D11-500 model working with USB...kind of

[fatsin182]

Alright, so I've been messing with the USB to Serial cables and the D11-500 stb from directv and I've seen some nice success. The USB port will accept commands from the Serial cable and at this point, I've managed to send commands to the STB via a program called Com Port Toolkit....http://www.compt.ru/

The commands I have sent have allowed me to change the channel at will, up or down, input channel numbers, and many others. The commands are in hex format such as to change the channel up, I enter

FA A5 00 01 D1

Basically the command functions exactly like I was pushing the buttons on the directv remote control. So the problem of figuring out if the USB port will work on the D11 models is solved, but now I am at another dilemma. How do I get these commands to work with SageTV? How do I get Sage to issue these commands automatically when I for example hit channel up in Sage?

I'm no good at programming and I stumble through most of it till it works, so if anyone has any suggestions for editing dll's, or property files or anything else, your advice is greatly appreciated. I just need to input all of these different commands into Sage and tell Sage which command goes with which button press. Thanks in advance!

-Shane

[fatsin182]

After looking through posts on the forums here, I'm still confused as to how I go about getting Sage to send the commands for me. I see some perl scripts and directv.exe controls, but I'm not sure how to impliment them. I downloaded a file called directv.pl and I'm not exactly sure what to do with it or if it is even valid in my case. Does anyone have something that I could use to help me get Sage to communicate with my STB instead of this Com Port toolkit I've been using? I'm sure I could edit a current file that works for a D-10 model, but I'm just not sure what file that would be or how to impliment it. Thanks for any help!

-Shane

[cybrmage]

There is built-in support of the directv serial control in SageTV V4.

However, this may not work for your reciever. The key code mapping that the D11 receiver uses has changed from previous versions. If the directv serial control of SageTV uses the OpenUserChannel command then it will work, but most directv control software uses the SendUserCommand command (the one you have been experimenting with) that will no longer work.

The only way to find out is to try it. Remove the tuner source that your DirecTV receiver is connected to and add it back in and select the directv serial control tuning plugin.

If it does not work, that leaves you with 2 options.

1) Contact Sage Support and ask them about the possibility of geting the updated key mappings integrated into SageTV.

2) Use the EXETunerPlugin or EXEMultiTunerPlugin to run an external utility or script to send the correct tuning commands to the correct serial port for your receiver.

Do a search on the forums for "EXETuner" and you will find all the information for installing and configuring the EXE(Multi)TunerPlugin.

Complete information on the command set and key mapping incorporated into receiver can be found here: http://www.sbcatest.com/installers_help_d10.pdf

You can find a perl script ( you will need a win32 version of perl installed - you can find one here: http://www.activestate.com/Products/ActivePerl/?mp=1) that has been updated to support the key mapping of the D11 here: http://www.mit.edu/~je18337/directv/directv.pl

Regards

[fatsin182]

Thanks Cybrmage, lots of good info there. I have looked through that PDF which lists the commands for the D11 and I have had a lot of success sending commands to the STB using a Com Port software tool. The commands work flawlessly. Your info about the perl and exetunerplugin is where my inability to figure this stuff out comes into play. I have both the exetunerplugin and the multi version, but I'm not sure what to do with them. I have removed my tuner source and reconnected it, selecting the exetunerplugin. I have the updated D11 perl script and I installed Perl from the links you graciously provided.

My question is how do I incorporate the perl stuff with the exetunerplugin? Is it in the registry or somewhere else? I apologize for my lack of knowledge, I'm just no good at programming. Sure I can crack programs with readme files and edit simple stuff, but apparently my mind is lacking to the point where I can't seem to figure this out. I have found lots of Mythtv stuff and WinLIRC (something like that), but I haven't found anywhere that just simply lays out how to incorporate the perl files with the tuner plugin.

I think people using this tend to have a good handle on it, so when they ask questions in the forums, it isn't dumbed down and the procedures they have gone through skip over the simplest things, that I don't know how to do I guess. If you can be of any help on this matter it would be awesome, but I'll keep plugging away at it regardless. I've been at this for 6 hours straight now and I'm pretty tired. Thanks in advance!

-Shane

[mike1961]

The question is except for the challenge why bother if you can just get a D10 for around $10 plus shipping? The moment I heard it woud be a challenge getting the D11's to work I knew I just didn't have the time and got the D10's and have four of them right next to eachother working great. Unless you are a hobbyist looking for a challenge, I say time is money and it just isn't worth it. You can pick up the D10's and use your access cards from the D11's in the D10's since DTV will easily reprogram them over the phone in a matter of a minute or two.

By the end of the year or so it's rumored that DTV will have high def cards directly for the PC with no cable box anyway. Ahh...always another question/problem...but will they be dual tuner cards or USB otherwise we are out of slots pretty quick?

Mike

[fatsin182]

Yeah, I wouldn't call myself a hobbyist, I'm just consumed with getting this to work. I've put enough thought into at this point that it's hard to think of going in a different direction. However, if I were to pick up D10s, can I get D10-100, 200, or 300 models? Does it matter which one I get? I've seen stuff on all 3 and people mentioned some worked some didn't, but I've looked at so many posts that maybe some were really old.

-Shane

[mike1961]

Let me start by saying this: if you are a hobbyist then by all means enjoy. There have been other posts and I've yet to see it work in spite of the countless hours wasted. But since you said you are not a hobbyist and justified it by saying it's hard to go in another direction then I have to strongly disagree. Quite the opposite, it's easy to go in another direction because everyone here will testify that the D10 is "the right direction."

Also, please remember your university economics class and the "opportunity cost." In other words - the time you spent cannot be recaptured and is already spent. If it is going to take you more than one hour more to get your D11 to work then you are wasting time because that's how long it's going to take to get a D10 to work. You get the D10, you get the cable, you plug it in select Serial DirecTv in Sage and you're done. No headaches. If you don't have the time and are not a hobbyist, forget your obsessions and throw the D11 out the window. Mine sit up in the closet gathering dust because I haven't even had the time yet to store them in the garage or sell them on ebay.

Once you have a D10 and the cable, you can get your serial connection working in a matter of minutes. In fact, I built my own cable in 15 minutes and posted how to do it with a picture on this board. Now, it took me a couple hours of testing and hassle of researching what the connections were but that work is done and you can benefit from it (otherwise just get the wierd RJ45 jack they talk about - I just built my cables though).

This project could easily consume yet another 10 hours of your time and you may post back here again saying you have too much time invested. Remember - opportunity cost and "don't throw good money after bad" I suppose the same could be said about your time and aggravation.

I'll be more than happy to help you build your own D10 cable if you want. You just need a crimper, cables and some RJ 22 jacks and a DB9 (serial rs232) male ends cable.

Best to you.
Mike

Originally Posted by fatsin182

Yeah, I wouldn't call myself a hobbyist, I'm just consumed with getting this to work. I've put enough thought into at this point that it's hard to think of going in a different direction. However, if I were to pick up D10s, can I get D10-100, 200, or 300 models? Does it matter which one I get? I've seen stuff on all 3 and people mentioned some worked some didn't, but I've looked at so many posts that maybe some were really old.

-Shane

[mike1961]

Almost forgot - regarding the other boxes they are supposed to work but I've heard rumors that some may have problems. I know that only the D10-100's are from direcTv and the others are from other manufacturers. I would just get the D10-100 from either ebay or circuit city may still sell them. Keep in mind they are actually leased equipment from circuit city which just means the DTV will replace them or service them free of charge...otherwise no real difference.

Mike

[mike1961]

Should have mentioned - people may have not been able to get it to work or had problems if they either did not have the right cable or did not have a working serial port or plugged it into the wrong com port. Otherwise it works just fantastic.

You see - I have 4 STB's and you have to be sure that you have the right cable plugged into the right com port. For simplicity I ran my STB #1 to com1, STB #2 to com 2, etc. When you add your video source you have to tell Sage which com port from each STB the cable is going to. You can easily then test everything in the setup by viewing the channels (where you can enable or disable them) and when you view different channels that's how you know your serial cable is working with that STB. Obviously if you only have one STB then it's easy (just watch TV and try changing channels). But when you have four you can't just easily watch TV on any and all four STB's without recording and moving to different channels which is a pain. You want to make sure when using capture source #1 it changes channels on the STB #1. Hope all that made sense.

Mike

[dagar]

Actually the -100 refers it to a particular manufacturer (as does the -200/-300). D* doesn't make the STBs.

http://www.valueelectronics.com/ is a great place to get D* STBs at good prices. They can typically fill a reqeust for 'I need 4 D10-100 STBs'.

[mike1961]

You are correct about the D10-200 and others not being made by DTV. But the D10-100 is considered the standard and I thought it was made by DTV but if not it still is the one that works flawlessly.

Dagar - maybe I did not look in the right place but I could not find any D10's on their website. Still, D10's are easily had on ebay with shipping being more than the box itself.

Mike

[dagar]

I called them to confirm. YGPM

[cybrmage]

The EXE(Multi)TunerPlugin uses the windows registry to determine what executable/script takes to control the tuner.

The EXETuner Plugin uses the [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Sage\EXETunerPlugin] key and the "command" value while the EXEMultiTunerPlugin uses the [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Frey Technologies\Common\EXEMultiTunerPlugin] key and the "command" value.


You would create a .reg file to set the key/value in your register.

For example: I use the EXEMultiTunerPlugin to drive my MCE IR Blaster, and the .reg file contains:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Frey Technologies\Common\EXEMultiTunerPlugin]
"command"="C:\\Program Files\\girder\\event.exe SageSetExternalChannel 18 %DEVICE% %CHANNEL% -silent"


This causes SageTV to run the event.exe executable passing "SageSetExternalChannel", "18", The name of the device, the desired channel and "-silent" as parameters which triggers an event in girder so that it can send commands over the IR Blaster.

The .reg file for the EXETunerPlugin is similar:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Sage\EXETunerPlugin]
"command"="C:\\Program Files\\girder\\event.exe SageSetExternalChannel 18 %CHANNEL% -silent"


For the D11 control you would change the command value to use the directv.pl script and pass it the correct command line. You will need a command line similar to:

"directv.pl port COM1 box_type D11 on setup_channel %CHANNEL% quiet"

To determine the correct command line use a command prompt to send test commands to the D11. Once you find the correct parameters needed to cause the D11 to change channels, create a new .reg file with the correct command and then merge the .reg file into your register... run SageTV... and test out some channels.

[fatsin182]

You underestimate my newbness Cybrmage I'm not sure what you mean by open a command prompt and send the D11 commands. Do you mean the command prompt in windows? And if so, I'm no good at dos prompt commands. How do I communicate with the D11 through something like that? Like I mentioned, the only thing I've gotten to send commands to the D11 is that com port program.

Looking at the perl script, I see several spots that have the % which seem to be categories. Beneath the % are several commands and their function. I'm assuming you mean I should find which set to point the reg file to within the script right? And when you say create a .reg file, do you mean just go into the registy under exemultitunerplugin and create a String named "command" and then edit the command line? Wow, I need help. Sorry for all the questions and in the end I might just take the easy way out because there is an auction on ebay for two D10-300 models for $5. That might be a lot easier for me. Instead of blazing new trails with this D11, I'll just go with what people have already gotten to work

Thanks so much for your effort Cybrmage, really awesome stuff.

-Shane

[fatsin182]

Oh, I forgot to mention...if I go with the D10s how do I go about making the serial cables? I know there are lots of posts on it already, but I'm confused a little. I have some things from messing with this D11 setup so I'm not sure if I should just make my own or order the adapters from the directvcontrol site. I see people mention just crimping cables. I don't know what crimping exactly is. Is it like soldering?

Lets see...I have 2 female/female null modem serial cables and the phone cords that came with the D11s...or the directv guy just gave them to me. Do these adapters help me at all? http://www.cablewholesale.com/cgi-bi...xt=DB9+to+RJ12

Or if I ordered two of these Modular 4P4C adaptors from the direcvtvcontrol site would that be all I needed combined with the two female/female serial cables I have. Thanks for the advice!

-shane

[mike1961]

Shane - lots of ways to create a cable. You can get an adapter (that's one way). Another way if you want to build your own cable, you don't "HAVE" to crimp on connectors but you can probably get better cable if you do. Although it probably doesn't matter too much since very little data would be passing through the cable anyway.

Okay - first, you only need 3 wires (3 conductors so just get a 4 conductor phone cable) that need to go from the jack to the COM port. Here's the diagram:

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/atta...0&d=1141627126

So, in theory, you could just buy a simple phone cable but make sure it is 4 conductor AND is an RJ22 jack (that is the thin jack that plugs in your phone receiver and all too often a 4 line jack is wider, not RJ22, which is the one that plugs into the wall).

You see - you could just go out and buy an phone cable that already has an RJ22 crimped on both sides then cut it down the middle. Next, buy a female db9 RS232 serial cable then cut that down the middle and you can then easily make two cables. I could not find a serial cable with two female ends and most have one male and one female so what I did was just buy a very short 3 foot cable and cut it near the male end and tossed that out. Then I just used a long phone cable (since phone cable is a lot cheaper than db9 serial cable). Then after cutting them down the center just gently strip the wires and attach the 3 cables to the correct serial wires.

CAUTION: The only real way to know for sure which color wire to use for the serial cable is to get a multimeter and test each color (after stripping 1/2 off of the insulation at the ends of the wires and put a paper clip in the female holes #2, 3 and 5. Then test the "continuity" to know which pin goes with which color. NOT ALL DB9 USE THE SAME COLOR FOR EACH PIN so test it with a multimeter which you can pick up for around $10.

You can buy D10-100's right away by clicking the BUY NOW on Ebay and not wait days for an auction to end. Here's a link and you will see the link where it says "Buy It Now" for $9.99 and shipping which is probably around $15 or so. Then just use your access cards from the D11 and call DTV to have them program it which takes just a few minutes.

http://search.ebay.com/search/search...100&category0=

Mike

[cybrmage]

Command prompt = windows command prompt.

once in the command prompt change the directory to where you put the directv.pl script (ie: c:\program files\directv) with:

cd "c:\program files\directv"

then use the directv script to send commands to the D11.

The directv.pl is similar to the comm port utility that you tried, except it is a command line program that does not have a GUI and you do not need to send raw control data... it does that for you. You do not need to reference anything in the script file, just the file itself. Think of the script as any other program - you run the program and it does what it was designed to do - you don't need to worry about the guts of it.

so, assuming that your com port is COM1, let try to change the D11 to channel 200 (CNN). At the command prompt type:

directv.pl port COM1 box_type D11 on setup_channel 200 quiet

If your serial port is not COM1, replace it with the serial port you are using.

If this works, and the D11 changes to channel 200, you then need to create a .reg file.

If it does not work, you will need to play around with the options. entering directv.pl (without any options) by itself at the command prompt will cause it to print a list of options that you can try.

A ".reg" file is a file that windows will import into the registry for you. In Windows Explorer, navigate to your C:\program files\directv directory. Then right click in the file listing window and select "new" then "text document". Then rename the file to "EXETunerPlugin_D11.reg". Then open this file in notepad.

Copy the following lines from this post (the lines between, but not including the "-------"'s ) and paste it into notepad.

--------
REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Sage\EXETunerPlugin]
"command"="C:\\Program Files\\directv.pl port COM1 box_type D11 on setup_channel 200 quiet"

--------

Then Save the file. Then go back to Windows Explorer and double click on the "EXETunerPlugin_D11.reg" file. Windows will ask if you want to add the information into the registry. Click "Yes" and then you are ready to test SageTV.. Load SageTV, In "setup video sources" make sure that the tuner that your D11 is connected to is set to use the EXETunerPlugin for tuning, then go to the program guide, select a program a channel that is on your d11, and select "watch now". Your D11 should change to that channel. Try other channels...

Regards.

[fatsin182]

Ok, that makes a little more sense. I appreciate you taking the time to type up all that information. You are really being super helpful. I'm going to hold off a little bit longer on getting those D10 models and see if I can't get these D11s working. Thanks Mike for the info on setting up those cables too. If I go that route, I'm going to refer to your knowledge to help me through the process. I'm digging these forums. I'm new to them and already so many people are helping me out. Sage forums hooooo!!

-Shane

[mike1961]

Shane - you got that right...this Sage forum is just a huge help. By the way, I don't always see every post so feel free to send me a private message to see your post on the forum. You know - I love the way you can set Sage up on a file server so that every TV in the house shares the same recordings.

Oh, by the way, you could always take the easy/unreliable way out of just setting your D11 box to work with IR instead of serial. But, I don't recommend it but it will work so that is one way to get the D11's to work. I have four boxes right next to eachother so I wanted them to work flawlessly. IR does not always work (or is just not as reliable as serial).

Keep at it,
Mike

[cybrmage]

Someone from the MythTV forums has been successful with getting the D11 working. See his port here: http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17235

If you follow his instructions to get PERL and all the required modules installed, you can incorporate this into sage by using the EXETunerPlugin or EXEMultiTunerPlugin using the following reg files:

EXETunerPlugin_D11.reg
-------
REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Sage\EXETunerPlugin]
"command"="perl.exe C:\\perl\\directv2.pl port com1 baudrate 115200 flow none box_type D11 %CHANNEL%"

-------

EXEMultiTunerPlugin_D11.reg
-------
REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Frey Technologies\Common\EXEMultiTunerPlugin]
"command"="perl.exe C:\\perl\\directv2.pl port com1 baudrate 115200 flow none box_type D11 %CHANNEL%"
-------

Make sure to change "com1" to reflect the actually com port that your unit is connected to. Also make sure to dowload the file maked "Windows version of directv.pl" (directv2.pl).
Regards