...? ;)
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@strangely, Mine is model before the V10's. The Hex-offsets will be all different, and whilst I love hacking things, this is probably going a little too far... esp since the "gain" is unexplained in the site.
There are times I don't mind being a crash-test-dummy, but this is not one of those times 8)
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As the message says - "unlocking several new settings menus, or bricking your entertainment centerpiece" :D
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@strangely, Mine is model before the V10's. The Hex-offsets will be all different, and whilst I love hacking things, this is probably going a little too far... esp since the "gain" is unexplained in the site.
There are times I don't mind being a crash-test-dummy, but this is not one of those times 8)
Just look at it this way, if you brick it i can get you a nice big discount on a new one with all the nice Skype or 3D features etc :)
Seriously though, i wouldn't even risk it with mine which is probably much closer to the G10 series.
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;). That's why I include test URLs for Volume Up/down as it's fairly non disruptive to test... Once you have the cabling in place of course...
Hi guessed, have you tried any of the recent software releases to see if the STX ETX bug was fixed? i updated to 1.1.307 and volume still doesn't appear to work and was wondering if you had heard anything about it?
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@strangely, it's not an STX-ETX [Protocol] bug that's stopping Volume-Up and Volume-Down from working. There's a problem with how Vera handles duplication ACTION elements in the Plugin descriptor.
In this case, the Plugin implements both of the serviceIDs:
- urn:micasaverde-com:serviceId:MenuNavigation1
- urn:micasaverde-com:serviceId:Volume1
each of which contains an ACTIONs called "Up" and "Down". It looks like Vera will always fire the "second" definition if there are dups, so I filed Findvera tech support Ticket #2106 on Apr8th to get that fixed.
... I have the same problem with my Onkyo Receiver plugin so I kinda need it fixed to move forward with using SQRemote correctly.
If you want to work around it, and don't mind "losing" the Up/Down "cursor" (MenuNavigation1) keys, you can change the text on the following lines:
http://code.mios.com/trac/mios_panasonic-tv/browser/I_PanasonicVieraTV1.xml#L367
Change <name>Up</name>
to <name>Up1</name>
http://code.mios.com/trac/mios_panasonic-tv/browser/I_PanasonicVieraTV1.xml#L312
Change <name>Down</name>
to <name>Down1</name>
These are the Up/Down from the MenuNavigation1 serviceId.
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I'll give that a go but I'm also perhaps wondering if my TVs command structure might be a little different? Does anything on yours work apart power on on off? I couldn't get the mute to work either, and wouldn't have thought this would've been a duplicated action with anything else.
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@strangely, I just re-tested the Panasonic's "Mute" function and it's working correctly on my set. I normally mute via the Amp/Receiver, but I manually configured a Remote page to "press" the Mute key on the TV Plugin and it's working correctly.
It's possible that your TV has different codes. I hope not, but it's possible ;-)
I did notice that one of the Panasonic models has discrete codes for Mute On/Off, which wouldn't be handled by the Volume1 API (it assumes toggle-Mute)
Any chance you can chase down the "codes" for your specific model? Then we can compare notes.
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I suppose its about time to try and pull in some favors, and see if i can get the docs for this!
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@strangely, I just published a new version of I_PanasonicVieraTV1.xml that attempts to work-around the Problem with Volume Up/Down not working, the diffs are here:
http://code.mios.com/trac/mios_panasonic-tv/changeset/2
Basically, I "sacrifice" the Cursor Up/Down actions, in order to get the Volume Up/Down actions working (a code re-order to work-around Ticket #2106). I figure Volume Up/Down are more important than cursor movement... at least until MCV and team have a chance to fix the issue on their side.
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Ok cool, i'll give it a try!
I contacted somebody on our consumer entertainment side yesterday at Panasonic who said they would email the RS232 commands for my TV but it never turned up in my inbox :(
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Thanks, that works for me too; so it looks like Volume is the same on mine at least. Who needs mute anyway! :)
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Anyone know where to find the commands for a Samsung LED TV? I just noticed in Vera that my TV shows up under the upnp devices since its ethernet connected to my network.
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Depends on if they have a published protocol document I guess?
I also have a HP LCD TV and despite it showing up as upnp device in Vera, the only published control from HP was via RS232. Remotecentral.com has a bunch of stuff sometimes.
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This is a bit of an old post but unless it was incorrect or has changed since it looks unlikely.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1104942
Maybe?
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1156129
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@wseverino,
You could also sniff the packets from their app:
http://www.intomobile.com/2010/04/10/samsung-launches-tv-remote-control-app-for-the-iphone-ipod-touch-and-ipad.html
and work out what it's doing.
When I bought the Panny, I had a ton of research prior to ensure it was HA-able, most of the sets at that time were starting to have Ethernet, but were sorely lacking in permitting HA over Ethernet (on the Panny, I use it's RS-232 port). Hopefully that's changed over the last year.
My Receiver is newer, and DLNA capable, but I still ended up hand coding to their eISCP interface (which at least is Ethernet enabled) to ensure I could get access to all the features. As a surprise, the Receiver is bi-directional, so manually pressing controls on the Amp will send events over the HA interface, which is handy.
Anyhow, before you purchase, find all the doco, it'll avoid surprises down the line....
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Or even better... get the Square Connect guys to reverse engineer it in :)
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Folks,
I've released the source code for an "early access" version of the Panasonic TV Control over RS-232.
You can find the basic details here, including where to download the codebase:
http://wiki.micasaverde.com/index.php/Panasonic_TV_Plugin
Hi,
Your code is no longer available at code.mios.com.
And onkyo rs232 is no longer available too...
I'm planning to buy a Vera for home automation and A/V control (IR for one device and RS232 for others).
Can you make your code available somewhere in order to be used as example ?
Thanks a lot.
Richard
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I would be interested in those too.
Any reason why the Onkyo and panasonic TV plugins are gone?
Thanks
Hans
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Me three
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any news about this?
How is everyone controling tv's receivers, blurays by rs232?
I have a GC-100 but can't get the rs232 working... no how to or manual for the plugin....!!!!