IR Blaster

[moonrise7]

I realize this has been covered extensively, but I have spent 2 weeks going through forum post after forum post and I still can't get it working. I have the Hauppage HD-PVR. I had the IR blaster working that came with it, but i wanted the remote to work too (it didn't) so I started messing with it and now the IR blaster doesn't work anymore. Plus I broke it ripping it off the cable box But I also have a remote/ir blaster that came with the Hauppage WinTV HVR 1500. I tried to follow a few posts here but I always get stopped by either not finding the file or something is different in the registry etc. Can I make the older remote and blaster work with Sage and the HD PVR? I think it's just an MCE remote/usb receiver. I just want SageTV to change the channels.

I have Vista Home SP2...not sure what else I need to share...thanks for any help anyone can give...

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by moonrise7

I realize this has been covered extensively, but I have spent 2 weeks going through forum post after forum post and I still can't get it working. I have the Hauppage HD-PVR. I had the IR blaster working that came with it, but i wanted the remote to work too (it didn't) so I started messing with it and now the IR blaster doesn't work anymore. Plus I broke it ripping it off the cable box But I also have a remote/ir blaster that came with the Hauppage WinTV HVR 1500. I tried to follow a few posts here but I always get stopped by either not finding the file or something is different in the registry etc. Can I make the older remote and blaster work with Sage and the HD PVR? I think it's just an MCE remote/usb receiver. I just want SageTV to change the channels.

I have Vista Home SP2...not sure what else I need to share...thanks for any help anyone can give...

I found an older version of the irremote.ini file somewhere on this site. After replacing the version that came with the HD-PVR (which activated Windows Media Center as opposed to SageTV), the Hauppauge remote worked with the HD-PVR. I'd backup the irremote.ini file that came with the HD-PVR, just in case my suggestion doesn't work for you. The file is in the Windows dir. Also, there is a Start/Stop remote function in the Hauppauge program dir that you have to use.

[moonrise7]

I tried that before, but I couldn't find the SageTV section in my irremote.ini. So are you saying that if I can get that to work, I can use the older remote/ir blaster to control Sage and my STB?

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by moonrise7

I tried that before, but I couldn't find the SageTV section in my irremote.ini. So are you saying that if I can get that to work, I can use the older remote/ir blaster to control Sage and my STB?

yup - I just did it the other day. The irremote.ini file i used was from 2007 I think. Just do a search here for irremote.ini (it's posted here somewhere), replace the version that came with the HD-PVR with this one, and then restart your remote (restart IR). There's probably a better and more proper way to do this, but this worked for me.

[moonrise7]

Awesome, i'll give it a try then when i get back home tonight...thanks!

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by moonrise7

Awesome, i'll give it a try then when i get back home tonight...thanks!

go to this thread:

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4277

and down the page there is a file called:

basic_irremote-ini_New_Remote.zip

that's the one I've been using, primarily because the green button has been programmed in this version to wake up Sage and not windows media center. As I said, I'm pretty green with all this stuff, so it's likely there's someone else who has a better solution. This works for me. good luck

Of course, this will work with a Hauppauge IR Blaster and remote combo - not sure if it would work with the MCE blaster. Hauppauge will send you a new blaster cable in the mail if you call them.

[moonrise7]

No luck, I tried with both the MCE Remote and the newer silver Hauppage remote and ir blaster (I got it out of the garbage ). I think I'll call Hauppage and see if maybe the remote is broken. The MCE remote worked sort of, but the IR blaster didn't work at all. Thanks for your help though...

[gplasky]

Anytime you have 2 or more Hauppague devices with IR in the same machine you will have issues. Hauppague's software will only support 1 of those devices and you can't choose which one will work with their software.

Gerry

[moonrise7]

I removed everything but the HD PVR, then I uninstalled and reinstalled Sage. I gave up and ordered the USB UIRT. Hope that works...

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by moonrise7

I removed everything but the HD PVR, then I uninstalled and reinstalled Sage. I gave up and ordered the USB UIRT. Hope that works...

It should. That's what I use.

Gerry

As a note for above, when you uninstalled did you run hwclear? That's a utility from Hauppague. You should have run hwclear after you removed everything but the HD-PVR. Then you would need to install the drivers for the HD-PVR. Even though the IR wasn't working on your HD-PVR it could have been working on your other device.

[moonrise7]

Originally Posted by gplasky

It should. That's what I use.

Gerry

I've heard good things...do you have Vista as well?

[gplasky]

I've run it on Vista. My current SageTV server is Windows Home Server. (WHS) Working great on there.

Gerry

[moonrise7]

Originally Posted by gplasky

It should. That's what I use.

Gerry

As a note for above, when you uninstalled did you run hwclear? That's a utility from Hauppague. You should have run hwclear after you removed everything but the HD-PVR. Then you would need to install the drivers for the HD-PVR. Even though the IR wasn't working on your HD-PVR it could have been working on your other device.

Yes I did run hwclear but no luck. I'm starting to think I should have just left it alone when it WAS working but I really wanted the remote to work and I thought, what the heck, I can just reverse what I do if it breaks! Sadly, that was not the case. I'll try out the USB UIRT when it comes and then maybe the old remote might work independently with the irremote.ini? It did work, but it looked like it did everything twice (i.e. when I pressed the down arrow, it would move down 2 lines), and I'd need to research the forums to see why it did that.

[moonrise7]

Having given up on IR blasters, and the USB-UIRT, my last avenue is the firewire channel changing method. Again, though, I'm stopped at the beginning of the process because apparently there are no drivers for my cable box. Has anyone had any luck getting firewire to work with the Motorola DCX3200?

[Savage1701]

I fought with an HD-PVR and 2250 White Box and lost. I bought the USB-UIRT for the HD-PVR and now I have recaptured the high ground. You were smart enough to order the USB-UIRT. You will not be disappointed.

[moonrise7]

I would be happy if I could get the thing to work...would you mind helping me? I plugged it in, installed it, thought I configured it in SageTV but when I change a channel in Sage it just blinks 3 times but the channel doesn't change. Could it be my cable box? Also, the blinks are weird: 3 solid flashes, not 3 flickering lights like the IR blaster. Any help you could give would be greatly appreciated. I'm about at my wits end

[sic0048]

It sounds like the USB-UIRT is working just fine. That leads us to two suspects - the cable box (STB) and the IR signal itself.

Do you still have the OEM remote for the STB? If so, point it at the box and change channels. If it works, then you know the box works. If it doesn't work (and you have good batteries in it), then it very well may be the STB.

If the box works, then it is most likely that Sage isn't sending out the correct IR signal to work with your STB. I'm not familiar with how to trouble shoot that, but search the forums some more.

[doc]

If you're lucky someone might have an IR file for the Motorola DCX3200 and be willing to post it - that would save you the effort of setting one up.

If you have to set it up yourself, you have to put the STB remote directly in front of the USBUIRT when you program in the numbers. I put mine about 3 inches away. See page 154 of the manual - it talks you through setting it up.

[moonrise7]

Originally Posted by sic0048

Do you still have the OEM remote for the STB?

Yes, the channels change with the original STB remote, and I used that remote to program the USB UIRT. So I guess I will do some more forum searching...thanks for the reply

[moonrise7]

Originally Posted by doc

If you're lucky someone might have an IR file for the Motorola DCX3200 and be willing to post it - that would save you the effort of setting one up.

If you have to set it up yourself, you have to put the STB remote directly in front of the USBUIRT when you program in the numbers. I put mine about 3 inches away. See page 154 of the manual - it talks you through setting it up.

yes, I did that too when I set it up and the setup seemed to work just fine, but it won't change the channel. *sigh*