DirecTV USB Control

[lynnejohn]

Maybe it is just the serial driver driver, but it was a painful finding the issue that I currently can't resolve. So are you currently on a linux build?

Thanks,
John C.

[Beefcake550]

I'm currently running Vista 32 bit on my server machine.

-B

[jpaddock3000]

I'm just about to get DirecTV and I noticed that the new receivers have USB instead of a serial port. Can I just plug in a male to male USB cable and have Sage work with that?

Thanks

[Beefcake550]

Nope, since there is no "USB tuning device" for Sage/DirecTV. You need to convert it to serial and then connect it to your PC via a null modem to serial port or a null modem to USB->serial port.

Good Luck.

[jpaddock3000]

Originally Posted by Beefcake550

Nope, since there is no "USB tuning device" for Sage/DirecTV. You need to convert it to serial and then connect it to your PC via a null modem to serial port or a null modem to USB->serial port.

Good Luck.

So you are saying that I'm going to need 3 devices for every receiver I will have if I want usb to usb? Also, just to confirm, I'm able to have multiple receivers all working with directv tuning right?

Thanks

[Beefcake550]

Each DirecTV tuner will require (you are correct)
(1) null modem adapter
(2) USB->serial adapters

Yes, multiple tuners will work (others do). I can't vouch personally as I only have 1 H23 box.

[lynnejohn]

BeefCake,

I purchased your exact hardware components and still can not get the serial to work. I am running Vista Home Premium (32bit) on a AMD processor and a DirectTV H21 receiver. Are there any particular settings you have set on the "COMM" port in Vista?

Thanks,
John C.

[vexhold]

In your Device Manager, you can see which COM port your serial connection is set to. (Usually it is 3, but not always)

Once you have that, you can go back into Sage and set the COM port to match that.

[lynnejohn]

The COMM port has been set correctly (even though you have to go through the full wizard setup just to change the COMM port.) The COMM port does have speed, start and stop bits that can be modified, but no one has ever mentioned them.

Thanks,
John C.

[Beefcake550]

lynnejohn....

No one mentions them because it's the normal 9600 N 8 1 setup.

do a google search for "dtv control" and get that software. Shutdown Sage before running. Make sure that this program can control the channels first. Once that works, it proves your hardware is working. If you have trouble try different command modes.

Now, I had problems with Sage's native support for DirecTV serial control. There is some registry hack I have heard of, but don't know offhand. Before I was able to find that, I was able to get EXETuner plugin and used it to change channels. I've been happy ever since. If you need help with that, just keep posting here with where you are at and I'll keep trying to help.

[vexhold]

If your talking about the registry hack to allow for Fast channel changing, it is built into Sage now. I believe it is located in Detailed Setup -> Advanced -> DirecTV Fast Channel Changing (on/off)

If for some reason it is not, follow these steps...

1. Click Start --> Run and type "regedit".
2. On the right hand side are some folders. Navigate to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Frey Technologies\SageTV"
3. Click Edit --> New --> DWORD value
4. When a new entry with the name "New Value #1" pops up, I replace "New Value #1" with "DirecTVSerialFastChannelChanges". It is just like renaming any other folder in Explorer.
5. Right click on my new entry and click Modify
6. Change the Value Data field from "0" to "1".

[Skirge01]

I did read that some DirecTV receivers need to be updated to the latest software before the USB port will work. Additionally, it may need to be rebooted while the USB cable is plugged in. The two of these SEEMED to "enable" the USB port for me on my H21.

[lynnejohn]

The fast channel changing has been on throughout my problems. I currently have the only real serial port on my motherboard hooked to a Paterson device. Up till a few days ago I've been using that setup as none of the usb to serial were working. Then this evening the Paterson would not even change the channels. I went into the advanced serial port properties and set the FIFO levels all the way down and it seems to be working again. I'll also try the making sure that the USB is plugged in when I power up the H21. Tomorrow I'll try using one of the downloadable channel changers to see if that works with the usb to serial.
Does anyone know of a easy way to change to COMM port number without going through the setup wizard? I find nothing in the advanced setup menu (only the speed of the serial.)

Thanks,
John C.

[lynnejohn]

Quick update,
I tried Beefcake's USB to Serial parts again and did the following sequence:

1) Installed the USB to serial and after it was recognized, went into the device managers properties under advanced and set the FIFO levels to low.
2) Powered off the H21.
3) Plugged in the USB far end of BeekCakes "USB-Serial-Null-Serial-USB" into the H21.
4) Powered up the H21.
5) Set SageTV to use COMM7 (the USB to Serial device).

Magically it is now changing channels, YEA!

I am not sure if it is the FIFO setting or bringing up the H21 with the USB plugged in.

I'll let you know if it continues to run well.

Thanks,

John C.

[Beefcake550]

Glad to hear you are working again....regardless of what did it.

[lynnejohn]

Thanks,

What I think is very promising is that it is using a plain usb-serial-usb setup. I have never had that work. I will do a bit more tweaking to figure out which of the tweaks really fixed it. I also think I might shift over to Windows-XP, as I don't like that Vista home has no Remote Desktop. There are other options, but my experience of working from home has me leaning toward a real Remote Desktop, which I find much nicer than vnc.

John C.

[Skirge01]

Glad you got it working!

Just in case anyone is wondering about something like this, I'm currently using this 4-port Serial Adapter with a basic usb-serial-usb connection (i.e. not the Paterson cable) and it's working fine. I only have 1 of it's serial connections in use right now, but all the COM ports are showing up just fine in WHS.

[Beefcake550]

Skirge01:
Looks like a cool device, but man $100? That's a lot of scratch....for that at least.

[Skirge01]

In my search, I couldn't find something similar for less money. I didn't want to get a 2 port and regret it in the future. If you know of something, let others know, so they don't spend what I did!

[chstuart]

Ok, I had everything running good for a while and then one of the 2 DirecTV boxes quit responding to commands to change channels. I can control it with direct_control with no problem. It seems that Sage is talking to one receiver, but not the other. Any thoughts?