DTV USB/Serial Control

[TechBill]

Originally Posted by mickdaly

I discovered the problem.

First one of my DTV receivers had 'lost' the HD versions of most of my local channels, so Sagetv was unable to change to those channels.

Then, after resetting that receiver, while talking with DTV tech support I discovered that both receivers were only showing the SD channels, even though I had selected "Hide SD Channels".

In fact, both receivers were hiding the HD channels - the opposite of the setting I chose!

I haven't finished troubleshooting that problem, but it's not a sage or EXEMultiTunerPlugin problem. I'm thankful for that!

Mick
HP Mediasmart EX-470 server with 4.5tb storage, running Sagetv; 2 Hauppauge HD-PVRs; 2 Directv Receivers (H20 and H21 channel changing by usb/serial/usb cables); 4 Sagetv HD-200s; Pioneer KRP-500M Kuro plasma; Pioneer Elite SC-07 receiver; Panasonic TH-50PH9UK plasma; Sharp Aquos LC-C4067U LCD.

Hrmmmm

We have HD recievers but the ones that are connected to SageTV only set with SD networks which are showing and recording SD channels.

Since I have not invested in HDPVR yet so I record only SD channels which I just set the Direct TV box with SD dish only and scan from SD dish only, because when SD shows are shown on HD channels it add black borders around it by the network station which make the show look even smaller on a SD recording if you know what I mean.

If we have both SD and HD network on reciever then Sagetv keep stubbornly tune into HD channels instead of the SD channels so we had to remove the HD dish lineup from DirectTV box to prevent this.

On our other TV we do have all HDTV channel enable and boxes using HD dishes since it not connect to SageTV and directly to our HDTV set.

But we have set up like this for over a year with no problem in tuning to the channels until several months ago.


Bill

[Evil_Attorney]

I broke down and purchased cables from Fry's. Had some trouble getting things working initially, but rebooted both of my receivers while connected to the receiver's usb port and was able to get everything work.

The one problem I am still having is that Sage isn't tuning channels in the 900 channels. Anyone have this problem? Any suggestions on fixing it?

[IVB]

Are folks having success with their H21-100? I have 2 different Paterson tech cables, and can't get either of them to work with it.

It's not that it was working and now it isn't, it's that it never worked. The same cables and COM port worked fine with my prior, low-def DirecTV receiver.

[TechBill]

Originally Posted by IVB

Are folks having success with their H21-100? I have 2 different Paterson tech cables, and can't get either of them to work with it.

It's not that it was working and now it isn't, it's that it never worked. The same cables and COM port worked fine with my prior, low-def DirecTV receiver.

Did you set it in Normal mode and disable USB reset?


Bill

[Polypro]

+1 Make sure you have the latest firmware on the Paterson by checking with TVTranslator.exe. Make sure -600 is not set, and make sure to uncheck USB Reset. I'd also make sure the Prolific Drivers are installed (USB to USB? or Serial?). Then I'd power OFF the boxes and the computer, and then do a staggered start, boxes first...wait 5 minutes to get guide data, etc... and then the computer. Works every time (so far, jinx) for me. Just did it last night for my other H21-200. Good luck!

P

[sdsean]

I wanted to revive this thread to see if anyone has noticed something. . .

I have used both a paterson device and simply a USB-Serial Adapter (and null modem cable if needed, note that you have to use specific brands of adapters) setup. Both seem to work just fine, although with the H21-100 you definitely had to reset them while the pc is on and device is plugged in. . .

Also, I always use "fast" mode, normal mode has never ever worked for me, and neither has the directv.exe program that I've seen floating around the internet (but i think that may be because that exe was for older hardware, and the new hardware doesn't like it. . .)

Anyway, my question is, has anyone ever noticed any lag in the channel channging when using a paterson device? No I don't mean "the pause". . . .

What i'm referring to is that some times when I change a channel, the HD-PVR and Sage does its thing, and sometimes it literally takes like a second or 2 before the STB does the channel change. . . this doesn't seem to happen all the time, only some times (usually between long intervals of interactivity). I don't believe I have ever seen this with my simple USB-serial setup that is not paterson devices. . but i'm not postive. . .and i'm not sure if its sage, or the device itself. . .

Thoughts. . . ?

[Evil_Attorney]

Sounds like I have the same setup with null modem/usb, h21 and HDPVR. However, I have a 4 second pause between tuning set, so I wouldn't notice anything anyway. These days I mostly watch TV on the HD200, so I'm not sure I need that much of delay anymore. Maybe I'll try reducing it an see if there is any tuning delay.

[sdsean]

Yeah due to WAF, I've had to edith the delay_to_wait setting.
My machine seems pretty happy with ~1200. Anything less and Sage acts a bit weird. . . (even though it still works fine).

Channel change speed is not a huge deal, but its her top complaint ( I guess that's a good thing, it could be worse ;-),

Let me know what you find. . . i'm curious b/c I've been switching to paterson devices to get rid of the - problem with NFL Sunday ticket channels, and if its an actual device issue I'm sure we could talk more with Tim Paterson.

I'd love to know how the serial tunning actually works as well. . . on a more technical level. . . e.g. does it know that the channel changed? Etc.

[mattvon]

Hmmm...I'm hoping to revive this thread to see if anyone else is experiencing what I suspect is another DirecTV update which seems to have broken my USB/serial control.

I'm running the Paterson TV Translator on my H23-600 DirecTV receiver and have had great luck with it. A day or two ago it just stopped tuning. Lots of troubleshooting and I notice that DirecTV pushed a new software update out to me on Tuesday (0x43a9)...

I suspect that the software update has either turned the USB port off or somehow disabled the connection, as my TV Translator is unable to connect. In Test Mode, the serial connection shows as connected, but USB as disconnected.

Anyone else experiencing a similar issue? Any suggestions?

[sdsean]

Try resetting the receiver with the little red button, assuming all your cables are plugged in and the PC is running, usually when firmware updates occur, you need to do this.

I have reset many time recently, using both Paterson cables, and other cables for USB-Serial control and my H21s, and H20 are both working fine. . .

[sdsean]

Hey Evil. . . did you ever have a look and figure out if you have any lag with ur paterson device(s)?

[Evil_Attorney]

Changed the delay to wait to 1200, rebooted my receivers and tried it out for a few days before upgrading to the beta version. Didn't notice any lag.

I did have one issue after upgrading to the beta where one receiver refused to tune (needed to reboot everything to get it working again). I suspect this was an issue with the beta though.

[mwhittaker1024]

Originally Posted by sdsean

Hey Evil. . . did you ever have a look and figure out if you have any lag with ur paterson device(s)?

I have a H23-600 and use the Paterson cable to control it.

It doesn't always happen, but sometimes there is a noticeable delay between me entering the channel change command in Sage and the Paterson cable actually sending it.

I need to figure out if I can reliably reproduce the issue and whether or not it happens when I select the channel from the guide or enter the number on the remote while watching liveTV.