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This sounds great, i was gonna get a kenwood steering wheel control, but these sony stick controls look like they might be nicer to use. And my car only has one stalk so i've got a perfect spot for it.

Will it be easy to change what the buttons do? Or is that programed into the little box? For instance i would never use on/off so i'd like to map that button to somethign else like shuffle control (which will be much more useful if empeg ever 'fix' that function and make it realtime).

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I can only control the functions that empeg give us in their serial command sub-set. No command exists to toggle shuffle ON/OFF yet. Nice idea though...
To answer your question, the current micro controller I have used is hard coded, no facility to map button functions. Just have to get it right the 1st time I guess. It would be a good idea to come up with a list of buttons to empeg commands, so we could maybe get empeg to implement any ideas, not already implemented when they get time?

Mine are:-
4800 baud when in sled

Additional ASCII commands:-
Menu entry command.
When in this mode, the Vol+ & Vol- commands act like the top & bottom buttons on the empeg. Traversing the menu is already done with the Next & Previous commands.
Menu exit command.
Toggle shuffle command.
Previous playlist command (places into menu entry mode, see above).
Toggle Mute command (All modes i.e., Radio, Empeg, Aux).
Check that the Play & Pause commands work in all audio modes.

Regards,


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John, (S/No 0114, 20G).

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The Empeg replaced a stolen Sony CD player, which came with one of those. I think I threw it away after the CD player got stolen. Figured I'd never have a need for it.

(**Sound of Tony banging his head against the wall.**)

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What a bummer! A dull thud like noise...

Regards,

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John, (S/No 0114, 20G).

In reply to:

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From the beta 10 readme:

Many commands have been reinstated for use over the serial port as well as
new ones added. Use 'M' for menu and '*' for cancel.

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But the baud rate hasn't been changed yet to 4800. When it does, I can than continue with the Sony stick project. I now have a design that supports mappable buttons also. I'm keen to test it as soon as I can talk to the empeg at 4800 baud.

Regards,


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John, (S/No 0114, 20G).

In reply to:

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I'm confused as to why 4800 baud is a requirement. Didn't someone else describe (in a different thread in the "projects" section of this BBS) a fairly simple mod for his Peugot control stalk which talked to the Empeg at its default baud rate?

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That was my project you mentioned. In order to cost ruduce the interface, lowering the baud rate would be the 1st step. Empeg also commented that they intended to set the docked-by-default baud rate to 4800 for use with serial GPS's etc. but was left at 115K for some reason. An empeg menu or Emplode advanced option is required to set the docked baud rate (ideally using an empeg menu).

Regards,


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John, (S/No 0114, 20G).

In reply to:

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If we make the default docked baud rate 4800 and have a config.ini line to set it to something else (if required) then is this likely to cause problems for anyone? Does anybody actually synchronise whilst the unit thinks it is in-car?

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Well, I do use the 115k rate in my existing stick controller, but I'm very keen to have it set to 4800, then I could move forwards with the Sony stick interface etc. One thing, assuming you needed the developer image loaded to edit the config.ini file to say 9600 or 4800 (something other than 115k), the empeg in developer mode spews out a lot of ASCII down the serial port. At anything slower than 115k I would expect the empeg to start to slow down a tad as the data is queued out the UART (unless a very large TX FIFO buffer is used?)? So, I guess having the default baud rate set to 4800 (not requiring the developer image - or a means to set the logging method i.e. NON, FULL, VERBOSE & TERSE is the best option. Something to think about...

4800 baud when docked please..

Regards,


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John, (S/No 0114, 20G).

In reply to:

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John, if you ever decide to make a couple of these thingies, count me in. (Design only will not work for me - I have two left hands (as we say here) and am no better with soldering iron than with the ordinary one :)

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OK, watch this space or my empeg page for details. http://www.bjnet.demon.co.uk/Empeg/Empeg.htm

Regards,


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John, (S/No 0114, 20G).

In reply to:

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The bug to which you refer has nothing to do with setting the volume - it's a problem with missing key-up commands from the front panel buttons. This only applies to an internal empeg interface - John's project uses the serial port and cannot possibly be affected by this issue.

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That's right. No problem using the stick controller, except when it's in repeat mode and the rate ramps up, the empeg can skip commands. This isn't a problem that it doesn't keep up as the rate is quite high by then and you'd hardly notice it.

Regards,




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John, (S/No 0114, 20G).

In reply to:

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I'm still running beta 10 (NOT beta 10a) because I don't care to confirm/set visuals on every time I boot the unit in the car. I'll switch to 10a (or whatever is current) when you've got closure on your project and I have one in my possession.

I am curious, though, if there's a quick methodology to enable visuals via the stick controller (i.e. a single button press?). I'm also curious if there's a macro I can set/control that might allow the unit to enable visuals for me when the stick controller gets power AND detects that the Empeg is present and on.

Or am I smoking crack?

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There is no single button to enable visuals, but a button allocated to cycle them. More importantly, there is a button to toggle text modes. So, hitting that button twice from power up will remove the default textuals and you'll be back where you were before you stopped. My unit will be able to accept macros and re-mappable buttons at a later date.

Regards,





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John, (S/No 0114, 20G).

In reply to:

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Im also very interested in this. And wouldn't you know it, I just so happen to have one of these remotes that just became available for empeg adoption (r.i.p. Sony cd player).

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Keep an eye on my empeg page for details: -
http://www.bjnet.demon.co.uk/Empeg/Empeg.htm


Regards,



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John, (S/No 0114, 20G).

In reply to:

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I am so smacking my head in frustration. I had an RM-X2S that came with one of my car CD players. I threw it away when the CD player was stolen, when I decided to get an Empeg to replace the player. I figured I wouldn't need it any more.

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(sigh) same here..
-m

MK2: 36gb
Tivo: 90gb
CPU: 120gb
...I think drive manufacturers love me!