Denon AVR Question

Other Devices & Integrations Home Theater & Smart Speakers
1

I’ve successfully integrated my Denon AVR-1913 receiver with Vera3, and the control is perfect. However I was wondering if there was a trick to get Vera to categorize it as AV Gear? It shows up under “Other”. Also, can you change the icon that it displays? It shows a light bulb.

Thanks alot.

2

Help please - horribly stuck with Denon Receiver Control Plugin.

I’ve bought a new USB to Serial adapter:
Startech.com 1 Port FTDI USB to Serial RS232 Adapter Cable
and connected with an RS-232 cable to my Denon AVR-2307.

On startup I get a status message at the top in UI5: “Denon Receiver : No IP address”
and the device status in red below the interface panel shows: “Lua Startup Failure”

The log (last part attached below), and the variables under the Advanced tag, seem to show that some communication has taken place, but the interface is clearly not functioning due to the startup failure.

1 01/25/13 19:58:59.869 luup_log:153: Denon AVR plugin: (response) data received MU OFF MUTE status change <0x2d7e5680> 01 01/25/13 19:58:59.870 luup_log:153: Denon AVR plugin: (handleResponse) data received MV465 <0x2d7e5680> 01 01/25/13 19:58:59.871 luup_log:153: Denon AVR plugin: (processMessage)465 MV 153 <0x2d7e5680> 01 01/25/13 19:58:59.871 luup_log:153: Denon AVR plugin: (response) data received MV 465 Volume level change <0x2d7e5680> 06 01/25/13 19:58:59.872 Device_Variable::m_szValue_set device: 153 service: urn:micasaverde-com:serviceId:Volume1 variable: Volume was: 0 now: 46.5 #hooks: 0 upnp: 0 v:(nil)/NONE duplicate:0 <0x2d7e5680> 01 01/25/13 19:58:59.873 luup_log:153: Denon AVR plugin: (handleResponse) data received MVMAX 82 <0x2d7e5680> 01 01/25/13 19:58:59.873 luup_log:153: Denon AVR plugin: (processMessage)MAX 82 MV 153 <0x2d7e5680> 01 01/25/13 19:58:59.873 luup_log:153: Denon AVR plugin: (response) data received MV MAX 82 Volume level change <0x2d7e5680>

Thanks for any suggestions / guidance!

3

An update on my Denon Receiver Control Plugin startup problem…

…it turns out that there is an error in the startup Lua code which assumes that the interface is via IP. I suppose that the serial link, as I’m using, has not been fully tested. I’ve modified the code and now it works, with a few extra adjustments to accommodate the AVR-2307 differences from the original AVR-3808 for which this seems to have been written.

I’m not up to updating the code in the code.mios.com Trac system, but would be happy to share with anyone who feels competent to do that.

Another home automation “to do” checked off…
…now on the list (but not next) is support for a Denon DVD player.

4

So you have successfully gained rs232 control of your AVR thru Vera? Very nice. I’d love to see how you did it.

5

@jenkinsjeff

Thanks for your reply - especially since I hijacked this thread which you started (it seemed most appropriate at the time). I was just deeply jealous that you integrated a Denon AVR-1913 with Vera “and the control is perfect”, and I have been trying to emulate that for my AVR-2307. I have to say that I could not understand quite why you would be interested in serial control when you had IP working, but reading your recent post… [url=http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,8422.msg100025.html#msg100026]http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,8422.msg100025.html#msg100026[/url]
…I now understand why! (Actually, I could do with your advice on a more general HA/AV topic that I’ll post separately!!)

The path to success has been devious and a bit painful, but the major milestones were:

[ol][li]USB to Serial - I ditched an old PL2303 device for an FTDI after following the trials, tribulations, and advice on this thread [url=http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,1471.msg100034.html#msg100034]http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,1471.msg100034.html#msg100034[/url] opting for a Startech.com 1 Port FTDI USB to Serial RS232 Adapter Cable with COM Retention. I note that they do a 2-port version also, and I plan to try that for my Denon DVD-2930 player, since I’m using a VeraLite with only one USB port. 9600 baud, 8 data bits, one stop bit, no parity. Assigned the “Used by device” to the Denon plugin.[/li]
[li]Diligent perusal of the Vera log file for Denon plugin entries after my hopes for a trouble-free “PlugNPlay” experience were dashed. I downloaded and printed the [tt]L_DenonReceiver1.lua[/tt] file to trace the point of failure. In the end it was simple enough - part of the initialization code handling multi-zone functionality suddenly drops into issuing HTTP requests, which clearly don’t work over a serial link. I’ve disabled this functionality in the code when running on serial. I’m thinking of stripping it out entirely since I use the Zone 2 amplifier for a back speaker in a 7.1 Surround configuration.[/li]
[li]Located, downloaded and absorbed the Denon AVR Serial Control Protocol specification for the 2307 and went through the Lua code again making the commands and responses conform to that, rather than the 3800 series protocol. I really don’t think that Denon put enough thought into compatibility between models, because this could have been SO much easier. I also modified the [tt]D_DenonReceiver1.json[/tt] and [tt]I_DenonReceiver1.xml[/tt] files to make the control names match the 2307 and my specific setup.[/li][/ol]

So, I’ve ended up with something that suits my needs, but a really good implementation would accommodate all the above changes in a programmatic way to configure the whole interface according to the device model type. The plugin already retrieves the custom channel names through the interface from the AVR but does nothing with them.

As a final piece of sugar, and to answer part of your OP, I’ve grouped all my devices into an “A/V” room within Vera, since the “AV Gear” tab seems totally non-functional. Anyway, HTH, but it does really need some more serious Lua coding (BTW, my preferred development environment is LDT, based on the open-source Eclipse platform - visit [url=http://www.eclipse.org/koneki/ldt]Archived Projects | The Eclipse Foundation for more information.)

[Edit: Since writing this, I’ve also found the work going on at http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,5863 and although this is apparently not serial i/f oriented, it does seems to move towards addressing the programmatic improvements above.]

6

Where did you find the Serial Protocol for the AVR? Is it available for xx13 models?

7

Nevermind. Found it. I have the Serial Protocol for all the AVR-xx13 models if anyone needs it.

8

is AVR 1910 compatible com this instalation ?

do you have control from vera of volume and source ?

thanks !

9

I had a quick look at the Denon AVR-1910 spec and couldn’t see any mention of an Ethernet or Serial connector. However, the ASD-51N iPod dock accessory appears to offer “Supported IP control”, but whether that is just for an iPod or for the whole AVR system, I don’t know. I guess that further searching into the full manual for these devices should tell you.

Indeed, the channel selection, volume control (and muting) is the critical functionality controlled by the plugin for those devices that do have external connections.

10

Thanks Akbooer…

i’m going to USA in may next. I will buy a receiver up to date with internet port…I think denon is good brand.

11

Could you post how you went about connecting the 1913? I’m having a hard time with mine.