Using MCE's IR blaster with Sage

[Jynxed]

I got this working in a descent amount of time. I did have to un-install Sage to get this working.

Makes the MCE remote a great value.

[kaudley]

Only thing I had to do was manually add the registry entry of exetuner plugin and I was good to go. Works like a charm.

[IncredibleHat]

Looks like I am calling up a dish provider today. I'm sick of the cruddy analog cable that is now wanting to charge $30 more a month for no improvement in service/quality/channels etc.

Thing is, this whole thread is about setting up ONE box with MCE Remote and Hip for use with SageTV. There was a mention about the multituner and a link to the thread... but all they talk about is using Girder, and having issues with the service, and general brokeness. I dont want general brokeness! HEHE *cough*. Not to mention the thread talks about Sage version TWO?!?!

So, this thread here needs to be updated with proper information on how to get "MCE's Dual IR Blasters Working with SageTV using HIP to two STBs".

Does anyone have that information? A link to where? Something?

So, uhm... hmm. From what I've read, getting this to work is not possible. Unless someone can proove me wrong by saying how they got it working.

My Goal:

Setup TWO Satellite Boxes to work with SageTV through an MCE Remote Unit with HIP (I dislike girder, so that is not an option). And still allow SageTV to run as service, as well as control manually with the Client.

I already have two pvr150s for input. Getting SageTV to change the channel on the right box of the pvr150 it is recording on, is the biggest hurdle.

PS: The complete lack of any sort of readme with these addon files is a bit appalling hehehe. Someone goes through the trouble of making plugins and external applications, yet when they post the download archive of them, they dont even inclue a simple readme on how to USE the thing?! GEEZ.

[gplasky]

Looks like you might find that info here:

Hip, Sage and MCE


Gerry

[IncredibleHat]

Hehehe. I actually posted in that thread with the most pertinent solution that could be done by the HIP guy. A simple little adjustment to the application of "HIPWSend.exe" to accept and understand what the EXEMultiTunerPlugin for sage sends it (device and channel).

I am awaiting btmi's response on the idea, to see if its feasible. If I knew more about dlls and programming on the windows platform, I may offer trial attempts... however I don't know enough about the libraries of windows, nor understand the internal workings of HIP and what exactly it 'responds too'.

[matrix35]

for those interested, I've got something working with MCE blasters using the stock drivers that come with windows. you don't need to play around with HIP anymore. it is really not that well documented but using it is straight forward:

1.unzip the attached file.
2.launch "Blaster.exe" it is the learn program. program in your remote's keys
3.follow the example used in the batch file to configure ExeTuner

if you need more info let me know.

[IncredibleHat]

Unfortunately for me (and possibly others who use MCE remotes), HIP IS still needed to accept the remote control actions and to tell sage what to do (and zoomplayer, and other applications) when I press certain buttons.

HIP has a driver for MCE to do this. Replacing that will surely break HIP, and then no longer make the remote control work as a remote control.

Unless I'm missing something you didn't mention ?

[gplasky]

If you leave the native driver in place for MCE the remote works in Sage with all the buttons. But what you CAN'T do is relearn some of the buttons on the remote for other commands. So his solution allows you to keep the MCE stuff all in place and also be able to blast. As far as I know this is the ONLY solution available to use the receivers blaster ability with an app other that MCE. This is a truly remarkable accomplishment.

And for apps other than Sage you would need a HIP or a Girder to control them.

Some people only use Sage and don't want to relarn any buttons on the MCE so this would give them blasting capabilities they currently don't have.

Gerry

[matrix35]

Originally Posted by gplasky

This is a truly remarkable accomplishment.

well I can't take all the credits for this. This is actually based on a plugin written for mediaportal for MCE blasters... I believe it was called myBlaster or something... it's been a while. I've just rewritten it so it'll be a standalone app and fixed a few things here and there. it currently doesn't work with MultiTuner just exetuner. but that can be fixed if there's a request for it... i'll have to digg for my source code though...

[leahhallett]

I've been doing the steps outlined by Steerpike and I get all the way to step 3.10 when it gives me the error message:

"An error or timeout has occured. Do you wish to try again?"

I say "Yes" to try again and it's an endless loop of the same error message.

Step 3.10 is when your in HIP, configure, preferences, IR Output tab and click on 'Edit IR Codes' you 'Add Remote' then click on 'Add IR' then 'Learn IR directly from a Remote Control'

When I press a key on the remote while it's 1cm away from the blaster box I get the above error message - "An error or timeout has occured"

I can't get any further because of this. I'm about to give up.

[phelme]

OK, I'm using one of my clients as a network encoder to blast my RCA DTC-100 via HIP (with an MCE blaster/receiver). This all works great. thanks steerpike for doing the walkthrough! my biggest stumbling block was figuring out how to send an ENTER command after the digits were sent because the DTC-100 won't auto-tune via padded digits alone.

now my problem is since I've installed HIP, the SageTV Client isn't getting all the MCE remote codes anymore. For instance, the arrow keys still work, but the channel keys don't. i'm sure the problem is in what driver I'm using. how do I fix this without breaking the network encoder functionality?

thanks in advance!

[bodhana]

Originally Posted by leahhallett

I've been doing the steps outlined by Steerpike and I get all the way to step 3.10 when it gives me the error message:

"An error or timeout has occured. Do you wish to try again?"

I say "Yes" to try again and it's an endless loop of the same error message.

Step 3.10 is when your in HIP, configure, preferences, IR Output tab and click on 'Edit IR Codes' you 'Add Remote' then click on 'Add IR' then 'Learn IR directly from a Remote Control'

When I press a key on the remote while it's 1cm away from the blaster box I get the above error message - "An error or timeout has occured"

I can't get any further because of this. I'm about to give up.

I have run into the same issue, running HIP on a Vista machine. I am wondering if it is a Vista issue, as HIP is not officially compatible with Vista. Leah, did you resolve the problem?

[opy01]

Originally Posted by leahhallett

I've been doing the steps outlined by Steerpike and I get all the way to step 3.10 when it gives me the error message:

"An error or timeout has occured. Do you wish to try again?"

I say "Yes" to try again and it's an endless loop of the same error message.

Step 3.10 is when your in HIP, configure, preferences, IR Output tab and click on 'Edit IR Codes' you 'Add Remote' then click on 'Add IR' then 'Learn IR directly from a Remote Control'

When I press a key on the remote while it's 1cm away from the blaster box I get the above error message - "An error or timeout has occured"

I can't get any further because of this. I'm about to give up.

I know this is an older thread but if anyone else is having this problem see this link http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25604 for replacement drivers for the MCE USB IR. I got mine to accept commands and send to the STB but I am now having problems getting HIPWSend to send to HIP. After messing with Blaster.exe all day I gave up on the "easy" way and decided to just use HIP. Now if I can just fiugre out how to use the stinking program . If anyone has any sugestions on things to try for HIPWSend to work pleae let me know.

[jblaty]

Sage Support:

If you're reading this, please note that it's a pretty weak marketing idea to support the MCE Remote Control, yet NOT support the MCE IR Blaster. After all, you buy the two of them as a package deal. This is supported natively in MS MCE 2005 and Vista. Why would I switch to Sage when my hardware is unsupported?

I would sincerely like to suggest that SageTV support all functionality of the MCE remote AND the MCE IR blaster, natively.

HIP is not working for me, and I've run out of options.

[opy01]

I got HIP fully working at 3 am! Are you running Vista or MCE 2005? You should check out this post in the HIP forums http://forums.dvbowners.com/index.ph...ndpost&p=45258 it helped me get HIPWSend working. I also installed the alternate drivers for the MCE IR which make MCE stop opening when I hit any of the buttons on the MCE remote since I cant for the life of me get rid of the ehtray and ehstart service. I am now working on customizing all the cool buttons on the MCE remote. I would also like to add that this blaster is 100% bettor than the Hauppauge blaster even though ony ir2 on it works for now.

[jblaty]

Originally Posted by opy01

I got HIP fully working at 3 am! Are you running Vista or MCE 2005? You should check out this post in the HIP forums http://forums.dvbowners.com/index.ph...ndpost&p=45258 it helped me get HIPWSend working. I also installed the alternate drivers for the MCE IR which make MCE stop opening when I hit any of the buttons on the MCE remote since I cant for the life of me get rid of the ehtray and ehstart service. I am now working on customizing all the cool buttons on the MCE remote. I would also like to add that this blaster is 100% bettor than the Hauppauge blaster even though ony ir2 on it works for now.

I'm running XP MCE 2005. I've disabled all of the MCE services.

I've also followed all of the instructions with HIP installation. HIP is learning the remote control commands. When I try and test send the IR commands in HIP, they aren't sending from the IR blaster. Normally, when commands are sent via the IR blaster cable, a red LED lights indicating some IR data is being sent to the cable box. Nothing is happening, so HIP is not working properly.

[opy01]

Which IR port are you plugged into? I found out port 1 does not work on mine but I made sure to have the blaster send on both ports. Also right before you test it unplug the usb cable then plug it back in and as soon as you hear the usb connect sound try testing again.

[Fastrack]

Hi,

I have/had HIP fully configured and my pc died (I backed up Sage etc... but never had a chance to do a Ghost of the OS drive. duh). I spent a good amount of time on this EXACT same issue before my PC crashed, and I can't get it working this time.

Anyway.

The problem I have:
1) Press OK on the remote once (or any other key). IE pressing OK on a show in the guide to watch it, IR blaster blinks with the codes to the change the channel but nothing happens. I know these codes are right as they worked before.
2) If I use the keyboard and not the MCE remote with HIP. The channel changes.

The bottom line is if HIP receives something via the receiver it seems to lock the device for 2-3 seconds, if I wait and double click a shortcut with the same HIPwsend command in it, it works.

Before the crash I downloaded the "alternate mceir.dll" from by remote's site, but this does not seem to fix it this time.

I have the following system config:
P4 3GHz (asus p4b)
Nvidia 7600GS
Hauppauge PVR250,HVR1600,USBII
HDHomeRun

I checked for conflicts and the VIa RAID controller and the USB controller are sharing the same IRQs.

Any ideas?

[nicknack02]

Please help. I have completed all of the instructions and have had great success. The only problem I can not overcome hasn't been asked in any other threads.

I can get hipwsend to pass the data from sage to hip no problem and i see the desired channel be selected on my satellite decoder. the problem is, my box requires that the button "enter" be pressed after the channel is entered. how do i get either hip or hipwsend to transmit an "enter" signal to my decoder?

[StephaneM]

Originally Posted by nicknack02

how do i get either hip or hipwsend to transmit an "enter" signal to my decoder?

I don't know how to do it in HIP, but you can try my software (see signature) with the default MCE Remote drivers (XP or Vista). You'll be able to learn your set top box remote with the MCE remote blaster and test that channel changing is working as it should before configuring SageTV.

Here is a basic how to (you can find detailed instructions on my web site):

* Create an IR device in my Software
* Learn the 0, 1, 2 etc.. buttons of your original remote
* Learn the "Enter" button also
* In the "send these commands after..." field, type the name of the "Enter" button as you learned it.
* Set up delays as it seems right for your set top box

Then test a channel change by typing the channel number in the "Channel number" field and clicking the "Test Channel Change" button.

Note: if you also use the MCE Remote for controlling sage, you'll certainly need to insert a pause before the channel change. For this type #500 (for a 500 milliseconds pause) in the "Send these commands before..."

Once you have verified that changing channel works. You'll have to copy my SageTV plugin into the SageTV directory and configure your video sources to use this plugin (this is all explained on my web sites).

Oh and this should work if you use the SageTV service.

Regards,
Stéphane.