Controlling an Onkyo Receiver via HTPC Serial

I have an Onkyo TX-SR805 audio/video receiver currently set up to feed a single zone. It has a serial port on the back that I have only recently decided to explore. I found a guide on the net with the protocol specification and commands it supports (link), which would let me do anything a remote could (including turning the unit on/off) from my HTPC. The question is, how can I best leverage this fact from my HTPC?

The issue I run into is that my HTPC runs through the receiver for video, so using the PC to drive content when any other input is in use (eg. satellite/DVR, Wii) is out of the question (or is it?). I suspect that there are uses for this that I simply have not thought of because until now this ability has not really been in the paradigm of what was possible for me, so I thought I would open it up for discussion and see if anyone else had some ideas, possibly from previous experience using a similar setup.


So far the only use I can really think of is to:
- Power the receiver on when the HTPC turns on
- Power the receiver off when the HTPC turns off
- Have an icon on the desktop for each other input that switches the receiver to the other inputs

Interested. This would help a lot b/c receivers run pretty hot and tend to be forgotten about after TV and HTPC have been turned off. So it'll sit there, generate heat and sip energy. I've even thought about hotwiring the receiver's powerswitch to a wireless lightsensor aimed @ the TV screen so that whenever the TV is turned off, the sensor would trip the powerswitch and turn off the receiver. But if THIS could work...

This is pretty cool. How 'bout volume control from the HTPC? That could be useful.

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Originally Posted by Etihtsarom

Interested. This would help a lot b/c receivers run pretty hot and tend to be forgotten about after TV and HTPC have been turned off. So it'll sit there, generate heat and sip energy. I've even thought about hotwiring the receiver's powerswitch to a wireless lightsensor aimed @ the TV screen so that whenever the TV is turned off, the sensor would trip the powerswitch and turn off the receiver. But if THIS could work...

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We have surge protected power strips that switch off components based on other components being turned off. I don't use one though, because:

Also, why are you leaving the receiver on? My Harmony shuts everything off with 1 button. I push it and start walking away.

Sounds like you guys need a Harmony remote ;)

+1 for a Harmony remote.. simplest solution. If your receiver or other components are located in another room of the house, IR extenders work great too.

IR extenders are great. I have my components in 2 different places, and I don't have to point the remote anywhere because its RF. It goes through walls so I can be in the other room and control volume for example.

Remote was $60 on eBay (Harmony 550) and extender was a spaceship looking thing from Amazon which had great reviews.

Don't get me wrong, I have every intention of getting an IR extender/Harmony. But the thing with those are:
1. If you're doing a long sequence you have to sit there pointing the remote at the device for a minute while it does change 1, then change 2, etc. A serial connection lets you queue multiple commands on the box.
2. If I have a mouse in my hand, I don't want to pick up a remote to do something I can do with a mouse
3. Icons > Remotes for people who don't know how a "complicated" remote works

At this point I don't know if there is anything more useful a computer can do than turning things on/off (well, more useful versus a remote), but if there are that is what I'm looking for. I'm sure people have hooked computers up to receivers before and done useful automation with them, I'm just surprised I'm not seeing anything come up here.

One example that I thought someone might suggest would be that - say - when you open a music player volume is set to a certain level and the audio output type is set correctly for you. You could do that with a remote, but you first have to open the program on the HTPC, then grab the remote, then hold the remote while it changes things for you... versus having a script that does it all for you. See what I mean?

Contact a company like Vidabox and ask them about it if you can't get an answer here. They do all sorts of home automation with HTPCs.

a couple more of uses might be:

perhaps change from multichannel to stereo decoding when playing music
changing speakers A to B for listening in another zone
dimming the display

with a little VB you could probably even cook up a PC based "remote" with the most common functions you use in a small app which could even restore other settings on exit or whatever.

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Originally Posted by Serra

The question is, how can I best leverage this fact from my HTPC?

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What about Chipmunk, it will do RS232. Is your Onkyo port the same as RS232 ?

http://www.chipmunkav.com/features/

Nez