Egreat A11 - RS232 protocol specifications ?? where to find ??

[eddyshere]

Could you dislose the RS-232- command line specifications of the A11 player. The control4 driver is nice but there are other control systems outthere who can communicate over RS-232.
Where can I find the RS-232 specifications of the A11 ??
ie connection data, handshaking protocol {if any}, baud rate and raw commands

In short I would be grateful one can ist the basic RS-232 api specifications of the A11 which was obviously given to control4 so they could write their driver

[futeko.com]

Original Chinese language versions:

- A11 RS232 commands: https://www.mediafire.com/file/z3olm2ek5bq6wjo/Egreat_A%20models_RS232_Command_v3.0_20161214.pdf
- A11 RS232 IP commands: https://www.mediafire.com/file/uxc18pynf1yuct9/Egreat%20A%20models%20RS232%20%20IP%20commandv1.0.docx

English translations:

- A11 RS232 commands: https://www.mediafire.com/file/4cw377e3fk364x3/FUTEKO_ENGLISH_TRANSLATION%20-%20Egreat_A%20models_RS232_Command_v3.0_20161214.pdf
- A11 RS232 IP commands: https://www.mediafire.com/file/6ccle08jiiakjgh/FUTEKO_ENGLISH_TRANSLATION%20-%20Egreat%20A%20models%20RS232%20%20IP%20commandv1.0.zh-CN.en.docx

[futeko.com]

I will try and translate both documents and post (rough - mostly Google translate) versions here later.

[eddyshere]

EXCELLENT!! ..exactly what was needed. Thanks

[eddyshere]

@futeko
Do you know if the beta 1.2.6.0 firmware also exists in the RS-232 version ? On the egreat forum I could only find the 1.2.5.6  RS-232_C4 version.

BTW with the "normal" 1.2.6.0 firmware IP over lan perfectly works.

The only issue is that the player like most AV devices turns off its ethernet port when turned off. That's why we cannot power up the player with IP over lan.
The serial RS-232 could power up the device...

[futeko.com]

There should be some news later this week. Bext place to look is the Egreat forum section for A11 RS232 firmware:

http://en.egreatworld.com/comunity/index.php?forums/a11-rs232-c4-smart-control-protocol-firmware.42/

[waffles]

I was wondering if IP and RS-232 protocols allow for 2-way feedback, e.g. the players power status, play/pause, etc., as well as elapsed/remaining time and chapter information. If so, where can I find the documentation for it?

Thanks!

[futeko.com]

I was wondering if IP and RS-232 protocols allow for 2-way feedback, e.g. the players power status, play/pause, etc., as well as elapsed/remaining time and chapter information. If so, where can I find the documentation for it?

Thanks!

I suggest posting on the Egreat forum, I do not know the answer.

[waffles]

Thanks! Will do.

[eddyshere]

I was wondering if IP and RS-232 protocols allow for 2-way feedback, e.g. the players power status, play/pause, etc., as well as elapsed/remaining time and chapter information. If so, where can I find the documentation for it?

Thanks!

YES it does 2-way feedback !! ... some infos...it's less "complete" than a Dune or Oppo but not so bad for a start.

It automatically pushes each time you play movies:
A. returns the file information for the current movie (format NOTIFY, PLAYINFO ({ "title": "cloud walk", "runtime": 7391000}), END)
B. automatically returns the current state of the machine when the power off or power
2, return to the format of information:
NOTIFY, STANDBYSTATUS (standby_off), END

BTW the protocol has an error for ex. the commandformat are CMD, keycode_program_d,END and not CMD, keycode_program_d, END  ie. no space before END.

[waffles]

Thanks eddyshere.  In the meantime I found the reference in their IP command documentation. It seems that elapsed time/remaining time and chapter information is missing. It also appears to be IP, but not RS-232. Hopefully in a future f/w update.

[eddyshere]

The whole thing is a bit messy. The firmwares are kind of hit&miss. I looks like the RS-232 ip control functionnality has been done by C4 and egreat actually are not really on top of it.
1.2.5.6 is the only RS-232 specific firmware for the time being and that one works really good over RS-232 and over IP. The firmware 1.2.6.0 which is not a RS-232 one strangely works over IP. haven't tried 1.2.6.6 yet.

Also I'm trying to not loose the ability of editing the posterwall over webbrowser. They have shut down this ability in 1.2.6.0 (it was still available in the 1.2.6.0beta) which I don't understand why.

I'm not understanding with which priority they pack what feature (control wise) into the firmware. For me any way i stick to RS-232 as the standby powers down the lan port so power up only works over RS-232.
The player has a lot of potential but it's kind of expensive for a "in development/ still fixing" player

[waffles]

I am OK with spending the money, but I want a robust and (basic) feature complete product. It appears I should rather wait a bit longer before I jump on it.

[Binnerup]

Hi all,

We have had some requests for adding support for the eGreat players on our software (mymovies.dk) for remote control and remote playback and I have therefore looked a bit at the documentation.

The documentation appears a bit vague on the topic of power status - there does not seem to be a power status query command, yet there are documentation on a power status notification - is this something the player itself sends when it changes power status, or is this undone functionality?

If it is something the player itself sends, is there any way to get the power status of the device at connection time?

Then "eddyshere" mentions that the power off command powers off the LAN port with inability to power it back on? Does the player not have a soft off functionality, and if not, is such planned? Not having a soft off option is a dealbreaker for us, and would mean it does not make sense to look further into - RS232 is not an option for us.

Thanks, and best regards,

Brian Binnerup
My Movies

[eddyshere]

It's a pitty because it is a good hardware basis. I bought my A11 @futeko and the delivery was lightening fast...I was very pleased at first. But then I started to experience egreat directly...The problem with this player is that you never really know what is implemented, what gets implemented, what get's taken out. 

The fundamental differentiator IMHO of the success of these players going forward will be their posterwall next to their excellent picture quality. (Look at Zidoo and their new PosterWall 2.0)
The Egreat uses the DVDfab Vidon.me posterwall and if you follow-up where DVDfab is going with it (see DVDfab MediaServer - forced Cloud usage) I only hope Egreat can do their own thing and are not dragged along. A MM alternative could certainly make some users happy.

I can only comment on firmware 1.2.5.6. Yes it sends a power on message out. Also power on and power off work over LAN. (standby / soft-off works)
The player sends the power on notification when turned on. I haven't noticed a "powerstatus" notification on connection...

I have updated the firmware once above 1.2.5.6 just to find out that the LAN and RS-232 communication was not operational anymore so I rolled back. Firmwares above 1.2.5.6 broke other things which for me made the player no longer an option. During the time I experienced with the new firmware the LAN turned effectively off. (I do not know if it's because it wasn't implemented or it shall remain like that).

NB : I haven't tried the latest firmware yet

@binnerup : What is actually very funny is that being through (for the time being) with Egreat I returned to my Dune 4K pro / oppo 205 combo and started to make the dune posterwall with MM.