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
Bookmarks