usbuirt send pre code?

[bebanovich]

I know that I can send a channel-change confirmation code using usbuirt, but I'm wondering if I can send a code BEFORE the channel change.

I will give a little background in case anyone else runs across this annoying problem . . . I'm setting up Sage for my sister who has a Dish Network 322. This STB, as some of you know, has the annoying habit of going into screen saver mode after it updates its program guide and any time it doesn't receive user input for 3 hours. Once in screen saver mode, it can only be brought out using the select/enter button. Channel changes sent by usbuirt are ignored while the stb is in this mode. There are many angry tales in other newsgroups of people who have several hours of the Dish Network logo recorded on their pvr's.

Most people work around this problem by using the stb's built-in vcr mode to trick it into thinking it's busy. This is not a workable option in this case. I'm wondering if I can use usbuirt support in sage to send a "select" command to bring the stb out of logo mode before sending the channel change. I don't mind editing the ir file directly if that's what is needed. Sorry for the lengthy post, but I'm hoping that a successful thread might help others with this evil Dish Network box.

[insomniac]

this just answered your pm question... So, does any key command wake it up? If so, you may want to try jumping up your ir repeat count to 10 or so. Im not sure, but I get the impression that the repeat count dictates how long the code is transmitted before moving to the next one. Maybe if you set it long enough, it will wake up and grab the command still?

not a fix, just a thought...

I.

[bebanovich]

Thanks for the suggestion, Insomniac, but on my sister's dish box, only a "select" command will wake it from logo/screen-saver mode.

My workaround for the annoying dish logo mode on the 322 box (and some others) was to use Girder with the TimeServer plugin to send the "select" command right after the dish software upgrade at 4am and then every 2 1/2 hours. It briefly brings up the dish info menu in the middle of recordings and I resent having to use a third-party app to resolve this issue, but this (for my purposes) is the least offensive workaround I have found.

It would be even cleaner to be able to send the "select" command directly using Sage and USBUIRT before each channel-change but I haven't found a way to do this.

A pox on you Dish Network!

[ToxMox]

Found this info at the following thread and supposedly works perfectly:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb.../t-151371.html

I talked to the tech guys at Dish tonight and they said while they can't officially suggest it, if you set a daily manual timer from say 3am to 11:59pm the Dish will never go into standby mode as long as a timer is "on". He also said that no activity in 3-6 hours of time will cause the receiver to go in to the "press select to continue" mode. Seems like having a 20 hour fake recording will keep the receiver awake, then Tivo can do its thing. They also said that even if a timer is going, you can still change channels, and therefore Tivo should still be able to change channels. Plus, setting a timer will "wake" the receiver up when it comes on. I'm trying it tonight...bummed that I missed tonights episode of Alias!!!!

[bebanovich]

Originally Posted by ToxMox

Found this info at the following thread and supposedly works perfectly:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb.../t-151371.html

Thanks for the reply ToxMox. I did try this workaround briefly but any automated VCR recording will result in the box changing channels at the beginning of the cycle. Occasionally, my sister was either going to lose recordings (or parts of recordings) or have to manually shift the schedule to avoid conflicts. For example, a movie recording from 2am - 4am would be lost if the satellite box changed channels at 3am.

I probably lose more recordings to acts of god, but I don't like the idea of losing to the Dish Network's attempts to circumvent Tivo, Sage, et. al.

[ToxMox]

I don't have an answer for sending the code before each channel change but how about this:
http://70.85.58.122/showthread.php?t=10309

[ToxMox]

Never mind. Supposedly after 2 days an error starts to appear.