Oppo 103 and Serial Control

I purchased an iTach Ethernet to Serial Adapter (IP2SL-P) from your store to use with an Oppo BDP-103. I hooked it up using a Tripp-Lite Null Modem Cable (P454-006) tonight but the 103 is not responding to any command sent from the Roomie Remote.

The iTach appears to be working correctly: the light by the serial connection on the back flashes whenever I send a command from the Roomie Remote, but the Oppo does nothing (I tested with the Oppo powered on). The iTach is configured with a reserved IP address.

I looked at the Oppo manual but didn't see anything to indicate that I need to change a setting on the Oppo in order to enable serial control (it's possible I could have missed something, though). I was wondering if the serial commands being sent from the Roomie Remote are correct for the 103 since it is a relatively new model. Has serial control of a 103 been tested with an iTach IP2SL-P and Roomie Remote?

I have successfully tested the Oppo with Roomie Remote using IP control (using the Roomie Remote IP template), but I have had no success with serial (using the serial template).

I'd appreciate any assistance that you can give me in getting the iTach to work with the 103. Thank you.

We have a FAQ to help you with that:

roomieremote.com/faq/#diagnoseSerial

Since you didn't mention it, it sounds like you didn't set the baud rate (per the FAQ). Oppo is 9600bps.

Thanks for the reply! I did not have the baud rate set at 9600; however I just updated it to 9600, but it doesn't seem to have made a difference (I tried cycling the power on the iTach too after I made the baud rate change).

I did a Google search for Oppo 103 serial control and found <a href="http://download.oppodigital.com/BDP103/BDP-103_RS232_Protocol_v1.0.pdf">this document</a> from Oppo. All of the serial setting match the settings in the Oppo document, though I did notice that it says "do NOT use a 'Null-Modem' cable for a PC connection", but wasn't sure if that applied when using the iTach.

The only other thing I noticed is that the light above the serial connection flashes once about every four seconds (unless it's receiving a command). I suppose that is normal, but thought I'd mention it.

Do I need a "straight-through" serial cable instead of the "null-modem" cable, or is the "straight-through" cable only for a PC connection? If the null-modem cable is correct, do you have any other suggestions? Thanks!

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Null modem cable will not work with Oppo. That's why we list it as a straight cable device:

roomieremote.com/serial-compatibility/

Totally missed that. Thanks, I'll order a straight-through cable and try that. I imagine it will work, but I'll update the thread once I test it.

I really appreciate the excellent support that you provide!

I'm using an IP2SL with an Oppo 93 without any issues. Need a standard straight through M/F DB9 serial cable. Baud rate must be changed to 9600.

Why don't you use IP control? I though the 103 supported power on.

Got the straight-through serial cable, hooked it up, and the serial control now works perfectly at 9600 baud.

For anyone considering the purchase of a region-free Oppo 103, changing regions on the 103 requires (at least on my model) a series of remote codes to be sent (including "Dimmer") and then the unit to be powered down. The Oppo cannot be in the "Quick Start" mode or it will not recognize the region change when it reboots, and serial allows you to power-on the device when it is off and not in the Quick-Start mode (IP control does not allow this).

The only problem I had is that the maximum delay after powering the Oppo on (10 seconds) is not long enough for the Oppo to boot and if you send another remote code to extend the delay then the region change does not work. So I have a power-on command for the Oppo, then once I know that the Oppo has booted I then use a different command to send the remote control codes to perform the region change.