USB-UIRT in Win10 64 bit - confusion on copying DLLs

[timg11]

I'm building a new system from scratch for SageTV with Windows 10 64 bit.

The SageTVSetupx64_9.2.2.exe installer offered to install the USB-UIRT drivers.
The USB-UIRT is plugged into a USB port.
I see the USB-UIRT enumerated normally in Device Manager and in USBDEVIEW.

On the initial run of SageTV 64 bit, it goes through a setup process.
That is getting stuck at "Select Remote Control", where I choose USB-UIRT, and I get an error "Failed setting the Infrared Receiver Port. Please ensure the device is connected".

I see some posts regarding copying some DLLs. I can find uuirtdrv.dll located in c:\windows\system32, but how do I know if it is 32 or 64. If it is 32, where do I find the 64 bit one? What needs to be copied where?

Edit - I ran the 32 bit version of SageTV, and it finds the USB-UIRT just fine. I had installed both, because I read another thread that said the HDHR would not be detected by 64bit SageTV alone. But ultimately, I'd like to be able to use the 64bit SageTV.

Can I copy sage.properties from a 32 bit install on Windows 7 to be used by 64 Bit SageTV? What about a new 32bit SageTV under Windows 10/64? Or should I proceed through the setup process and re-create everything just to be sure?

[wnjj]

Look under the “known issues” section of the installer post in my signature. It shows you how to tell if you have the 64-bit DLL and what to do if you don’t. If all else fails you can get the DLL from this post: https://forums.sagetv.com/forums/sho...&postcount=191

I would not recommend copying sage.properties around. There are paths in it that are different depending upon 32/64 and other things that may cause grief. You can copy wiz.bin as needed (with sage not running) to keep your favorites and watch history.

[timg11]

Originally Posted by wnjj

Look under the “known issues” section of the installer post in my signature.

The referenced post says:

On the 64 bit version USBUIRT install may not complete fully and you may need to perform the following manual steps AFTER the install completes.

Copy uuirtdrv.dll from "SageTV\redist\usbuirt\amd64" folder into your Windows\System32 directory. Note that there will already be one there from the USB-UIRT driver install, but it is the 32-bit one and shouldn't be there anyway (the 32 bit one will be in SysWOW64 folder). Warning: If you reinstall the USB-UIRT driver for any reason it may replace this file with the 32-bit one.
32 bit file dated 7/8/2011
64 bit file dated 7/22/2012

My observation is that SageTV\redist\usbuirt\amd64 contains a file dated 7/8/2011.
C:\Windows\System32 contains a file dated 7/22/2012. A file of the same date is also present in C:\Program Files\SageTV\redist\usbuirt\i386.

I went ahead and copied the 7/8/2011 to C:\Windows\System32 since the one dated 7/22/2012 was already present and not working. It does indeed work, so it appears the dates in the post are reversed.

However that may turn out to be irrelevant.
The other issue mentioned may be a deal-breaker. I use the USB-UIRT to receive my remote control to control SageTV, and I use the USB-UIRT to tune the Google Fiber TV box.
Are there other options to replace the USB-UIRT that work with 64 bit?

[wayner]

There is a company called Global Cache that has devices used in the Home Automation space. Two examples are the IP2IR and GC-100. It appears that some folks have got this working with SageTV. These have from 3-6 IR outputs. See this thread:https://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64372

I have a bunch of these devices that I have used with my Control4 Home automation system, but I have not used them with SageTV as I use the unRAID version of Sage and firewire still works for me.

But they should work with SageTV as there appears to be a pretty straightforward API - see https://www.globalcache.com/downloads/

These devices aren't cheap to buy new, but I bought 6 used GC-100s for $100 on ebay. They are often available for less than $50 on ebay.

edit: Also see this thread https://forums.sagetv.com/forums/sho...3&postcount=18. IMHO this is the best device to use for SageTV going forward. Being a networked device is useful as well as it makes it much less dependent on hardware drivers, OS, etc. Just like how the HDHR is better in many ways than USB tuners.

[timg11]

Originally Posted by wayner

There is a company called Global Cache that has devices used in the Home Automation space. ....... I bought 6 used GC-100s for $100 on ebay. They are often available for less than $50 on ebay.

I can also find GC-100-6 on ebay. They appear to be IR senders only. I'm guessing the solution would be to continue to use the USB-UIRT as the remote control receiver (since it can only work one way at a time due to the 64 bit issues), and then use the GS-100 as the IR blaster for tuning?

@DougTV did some serious integration work to get the IP2IR to work. I assume a similar level of effort would be required to integrate a GC-100. I.E. SageTV doesn't directly support GC-100 as an IR output, so scripting approach would have to be designed and tested?

[JustFred]

Originally Posted by timg11

[URL="https://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?p=625260&postcount=2"]
I went ahead and copied the 7/8/2011 to C:\Windows\System32 since the one dated 7/22/2012 was already present and not working. It does indeed work, so it appears the dates in the post are reversed.

Looking at my debug notes, on Win7-x64 with Sage-x64, I see that the correct dlls are as follows:

C:\Windows\System32\uuirtdrv.dll
Version 2.6.9.9, Size = 278 KB, Date Modified: 7/8/2011 3:08pm

C:\Windows\SysWOW64\uuirtdrv.dll
Version 2.7.0.0, Size = 236 KB, Date Modified: 7/27/2012 3:26pm

Yes, the 32-bit dll actually belongs in the SysWOW64 folder, while the 64-bit dll belongs in the System32 folder. Confusing, I know.

The other issue mentioned may be a deal-breaker. I use the USB-UIRT to receive my remote control to control SageTV, and I use the USB-UIRT to tune the Google Fiber TV box.
Are there other options to replace the USB-UIRT that work with 64 bit?

There's been some feedback from other users that sharing the 64-bit version of USB-UIRT with other programs might work as long as Sage isn't running in Service mode (i.e, is running as a program in the task bar). Give it a try and report back.

[wnjj]

So do I need to reverse the dates in the installer post? Full disclosure: I didn’t write that post but got it transferred to me.

[JustFred]

Originally Posted by wnjj

So do I need to reverse the dates in the installer post? Full disclosure: I didn’t write that post but got it transferred to me.

It's been quite a while, but entirely possible that I need to cop a "mea culpa" if I was the source of the bad info :^(

I just now re-confirmed the dll file info (in post #6 above) on one of my operational Sage-x64 systems.

[wayner]

Originally Posted by timg11

I can also find GC-100-6 on ebay. They appear to be IR senders only. I'm guessing the solution would be to continue to use the USB-UIRT as the remote control receiver (since it can only work one way at a time due to the 64 bit issues), and then use the GS-100 as the IR blaster for tuning?

@DougTV did some serious integration work to get the IP2IR to work. I assume a similar level of effort would be required to integrate a GC-100. I.E. SageTV doesn't directly support GC-100 as an IR output, so scripting approach would have to be designed and tested?

Yes, these devices are transmit only. I thought you were just looking for a way to change channels, I didn't read the thread too closely. One other option for a receiver would be the old Windows MCE remote with receiver. These worked as blasters in MCE but I am not sure that the transmitting function ever worked in Sage. But they are pretty cheap: https://www.ebay.ca/itm/HP-MCE-RC6-W...AAAOSwC-1fh81U

The IP2IR and GC-100 should be functionally the same as IR blasters as far as SageTV is concerned. They use the same driver and API.

In terms of getting it to work in Windows, assuming that there is a command line program that can send the IR codes on the Global Cache products then you should be able to use EXEMultituner. I have been using this for over a decade to call a Windows command line program with parameters of device number and channel number. You set this up in registry settings and/or sage.properties so that you call something like "channelchange.exe %devce% %channel%". That works with any device that can be controlled via a command line program - firewire, IP tuned devices or these global cache devices. It seems that is what DougTV did. I am surprised that he had to use netcat as I would think there would be a more direct way to do this. There is also this generic tuner plugin: https://forums.sagetv.com/forums/sho...3&postcount=18. It is for Linux but you may be able to get it to work under Windows, especially with WSL getting better all the time.

As I said - I have not tried this myself, but this will probably be what I use in the future if Firewire is no longer and option.

[wnjj]

Originally Posted by JustFred

It's been quite a while, but entirely possible that I need to cop a "mea culpa" if I was the source of the bad info :^(

I just now re-confirmed the dll file info (in post #6 above) on one of my operational Sage-x64 systems.

No problem. I swapped them in the installer post.

[timg11]

Originally Posted by JustFred

...the 64-bit version of USB-UIRT with other programs might work as long as Sage isn't running in Service mode

I've run SageTV in service mode ever since I bought the HD-300. I'll be looking for solutions compatible with service mode.

[timg11]

I think I can configure the HD-300 to receive the remote commands.
That would mean the USB-UIRT could be limited to sending only for tuning purposes, so I can get around the service mode bug with the USB-UIRT.

Remind me where and how SageTV is configured for the remote control?
In Settings Commands, it says "45 button Hauppauge Remote".

I don't find those details in sage.properties. The word "Hauppauge" only exists in the context of the HDPVR2. Where are the details of the IR receiver and the mapping to sage commands stored?
Under \program files\sagetv\common I find a USB-UIRT Transceiver folder, but nothing for "45 button Hauppauge Remote"

[TGsell]

I recently ran into an issue with the USB-UIRT which might help others - tuning my Samsung STB through an HDPVR2 (WIndows 10 64bit Sage 32) where it would send repeat number commands seemingly randomly - eg for 321 it would send 3221 etc. Using the setup videos sources menu and the tuner control I tested each command/number and was able to repeat the error. 6 actually repeated 5times! Digging a little further into the ir. file, I did lrnhelper capture of the commands and set up new ir file - still didnt resolve the issue. I noticed a line in the ir file called RepeatCount - it was set to "5" from lrn but whenever it learned a new code through Sage it went to 10. I reset it to "1" and it appears to have resolved the multiple signal issue (it's only been a day now and perhaps the downside of this is that it will occasionally not send a number but we'll see) . I've been searching for a better solution than the USB-UIRT especially HTTP tuning through an IP2IR device which I have but have not been able to work out. hope this helps someone...

[TGsell]

Further to my post regarding fixing the 'RepeatCount' setting in the ir file, it appears to be a robust fix and furthermore there doesnt seem to be a better STP tuning method for SageTV than the USB-UIRT (for those without a firewire box, etc) , hence I ordered a spare since I am hoping to use Sage for lot more years...

[KryptoNyte]

I seem to recall there is a way to use the USB-UIRT to control multiple devices with additional IR transmitters that plug into it.

[wayner]

Here is the thread on multi-zone functionality for the USB-UIRT. Hopefully it works with 64 bit Windows. I know that the multi-zone feature is not suppported in Linux.

[VCRUser]

Trying to set up a new build in Windows 8.1, 64Bit. I used the64 bit Sage install, and got the HDHomerun setup ok. I've been having USBUIRT problems though: First, I had to copy over the .dll mentioned in one of the posts to \windows\system32, then it was recognized. But I can't get it to recognize any IR codes from the remote to set it up. Since this is all within Sage, not a separate program, which was mentioned somewhere in this thread, I thought it would work. I go to (in standard UI) setup, commands, link infrared/keystroke to sagetv command, select a command (e.g. "left"), then point the remote at the usbuirt and press the button on the remote. The usbuirt blinks to let me know it saw something, but Sage doesn't respond.

Is this the 64-bit problem and there's nothing I can do but turn off service mode (not an option) or set up 32 bit mode (not ideal, since I went to the trouble to set up 64, but could live with it) -- or are there some things I can do to troubleshoot? Since I'll be using the same cable box as my soon-to-be-retired build, is there a part of .Properties I can copy and if so, will it work?

[JustFred]

Originally Posted by VCRUser

...I go to (in standard UI) setup, commands, link infrared/keystroke to sagetv command, select a command (e.g. "left"), then point the remote at the usbuirt and press the button on the remote. The usbuirt blinks to let me know it saw something, but Sage doesn't respond.

The Command submenu links existing codes to commands. On the other hand, IR learning is performed within the Setup Video Sources menu. Chapter 5 of the SageTv User's Guide details the process.

[wnjj]

Originally Posted by VCRUser

Since I'll be using the same cable box as my soon-to-be-retired build, is there a part of .Properties I can copy and if so, will it work?

Look in the SageTV/Common/RemoteCodes/USB-UIRT Transceiver directory for the .ir files. That is where the codes are saved. You should be able to copy those directly over from your existing system.

[TGsell]

You can also use the lrnhelper program to establish a code for each button press of the remote you are trying to emulate and then copy each of those into the IR file referenced in the previous posts. I also found it useful to use the 'check codes' option under Video setup - > select the tuner - > click on the USB-UIRT tuning control and follow that menu to 'check IR codes' to verify each number 0-9 works properly. Also.... the whole trick to fixing my system was to make sure that the 'RepeatCount' line in the IR file was set to 1. Every STB might have a different response to this but I found sending multiple signals (I think the default is 10!) resulted in multiple number on my STB and a failed tune.