You can control your projector from a computer running Windows. It can turn your projector on & off, change video sources, and do just about anything that your remote can do. The projector is connected to your compute via a serial cable and commands are given through shell commands. This can be done on a schedule, too, thanks to the Windows Task Scheduler feature built into Windows.
To control your projector with Windows, you will need these things
1. Projector with an RS232 serial port. This port can have a DB9 serial port (most common) or a round DIN serial port. A DB serial port has five pins in one row, and four pins in the second row. Projectors with only USB ports are not able to be used for control.
2. "Straight through" serial cable, DB9 to DB9. Typically this is a female to female cable.
3. Null modem adapter like this. This may be needed for some projectors. If your projector does not respond to commands, add this to the "straight through" serial cable above.
4. USB to serial adapter cable, such as this. This cable adapts the USB port on the Windows computer to communicate to the DB9 serial port on the projector.
Finding hex control codes for your projector
Your projector listens for commands entering its serial port. This allows you to turn the projector on, off, change video sources, etc., simply by sending commands to this port. These commands are in the "hex" language, such as 00, AB, F1, B12, etc.
Different brands and models of projectors use different hex codes for these commands. Your projector's manual should have an area that list these codes. If you do not have the manual, search Google for "hex codes xxx projector" where "xxx" is the brand and model of your projector. You can also find manuals for projectors by googling "xxx projector Clary Business Machines".
Here is an example of hex control codes for a Boxlight Seattle WX25NU projector. For example, hex command "43 30 30 0D" will turn on the projector and "43 30 31 0D" will turn it off.
This document should also indicate your projector's serial port communication settings (baud rate, data length, parity, stop bit, and flow control). This information is important for your Windows computer to properly communicate with the projector's serial port, so write it down.
Connect your projector to your Windows computer
1. If your USB serial adapter came with a driver installation CD, install the driver. It is important to do this before connecting the adapter to your computer!
2. Connect the USB serial adapter cable to the computer's USB port.
3. Connect the DB9 serial cable to the USB serial adapter cable.
4. Connect the other end of the DB9 serial cable to your projector.
5. Make sure the projector has its power cable connected. It does not need to be turned on yet, but it does need to be in "standby" mode. Some projectors indicate standby with a flashing power light.
Finding the COM port of your USB serial adapter
When you connect the USB serial adapter to your computer, Windows will assign a COM port to it. This could be "COM1", but could vary depending on the existing ports on your computer. To find the port of your adapter, do the following:
1. From the Windows Start menu (press the [Windows] key on your keyboard), type "Device Manager" then press [Enter].
2. A list of devices appears.
3. Double-click the Ports section to open it.
4. In the list of ports, you should be able to identify your adapter by its name or brand. In my case, my adapter displays as "Tripp Lite USB to Serial port (COM3)". If your device shows-up as "Unknown" or something similar, try reinstalling the driver that came with your adapter.
5. In my case, my adapter is connected to COM3.
6. You're done!
Create hex files
You need to create special "hex files" that contain the hex commands to control your projector. However, these files cannot be created with a word processor nor Windows Notepad. They must be created with a Hex Editor program such as UltraEdit, Notepad++ (with the hex editor plugin), or similar.
1. Start your Hex Editor program.
2. Enter the hex codes that turn on your projector. For example, for a Boxlight projector, these codes are 43 30 30 0D
3. Save the hex file with the name on.bin
4. Create additional hex files with other projector commands, such as codes 43 30 31 0D into file off.bin which will turn the projector off.
Controlling the projector
Now it's time to see if everything works!
1. Open a command prompt.
2. The first step is to set the port settings so that the projector can understand the commands coming to it. Refer to the projector's serial port communication settings (baud rate, data length, parity, stop bit, and flow control) that your wrote-down in the earlier steps.
3. Enter this command: mode com3 baud=9600 parity=n data=8 stop=1 (change the COM port, baud, parity, data, and stop setting to match your projector)
4. Enter this command: copy /b on.bin com3
5. If all works well, your projector will turn on (wait a minute for the lamp to warm up).
If the projector is not responding...
1. Make sure the projector is connected to power.
2. Make sure the projector is in "standby" mode (not completely off).
3. The serial cable may need a "null modem adapter" added to it. This adapter reverses pins 2 & 3 for the receive & transmission lines; some projectors need this. Add the null modem adapter to the serial cable, then play the playlist again.
4. Your on.bin file was not created with a true hex editor. Remember, you cannot use Windows Notepad nor a word processor to create this file. Use UltraEdit or Notepad++ with the hex editor plugin installed to create this file.
Control the projector on a schedule
Your computer can turn on/off your projector on a schedule, such as several times a day, daily, weekly, etc. This is accomplished through Windows Task Scheduler program that comes with Windows.
1. Create a batch file that turns on your projector:
a. Start Notepad, then enter these commands:
mode com3 baud=9600 parity=n data=8 stop=1
copy /b on.bin com3
b. Save the batch file with the name: projector-on.bat
2. To test the batch file, enter "projector-on.bat" at the shell prompt. Your projector should turn on.
3. Configure Windows Task Scheduler so that it runs this script daily/weekly/etc. These webpages have helpful instructions for using Windows Task Scheduler:
https://www.thewindowsclub.com/how-to-schedule-batch-file-run-automatically-windows-7
http://www.get-itsolutions.com/create-windows-task-scheduler-and-schedule-to-run-bat-file
https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000785.htm
4. That's it!
