The fist question is of course:

How am I going to interface with Bose Lifestyle Home Theater?

As you probably know Bose uses RF remote controls which are bidirectional (they send and receive data). This universal remote can takeover all other remotes therefore the Bose console itself is also capable to send IR signal. I was not sure what path should be the best therefore I’ve asked the question directly on Bose’s web site. After a while I’ve received the answer from customer support:

It’s possible to control your Bose V35 system via the serialdata input at the back of the console, with for instance Crestron equipment.

Of course I don’t want to use Cresteron but OpenRemote instead. I’ve asked them for the protocol explaining what I wanted to do. Unfortunately, the protocol is confidential and I had to sign a Non Disclosure Agreement before they were able send it to me. Nevertheless, I have it now and will be adding it to OpenRemote.

Before this I needed to physically interface with this serialdata input. I’ve searched internet for correct cable and oddly enough I was unable to find correct one for my config (eBox with USB)! So let’s go to China and indeed I was able to order a custom cable directly from manufacturer. The price was better than any partial solution available, including soldering it myself, but the catch was that I had to order at least a lot of minimum 10 pieces. This even not knowing for sure that it will work without problems :-0. Anyway, I’ve took the risk and here they are. I’ve plugged it between eBox and Bose V35, launched terminal and… it works!! 🙂 🙂 Now the real development and integration can start.

The only problem is that I have 9 more spare cables. I can imagine that there will be more people within OpenRemote community trying to control Bose equipment with the serialdata interface therefore I’m offering spare cables for sale. One can buy it from my online shop which is located here.