HomeUX Driver Collection
Using AquosDriver

This page documents how to use AquosDriver (in AquosDriver.dll), the HomeUX-compatible driver that controls a Sharp Aquos LC-52D65U, LC-42D65U, or LC-46D65U LCD TV connected via a serial port. AquosSimulator (in AquosSimulator.dll) is also documented here.

Page contents:

Hardware & Driver Overview

A Sharp Aquos LC-52D65U, LC-42D65U, or LC-46D65U TV—abbreviated "Aquos" in this documentation—is a TV with multiple HDMI inputs.

AquosDriver allows a HomeUX installation to control a subset of the functionality of an Aquos TV:

Configuring AquosDriver

AquosDriver is configured in the HomeUX configuration file. Here's the general structure (simplified):

XML
<configuration>
<HomeUXSettings>
</Device>
</HomeUXSettings>
</configuration>

"*" means "zero or more allowed". Children of <Device Driver="AquosDriver.dll"> can appear in any order.

Example:

XML
<configuration>
  ...
  <HomeUXSettings>
    ...

    <Device Name="Aquos" Driver="AquosDriver.dll"
          sim:SerialPort="AquosSimulator.dll;;Test=0"
          real:SerialPort="COM5,9600,8,n,1">

      <Input Name="TiVo"    InputId="2" />
      <Input Name="PC"      InputId="4" />
      <Input Name="Xbox"    InputId="6" />

    </Device>

  ...
  </HomeUXSettings>
</configuration>
	

The following subsections describe the AquosDriver configuration file XML elements.

<Device Driver="AquosDriver.dll">

(Required, used within <HomeUXSettings>.) Specifies an instance of AquosDriver, which is used to control an Aquos TV.

Syntax
XML
<Device
Name="..."
Driver="AquosDriver.dll"
SerialPort="...">
</Device>

"*" means "zero or more allowed".

Attributes

Name

(String, required.) The name you assign to the device.

Driver

(String, required.) Must be "AquosDriver.dll".

SerialPort

(String, required.) A standard HomeUX serial port specification. Identifies the serial port (real or virtual) that the hardware is connected to. When connected to a real serial port, the parameters should be "port-name,9600,8,n,1" in order to correctly operate an Aquos unit.

<Input>

(Zero or more, used within <Device Driver="AquosDriver.dll">.) Specifies one input on the Aquos TV.

Syntax
XML
<Input
Name="..."
InputId="..."
/>
Attributes

Name

(String, required.) The name you assign to the input. This typically describes the equipment connected to the input.

InputId

(Integer, required.) The input number on the TV.

Using AquosDriver

AquosDriver implements the following SyncPath schema:

AquosSimulator

AquosSimulator is a HomeUX-compatible virtual serial port implementation that simulates a subset of the serial communication behavior Aquos hardware. AquosSimulator performs no real-world actions—the simulation is purely for the purposes of testing a HomeUX installation without having to connect to real hardware.

To use AquosSimulator in HomeUX, set the SerialPort attribute of the <Device Driver="AquosDriver.dll"> configuration element to a string with the following format:

AquosSimulator.dll;;Test=test-number

Parameters:

You can test AquosSimulator independently of HomeUX, using the VSerial console application:

VSerial.exe -cr -dll AquosSimulator.dll;;Test=test-number

AquosSimulator implements a limited simulation—only the following hardware commands are currently supported. (See Aquos hardware documentation for information about hardware commands and notifications.)

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