Programming Homelink - darn thing doesn't work!

[IIIBradIII]

I ordered the Homelink overhead console from Partznet and have been trying to program this thing for 2 hours. :bash:

I have an Overhead Door brand door opener with Codedodger so I believe this has the "rolling code" feature that the manual talks about. The manual for the opener also states that it is Homelink compatible.

I followed the owner's manual by the letter several times to no avail. It says to press the opener's Learn button and then within 30 seconds press the Homelink button you wish to program twice. I tried that a few times, nothing. I reset the Homelink device (hold outer two buttons for 20 sec) and tried again, still nothing.

So I pull out the opener's manual and it says pretty much the same thing, except gives some more detail as to what the opener should be doing while I'm pressing Homelink buttons. There is a light on the opener that starts flashing when you press its Learn button, and once you press the Homelink's button the first time, that light is supposed to go solid, then go off once you press the Homelink button the second time. Well it never even goes solid at all.

I completely reset the opener and erased all my remotes and wireless keypads and reprogrammed them all. They worked just fine and programmed exactly as they should have the first time. Still the Homelink in my truck doesn't work though!

Has this happened to anyone else? Or am I missing something here? I'd appreciate any help you guys can provide. The remotes that came with the openers don't even clip on the visors right so they rattle around in the console - it's time to get rid of them!

 

[centex]

It seems to be a PIA to program regardless of the car with
rolling codes. I've followed the door intructions and the
vehicles. Both GM and Toyota. Than it just starts
working. What I think I did was program as if it
werent rolling code than something caught it

 

[tkr128]

The first thing you have to do is program your homelink using your garage door opener. Just hold the button on the remote and the button on the homelink until you get the solid light on the homelink. This is the first step. The second step requires you to use the "Learn" button on your garage door opener and hold down the homelink button again until your garage door opener picks up the homelink (the light on the garage opener blinks a couple of times).

 

[centex]

That is what I never got the solid light or the garage light to blink It just started to work. Some door openers may
work better than others

 

[IIIBradIII]

The first thing you have to do is program your homelink using your garage door opener. Just hold the button on the remote and the button on the homelink until you get the solid light on the homelink. This is the first step. The second step requires you to use the "Learn" button on your garage door opener and hold down the homelink button again until your garage door opener picks up the homelink (the light on the garage opener blinks a couple of times).

Ah, I was under the impression I should skip the section with the remotes since I had rolling-code. I actually did that section anyway since I couldn't get the other to work, but I probably did them out of order. I'll try now now - thanks for the tip!

 

[IIIBradIII]

Well that was easy. :bash:

I had done those initial steps with the remote before but it never worked - I assumed it didn't work because I had rolling code so I just kept going through the next steps. The true reason it didn't work though was because I wasn't holding the remote close enough to the Homelink unit. Once I got the remote steps to work, the rolling part worked the first time. Thanks again! :bigok:

 

[MicaBlue03]

Holding the remotes close

The Homelink module has a receiver in addition to a transmitter, but it's deliberately made with very low sensitivity (short range) so it won't be confused by signals from other remotes when it's in its learning mode.

And perhaps to make things even more explicit than they have already been (in one post) in this thread: The difference between programming the old style openers/remotes and the newer (rolling-code) is that the rolling code systems require you to first program the Homelink module to duplicate the function (frequency & fixed part of the control code) of the remote. Then they require you to place your opener in a learning mode where it learns to recognize the newly-programmed Homelink module. "Rolling code" actually refers to a pseudorandom (a value that appears random but is actually deterministic from previous values) sequence that the opener's receiver can recognize. The sequence means that part of the opening code is different each time, and this frustrates evil attempts to open your door by grabbing a code you used once or by trying codes randomly (because the number of possible codes is so large.

Sorry to go on for so long, but perhaps somebody is curious about the details. Something quite similar is used by our key fobs to unlock the doors and deactivate the alarm.