Would anyone else like to see an RS-232 plugin?

[elmn8r]

I know serial control of devices via RS-232 has had limited discussion here. I was wondering if anyone else would love to see a plugin for XL that would allow ASCII or HEX commands to be sent to multiple devices(thru multiple com ports)? I think this would be great. I know I can do it via IR, but IR can be flaky and does not allow for two way communication. I also know it can be done thru Girder but it would be nice not to have another software package to purchase/maintain.

[john_m_92627]

This would be great. I would love to be able to control Lutron HomeWorks or Radio RA via RS232. X10 is junk.
John...

[Ton_loc]

I also think this is a great idea. I have a receiver that is controllable via the serial port. I'd love to be able to have Xlobby set my receiver to the desired decoding method. For example, when I press the music button, the receiver would switch to stereo mode, or it would switch to Dolby when I selected a movie. I am also trying to get bit-perfect music playback with Xlobby, which renders the volume bar in Xlobby worthless. It would be great to have the volume bar control my receiver's volume.

[Roscoe62]

I already have something like this configured already. But I use XLobby to send the commands to Girder, and Girder communicates to my Pre/pro via RS232. It's been working great for more than a year with no glitches.

That's the thing about girder. A lot of people hate using it because it can be tricky, but once you've got it doing what you want it to do it's as stable as a rock.

The only thing I'm lacking now is feedback. My pre/pro sends data BACK on the RS232 cable like current volume level, what decoding mode it's in, what input is currently selected.....pretty much everything that appears on the front panel. I know there is a way for Girder to filter out the data that I want and pass that onto other programs but, at the moment, there's no way for XLobby to receive this data for display elsewhere....like on a PPC screen for instance.

There is an older thread requesting Steven to look at this, but it looks like Steven's been busy with other things.

[Ton_loc]

Thanks for the input Roscoe. I guess I need to learn how to use Girder next! Right now, I'm still learning how to crawl with Xlobby. Once I get a skin hacked up to include the things I need, I'll give Girder a shot. It's good to know it can be done.

[Colby]

Ton-Loc where in Colorado are you? I just moved from Englewood. Welcome aboard. Hacking a skin is a good way to learn xlobby.

[Ton_loc]

Thanks. I'm actually just up in Thornton...waaay north Thornton. It's actually a Brighton zip code. It's funny that you just moved to MO. I gave some serious thought to going to UMR in Rolla for my masters, but I couldn't bring myself to leave. The one ski area nearby had not chances of feeding my addiction.

In Xlobby news, I just got my net radio working properly last night. It was tough (for me, at least ) to make the overlay to sort the radios by genre, but I finished before it got too late. Next up it to get my CD auto-play working right. That one's been eluding me for a bit.

[lovingHDTV]

I would love a serial plugin. My curtains form my home theater and controlled via a microcontroller I built. I can send it serial command to move the screens and mask the picture. If I could control this directly from XLobby, it would be great!

[Roscoe62]

daveP,

You can have XLobby send the commands to Girder, and have Girder control your curtains via it's own RS232 plugin. Getting commands from XLobby to Girder is very easy. It's configuring RS232 that's tricky (depending on how well your device's RS232 protocol parameters are documented), but that's true whether you configure it in Girder or in XLobby directly.

I understand that many don't want to mess with Girder, but if you really want RS232 control you can have it right now instead of having to wait.

Just my .02c

[rembetis]

Just ressurrecting this thread to rally folks and drum up additional support for a RS-232 plugin. If I had any clue how to do it, I'd be working on it myself, but I'm afraid all I can offer is debugging services. I too would really love to have bi-directional control and display from within Xlobby.

[galileo2000]

RS-232 support would be absolutely fabulous for me. My 2 Sony DVP-CX777ES have RS-232 port. I already control them from XLobby using someone's DOS-based program.

[lpg]

I am in the process of building a RS232 Plugin. I have a base plugin created with communication and setting functions built. I now need some input as to what you would like to see. The initial device I want to control is a Samsung TV which I have a spec for.

Do you want an event interface that allows you to input the string to send to the device or do you want something more elaborate like stored commands that can be tagged to different com ports.

I may also need some help understanding on how to get results back to xlobby. Once I get some feedback I will start a plug-in thread.

Thanks Larry

[BaddaBing]

Gotta agree with PhilB - Girder offers bi-directional messaging (plus logic) and as Roscoe62 pointed out - once configured it is stable as a rock (and free if you look up the old version) Yes, Girder can be complicated, but for IR and RS232 it is actually very simple and the Girder forum is very helpful. But if you still want to go ahead and write the plug-in, go for it and good luck!

[rbziggy]

I am in the process of building a RS232 Plugin. I have a base plugin created with communication and setting functions built. I now need some input as to what you would like to see. The initial device I want to control is a Samsung TV which I have a spec for.

This sounds really useful.

Not entirely sure myself but my thought for transmission side:

- useful to be able to store a series of commands for a device (see the existing IR plugin). (That is, you can input these command strings into a database from the plugin config screen.)
- then the plugin event could just reference this shortcut command and the com port.

Probably obvious but hope that helps.

[lpg]

Badabing or PhilB

Do you know if Girder leaves the port open unitl you request it to close or does it open and close after each send recieve pair?

By the way I am doing this to brush up on my programming skills. I wrote serial communication programs in the 80's when ethernet was just comming out.

My biggest challenge is understanding how to interface with xLobby. I would like to be able to show status of the port and communication session as well as put results in variables that could be displayed. I would alos like to provide the facility to do what Manny has done with toggle buttons for his powerhome interface.

Any code I could look at would be helpful.

Thanks for the comments Larry