My remote and dock worked quite well up to yesterday when starting an activity gave an error ‘connection to dock could not be established’ on the remote. Looking in the web configuration the status of the dock is ‘connecting’ with an error message ‘Firmware check failed. Please try again.’. The dock itself shows an IP address on the display (wired connection) and nothing has changed in my network/wifi settings nor did I initiate a firmware update…. I’ve power-cycled both the remote and the dock - to no avail…. Any clues how to troubleshoot ? Thanks !!
If you only have one system / rack in one location, all within reach of the remote, none really. But think about a HT system with a whole rack of home cinema stuff (bluray or server players, processors, HT preamplifier and amplifiers etc) in a cabinet or a cupboard, without line of sight to the remote. If some of these components need IR triggering, the dock is the only solution.
I think the problem is more likely the remote control being the brain of the system and relying on hit and miss wifi performance to connect everything together. It’s not the dock disconnecting from the network (it continues to be registered on my network even when it times out), it is the remote being unable to maintain a stable connection to it.
I wish they had a central, hardwired hub as server and use the UC remote purely as a control point / screen. I think the remote is trying to be to many things at once (server, control, screen) but it’s a master of none. And I think all you can do is experiment with your wifi to get the best possible wifi signal for the remote to minimise the chance of these events occurring.
I placed a second access point in my lounge specifically for the remote, which doesn’t have high gain antennas for a reliable wifi connection so if the signal strength is below average expect trouble.
If you need IR and have equipment in a different room, does the R3 communicate with the dock via IP and then the dock sends the IR commands (assuming you have set the dock as the output source)? If yes, then I get it as you won’t have need for an IR repeater. My setup is all controlled via integrations and so I don’t have that need, but it’s interesting to know in case I change things in the future.
It does indeed. That is exactly the point of the dock. It should also be able to do serial in the future which is something most HT stuff supports. Not active yet in the firmware.
Thanks for your reply. I guess that is the problem indeed. connection to the dock automatically resumed so wifi-issue might indeed be the cause if the remote functions as the central ‘hub’ (my dock is on a wired connection). I have an AP in my lounge, I’ll experiment with its positioning. Thanks !
It means that the 3.5mm ports on the dock will be able to be used to control devices that support being controlled by the RS232 serial protocol. This capability hasn’t been enabled in the firmware so far and will be a future feature.
A lot of home theatre stuff has a serial interface, usually using a RS232 input. Look on the back of a Oppo player, Denon receiver, projector, video processor etc and you will see this 9 pin RS-232C socket.
The serial is a bulletproof interface because it doesn’t rely on the internet, transmission of light, wifi etc. It’s a straight wire connection, controller to device. Like the 12V trigger if you will.
A Control 4 server has several of these ports, usually with RS 232 outputs so you have pin to pin compatibility. The UC solution is a mono jack output so not sure how you convert a 2 pin into a 9 pin signal. An adapter is very likely required or you might need a custom cable. And the developer team has been unable to answer that question so far. I enquired and they told me they are working on it, it’s not active yet, they will provide the information once functional.
So say you don’t have an integration for a device. And you don’t have a useable IR code set or it’s hit and miss or it’s not within your remote blaster reach. Or you simply want the reliability of a hardwired connection to a specific component of the chain that is playing up and accepts a serial input. You can then simply send commands from the dock through this interface over copper.
Most manufacturers have guidelines with the pin layout, the syntax they use etc.