Independent IR program?

[IanJohnson]

My provider is U-verse, whose STBs go into sleep mode if there haven't been any key presses in 8 hours. They only wake up with the OK button, so attempted channel changes by a HTPC do nothing if the STB is sleeping. The only solution so far is a manual recording for all tuners at the same time every 6-7 hours for about a minute or so.

Is there a program that can send a keypress like OK to the tuners every few hours that is independent of Sage, or a way to get Sage to change channels on a schedule without actually recording?

Ian

[CollinR]

EventGhost is your friend.

[Brent]

girder can do this also, but not free like eventghost. I'm thinking Stephane's LMRemote can do it also

[StephaneM]

Originally Posted by IanJohnson

Is there a program that can send a keypress like OK to the tuners every few hours that is independent of Sage, or a way to get Sage to change channels on a schedule without actually recording?

Can you instead send a "Ok" before the channel number? This way the "Ok" will resume the set top box (or does this "Ok" would mess things up when the set top box is not sleeping?)

Anyway you can check out my software (see signature), it works with the USB-UIRT / MCE Blaster and features a SageTV tuning plugin (so you'll have to switch from native SageTV blaster use to it). You'll be able to either add a "Ok" + pause before channel change, or create a script to be scheduled every x hours to send a "Ok" to the set top box.

Regards,
Stéphane.

[IanJohnson]

I'll give that a try. Does it work independent of a PVR? Can I run it on my MCE machine without creating problems with the remote? I am actually still running MCE in the living room while I see if I can configure Sage into a suitable replacement.


Ian

[StephaneM]

Originally Posted by IanJohnson

I'll give that a try. Does it work independent of a PVR?

Yes, it's a standalone application.

Can I run it on my MCE machine without creating problems with the remote? I am actually still running MCE in the living room while I see if I can configure Sage into a suitable replacement.

Yes. You have two choices though:

* either choose "MCE Remote" when asked what remote you own. In this case you'll be able to use LM RKM to customize your MCE remote when not used in MCE (it will change a little the way the MCE remote work)

* or choose "Streamzap Remote": this way it will not do anything to the MCE remote.

However, it may be possible that MCE is actually locking the IR blaster, so it may not be possible to do what you want within MCE (that is running a script to blast "OK" every X hours, while the MCE recorder service is running)

Regards,
Stéphane.

[IanJohnson]

So using LM Remote, how would I begin to do this? How would I learn the code for the OK button on the Uverse remote, and then set up the ability to blast that command on a schedule?


Ian

[StephaneM]

Originally Posted by IanJohnson

So using LM Remote, how would I begin to do this? How would I learn the code for the OK button on the Uverse remote, and then set up the ability to blast that command on a schedule?

You first need to learn your original remote buttons, as shown here http://www.lmgestion.net/@en-us/4/22/60/79/article.asp

Then you'll have to create a little script to blast OK as shown here http://www.lmgestion.net/@en-us/4/22/60/100/article.asp

Once this vbs script is created, you can schedule it using the Windows Task Scheduler.

Regards,
Stéphane.

[shadeblue.com]

Originally Posted by IanJohnson

My provider is U-verse, whose STBs go into sleep mode if there haven't been any key presses in 8 hours. They only wake up with the OK button, so attempted channel changes by a HTPC do nothing if the STB is sleeping. The only solution so far is a manual recording for all tuners at the same time every 6-7 hours for about a minute or so.

Is there a program that can send a keypress like OK to the tuners every few hours that is independent of Sage, or a way to get Sage to change channels on a schedule without actually recording?

Ian

I have this same problem with Uverse Motorola VIP1200 STBs and I am currently working on a standalone program that will send an 'OK' IR command on a schedule via a USBUIRT. Of course my solution will require the USBUIRT hardware. In preliminary tests, I can execute programmatic control to the USBUIRT even when it is configured for use in SageTV.

[shadeblue.com]

Originally Posted by StephaneM

Can you instead send a "Ok" before the channel number? This way the "Ok" will resume the set top box (or does this "Ok" would mess things up when the set top box is not sleeping?)

In basic testing using the hand held remote, I think this would work fine if you could add enough of a delay after the 'OK' command before the channel digits. For me, I am trying to achieve fast channel changes, so I would not want to create a delay of several seconds for each channel change.

[StephaneM]

Originally Posted by shadeblue.com

this would work fine if you could add enough of a delay after the 'OK' command before the channel digits. For me, I am trying to achieve fast channel changes, so I would not want to create a delay of several seconds for each channel change.

Fair enough.

If you create an utility for the USB-UIRT, be careful that both your utility and SageTV (the SageTV process that controls the USB-UIRT) runs in the same user context otherwise it will not work.

If you don't want to bother writing your own utility the previous script method I introduced will work as well with a USB-UIRT and my software.

Regards,
Stéphane.

[shadeblue.com]

Originally Posted by StephaneM

Fair enough.

If you create an utility for the USB-UIRT, be careful that both your utility and SageTV (the SageTV process that controls the USB-UIRT) runs in the same user context otherwise it will not work.

If you don't want to bother writing your own utility the previous script method I introduced will work as well with a USB-UIRT and my software.

Regards,
Stéphane.

Hi Stéphane,

You software really looks nice and powerful! Thank you for your suggestion! I think in my case I am just looking to provide a simple no-brainer little utility that other potential Uverse users can install to solve this problem without any effort or manual configuration steps. It will certainly not be intended to provide the customization and powerful options that your solution offers :-)

BTW . You mentioned that my program would need to run in the same user context to work. I'm not sure I understand, do you mean run in the same process, like launching my application from within SageTV or just running both SageTV and my program under the same user account? I have a prototype running now that is running as a separate console application independent from SageTV and it seems to be working. The Sage service is running under the Local System account and my application is running under the logged on user account. So far no problems that I have seen.

Thank you for your assistance.

[StephaneM]

Originally Posted by shadeblue.com

just running both SageTV and my program under the same user account?

Correct.

I have a prototype running now that is running as a separate console application independent from SageTV and it seems to be working. The Sage service is running under the Local System account and my application is running under the logged on user account. So far no problems that I have seen.

I guess it's a security context issue. Your logged on account must have access but it will not always be the case.

[shadeblue.com]

Originally Posted by StephaneM

Correct.
I guess it's a security context issue. Your logged on account must have access but it will not always be the case.

Again, thank you! You are probably right, my logged on user is an Administrator on the local computer, so probably not a permissions issue for that account. But when I deploy my little utility as an NT service, I may start seeing these type of issues.

[IanJohnson]

If I get a second MCE remote w/receiver, can Sage be made to work with both of them, controlling the correct STBs through all 4 blasters? Or 3 channels on a USB-IRT + 2 from the MCE unit?


Ian

[StephaneM]

Originally Posted by IanJohnson

If I get a second MCE remote w/receiver, can Sage be made to work with both of them, controlling the correct STBs through all 4 blasters?

Yes

[Denali]

New poster here but lurker for a long time. I use the Change Channel Prefix Code in Remote control Options for USB-UIRT to solve a similar problem with Dish VIP222 that needs to turn off each day to update it's guide. I have it set to SELECT or OK and it works flawlessly.

[shadeblue.com]

Hi Denali,

I had first tried that option, but it seems that my Uverse STBs sometimes takes between 5-10 seconds to wake up and accept any channel change IR pulses. So for me, I did not want to add any significant wait time for normal channel changes.

I am testing my new scheduled (USB-UIRT) STB Keep Alive program and so far it has been working like a champ now for about 24 hours. It simply runs as a standalone application and wakes up on a scheduled basis and fires a command via the USB-UIRT. So far, no more sleeping STBs.

Thanks,
shadeBlue

[shadeblue.com]

Originally Posted by IanJohnson

If I get a second MCE remote w/receiver, can Sage be made to work with both of them, controlling the correct STBs through all 4 blasters? Or 3 channels on a USB-IRT + 2 from the MCE unit?


Ian

Hi Ian,

If you end up going with the USB-UIRT device, I just posted a wiring diagram on how to wire up multiple IR emitters to the 1/8" stereo jack on the USB-UIRT to obtain isolated zone control for each emitter.
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...&postcount=105

Also this post will help you configure the IR files for multiple zone control in SageTV. I just went through this process and it is all working great for me!
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...16&postcount=9

[shadeblue.com]

Ian,

I have posted the utility I created here on the SageTV forums. It is preconfigured to work with the AT&T Uverse Motorola VIP1200 series STBs. All you have to have is the USB-UIRT controlling your STB and install this program. It sends the "OK" IR command every 3 hours. I have been testing it here for about four days and have not had either of my 2 Uverse STB go into standby mode.

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/down...do=file&id=246

Cheers!
shadeBlue