Overview
Serial over IP describes various methods of passing RS232 commands through a network to Just Add Power Transmitters and Receivers to control endpoint devices - sources or displays.
Just Add Power supports 3 modes of serial management of endpoint devices:
- Passive
- Direct
- API
Set Serial Mode
To set the Serial Mode on a device:
- Login to the webUI of the device
- Go to the Comms tab
- In the Serial Mode card, select the desired Mode from the dropdown box
- Set the Baudrate, Data Bits, Parity, and Stop Bits to match the communication settings of the endpoint device being controlled. For most devices the settings are 9600, 8, None, 1.
Passive (Point-to-point)
Description
Just Add Power devices act as an RS232 extension cord. Commands enter the system via the RS232 port on a Transmitter and are passed to the RS232 port of all Receivers watching that Transmitter. Bi-directional.
Usage
Serial strings input to the RS232 port of a Transmitter are output from the RS232 port of all Receivers actively watching that Transmitter. Serial strings input to the RS232 port of a Receiver are output from the RS232 port of the Transmitter that the Receiver is watching.
Baud rate of the control system, the Receiver, and the Transmitter must match the baud rate of the serial-controlled device.
Direct
Description
Just Add Power devices act as an extra RS232 port available to the control system. Commands enter the system via an IP telnet connection to port 6752 of a Transmitter or Receiver. The command passes out of the RS232 port. Bi-directional.
Setup
The serial port of the device is written by opening a telnet socket to port 6752 of the device. The open socket provides direct 2-way access to the serial port of the Just Add Power device. Commands are passed through as entered.
Baud rate of the Just Add Power device must match the baud rate of the serial-controlled device.
API
Description
Just Add Power devices act as an extra RS232 port available to the control system, but additional encapsulation is needed. Commands enter the system via an IP telnet connection to port 23 of a Transmitter or Receiver. The Linux shell redirects the commands to the RS232 port. 1-directional; can only send commands.
Usage
The serial port of the device is written using the 'printf' function through the standard command line interface.
Command format:
stty BAUDRATE -F /dev/ttyS0;printf "SERIAL_CODE_HERE" > /dev/ttyS0
Hex formatted characters in the serial code must be specially formatted by preceding each Hex pair with \x
Example: Samsung displays use Hex characters for serial control. The command for power on is 08 22 00 00 00 02 D4. To send that through Type 3, send:
stty 9600 -F /dev/ttyS0;printf "\x08\x22\x00\x00\x00\x02\xD4" > /dev/ttyS0
