DVCR and SageTV

[jglev]

I have the DVCR set up to work with myHTPC (on a Win XP Pro box)and using the included IR Blaster to control my digital cable box (Mot DCT 5100). Surprisingly, the blaster has worked flawlessly with this newer Mot cable box (hooked up via the s-video input). Everything is working great, but I like the features of Sage TV. I am too chicken to try it for fear of messing up my settings. I have two questions: 1) if I install the trial of Sage, will it change my settings so that if I uninstall it I will have to re-set up everything again to work with myHTPC, or will it not affect those setting? 2) Can Sage be set up to work with the IR Blaster (that comes with the DVCR) to change the channels on the Mot box, or will it only work with the Actisys IR-200L?

Thanks.

[dkardatzke]

1) SageTV uses it's own settings so it shouldn't affect your myHTPC setup

2) Creative wouldn't give us the information required to interface with their IR emitter. We do however support the IR receiver. We also support any IR emitters that are supported via Girder.

[jglev]

Thanks for the info.

Does anyone know if the Actisys IR-200L works well with the Motorola DCT-5100?

Thanks again.

[_Demo_]

You might as well say "Creative wouldn't give us any information on anything" :)

I will try to look into the IR sender on the vbdvcr.

Anyone know a good resource on how IR things work in general to help figure out the data?

_Demo_

[_Demo_]

Small update, if anyone is interested...

I have done most of disassembly needed to get the devices supported by the default app working though I fail to see the logic at some places... (maybe there isn't logic to be found there)

Please reply to this thread if you would be interested in doing some tests with the box model you would like to control or to show if there is any interest for using the output of dvcr ir blaster.

_Demo_

[jglev]

_Demo_,

I definitely would be interested in trying it. I have the Motorola DCT 5100 cable box. Currently, the DVCR is using the first Motorola listing in the transmitter setup and it works perfectly with the DVCR software. It would be great if it could work with Sage TV.

Thanks!

[Hocky]

_Demo_
You may want to do a search on JP1 or follow this link.

http://web.archive.org/web/20010717082554/http://home.austin.rr.com/xris/jp1/jp1FAQ.htm

I am not sure if you can find the info you are looking for or not, but it may provide some useful leads.

Hocky

[visiontim]

I'd be interested. I have a Scientific Atlanta Explorer 2100 digital cable box (Time Warner Cable). I really like SageTV and I'm hoping to avoid spending more $$ on an IR product that I might already have.

[mattdewey]

I also would be interested in testing the emitter. I have two Dish Network Satellite boxes I can test it with.

[_Demo_]

I have been working on test application, it should be finished soon. You'll need the remote file from the default vbdvcr application.

_Demo_

[jglev]

Originally posted by _Demo_
I have been working on test application, it should be finished soon. You'll need the remote file from the default vbdvcr application.

_Demo_

Thanks _Demo_. I am sure I speak for the other responders to this thread that we really appreciate it and look forward to trying it. I agree with mojotim; I would rather use something I already have than spend more money.

Thanks again and please keep us posted.

[_Demo_]

I have finally finished it. You can download it from vbdvcr.mu3d.com/dvcrir.exe

It's only a test program so not very user friendly. Here is the usage.

First you must list the remotes using dvcrir list. This will output tons of information to the stdout. You must find the model you want to control in this list for example :
Decoding RDEV
RNAM found with size 1C
RNAM unk 000B
RNAM magic 0001779A
Name: ABC|ABC Cable Box 1

Copy text starting after the first space after name then execute for example:

dvcir "ABC|ABC Cable Box 1" Power

This will send the Power code to the box. The supported buttons seems to be 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,Channel_Up,Channel_Down,Volume_Up,Volume_Down and Power.

Some model have additional buttons (Menu, Guide...)

I have tested on a Scientific Atlanta cable box here and it seems to be working fine, there are some values and logic that I don't understand completly so I'm not sure if it will be general enough for all models in the remote file.

I don't know much about IR signals but I guess it should also be possible to create new codes.

I'll be waiting for some feedback on the program :)

_Demo_

[jglev]

Thanks _Demo_

I am not sure what I am doing wrong. Using the command prompt in the same directory as your program, I typed dvcrir list at the command prompt and this is what I got:

Trying to find None None
Got-1
Could not open remotes.cir

I tried it a couple of time with the same results. Any ideas?

Thanks again.

[insomniac]

You are my here, thx.

I.

Originally posted by _Demo_
I have finally finished it. You can download it from vbdvcr.mu3d.com/dvcrir.exe

It's only a test program so not very user friendly. Here is the usage.

First you must list the remotes using dvcrir list. This will output tons of information to the stdout. You must find the model you want to control in this list for example :
Decoding RDEV
RNAM found with size 1C
RNAM unk 000B
RNAM magic 0001779A
Name: ABC|ABC Cable Box 1

Copy text starting after the first space after name then execute for example:

dvcir "ABC|ABC Cable Box 1" Power

This will send the Power code to the box. The supported buttons seems to be 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,Channel_Up,Channel_Down,Volume_Up,Volume_Down and Power.

Some model have additional buttons (Menu, Guide...)

I have tested on a Scientific Atlanta cable box here and it seems to be working fine, there are some values and logic that I don't understand completly so I'm not sure if it will be general enough for all models in the remote file.

I don't know much about IR signals but I guess it should also be possible to create new codes.

I'll be waiting for some feedback on the program :)

_Demo_

[_Demo_]

You must copy that file from the default vbdvcr application to the program directory. Also, all programs using the vbdvcr should not be running at the same time.

_Demo_

[insomniac]

K Demo,

Next question :)

How might one shrink down the remotes.cir file to only have ones remote code.? Or is that necessary? I got mine to work, but it takes quite some time to find the command from that extensive list.


I.

[_Demo_]

If the problem is only execution time, simply redirect output to nul :

dvcrir Blah|Blah button >nul

_Demo_

[insomniac]

nice

thx.

[insomniac]

Hey Demo,

Do you already having this working with sage using the generic plugin? Or is it possible...Just at a glance, it seems like it should. Cant wait to try it out when I get home later tonight!

Awesome stuff demo!

I.

[_Demo_]

I have not yet looked, my copy of sagetv trial has expired quite a bit ago :)

Does SageRecorder also supports those plugins? I will try to take a look, I have also sent the information to Jeffrey...

_Demo_

[insomniac]

K, it works with a slight mod to the registry path ( of course ). It breaks after 0-9 channels, but at least it is a proof of concept.

What would help a ton would be if I could specify the path of the remotes.cir file from dvcrir.exe

I know you know what I mean, but:
dvcrir.exe /p c:\remotes\remotes.cir Blah|Blah button

/p=path

reason being is that it seems like sage uses your profile path (or at least it seems that it does..) c:\documents and settings\%username%

so if you dont have the remotes.cir in that path, it will break.


also, would a builtin delay be huge? If not, sage will need to have it written in (or be able to use the one that it has writting in already..)

I just changed the regkey for the GirderDSSTUNE.reg to another location where i put dvcrir.exe. e.g. c:\remotes.
So the regkey looked as follows: C:\remotes\dvcrir.exe "General Instrument|General Instrument Cable Box 1" %CHANNEL%

when i try the above with a >nul command it doesnt seem to work. e.g.

C:\remotes\dvcrir.exe "General Instrument|General Instrument Cable Box 1" %CHANNEL% >nul
(looks like it happens too fast, and sage cant keep up with it..more testing on that later)

Any thoughts?


I.

[_Demo_]

It won't take channels number directly, only the digits. I'll wait to see if it is going to be included directly in the program, if not I'll try make a small program that does the link.

_Demo_