A few questions for writing a driver

[xyster]

I recently purchased the USB-UIRT to use with my Mac. It appears there are no Mac drivers available so I'm writing my own app to communicate with it. Eventually, I hope to have an app that makes the UIRT available as a network socket.
So far I've been able to communicate with the UIRT and to send it commands and read the results (set IR mode, get ver., get IR sequences, etc.).

I have encountered three issues so far:
1. USB reads are always preceded by the two bytes 0x91 0x60 or 0x81 0x60. It appears 0x91 0x60 is used for terminal data while 0x81 0x60 for non-terminal data. I did not see any reference to this in the documentation, is this correct?
2. USB reads always return immediately even if there is no data (i.e. I just get 0x91 0x60). Is this the expected behavior?
3. I can set the mode to UIR or RAW (I get 0x91 0x60 0x21 as confirmation) and the requisite IR codes. However, when I try to set it to RAW2 (mode 0x24), I get the confirmation but get no IR codes. Also, the red LED does not light up when I fire a remote in its direction. Is there something different that needs to be done for this mode to operate correctly (DTR, RTS, etc.?)

The firmware info block is:
09 05 01 01 1A 03 04

Help is much appreciated!

[xyster]

I just noticed that question 3 is answered by the firmware update announcement in the forum. I need to be more careful with remote placement.
However, this raises two new questions:
1. I noticed that in this mode all data is preceeded by 0x91 0x60. I get the feeling I'm missing something about these bytes. What is it?
2. Is there a different command for transmitting in RAW2 format or do I need to massage the data into RAW format and use 0x36?

Thanks!

[jrhees]

xyster,

First of all, the 0x91, 0x60, etc. bytes are due to the fact the the USB-UIRT uses a serial converter IC as part of its circuit. Therefore, the USB endpoint communicates additional information which is *important* to the proper operation of this IC. I would strongly suggest using the Mac OSX driver to handle the low-level USB protocol so that you do not run into surprises.

The chip is an FT232BM. You should find the Mac driver at www.ftdichip.com

Also, I am looking for a Mac developer to port the API over so that Mac development will be much simpler. If you're interested, contact support@usbuirt.com

-Jon

[JcMarin]

Sorry to be nosy but I'm very intrested

Did you guys ever did anything to have the USB-UIRT working on the MAc OS X?

[jrhees]

Stay tuned...

-Jon

[JcMarin]

oh no, Now I'm going to be watching this site every 15 minutes

P.S.
I want to be on your list of beta testers!

[JcMarin]

Aug-27-2005

dear diary...

My first week of waiting for a Mac driver has gone by. It was not as bad as I thought, the Huracane that just went through my house was somehow a rerfreshing change of preocupations, it almost made me forget about my Mac Mini not able to talk to the USB-UIRT.

[Guest]

Stay tuned...

-Jon

I am Tuned!

Add me to the interested parties list. I have my USB-UIRT, and I can beta test. -Chuck-

[joedornan]

I hope your hurricane experience wasn't too hazardous!

I'll be an eager user/tester of the mac software for USB-UIRT!

-Joedornan!hotmail.com

[JcMarin]

I hope your hurricane experience wasn't too hazardous!

After watching for a week the total devastation that happened in Louisiana after Katrina, what happened here in Florida was nothing, so this second week here waiting for the Mac driver was spent in contemplation, thankful that we have a safe place to live and hopping that help gets to these people.