Hi David,
Thanks for the reply.
The answer really depends on what one uses a remote control for - or how much detail one hopes for it to provide.
The one function I miss the MOST is the SURROUND MODE QUERY MS?, which responds with the current audio mode.
If the receiver is running in an auto mode, this will return whether the audio being played is for example DD or Atmos or DTS. If this reported back that the mode was only Dolby Stereo, this might then prompt me to manually change to a mode that enhances it...
Note - both this variable (MS?), and the already supported source variable (INPUT STATUS QUERY - SI?) often need some translation - an example being that the source inputs are reported back as their generic Denon names - MPLAY is the input I use for my Kodi player, DVD is the input I use for a FireTV stick.
I'd assume it would need to be done through a script - but would there be any way to interpret these responses and translate a response of "DVD" to "FireTV" in a system?
The surround modes reported back from a SI? query can be similarly abbreviated/ in need of slight translation. This used to be a simple thing to adjust in iRule.
TBH I'd been hoping for a driver that fully supported the receivers - in one go supporting all the commands and feedbacks listed by Denon in their extensive documentation - a driver that you guys would rarely have to revisit. In an ideal world, the advanced users would be able to contribute to this, adding in anything that's missing.
The majority of my Home Cinema equipment is located in a cupboard 10m away in another room - my old iRule setup had a number of pages of buttons, giving control over ALL available functions, and reporting back on the status of each - where this was available. The majority of feedbacks were only read upon entry to a page.
The Denon receivers support feedback from different audio channel levels above just the master volume - enabling the advanced use of faders for multiple functions. Many of the feedbacks I listed above could be used to simply light a button on a remote, when the function is switched on, if implimented.in the driver.
At the moment, I'm constantly switching between iRule and Allonis on my iPad... I'd really love to be in a place to get rid of iRule and move forward.
Adding the surround mode query above would certainly help this process, but my biggest current frustration is the documentation on how to use RS232 being incomplete - as per my messages in another recent thread!
Perhaps I'm different from the majority of your users - more of a luddite! - and use a remote more as an advanced control panel, rather than a means of automating common uses, and needing no tweaks to more complex settings. I live the idea of automation, but early experience of even macros to turn an older system off (with the lack of discrete IR codes!) probably put me off...
This does expose limitations of myServer - at least to the advanced user rather than a direct client - in that it's not possible to add or modify drivers without help from a very busy couple of guys - who of course have to pick and choose what to spend their precious development time on.
Ben
