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[JimH]

Call it Power Up (for now)

A few months ago, I said we'd like to have the ability to turn on AV equipment.  We're most of the way there now.

IR came up several times in that thread.  We've done IR receiving and sending for a number of years, as part of the Media Center Remote, which includes an IR transceiver.  We can send IR when needed.

The problem with that is that somebody has to push the right buttons.  Have you ever had a call or message that said "Honey, I turned it on, but there's no sound [or video]."  I've had a few.

The goal is to give someone a remote (physical or software), let them select what they want, then magically power up any equipment needed.  I think we may be there.

LOGIC
Before playing, MC checks the equipment, and sends Z-Wave and IR signals to power up the right combination and set the right input.

An upcoming build of MC will have a setup routine where you can set rules about what should happen.

Because we need to know what is powered up, we will require a Z-Wave power strip, the Zooz Zen20 or similar.  These resemble an ordinary power strip, but they can report power consumption, and they can be turned off and on remotely via Z-Wave (the whole strip, or individual outlets).

For example, if you're using a media player like the JRiver Id, you might need your receiver to be turned on (if not already on) and set to Video1 (a specific HDMI port on the receiver).  To do this, MC would ask the power strip whether outlet 1 was using more than 2 watts, and if not, send a Z-Wave command to the strip to power up that outlet.  Then MC would send an IR command to the receiver (via a transceiver) to select source Video1.  Then MC would delay a few seconds and begin playing.

Result?  No phone call or message.  It just works.

REQUIREMENTS
The not yet released version of MC23 that will have this feature.
An IdPi (includes Engen).
A Z-Stick and a Z-Wave power strip.
An IR transceiver.
One free Saturday morning.

[fitbrit]

Many AVRs are network capable and able to come out of standby via web protocol controls like MCWS. Will this also be supported - it's more reliable than IR for changing inputs etc.?

[robt]

I've just deleted a long response to your original post and I shall just replace it with three words.

Logitech Harmony One.

Had you considered this?

[imugli]

I've just deleted a long response to your original post and I shall just replace it with three words.

Logitech Harmony One.

Had you considered this?

This crossed my mind as well. I have one of these and it's awesome.

I think the JR idea is to power up these devices i.e the switch is off, JR switches it on, then sends IR to take from standby to powered on.

[JimH]

Many AVRs are network capable and able to come out of standby via web protocol controls like MCWS. Will this also be supported - it's more reliable than IR for changing inputs etc.?

If they are network capable, they probably respond to Wake on Lan, which we already do.  You could start a thread with more details.  Maybe we're not sending WOL packets in some cases where we could.

I think the JR idea is to power up these devices i.e the switch is off, JR switches it on, then sends IR to take from standby to powered on.

Correct.  Turn on devices from a cold start, then set them to the correct input.

There are many ways this can be attempted, and I'm sure the Harmony remotes are satisfying to many people. 

Here's what we're trying to accomplish:

Minimal setup.   Engen, running on Windows or the Id, acts as an AV Hub.  It can detect the power states of the devices and it can communicate with remotes, both hardware and software.

It just works.  You or a family member just press play.  The rest happens.

[dtc]

What IR database are you using? How do you plan to handle a situation where the IR code is not in the database? How does the user specify the devices to use - like receiver and TV?

[JimH]

As with our current implementation for the Media Center Remote, MC can learn commands.

[dtc]

Many remotes do not have discrete power commands, so I guess you plan to use the power toggle, which should work as long as know the current power usage. So seems like it is limited it to very specific power strips and not as a more general purpose remote.

Also, many TV remotes do not have discrete commands for HDMI inputs. Not sure where you get those discretes without a database.

[TheShoe]

would be great if all the AV manufacturers had a standard command set and API where you could send commands over the network via tcp.

i've always wanted this from a remote such as JRemote which is what i use 99.9% of the time when interacting with JRiver.   i basically have to use three remote apps:

Marantz, JRemote, and LG to operate my equipment.   at least they are all apps on the ipad and not individual remotes as in the past...  now if i could split screen them that would be a nice compromise

i'd prefer a network based solution and not IR if possible.   or perhaps an IR blaster that can receive commands from an app and send IR out.  of course it would need to be programmable.

[JohnT]

... or perhaps an IR blaster that can receive commands from an app and send IR out.  of course it would need to be programmable.

We support IR blasting using the MCE transceiver which also learns IR codes from your remotes.  We're looking at supporting another IR transmitter device such as https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GIXZDKO, or possibly a Raspberry Pi add-on board.  An advantage of the Broadlink device is that it includes access to an on-line IR device database to address the problems mentioned above about lack of discrete power & source buttons on remotes.

[JohnT]

Many AVRs are network capable and able to come out of standby via web protocol controls like MCWS. Will this also be supported - it's more reliable than IR for changing inputs etc.?

We could pretty easily add an action type that would send a web request.

[dtc]

We could pretty easily add an action type that would send a web request.

Waking up a receiver may be relatively easy, but sending commands gets complicated. Each manufacturer has its own format for network commands. Some use hex numbers and others use ASCII formats and all are different.   And, for a given manufacturer, the actual function codes are often different between IR and network/RS232. All that makes supporting network commands for multiple manufactures a somewhat daunting task.

[dtc]

The Broadlink looks like an interesting option. Any idea how extensive their database is?

[blgentry]

We support IR blasting using the MCE transceiver which also learns IR codes from your remotes.  We're looking at supporting another IR transmitter device such as https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GIXZDKO, or possibly a Raspberry Pi add-on board.

What MC platforms support these?

Brian.

[JimH]

I believe it only depends on what the hardware works with.

[JimH]

23.0.29 (only available on the beta board right now), has this feature partially working now.  It's set up under the Remotes section.  Engen needs to be installed and working with a Z-Stick.

It still has some bugs, but I was able to set up an automated procedure with the following steps:

1. Check the power being consumed by a Z-Wave outlet

    If it's on, skip the rest of the procedure

    If it's off, turn it on, and wait a few seconds.

2.  Wait a few seconds

3.  Check the power again.  If it is at a level that is less than full power, use an IR blast to bring the receiver out of standby.

4.  Play music

Once this was set, I could press the play button in MC's audio, and the outlet and receiver were turned on and the music played automatically.