Control A1II - control S question

I am having problems controlling the volume of my sony db930 Amp. Connected to the A1II port (via a sony CDP-CX300). I've tried various cde files (ampsls de935 de825......

I can control the CD player, I can set the input selector to any desired input. I can mute the sound, but I can not adjust the volume using Control A1II (I can control the volume with the IR port tho).

I thought this might be a limitation of Control A1II and bought a 2P 1/8 mono cord to connect between sl1 and the amps monitor control-s IN. This just results in the slinke activity go turn almost completely orange (100% busy). I tried pulling the plugs partway out with the same results. I changed the 2P to the TV/SAT control-s input with the same results.

I would rather not use IR to do the volume if I can help it -- any suggestions???