HD-PVR and RNG110 Cable Box

[blade]

I finally bit the bullet and ordered a HD-PVR. I then went to my local Comcast office and was given a RNG110 box. I'm still waiting on the HD-PVR to arrive, but have done some searching and see that it seems most people could not get the box to change channels when using a USB-UIRT or the Hauppauge IR blaster.

I did read a few success stories with both firewire and IR blasting. Just wondering if there is a consensus as to the best way to get the box to work with the HD-PVR?

[thatdude90210]

Someone else found the code and posted here awhile back. It does work with the Hauppauge blaster. The code is 085. I have the blaster taped to the front ~3/4 inch towards the middle from the rng110 letters, and covered with a black strip of metal so it doesn't show easily. Channel changing works pretty consistent.

[blade]

Thanks, my HD-PVR should arrive tomorrow and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will work reliably.

[Spectrum]

Originally Posted by blade

Thanks, my HD-PVR should arrive tomorrow and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will work reliably.

IR blasting with the HDPVR seems to be hit or miss. Some have it working reliably, others (I'm in this group) have nothing but trouble with it. If you experience lockups, missed recordings, etc consider using firewire or a different IR blaster to smooth things out. Hope it works for you, but be aware it may cause HDPVR stability issues.

[blade]

Originally Posted by Spectrum

IR blasting with the HDPVR seems to be hit or miss. Some have it working reliably, others (I'm in this group) have nothing but trouble with it. If you experience lockups, missed recordings, etc consider using firewire or a different IR blaster to smooth things out. Hope it works for you, but be aware it may cause HDPVR stability issues.

I've read about the problems and had hoped to use a spare USB-UIRT I have lying around. Unfortunately it seems no one has gotten the USB-UIRT to work with Sage and my particular cable box. I did find some info where people had gotten it to work in BeyondTV.

[Surtr]

Yeah, I tried for a few hours to get it working with the USB-UIRT and ended up driving to the local comcast office and trading it in for the enormous motorola HD box. Problem solved.

[kmburns]

I finally got my Pace RNG110 Set Top Box to work with my HD-PVR using Windows Media Center in Windows 7. Try this:

Uninstall programs and drivers. In Win7, go to Start -> Control Panel -> Programs and uninstall the Hauppauge HD-PVR and WIN-TV applications. Go to Start > Control Panel > Hardware & Sound > Device Manager > "Sound video and game controllers" and uninstall the Hauppauge drivers. I deleted the drivers.

Unplug HD-PVR and restart computer. After re-boot, plug in power to HD-PVR.

Using the CD that came with your HD-PVR, install WinTV drivers and WinTV.

Follow HD-PVR install instructions on Hauppauge website. http://www.hauppauge.com/site/suppor...ort_hdpvr.html

Download from Hauppauge site and install drivers, IR Blaster, and CME per instructions at website above.

The photo diode for the IR sensor on the RNG110 is on the right side of the box, 1.5" from the right edge. Shine a bright flashlight directly above the dark plastic cover and you will see a u-shaped piece of plastic. Shine the flashlight from the bottom and you will see the photo diode/receiver in the middle of the u-shaped plastic. Use a piece of clear tape to tape the IR-Blaster directly over the photo-diode/receiver. This operation is critical!

Got to Start > Hauppauge > IR-Config and set it to Cable Box - Comcast - 0085. If you test the IR-Blaster, you have to re-install CME. "Test" in IR-Blaster may turn your Set Top Box off. Click on "Test" again and it will turn it back on. Verify that the IR-Blaster blinks and the "remote" LED on the front of the RNG110 box flashes in response to the IR-Blaster blinks. It takes about 15 seconds or more for the channel change to occur.

Good luck!
Kevin

[hb4]

This worked for me....

Uninstall programs and drivers. In Win7, go to Start -> Control Panel -> Programs and uninstall the Hauppauge HD-PVR and WIN-TV applications. Go to Start > Control Panel > Hardware & Sound > Device Manager > "Sound video and game controllers" and uninstall the Hauppauge drivers. I deleted the drivers.

Unplug HD-PVR and restart computer. After re-boot, plug in power to HD-PVR.

Using the CD that came with your HD-PVR, install all software
Follow HD-PVR install instructions on Hauppauge website. http://www.hauppauge.com/site/suppor...ort_hdpvr.html

Download from Hauppauge site and install drivers, IR Blaster, and MCE per instructions at website above.

The photo diode for the IR sensor on the RNG110 is on the right side of the box, 1.5" from the right edge. Shine a bright flashlight directly above the dark plastic cover and you will see a u-shaped piece of plastic. Shine the flashlight from the bottom and you will see the photo diode/receiver in the middle of the u-shaped plastic. Place the IR-Blaster directly over the photo-diode/receiver. This operation was not so critical; I (hb4) held it up in front of the diode with a small magnetic clamp, paper clip, and wire tie.

Got to Start > Hauppauge > IR-Config and set it to Cable Box - Comcast - 0085. If you test the IR-Blaster, you have to re-install MCE. "Test" in IR-Blaster may turn your Set Top Box off. Click on "Test" again and it will turn it back on. Verify that the IR-Blaster blinks and the "remote" LED on the front of the RNG110 box flashes in response to the IR-Blaster blinks. It takes about 15 seconds or more for the channel change to occur.

The Revision F2 box I bought at Fry's yesterday had all of the up-to-date software; After trying to configure the blaster with it about a foot away and playing with the test and learn functions of the BlastCFG program, I discovered this thread. It seemed that the real key for me was to install MCE module, which sets the blaster up for Windows Media Center. Once the HD-PVR was happy with WMC, it seemed to be happy with SageTV.

Boy, it takes a while to change channels, though!

[stevech]

Originally Posted by hb4

This worked for me....



The Revision F2 box I bought at Fry's yesterday had all of the up-to-date software; After trying to configure the blaster with it about a foot away and playing with the test and learn functions of the BlastCFG program, I discovered this thread. It seemed that the real key for me was to install MCE module, which sets the blaster up for Windows Media Center. Once the HD-PVR was happy with WMC, it seemed to be happy with SageTV.

Boy, it takes a while to change channels, though!

Yes, so Sage via the HD-PVR doesn't seem practical for Watch TV Live if you change channels, much or at all. The IR code flow is one thing, but the 5 or more second disk buffering delay is more significant.

My cable box changes channels fairly fast (I don't think it uses the disk, just a RAM buffer) - UNLESS the channel change is to content different than the last, e.g., 1080i to 480 or 720. This causes the screen to flash several times, sit in black for 3 seconds, flash, then up comes the new format. The WAF is low on that flaw (Scientific Atlanta/Cisco DVR).

A possible improvement for Sage to emulate: On the cable box, if while watching live off of a tuner, if you hit PAUSE, it begins to disk-buffer. Prior to that the disk isn't used. We like that scheme better than always having the disk buffering delay, as most often, we don't pause live TV.

Something the cable DVR does that I didn't expect is "Start Over" on live TV. On some channels/shows, you can push a button to backup to the beginning of the live show when beginning mid-show. I think this is done with the cable system's Switched Digital Video capability (not DVR disk related).

[voorhees]

I have been using the HD-PVR with the RNG110 cable box for about a year now very reliably. I have only had the HD-PVR freeze up twice, but a quick power cycle fixed it right up. The only other time I missed some recordings is when the RNG110 shut down in the middle of the night but did not come back on by itself. I am using firewire for channels changes and it works really well. I tried to get the USB-UIRT to work but never was able to and went on to firewire. I have never missed a channel change, and it is quicker than the channel changes on my other USB-UIRT controlled boxes.

[stevech]

My TimeWarner SetTop box dedicated to Sage - I just set it up, with HD-PVR.
For expediency, I went with a USB-UIRT.
I'd like to try Firewire, but I've yet to find a clear how-to on doing that - if it CAN work on this Samsung STB.
Would Firewire tuning dramatically speed up channel changes (for View Live TV)?