Roomie Remote - Page 4

I think Xbox remote will be in next version. I am a beta tester and the full xbox remote was just put in the last beta build... I believe it will be out very soon.

there is an option in the system blade of xbox 360 for remote type, look there

I did look at the 360 settings. There was an option to use a standard remote, media remote or both if I remember correctly. I have a friend coming over tonight bringing an xbox and an xbox remote so we can troubleshoot further.

The xbox 360 has a tricky IR placement. When you are setting it up, do it in a dark room and check to see if the IR bud lights up. Once the bud is lighting up you will need to try various minute adjustments over the IR entry of the xbox (located behind the open button to the front usb ports).

Speaking of the Xbox, I emailed support a few days to ask about Windows MCE Controller, the exe that runs on Windows Media Center to provide IP control, and support already had an unpublished code set for it that they sent me. Works great.

Thinking in the new year it will be time to purchase an IP controlled TV at which point I wont have any IR left. Crazy to think about.

I've created a new Infrared device from scratch for some audio equipment and successfully installed it into the Roomie software via the custom codes file. But what happens if I want to add a new code to an existing pre-defined device? If you specify the device in the custom codes file and just add the new code, the original device will be overridden and just that new code will be available. Is there any way around this? Only solution I could think of is to specify every code in the custom file to redefine the device from scratch. That would take too long. Any other ideas? Thanks.

I received a response from the developers. Turns out that you can not do as I had asked. You have to create a new device. It wasn't the answer I wanted to hear but I compliment the developers on their speedy responses to inquiries, even on a Sunday.

Any way you can share? And how to install it?

When they sent it to me, they said it would be part of this week's normal weekly update so I would no longer need the file then. Or I'm sure you could email them to ask for it.

To add the device, I just put the file in my Dropbox and clicked Restore. You can add arbitrary devices and their IR/IP commands to Roomie through Dropbox or iTunes if they're not already built-in.

I decided to replace Pronto TSU9400 with Roomie Remote and GC100 IP2IR unit. I considered using iRule and DemoPad but I put off decision as I sensed that it takes some learning curve from reading threads about them. Then I learned about the Roomie. It is not as customizable as iRule or DemoPad but seemed to be much easier to use.

Today is the first day I tried Roomie (with Home Theater Pack and Infrared Control Pack) with to program for my family room system that consists of Sony TV, Motorola cable box, Samsung Blu-ray player, Onkyo receiver, MacMini (using FrontRow), and a Squeezebox. Within three hours, I have set up most functionality with a few holes (mentioned below). From this brief experience, I find Roomie's capability to program all within the app, channel guide feature, and the ability to back up to Dropbox amazing.

From my three hours using it, I found the following issues that need to be addressed:

1. When Sony TV is selected remote control shows Samsung TV remote. When virtual remote is used, code seems to be incorrect as there is no response on the Sony TV when I change HDMI input. Because of this, I couldn't fully test my configuration.
   
2. At least have icons for activity for all user selected items -- when user selects Cox cable or Slim Devices Squeezebox, these icons should be in the choice, ideally in an automatic way. If this is not possible, give the user the ability to add custom icons to activity -- Cox Cable, Mac (video output from the MacMini), Slim Devices (now Logitech) Squeezebox
   
3. Virtual remote control's top buttons (power, mute, vol up/down, chan up/down) buttons are too close to each other. There should be blank spacer between these buttons to prevent mis-touch. In the case of blu-ray player, trying to change the volume could eject the disc if I am not careful -- when I am watching a good show, my eyes tend to wander back to the TV screen
   
4. Once activity remote control design is changed, it is not updated after activity is saved.

I just about finished setting up my software also. I received an extension cord today for the iTach IP2IR's IR Blaster. I have it attached to a bookcase at the back of my room and the IR beam hits all my components. I had to define my own Peachtree Audio Deco Integrated Amp device since it wasn't pre-defined. This took some time since I had to learn how to use iLearn with the iTach to save custom IR commands and it can be a bit finicky. There are also some bugs here and there but no showstoppers yet. For those problems you listed, contact the developers. They are very fast in responding to issues.

how many components can you control with one itach? where do you guys position the blaster so that it controls all components on the rack? the reason I ask is because i really want to use this system but my light switches are on the opposite wall of my AV rack, does that means that i will have to run an individual ir emitter to my lutron light switches?

I don't think there is a limit like the one for the Harmony Link (as long as you pay the in app purchase of $19.95). I have over 12 devices so far. And a ton of activities to boot. The iTach comes with 1 IR Blaster and 2 IR Emitters. I have all the components on one side of the room so I put the IR blaster at the back of the room and it hits all the components. If the IR Blaster isn't enough then you'll need to run an IR Emitter to the lights. You may need to buy an extension cable for it. You can get one on Amazon.com sold by Infrared Resources (it's the 3.5mm Mono Audio extension cable.) I bought a 25' extension and it works great. I am really happy with the system.

This seems very much like what I have wanted, but, since there is no status server I am curious how it responds to multiple iOS devices in a household. It seems that Thinkflood's Redeye pro is the competition for this product. From what I can tell, if one needs two serial ports and ir (presuming that one does not need steerable ir), one will spend $300 for hardware, and about 37 for the application. A redeye pro is $500, so it is a bit more expensive, however there is no cost for the application so if one requires several iTunes accounts (in my case, there are 4 in our household) the price difference disappears quickly. Thinkflood also supports android and Mac clients, so one could get a cheap android tablet as a dedicated remote, while still using iOS devices for those that had them.

The biggest issue with the Redeye Pro is that it is not yet clear that their ip and serial support are real yet. The biggest advantage is that any guest with an iOS or android device can download the app free and instantly control the system (maintaining the current system state).

I am curious if anyone has tried both and what their experiences have been.

Great little app. I also bought a IP2IR and it works great. Controls cable box, lcd tv and a Pioneer receiver. Just got it working with Windows Media Center via IP, support was just released this week - works great!

It would be nice if they had a decent tutorial to help add custom IR commands that aren't supported, and I'd love to create my own custom device to control other things on my PC. If anyone's figured this out, a guide would be great.

Hi,

Here's the RoomieCodes.plist I'm using to get my Epson 3010 working over serial.

Majortom,
I have three ipod touches, two iphones and two ipads, all with the one paid app from roomie. Each ir bud on the global cache are individually controlled so I can have xbox 1 off ir 1 and xbox 2 off ir 2.

I would like to control my A/V equipment using an app and an iTach WiFi-2-IR unit, but rather than using an Apple device (iPod/iPad/iPhone) as the user interface (aka the "remote"), I want to control things using my wireless (802.11) laptop PC.

Is that an option with Roomie? In other words, does Roomie support designing a custom button layout with macros that can be used on a PC?

Roomie is an iOS app. There is no more no less to it. You can do what you want but you will need to find a PC based software.

Agreed. Any suggestions for a Roomie-like application for a PC?

OK, I've been playing with the Roomie controlling my DirecTV box and Denon receiver.

I've read everything I can find, googled and searched this forum. How do I access the Channel Guide?

This is just strange, after writing this post I opened the app for the second time tonight and now it has the guide. It must take a few days to populate the guide.

Hey this is great, as I will be attempting to control my 3010 via serial also!

....but I can't say I know what exactly to do with this data, or where to copy/paste it to. Pardon me for being a bit of a luddite but your help here will be gratefully appreciated!

Thanks

Put in Dropbox and restore config from there. Roomie FAQ has info on this

I too think that perhaps RedEye is the closest competitor, although iRule is also in there as an alternative.

RedEye actually appears very powerful with a full scripting language available for those who wish to delve into it in detail. However, no serial or IP support as yet. I don't even know if it's scheduled. The other problem is that the blaster devices are almost 3 times the price of the Global Cache units used by Roomie and iRule. But there's a reason for this and it's what gives RedEye a real advantage over the others...

The remote interface appears to be actually stored on the blaster. So as mentioned before, get the app and you're away. But there's another BIG plus. All active remotes are kept in sync. So an action initiated by one remote is replicated on any other connected remotes. So change an activity on one remote and any other remotes will update to reflect that. This also means that if one remote is used first, then another is 'started', the second one will show the same state as the first one as it will receive the information from the blaster (which is actually a small Linux server). The other cool aspect of this is that any browser can access the blaster and run the same 'app'. So full control is available from any iOS device with the app and also from any Mac or PC etc that can browse the network. This is all great stuff.

Also, RedEye has variables, so you can store state information. So the current state of the system is known, i.e. what is the power status of each device and what inputs are selected. IOW, just like the Harmony remotes. AFAICT, neither Roomie or iRule do any such thing and having messed with Prontos for years, it's a backward step losing that smartness of the Harmonies.

But as I said, the RedEye blasters are expensive and proprietary. I do love the idea of using the Global Cache adapters since they are usable by many of the high end systems such as Roomie, iRule and also DemoPad.

Speaking of which, DemoPad needs an actual application in order to set it up and that app is Windows only. So you need Windows to configure an app for your Apple iOS devices. Ha, rules that out for me even though I could run Windows if I wanted - which I don't.

But that leaves several questions regarding Roomie and iRule.

Will there ever be the ability to store state information and so 'know' what is on, what is off and e.g. what inputs are currently selected? This is such an important issue, I'm quite surprised that these developers have done nothing to address it.

How do they handle cyclic commands? Sometimes incorrectly referred to as 'toggle' but with more than 2 states. E.g. the input selection for some amps or TVs is by repeatedly pressing the same button. I hate that, but for many devices we're stuck with it. The Harmony remotes remember what was last selected and hence know how many commands to send to switch to the required input. How do Roomie and iRule handle this, because if no state information is or can be saved, there's NO way to successfully handle that situation. Trust me, every Pronto user has been wishing for a solution to that for years. If neither of these new products can handle this, that's really bad news.

I've already spent far too long reading up on these products just to find out the answers to such questions. Anyone here help with any answers?

Copied from 58V10 owners thread, since use of the Roomie app prompted the question. I only need my TV to power on/off, and don't have an iTach wifi2serial (and want to avoid buying one). The TV is a Panasonic 58V10 (No IP control supported).

Question for owners;

I am looking to both auto power on, and auto power off the TV. It seems like I can only do one or the other, is there any way I can do both? I have updated the firmware.

There's not a problem with waiting for 10 mins to power off.

FYI, the reason I'm looking to do this is to avoid having an IR remote out to power the tv on and off. Currently, I am running everything else off an iPad, through the Roomie remote app, but there's not an easy way to get an emitter to my tv. I'm trying to avoid picking up an iTach wifi2serial.

UKenGB:

Roomie added state about a month ago. So maybe you were confused by earlier messages. It knows whether something is powered on, inputs, etc. It only issues the appropriate power commands based on what actually is powered.

Can't seriously consider any solution that isn't strong on IP and Serial. Products based on IR are what I'd consider "starter" products.

JustBusiness: Not sure what you're asking. You're saying you don't want to use serial and you said the TV isn't IP capable, and you can't get an emitter to the TV. So how are you controlling the TV? You could try to get the blaster in range of the TV?

I managed to Jerry rig an emitter to the tv, it miraculously works, so no longer problem.

Couple of things I wish it did; 1) a keyboard for the Xbox 360 ( to search youtube/netflix). And more original remotes, I miss some functions from my motorola remote (qip7216 for Verizon fios) and pioneer vex receivers. Also panasnic tv shows a samsung remote. Loving the apps though. Have two rooms, two itch ip2ir. Ip control of pioneer vsx does not control power on, so needed to go ir for receivers.

Anyone using roomie for lights? Whats working well?

Also,Nya ing trouble with my vsx1021 and the volume up and down. Up volume gets stuck, and repeats, and thing get uncontrollably loud. Need to figure out what the problem is with this...anyone else?

Given that there is no central server, is state storage local to a single remote (an iOS device) or do they have some way to store it so that when a new remote (iOS device) starts, it is automatically synced?.

What makes the Redeye Pro so interesting is that, as UKenGB noted, it stores state on its server. This offers two benefits: 1) When any user connects a remote (an iOS or Android device) to the server that device is automatically in sync. 2) The iOS and Android applications are free as they need Thinkflood's hardware to work.

If one has one a single remote, basically the situation most commonly being replaced, not having a central state is not a problem. If one has multiple people with iOS (or Android) devices, having shared state is quite important. With Redeye Pro, any visitor with an iOS or Android device can just download Thinkflood's app (for free), connect to the server and immediately be controlling the current device.


Thinkflood has already released their serial support and, as I understand, should be releasing their IP support in their next release.

To me, any solution that does not maintain state across remotes is a "starter" product. If Roomie does maintain state across devices, than it is a competitor.

What I would like to know is how Roomie handles devices like TiVo boxes where only one user can be connected at any one time? If I am controlling the TiVo and someone else wishes to pause or fast forward, what handles contention? I am not worried about dueling remotes, but more the situation where the person controlling the TiVo from an iPad receives a phone call and leaves the room while the iPad is still active. Other users need to wait until the first device's connection times out before they are able to connect.

I would like to know the answer to this too. Anybody?