Directv Serial tuning

[CTay]

Can some one please point me to instructions to get serial control for directv boxes? There is lots of troubleshooting threads but doesn't seem to be any "This is how you do it" threads.

Thanks,
Chris

[markds]

This will help.

http://dtvcontrol.com/

[CTay]

Thanks for the link. Still not quite working... Nothing seems to talk to the receiver. Is there some way to check and make sure that the USB to serial is working?

[markds]

What cable are you using? The Patterson and generic USB/Serial I have used required a driver in both WinXP and Vista.

[CTay]

I'm using a generic usb to serial from the directv D12 receiver to a siig 4 port serial expansion card. I'm starting to wonder if the card is working correctly... Device manager says it is working with the correct driver etc etc. Any way to test this?

[SteveD]

Does the usb serial device you are using have the pl 2303 (prolific chipset)

1.Use null modem adapter to connect the usb device to the serial card.
2.Serial port setting 11500, 8, n, 1, n
3.Connect usb device to D12
4.Force an update on the software on D12 by pushing the reset button behind the front panel access card door, then enter 0-2-4-6-8 on DTV remote as soon as the screen says hello. After the update is complete. Hit the reset button again.
5.With in sagetv match the com port with the devices attached and choose serial tuneing and continue as always. If com port is higher than 4,you can enter the higher com port number

[CTay]

I think so - I went ahead and used another of the same usb to serial adaptors that I am using with the Dtv box to test - ie dtv d12 -> usb to serial -> serial gender changer-> usb to serial -> Sage server. Still no worky. I am testing with the dtv control ap listed in the link from post #2.
The usb to serial is listed under windows 7 64 bit device manager as "Prolific USB-to-Serial Comm Port".

[CTay]

Verified that it is the Prolific 2303 chipset usb to serial adaptor.

[SteveD]

That is the same way it is listed under windows xp

[SteveD]

Originally Posted by CTay

Verified that it is the Prolific 2303 chipset usb to serial adaptor.

1.Use null modem adapter to connect the usb device to the serial card.
2.Serial port setting 11500, 8, n, 1, n
3.Connect usb device to D12
4.Force an update on the software on D12 by pushing the reset button behind the front panel access card door, then enter 0-2-4-6-8 on DTV remote as soon as the screen says hello. After the update is complete. Hit the reset button again.
5.With in sagetv match the com port with the devices attached and choose serial tuneing and continue as always. If com port is higher than 4,you can enter the higher com port number

[CTay]

ugh... Not quite... It did download an update but still times out when sending a command. I assumed that you meant "115200" not "11500" as the bits per second because I did not have an option for 11500. Was this a correct assumption?

Thank you for your continued help!

[SteveD]

Originally Posted by CTay

ugh... Not quite... It did download an update but still times out when sending a command. I assumed that you meant "115200" not "11500" as the bits per second because I did not have an option for 11500. Was this a correct assumption?

Thank you for your continued help!

yes 115200

Do not use the dtvcontrol tool with this. This is for testing within sagetv. I do not know if the tool is compatible.

[CTay]

using sage it still doesn't work. Screen goes black while it tries to change channels but in the end it stays on the current channel. Ugh...

I've restarted the Dtv receiver a few times, is there a need to restart the sage server?

[SteveD]

Originally Posted by CTay

using sage it still doesn't work. Screen goes black while it tries to change channels but in the end it stays on the current channel. Ugh...

I've restarted the Dtv receiver a few times, is there a need to restart the sage server?

Won't hurt to try, I think I have seen some post that described issues with windows 7 and serial tuning. The serial port setting I gave you were from my windows xp setup. Try change the baud rate and flow control. Flow control first.

Make sure you have the latest drivers for you serial port cable.

Finally, if you have 2 of the usb devices, connect them together using the null modem adapter and load the prolific driver and attempt to tune the channel. Remove the serial card. Force the usb device to override the in-use com 3 or com 4 setting after you have removed the serial card. This is to see if you can get any serial tuning to occur. I use a serial card(PCI e) and two pl 2303 connected together as one as my serial controls.

[SHS]

SteveD I t you had to used a Paterson Technology USB TV Translator device for that to all work the best with DirecTV receiver?.
Prolific has few diff model of the PL2303 chip version.
See Note 2 here
http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Controlli..._USB_or_Serial
I'm was planing on getting a PCI 4 port serial card for my server and 4 DirecTV HD receiver soon as I move into the new houes I was going to go back to dishnetwork but I'm so sick of there crap where programming guide in sagetv is a major mess.

[SteveD]

Originally Posted by SHS

SteveD I t you had to used a Paterson Technology USB TV Translator device for that to all work the best with DirecTV receiver?.
Prolific has few diff model of the PL2303 chip version.
See Note 2 here
http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Controlli..._USB_or_Serial
I'm was planing on getting a PCI 4 port serial card for my server and 4 DirecTV HD receiver soon as I move into the new houes I was going to go back to dishnetwork but I'm so sick of there crap where programming guide in sagetv is a major mess.

I use both. i have pattersonson devices controlling two h23 and h23 and prolific devices controling D12. Patterson devices connected to PCIe serial card. Used to have prolific device connected to serial card but need pci port for something else. I ordered my device from monoprice for about $5 t0 $7 a piece.

[CTay]

I'm using the same usb to serial (monoprice).
I tried a few other diagnostic attempts. Speaking of the patterson device _ they have a testing program that should tell you if your dtv box is responding. Patterson Troubleshooting. I used this and it tells me that the serial is not connected. I don't think it is a conclusinve test considering I'm not even using their product... Do you know of any way that I can test to make sure the d12 box serial is actually working?

[SteveD]

I tried windows 7 32 bit temporarily in an attempted upgrade ( wife would not give me time to get it done). The first issue I ran into was that the serial tuning that worked in windows xp was not working in windows 7. As I mentioned, was not given the time to trouble shoot the issue. Do you have any windows xp computers, if so set up the usb devices on them with dtvcontrol app to test the D12 and verify all of the hardware. I have never use dtvcontrol.

This could be done on a windows xp laptop with 2 usbdevices and null modem connection. If you have a xp desktop, you could also verify the serial card you have installed. Also, check your bios and disable the serial port there. You may not have a serial connection or header, but it is still in the chipset and can be disable, enabled.

The patterson tool doesn't work with prolific 2303 devices, tried that myself and it was no help.

[SteveD]

I just connected two pl2303 togather using a null modem cable and connected to my labtop and a D10. I was able to power the D10 on and off using dtvcontrol in windows 7 32 bit. I have also been able to control the D10 with other command generated by dtvcontrol. So we can say that these devices do work in windows 7 32 bit.

[dwycoff]

I had the same issue with Win7 64 bit Pro. I ended up using an older driver - PL2302_Prolific_GPS_AppInOne_1010.exe and it has worked fine every since.
Doug

Correction - PL2302_Prolific_GPS_AllInOne_1013.exe