SageTV Girder Plugin

[Bacon2002]

Hi,

I am looking for the SageTV Girder plugin although I can't seem to find it or much information about it.

I did find this link:-

http://www.sage.tv/srfaqs.html#15

Where they say:-

Q - "Does SageTV support the use of Girder?"

A - "Yes, SageTV fully supports the use of Girder to control the SageTV application. SageTV also supports the use of Girder's event plug-in to control an external set-top box or IR receiver. A plugin for control of SageTV is available here. "

But the link is broken and the download in the plugin's section is 0 bits in size?

Can anyone help shed some light on the level of compatibility between SageTV and Girder, I am especially interested in how SageTV communicates with Girder whilst it is in service mode.

I do not use SageTV as a Media PC but as a server to a few client boxes (HD100, HD200, MVP's) so I run it in service mode.

My TV provider (Sky UK) requires a PIN number to be entered before decrypting PG (Parental Guidance) and 18 (Adult) rated programs being viewed before 8.00pm. It is not possible to turn off the PIN requirement.

Essentially I am looking for a way of sending a four digit pin number to the STB via a USB-UIRT shortly after SageTV sends the channel number to the STB. Ideally this would only be done when trying to view a channel before 8.00pm and only on channels relating to the STB.

It looks like Girder could help here but if anyone has any suggestions it would be appreciated.

Thanks,

David

[Fuzzy]

I think you'll have to look at the EXEMultiTunerPlugin. It basically calls whatever path you set in a registry key on channel changes. You could use this to call girder's event.exe, though I'm not sure about how to pass the channel numbers into girder.

[Bacon2002]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply, I have been doing some experimenting with both EXETuner and EXEMultiTuner, sadly I have not been able to get either to work.

For information I am using the latest version of Sage 6.6 and Windows 7 64bit.

Basically for EXEMultiTuner I have tried the following:-

1) Copied the EXEMultiTuner.dll into the C:\Program Files X86\SageTV\Common\

2) Set up a Registry enrty:-

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Frey Technologies\Common\EXEMultiTunerPlugin]
"command"="notepad.exe %DEVICE% %CHANNEL%"

3) Set the tuner (HDPVR) up in SageTV

Also select EXEMultiTuner as the means of changing channel

4) Restarted everything

From reading various old posts on the forum it looks like this is process for setting the plugin up, regrettably a lot of the orignal forum links are broken.

The above should launch Notepad when the tuner is asked to change channel, that would be the first step in checking the plugin works before trying to add Girder but nothing happens.

Basically I can not get this or the EXETuner plugin to work, I am not sure if I have the process right and I am concerned that these plugins may not be compatible with Windows 7 64 bit.

Has anyone got this plugin working in a 64 bit environment or can anyone offer any suggestions?

Thanks,

David

[StephaneM]

Originally Posted by Bacon2002

Essentially I am looking for a way of sending a four digit pin number to the STB via a USB-UIRT shortly after SageTV sends the channel number to the STB.

You can do this with LM Remote KeyMap but...

Ideally this would only be done when trying to view a channel before 8.00pm and only on channels relating to the STB.

...this is not possible.

I don't even know if a practical solution can be found as not all programs will requires a PIN, so if you send the PIN when it is not needed, you'll end up changing to another channel... (And also padding recordings will be a problem...)

The only practical solution would be to turn off the PIN requirement (it seems to be not possible) OR to ALWAYS turn ON the PIN (whatever program / whatever schedule).

Regards,
Stéphane.

[Bacon2002]

Stéphane,

Ideally this would only be done when trying to view a channel before 8.00pm and only on channels relating to the STB.

...this is not possible.

I don't even know if a practical solution can be found as not all programs will requires a PIN, so if you send the PIN when it is not needed, you'll end up changing to another channel... (And also padding recordings will be a problem...)

The only practical solution would be to turn off the PIN requirement (it seems to be not possible) OR to ALWAYS turn ON the PIN (whatever program / whatever schedule).

With the PIN set to 0000 the STB does not change channel and therefore this is not such a problem.

Ideally I would like to have resolved this problem by using a EXETuner or EXEMultiTuner and Girder solution as I think this would allow me to build some rules around when to apply the PIN.

Sky UK are a pain by making the PIN manditory before 8.00pm.

Thanks,

David

[StephaneM]

Originally Posted by Bacon2002

With the PIN set to 0000 the STB does not change channel and therefore this is not such a problem.

Then you can use LM Remote KeyMap to do it. I don't see why you would bother with rules for using or not the PIN.

But then again even when using some rules you'll have problem if the PIN is not always required: you have a show in the guide requiring the PIN, you schedule it for recording with a 5 min padding, the previous show was not requiring the PIN, I'm sure your STB will ask you for the PIN 5 min after the recording start: FAIL (if you don't use padding, but the program is starting late, you'll be in the same situation)

[Bacon2002]

Stéphane,

You may have a point about the timing of the PIN, I would need to double check how/when it is applied however I expect this could be managed with some basic rules, perhaps sending the PIN a couple of times within a reasonable delay period after all it does not change the channel anyway.

It looks like I am struggling to resolve my EXETuner / EXEMultiTuner set up problems so I may need to post a more specific plea for help.

Ta,

[StephaneM]

Originally Posted by Bacon2002

It looks like I am struggling to resolve my EXETuner / EXEMultiTuner set up problems so I may need to post a more specific plea for help.

Exetuner will be a real pain to setup on Win 7 64 bits (if even possible), LM RKM will do the exact same thing without the hassle: 1) Install 2) Learn IR codes 3) Setup tuning plugin 4) Configure channel change to issue the PIN after tuning. Done...

Regards,
Stéphane.

[Bacon2002]

Stéphane,

I like the sound of something that's easy to set up, is there anyway I could use your LM RKM to pass the channel number to another program (Girder or something else)?

Thanks,

David

[SWKerr]

I dropped Girder a long time ago and went to EventGhost. I recently change to LM Remote. It is the best package I have used for setting up a remote to control not just Sage but multiple applications. It is also easier to use from a Newbie standpoint.