Author: Michael Minn (see michaelminn.com for contact info)

1. Control Program Computer
2. What Is Control Program

March 23, 2005

Xm radio free download. Tuniac Tuniac is an iTunes style media player/manager for Windows. Advanced playlist editor, search as you.

1. Introduction

MMXMPCR is a simple program for playing the XM PCR USB satellite radio receiver under Linux.The XM PCR is an inexpensive USB device that permits listening to XM satellite radio through a PC.The PC only provides the means for viewing and selecting channels. Audio output from the deviceis analog via a 1/8' phone jack that can be plugged into a computer sound card or a homestereo system.

1. The satcaster discontinued the PCR after a subscriber from Canada who’s also a computer programmer wrote software that allowed him to download XM songs from the PC-based XM software radio into MP3 files or WAV files on his computer and then sold copies of his program to other XM subscribers. The satcaster said the product was not authorized.
2. The polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, is a ubiquitous laboratory technique of molecular biology to amplify a target DNA sequence to millions of copies.Since PCR technology relies on repeated thermal cycling for target amplification, the equipment to automate the process, thermal cyclers, may play a critical role in the success of experiments.
3. MacXM is a program designed to allow a computer running Mac OS X to control an XM PCR. What is an XM PCR? An XM PCR is an XM radio that is powered and controlled by a host computer via a USB connection. XMPCRs are no longer being sold by XM (as of late summer, 2004).
4. The sensitivity of PCR techniques makes them vulnerable to contamination Repeated amplification of the same target sequence leads to accumulation of amplification products in the laboratory environment A typical PCR generates as many as 10. Copies of target sequence Aerosols from pipettes will contain as many as 10. Amplification products.

While digital audio output is not available from the device as purchased, if you're handy with a soldering iron, it can be modified for optical output. See myradiostore.comor XM411.com for more info. BecauseXM radio uses highly compressed audio (with nothing much above 15Khz) I'm notsure what you gain...but it's there if you want it.

The XM PCR is recoginized as a USB serial device by the ftdi_sio kernel module that is provided in most Linux distros and was built to support the FTDI RS-232 USB serial port convertor. The communications protocol has been partially deciphered and posted on theXM Fan Website. I also did some work using USB Snoopy under Windoze. Although the protocol seems relatively simple, there are some messages of unknown purposethat must be sent on faith. No attempt has been made to find a way of defeating the subscription protection that is built into the device. Since the future of XM Radio is tenuous and dependent on income from a subscription base, I would encourage you to support this fabulous resource rather than expending effort on trying to get it for free.

MMXMPCR can operate either from the command line or a graphical user interface. There are onlytwo command line options: 1) power up the unit and select a channel, or 2) select a channel on an already powered-up unit. The user GUI program is a simple MOTIF list box that displays what is currently playing on the various XM radio channels and permits the user to change channels.

MMXMPCR is provided to the open source community to promote further adoption of this device.There are other existing packages out there. MMXMPCR is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of version 2 the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation. It is provided to the open source community without a warranty of any kind.

Supposedly, DRM concerns (or perhaps pressure from manufacturers of more expensive receivers)let XM to discontinued sale of this device in late 2004, although existing units continue to work. Personally, the programming and sound quality of Siriusbetter and I made a move to Sirius in early 2005. As of this writing, both services are stilllosing money and merger talks are in the air. However, the variety of programming on both services is head and shoulders above what is available on traditional broadcast radio.

Control Program Computer

2. Version History & Download

Version 2004.02.28:Use 25 09 to get channel data rather than 25 08, which was returning unpredictable channel number data.Added command line options. Bug fix for segfault in XmListReplaceItemsPos() with negative position index.

Version 2004.01.11:Having problems selecting and displaying certain channels (namely 76 and 171). Changedchannel selection command from '10 01' to '10 02' and that fixed theselection problem. Did further exploration of the channel info response codes to figureout the display problem.

Version 2003.12.11:Add mouse wheel page scrolling.Filter out bogus channel info messages.Refreshes only visible channels so refresh is faster.Added shortcut keys - required significant modification of widget implementation.Fixed scrolling and selection display problems from premature 12.06 release.

Version 2003.07.08:Upgrade to use the ftdi_sio module - proprietary mmxmpcr module no longer needed;Cleared up junk display due to overlapping channel info request messages.

Version 2003.06.14:Initial release that compiles under Red Hat 8.0

3. Installation

What Is Control Program

MMXMPCR consists of a single C++ source file that compiles into a single executable file (mmxmpcr).Download a tarball from the version list above and AS SUPERUSER decompress the tarball and make install:

You MUST have a copy of a MOTIF clone (OpenMotif or LessTif) to compile and execute MMXMPCR.Note...you need the development version of the package with the headerfiles, not just the executable libraries. These packages are available with allmajor distributions, although they may not be installed by default. Because there is no autoconf script, the error messages you get without the libraries will be cryptic.

4. Uninstall

MMXMPCR can be uninstalled by typing 'make uninstall' in thesource code directory you created above. You can also go into /usr/local/binand manually delete the mmxmpcr executable.

5. Operation

It is recommended that you go through the setup and subscription processfor the XM PCR under Windoze before attempting to use it under Linux. The signal strengthmeter is important for troubleshooting setup and no meter is provided with MMXMPCR.

There are three options for starting from the command line:

• 'mmxmpcr -p n' powers up the unit and selects a channel. No graphical interface starts.
• 'mmxmpcr -c n' selects a channel on an already powered up unit. The unit must alreadyhave gone through the initialization protocol. No graphical interface starts.
• 'mmxmpcr' with no command line options powers up the unit andstarts the MOTIF graphical interface.

The initialization protocol takes a few seconds and if the GUI is chosen, a list of channels should pop up. The list refreshes sequentially and not very quickly. You can select a channel by clicking on the appropriate list entry. Nothing will play until you select a channel.

Channels are organized in groups of 10, which works out nicely for a single page of display. You will notice large gaps in the list reserved for unused channels. Selecting an unused channel will give unpredictable behavior - usually nothing happens.

The MMXMPCR program can be terminated by clicking the close icon in the title bar.The XM PCR will continue playing the last selected channel if the MMXMPCR program is terminated.Sound can be stopped by by unplugging the device, powering down the computer, orrestarting MMXMPCR (which resets the device).

MMXMPCR can also be operated with the following shortcut keys:

Fast, simple, effective. No pretty graphics, but this is about sounds, not pictures.

6. Protocol

Courtesy of Bushing and Dobbz via the XM Fan XMPCR Hardware & Development Message Board. Some additional 'discoveries'of mine follow their comments...

There is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never care for anything else thereafter.(Ernest Hemingway)