Direct TV

[BonBon]

System: P4 1.6, 512 RAM, ASUS P4P800SE, AIW 9600, Hauppage 350, Phillips STB w/ Direct TV, WINXP PRO

I am having a problem getting a signal from the STB. I tried hooking it up in every way I could think of, Svideo, composite, coaxial , I do not get any signal. Tried running the trial version of SAGE and still got nothing. I also tried hooking into the AIW card, and did not get any signal. I am thinking that maybe I fried my 350 card, but I'm not sure. Thinking about getting the 150 combo from the SAGE site but it could be a waste. Any help would be appreciated. I'm wondering if it has something to do with the "Phillips" STB, I havent seen anyone with a HTPC and this kind of STB.

[kny3twalker]

are you running the setup wizard for the connection you are using everytime
you change it

does the STB work with the pvr 350 in WinTV?

I am running direcTV and after set up
everything is fine

have you installed the newest drivers for the pvr 350, video card , newest directx9/SP2, newest java (but not 5.0)?

goto the property file for sagetv in the frey tech folder

open the property file with notepad and search for ignore encoders

if you see the pvr pci encoder/decoder II or something similiar remove it
or post a reply with what is listed in that line


if you remove the ignore encoder info
save the property file and restart sagetV

the 9600 AIW is alpha supported for livetV only in SageTV using beta version 2.2 (that I know of)
the pvr 350 is fully supported though

finally what IR blaster are you using or are you using the serial port on the direcTV box for SageTV to control channel changes????

[BonBon]

OK all drivers etc. are installed as you recommended. I did not find a line in the property file like you mentioned. I have a ACT-IrL200 hooked up with windows driver installed, I really dont know how to use it though. I got SAGE to work on my computer monitor, I can see whatever channel my STB is tuned to, and can change the channel with my STB remote on my STB. I also get sound. I do not get a picture on my TV though, just a black box. I can see the desktop, and a black box when SAGE loads, I can also see the menu screens for SAGE, but when I go to watch TV it's just black. I am using a older SONY 27in TV. I have it hooked into the AIW with Svideo cable, tried hooking up several different ways to the AIW and I didn't even get the windows GUI. WINTV2000 works the same as with SAGE. Tried hooking up the video out on the 350 to the TV and got a test pattern (diifferent color bars) on the TV. This doesnt sound very flattering but I have been trying to get a HTPC working for like 6 years ! I would like (fingers crossed) to get it working on my 27in TV, then move the HTPC over to my 52in TV. I appreciate your help and if you have any other suggestions please post them.

Thanks

[BonBon]

Forgot to mention, there is no serial port on the back of the "Phillips" STB that I'm using.

[Hector]

I also use a pvr-350 with DirecTv and as kny3twalker says it works very well.

The color bars come from the 350 of course so it sounds like you're almost there. What happens if you use Win2k to play an mpeg file that you already have on disk?

peace . . .

Originally Posted by BonBon

Forgot to mention, there is no serial port on the back of the "Phillips" STB that I'm using.

[kny3twalker]

ok you need to just start over for now
uninstall SageTV and then delete the whole program folder
then reboot and reinstall it
when going through the set up this time
choose DirecTV USA and then say you want SageTV to control
the external box with the Actisys

did you install any software decoders on your computer
since you are using the pvr 350
just install the intervideo decoders that come with the pvr 350
you will not need to use them but they can get you started

after setting up the DirecTV service with SageTV doing the tuning
aim the actisys so it is pointed at the IR window on the direcTV box

now with the software decoder installed you should get picture on the computer monitor
and if you wanted you could use the svideo output from the AIW video card
but the better choice is the pvr 350's svideo output hardware decoder

you can then disable the software decoding you see on the computer monitor
and you are good to go

maybe this can get you a little farther

[BonBon]

GOT IT !

thanks for your help.

[BonBon]

Back again. I have no problem running TV in SAGE but I can not play a DVD. I just get a black screen no sound.

[Hector]

The pvr-350 can only play mpeg files through its tv out.

You can extract to a vob and convert it to an mpeg if you wish but you cannot just play a dvd.

peace . . .

Originally Posted by BonBon

Back again. I have no problem running TV in SAGE but I can not play a DVD. I just get a black screen no sound.