Connecting to RSP-1098 through RS232

[mazuly]

Hi Guys,

I am really lost at this since I am very much computer illiterate. I am trying to send a simple command to RSP-1098 (power on) from my laptop and it does not work. Can someone tell me what I need to do to send this command using windows hyper terminal? Is it even possible to do this using windows hyper terminal or do I need another software?

From what I understand, the command is:

0xfe 0x03 0xa0 0x10 0x4a 0xfd

The last 0xfd is the checksum which I calculated from adding count to end of key data in hex.

Any help you can give me is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Maziar

[Kevin D]

Your checksum is right even though I think how you calculated it is wrong. You need to devide your count by 256 (decimal) or 0x100. Whatever is left over is your checksum. In this case, 0xFD is less than 0x100 so 0xFD is left over..

That said, I've never tried to type it directly into hyperterminal, are you adding the 0x's??? I'm pretty sure that hyperterminal will just allow you to send ASCII to the 1098. So if you type in 0xfe your actually sending 0x30, 0x78, 0x66, 0x65 (what 0xfe ASCII translates to in hex).

I'm not sure of a way to get hyperterminal to send pure hex.. Do a search, a really cool guy from England wrote a program to control the RSP line, but I'm not sure if it supports the 1098 or not. He has the source, so you might be able to change the device key and compile a modified version.

Good luck,

Kevin D.

[mazuly]

Thanks for your reply.

I know about the VB program wrote by simonb68 and have downloaded it. Unfortunately I do not have any VB software to be able to edit it. I will see if I can find something on the net.

I guess this is more difficult than I thought

Thanks,
Maziar

[simonb68]

Hi Maziar, I'll see if Rotel have published the RS232 spec for the 1098, if it follows the same format as the 1055/1066 then it should be straightforward for me to change the code.

I'm not sure whether you can do what you're trying to do in Hyperterminal, I'll have a play though.

EDIT: just got the latest pdf, it includes the 1098, I'll have a crack tonight

Simon

[mazuly]

You are a savior.

As you mentioned the 1098 codes are out and the codes (except the ID code) are exactly the same as 1066. I actually took your source code down and spend good portion of the weekend trying to figure it out, and I kind of did. But you see I am a mechanical engineer and I can’t program anything if my life dependent on it .

Thanks again for your help,
Maziar

[simonb68]

OK, updated version here. I obviously can't check it but I think I have made the changes in all the right places, give it a go and let me know.

I have just played around with the prog for a bit and found a few bugs, I know some people have been asking for more features etc, I will try to get round to fixing them and adding extra stuff at some point.

Simon

[mazuly]

Thanks a bunch. This is fantastic.

Everything works except Power Off Button. The unit will turn on, using my laptop, but will not go into standby. Interestingly, the display is like RSP-1066 and not RSP-1098. I guess Rotel just kept the codes from RSP-1066.

By the way, there are no Phono and Tape 2 inputs on RSP-1098, but I guess since this wonderful program works with multiple units, you have included them.

I am going to play with it some more tomorrow to provide you more feedback.

Thanks again,
Maziar

[simonb68]

No problem, glad to hear its of use.

As to the power button not working, strange, it works on my 1055, maybe the code is different, I'll check tonight.

The whole thing is designed to mimic the 1055, it doesnt adapt to which version it is being used with so some buttons will be superfluous and the display may well not match the 1098, not having one I don't know.

I was thinking about changing the program to dynamically match product features and display, but this will take some effort and time and I will have to work from the user guides. Another one for the to do list perhaps.

Simon

[EricT]

I am also trying to communicate via rs232.
I had help in getting my pioneer plasma to respond but haven't had success with the Rotel (I have a 1055).
To turn the Pioneer on I send the following command from MainLobby:
MLServeCmd.MLRS232Send|HEX~7~4800,n,8,1~02 30 31 50 4F 4E 03~0
where the actual command is:
02 30 31 50 4F 4E 03
so the format is:
STX(hex 02) ID(of plasma=01 ascii) ETX
STX = 02
ID = 30 31
command(PON) = 50 4F 4E
ETX = 03

So can I do something similar with the Rotel:
Power On (from above):
0xFE 0x03 0xA0 0x10 0x4A 0xFD:

0xFE = 46 45
0x03 = 30 33
0xA0 = 41 30
0x10 = 31 30
0x4A = 34 41
0xFD = 46 44

MLServeCmd.MLRS232Send|HEX~7~19200,n,8,1~46 45 30 33 41 30 31 30 34 41 46 44~0

Obviously this doesn't work since I'm posting; am I way off here?
Thanks for any help (I'm sure this post is confusing at best...)
Eric

[simonb68]

Eric, MainLobby is sending hex values is that right, it looks that way based on your plasma command, so just do the same for the rotel but strip the 0x off each hex value. Also each Rotel unit has a different ID code (the third value), the one from the power command you quote is for a 1098, you need 0xC3 for a 1055, so you have something like

MLServeCmd.MLRS232Send|HEX~7~19200,n,8,1~FE 03 C3 10 4A FD~0

Or maybe I'm misunderstanding your post, give that a try and see what happens.

If you haven't already I suggest you download the RS232 spec from Rotel's web site, its under Support, Downloads then select RS-232 Protocol - All Models, it describes the message formats. The NA portal has the later version.

Simon

[EricT]

OK, I downloaded the rs232 spec from Rotel but must admit I don't completely understand it all yet. Can I even send hex codes to the 1055?

And if so, I understand they all must begin with FE and I can get the data from the spec but then the count is the number of bytes from ID to DATA so it would almost always be 03? (C3 10 4A - each command=1 byte?).

ID is always C3 for the 1055.

And type confuses me a bit as well - since I will only be sending commands, it's always 10?

And CHKSUM I sort of get - add up the hex values and if over 100 hex then take 100 hex away? so my value would be 20 for this string.

For testing I'm using RS232 Hex com tool from www.rs232.com and sending:
FE 03 C3 10 4A 20
and I get the same echoed back to me from the Rotel but no power on. I also wonder about the META encoding which I don't think my command addresses.

Thanks for any and all help.
Eric Thompson
Boston, MA

[simonb68]

Eric, I did reply to your email but the reply address got muddled for some reason, I've just now forwarded it to what I think is the right address, if you still don't get it let me know where to send it, or I'll post it up here.

Simon

[Kevin D]

Simon,

Don't bother checking too much into the power off function. It just doesn't work on the 1098. I'm stuck having to to an on-power macro to get it to turn off.

Looking at the new 232 code listings, they've got the 1068 codes listed.. Hopefully these will trickle down in the next 1098 update:

Seperate mute on/off
Discrete power/source/vol for zone2
discrete source for rec out.
direct volume to any setting.

I really want the direct source selection for zone2.. My plan was to have a source select button on my touchpanel change the video on the touchpanel with one touch(zone2), and then swap the picture on the tv if you hit it again. Right now you have to wait about 7 seconds for the zone menu to disappear before you can swap the tv image..

Kevin D.