Possibly a bit off topic for this group but I'm hoping someone has had
success getting RS-232 control to work with Sony STR-DA4ES receiver.
Sony has published a serial communication protocol document for these
models 4ES/5ES/7ES.  Unfortunately, after countless hours spying
serial port activity using a variety of port monitors, and sending a
variety of control codes trying numerous commands, I have had no
success getting my STR-DA4ES to respond to any commands--the 4ES just
sits there ignoring all port activity.

I have enabled "Installer Mode" in the "Customize" menu and I'm sure
my computer's serial port and rs-232 cable are ok as I have been able
to perform the firmware upgrade on the unit without difficulty.

Anyone have any experience with serial control on this model?  Any
advice would be greatly appreciated.

Steve

Even though you have been able to upgrade firmware, still check your cable.
Make sure pins 2 and 3 arn't crossed at one end. Check the comm settings.
Make sure you are sending every bit of information that is needed in hex
format.
STX + BC + PDC + CMD + Data1 + ----- + DataN + CS

The terminological definition is as follows.

STX 02 H : Start of text code

BC : Byte Count

(Number of bytes of until before CS from PDC.)

PDC : Product Code

CMD : Command (Opecode)

DataN : Data Block ( 0 < M + FAH )

CS : Check Sum

A value from which 8 bits of low ranks of the sum

from BC to CS are set to 0.



good luck



"SteveV" <StevenVibert@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:e04c94a.0408301644.794ff32e@posting.google.com...
> Possibly a bit off topic for this group but I'm hoping someone has had
> success getting RS-232 control to work with Sony STR-DA4ES receiver.
> Sony has published a serial communication protocol document for these
> models 4ES/5ES/7ES.  Unfortunately, after countless hours spying
> serial port activity using a variety of port monitors, and sending a
> variety of control codes trying numerous commands, I have had no
> success getting my STR-DA4ES to respond to any commands--the 4ES just
> sits there ignoring all port activity.
>
> I have enabled "Installer Mode" in the "Customize" menu and I'm sure
> my computer's serial port and rs-232 cable are ok as I have been able
> to perform the firmware upgrade on the unit without difficulty.
>
> Anyone have any experience with serial control on this model?  Any
> advice would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Steve

Anyone?

StevenVibert@hotmail.com (SteveV) wrote in message news:<e04c94a.0408301644.794ff32e@posting.google.com>...
> Possibly a bit off topic for this group but I'm hoping someone has had
> success getting RS-232 control to work with Sony STR-DA4ES receiver.
> Sony has published a serial communication protocol document for these
> models 4ES/5ES/7ES.  Unfortunately, after countless hours spying
> serial port activity using a variety of port monitors, and sending a
> variety of control codes trying numerous commands, I have had no
> success getting my STR-DA4ES to respond to any commands--the 4ES just
> sits there ignoring all port activity.
> 
> I have enabled "Installer Mode" in the "Customize" menu and I'm sure
> my computer's serial port and rs-232 cable are ok as I have been able
> to perform the firmware upgrade on the unit without difficulty.
> 
> Anyone have any experience with serial control on this model?  Any
> advice would be greatly appreciated.
> 
> Steve

Thanks for the info.  I'm using the following 9 pin d-sub cable
pinout:

2 -------- 3
3 -------- 2
4 -------- 6
5 -------- 5
6 -------- 4
7 -------- 8
8 -------- 7

I have rung out the cable using a meter and all checks out ok.  Oddly,
there is no pinout diagram in the protocol doc and I'm assuming that
the cable config is the same one used for the firmware update.

Also, I have used the hex command examples outlined in the protocol
document so I'm confident I'm sending valid commands.  Any other
suggestions would be greatly appeciated.

BTW, have you had success serial sending commands to these units?

Thanks again!
Steve


"rednelb" <gerrit.demik@.ita.com> wrote in message news:<4UvZc.321$bT2.238@fe1.columbus.rr.com>...
> Even though you have been able to upgrade firmware, still check your cable.
> Make sure pins 2 and 3 arn't crossed at one end. Check the comm settings.
> Make sure you are sending every bit of information that is needed in hex
> format.
> STX + BC + PDC + CMD + Data1 + ----- + DataN + CS
> 
> The terminological definition is as follows.
> 
> STX 02 H : Start of text code
> 
> BC : Byte Count
> 
> (Number of bytes of until before CS from PDC.)
> 
> PDC : Product Code
> 
> CMD : Command (Opecode)
> 
> DataN : Data Block ( 0 < M + FAH )
> 
> CS : Check Sum
> 
> A value from which 8 bits of low ranks of the sum
> 
> from BC to CS are set to 0.
> 
> 
> 
> good luck

I have not used this unit, so I don't know any specifics. Are you just using
a computer to send the commands or a controller of some sort? (AMX,
Crestron) Check to see if you have to enable the rs232 port.


"SteveV" <StevenVibert@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:e04c94a.0409020233.7bb5b212@posting.google.com...
> Anyone?
>
> StevenVibert@hotmail.com (SteveV) wrote in message
news:<e04c94a.0408301644.794ff32e@posting.google.com>...
> > Possibly a bit off topic for this group but I'm hoping someone has had
> > success getting RS-232 control to work with Sony STR-DA4ES receiver.
> > Sony has published a serial communication protocol document for these
> > models 4ES/5ES/7ES.  Unfortunately, after countless hours spying
> > serial port activity using a variety of port monitors, and sending a
> > variety of control codes trying numerous commands, I have had no
> > success getting my STR-DA4ES to respond to any commands--the 4ES just
> > sits there ignoring all port activity.
> >
> > I have enabled "Installer Mode" in the "Customize" menu and I'm sure
> > my computer's serial port and rs-232 cable are ok as I have been able
> > to perform the firmware upgrade on the unit without difficulty.
> >
> > Anyone have any experience with serial control on this model?  Any
> > advice would be greatly appreciated.
> >
> > Steve

"rednelb" <gerrit.demik@.ita.com> wrote in message news:<rIv_c.16471$8.6303@fe1.columbus.rr.com>...
> I have not used this unit, so I don't know any specifics. Are you just using
> a computer to send the commands or a controller of some sort? (AMX,
> Crestron) Check to see if you have to enable the rs232 port.

I'm using a PC.  The 4ES has on "Installer" mode in the "Customize"
menu.  I have tried communicating with the unit with Installer mode on
and off but the results are the same--nothing.

--Steve

StevenVibert@hotmail.com (SteveV) wrote in message news:<e04c94a.0409050217.32d23714@posting.google.com>...
> "rednelb" <gerrit.demik@.ita.com> wrote in message news:<rIv_c.16471$8.6303@fe1.columbus.rr.com>...
> > I have not used this unit, so I don't know any specifics. Are you just using
> > a computer to send the commands or a controller of some sort? (AMX,
> > Crestron) Check to see if you have to enable the rs232 port.
> 
> I'm using a PC.  The 4ES has on "Installer" mode in the "Customize"
> menu.  I have tried communicating with the unit with Installer mode on
> and off but the results are the same--nothing.
> 
> --Steve

Steve, I don't have one of these (yet :-) ) but I have interfaced
quite a few different things with my computer's RS-232 ports. Here are
a few things to try.

- Try a null-modem cable instead. I saw someone in another forum that
mentioned he had used a null-modem cable to talk to his DA4ES.

- Try either a breakout box or even one of the little mini status
boxes with the LED's so you can see for sure when either side sends
characters.

- A few years back when I was having major problems interfacing a
particular device I used a Fox Datatracker ( I think that was the name
) in order to see exactly what was being sent.

- I don't know what software/language you are using on the PC to talk
to the serial port but make sure that you have the serial port
settings all correct. By this I don't just mean the 9600/8/N/1, but
also make sure that nothing is blocking or trying to interpret any
special characters (like STX, etc.). This should not be the case on
PC's generally but then I don't know what you are using to talk to the
port. On my system (not a PC), I had to specifically set the port to
pass all 8 bits, ignore special control characters and turn off flow
control in order to talk to certain devices. Usually, devices like the
Sony don't use flow control as they rely on the low volume of data as
well as wait periods between commands.

I hope this helps. Good luck.

Bill McLaughlin

mcbill20@yahoo.com (Bill McLaughlin) wrote in message 
<Snip>
> Steve, I don't have one of these (yet :-) ) but I have interfaced
> quite a few different things with my computer's RS-232 ports. Here are
> a few things to try.
> 
> - Try a null-modem cable instead. I saw someone in another forum that
> mentioned he had used a null-modem cable to talk to his DA4ES.
> 

Doh! I wasn't paying attention to your pinout. At that late hour of
the night it looked like a straight through cable...  :-)

Bill