I have to share this "great" customer support experience I am having with Global Caché (13 days and counting) and then I'll follow with the 30 minutes I spent with Zektor's customer support and the information I got.
First, my request started with the following:
Before I go into any details about my problem, here are a few items you may need know to speed up the process.
1. Using GC-100 (12 inches edition)
2. Firmware version is 3.2
3. I performed a factory reset so all paramters are by default
4. As per documentation, IR ports are configured as "IR Out" (see attached picture)
5. IR codes tried are coming from conversion using your tool and some strings I got from members of RemoteCentral.com
I later added to that post (the day after) that I did manage to make one code work electrically, but not through the blaster and that what I really needed to know is if my getting the IR Learner would solve my problem.
Five days later, I received:
Eric, are you using iTalk or GC-100?
Good start! So I replied, politely but with a clear indication that a 5 seconds effort on his part might be required:
I am using GC-100, 12 inches edition. The original post contains my complete configuration.
Fours days later:
Thanks. How is it configured? You need to configure it for "IR Blaster" for it to work.
Humph...
There are no such options. Options are "IR Out", "Sensor", "IR Out No Carrier" as seen in the attached screen I provided in my initial post. Which also contained my configuration. As I mentionned, what I really, really need to know...
Last night (another four days later), I finally received:
To use IR blaster, you need version 3.2. What version have (sic)? You can ship the unit to us to upgrade the firmware
What the...??? Let's just say that I was a lot less polite and USING CAPS A LOT, in my replies.
AS A COMPLETE CONTRAST: 5-6 days after my initial post, I actually went back to try it again on my own. But then I found CCF files supplied by Zektor (my analog/digital cross-connect). I downloaded them and coverted the codes using a series of tools) some from RemoteCentral and some from Global Cache. Unsurprisingly, they did not work.
BUT, since they provide the codes, I decided to try their support (their products are expensive enough to warrant requests for information). Within 10 minutes, I received an email telling me that I should use the ".TXT" file they provide on their website (I had missed it) as Phillips constantly changes subtle encodings (to protect their database from IR-codes thieves) so unless you are using tools made specifically for my version of Pronto Edit, codes will likely fail.
I downloaded the text file. My zektor works great when connected electrically to the GC-100... AND ALSO WORKS FILE with the IR blasters supplied with the box AND with the IR blasters currently in use with my Harmony Blaster.
Two more exchanges of emails confirmed that some products DO support more codes electrically or are less picky with preamble and suffixes...
13 days, 3 messages asking for information already supplied or proposing solutions that do not exist or are impractical.
30 minutes, 4 messages and I have both a working Zektor switch AND the answer to my fundamental question: YES, the IR learner WILL solve my problem!
I thank the guy profusely. I did NOT tell Global Cache as I want their support resolving this issue, not Zektor's...
