HAVA Channel Changer

[Jason]

*UPDATE* 9/7/2009

With this being mostly a 'hack', it was bound to be super seeded by a replacement...

I urge everyone to switch to the new hava channel changer over on SourceForge... The usage is still the same, but with more options!

http://sourceforge.net/projects/havafun/

*OLD*
Since coming back to Sage, I have tried in vain to get my 'old' HAVA Wireless HD setup as a standalone tuner... With Monsoon not being very... forthcoming... on providing any sort of API or follow up interfaces, I was left to myself.

This may not seem like a big deal at first, until you realize that the HAVA can now be setup WITH NO CONNECTIONS TO THE PC!!! Yes... that is right! A true standalone 'network tuner'.

Again, this may not seem all that exciting, until you further realize that the HAVA can ACCEPT COMPONENT INPUTS up to 1080i! Don't get to excited however, as the HAVA currently downconverts to 480i. In other words, you can feed ANY resolution to HAVA but it will down convert it to 480i (720x480 interlaced). The good news is that the HAVA will also keep the aspect ratio of the source! As quoted, "HAVA down-coverts from the HD to SD inside the box by scaling the image horizontally from 16:9 to 4:3 aspect ratios. But when played back on the PC, the original 16:9 aspect ratio is restored giving an HD experience."

OK... The long and short of this program... The HAVA accepts an RTSP (streaming...) command to change channels. Many of the Mac, Linux and non-MCE users of the HAVA use VLC to change the channels. The problem for them is that in doing so, they only get a resolution output of 320x240...

Well, by using the channel changing capabilities of the RTSP stream and the BDA driver capabilities, we now have a tuner that can accept HD input, keep the aspect ratio, is not limited to using a built in RF Tuner (which can only accept channels up to ~150), and now works with SAGE!

By using the exetuner plugin and the help of 'elfman' over on the HAVA forums who suggested the use of openRTSP (and then compiled it for me using cygwin...) we have the basis for our exe!

To use it, you need to have an RTSP compatible firmware for the HAVA, which right now is set at 152.105-32 and then simply setup the exeplugin as normal and set your registry to the following:

"HAVAChannelChanger.exe xx.xx.xx.xx %CHANNEL%"

Where XX.XX.XX.XX = your internal IP address for the HAVA.

In addition, you need both the openRTSP.exe file and the cygwin1.dll file in the Sage program directory (C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV).

So, to whit, get your HAVA firmware setup, setup the exetuner and then just extract this zip file into the Sage directory!

Comments or issues, let me know!


Oh yeah... Here is the link...

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/down...do=file&id=299

[Graygeek]

Great work Jason! I'll give this a try. Maybe this will give HAVA the attention here, that it deserves. It truly is a great box that can capture non premium HD and regular digital cable. Channels like HistoryHD, Planet Green HD, etc look great through HAVA. The other great thing is, it doesn't suffer from any lockup issues etc. that have plagued the more expensive HD-PVR, and can be place at opposite end of house from your SAGE server. After only a week with it, I love my HAVA Platinum!!

Thanks again Jason for you efforts and insights on the potential of this great <$150 network tuner for component capture!

[elfman]

Glad to hear this has potential for you guys. . Since my use case isn't currently SageTV, I wasn't 100% sure if it would work for you too.

One more hint (mileage may vary)... If you have a set top box with some channels that need entry of the form 00xx and you pass 00xx via rtsp to the hava, it only seems to use xx. For example, with DISH, OTA locals map to channels that need 0s and they didn't channelchange. I tried to workaround this limitation in hava rtsp for a while...

After some time, I figured out a hack for this that works with my STB was to pick channel 102 (a DISH info channel for me) and prepend it to all of my 00xx channels. In this way, if I want to tune to channel 00201, I rtsp to 10200201. My set top box then tunes momentarily to channel 102 and then on to 00201.

Obviously, the challenges are that this might not work with all STB and the dummy channel to prepend needs to be configurable because it depends on your provider.

[Graygeek]

Added Jasons channel change patch and to sum it up with one word!

SWEET !

Thanks Jason it works great.

[Jason]

Originally Posted by Graygeek

Added Jasons channel change patch and to sum it up with one word!

SWEET !

Thanks Jason it works great.

Glad to hear it! It is truly too bad that Monsoon does not support this device better. They started off so well...

-Jason

[jimcpl]

Hi,

Apparently, in some earlier versions of the HAVA Wireless firmware, you could use an RTSP URL like:

rtsp://<IP_OF_HAVA>:554/<channel#>

to set the channel and watch (e.g., via VLC), but HAVA apparently broke that channel setting via RTSP URL functionality with the most current firmware.

Do you know if your app will still work (be able to cause the HAVA Wireless to change channel) with the most current firmware for the HAVA Wireless? Or would the HAVA Wireless firmware need to be downgraded to an older version that accepted the "/<channel#>" RTSP URL?

Thanks,
Jim

[Jason]

Originally Posted by jimcpl

Hi,

Apparently, in some earlier versions of the HAVA Wireless firmware, you could use an RTSP URL like:

rtsp://<IP_OF_HAVA>:554/<channel#>

to set the channel and watch (e.g., via VLC), but HAVA apparently broke that channel setting via RTSP URL functionality with the most current firmware.

Do you know if your app will still work (be able to cause the HAVA Wireless to change channel) with the most current firmware for the HAVA Wireless? Or would the HAVA Wireless firmware need to be downgraded to an older version that accepted the "/<channel#>" RTSP URL?

Thanks,
Jim

To use it, you need to have an RTSP compatible firmware for the HAVA, which right now is set at 152.105-32.

They are 'supposed to fix it in the next release...

-Jason

[jimcpl]

Originally Posted by Jason

To use it, you need to have an RTSP compatible firmware for the HAVA, which right now is set at 152.105-32.

They are 'supposed to fix it in the next release...

-Jason

Yes, I know. If you've been over there, you may have seen that they, at one point, offered to provide some posters a private copy that didn't have the channel changing capability broken, but then, as far as I know, they never provided it.

Question: You said "an RTSP compatible firmware for the HAVA". Did you mean just that, or did you mean "an RTSP compatible firmware for the HAVA that also doesn't have the channel changing capability broken"?

The reason for the question is that the most current firmware DOES STILL work for RTSP streaming. It was just the channel changing via RTSP URL that got broken.

Thanks again,
Jim

[Jason]

Originally Posted by jimcpl

Yes, I know. If you've been over there, you may have seen that they, at one point, offered to provide some posters a private copy that didn't have the channel changing capability broken, but then, as far as I know, they never provided it.

Question: You said "an RTSP compatible firmware for the HAVA". Did you mean just that, or did you mean "an RTSP compatible firmware for the HAVA that also doesn't have the channel changing capability broken"?

The reason for the question is that the most current firmware DOES STILL work for RTSP streaming. It was just the channel changing via RTSP URL that got broken.

Thanks again,
Jim

Yes... RTSP does work... However, selecting seperate streams via RTSP (Channels...) does not work in any firmware past the version I posted.

Jason

[mike_15]

Jason,
Thanks for your efforts.

I am having some trouble getting this to work. my old box had firewire so I was using fore wire to tune, my new box does not have firewire so I was looking to use the emitters from the hava box. They work with the hava software.
So Here is what I have done, I don't understand what should be done for the multituner when dealing with the hava,


I downloaded the channel changer file, extracted to the sage/sage folder.
using the multi tuner
pasted "HAVAChannelChanger.exe 192.168.0.101 %CHANNEL%" into the hklm\software\frey technologies\common\exemultitunerplugin

in the location C:\Program Files\SageTV\Common\RemoteCodes\EXEMultiTunerPlugin

I have a file named 192.168.0.101.ir with "192.168.0.101 38000 400 3 400 800" inside it.
In sage I have the multituner selected and chose the 192.168.0.101 device.

Where have i gone wrong? is there a way to test the signal using command prompts?

Thanks
Mike

[mike_15]

does anybody have any suggestions?

[Jason]

Originally Posted by mike_15

Jason,
Thanks for your efforts.

I am having some trouble getting this to work. my old box had firewire so I was using fore wire to tune, my new box does not have firewire so I was looking to use the emitters from the hava box. They work with the hava software.
So Here is what I have done, I don't understand what should be done for the multituner when dealing with the hava,


I downloaded the channel changer file, extracted to the sage/sage folder.
using the multi tuner
pasted "HAVAChannelChanger.exe 192.168.0.101 %CHANNEL%" into the hklm\software\frey technologies\common\exemultitunerplugin

in the location C:\Program Files\SageTV\Common\RemoteCodes\EXEMultiTunerPlugin

I have a file named 192.168.0.101.ir with "192.168.0.101 38000 400 3 400 800" inside it.
In sage I have the multituner selected and chose the 192.168.0.101 device.

Where have i gone wrong? is there a way to test the signal using command prompts?

Thanks
Mike

Are you using exetuner or exemultituner...?

Each program uses seperate registry entries...

[mike_15]

I am using multituner. I couldn't find exetuner, from what I had read multituner replaced exetuner.

Mike

[elfman]

You guys might want to check out this thread. http://myhava.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3639

I'm trying to get channel changing going with the later firmwares for a linux project but it seems to overlap with you guys too. Hava seems okay with discussion happening on their forums (see http://myhava.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3617)

Elfman

[Graygeek]

Thanks Elfman,

Looks interesting ... I'll give it a try.

Now if there was just a way to run two HAVA's on on one PC life would be great, but HAVA seems to have little interest in improving their use in the HTPC world. It works great but one is just not enough!

[mike_15]

Elfman, that sounds like good news.
I am looking forward to being able to change channels with my hava. I have not been able to get the current changer to work.
I will give your code a try tonight.

Thanks
Mike

[mike_15]

Elfman, I was able to get this working quite easily. and tied it to sage using the EXEMultiTunerPlugin.

First I tested the function using cmd prompt leaving your tuner app on the desktop.



I moved the hava_channel.exe from the desktop to the sage folder for my own benefit. then modified the registry for the EXEMultiTunerPlugin so it points to the new location and put the correct local ip.
http://mycast.orb.com/orb/data/image...&maxHeight=600


the only thing i have noticed is that when the channel changes it flashes a command prompt then disappears. I think there are some things I could add to the registry setting so it does not steal focus, but that is for another day.


Thanks for your efforts
Mike

[elfman]

Hi Mike,



Glad to hear that it seems to work. Maybe theres a compiler flag I'm supposed to use to avoid it trying to create the command window? That seems vaguely familiar... As I mentioned before, my main goal relates more to Linux and its been a while since I've done much development on windows.

The rtsp method that Jason was using previously was compiled with cygwin instead of the microsoft compiler. Compiling for cygwin is actually easier than microsoft compiler because you don't have to worry about winsock.

I'm experimenting now with grabbing the video stream from hava http://myhava.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3648.

Thx,
Elfman

[Graygeek]

Originally Posted by elfman

Hi Mike,



Glad to hear that it seems to work. Maybe theres a compiler flag I'm supposed to use to avoid it trying to create the command window? That seems vaguely familiar... As I mentioned before, my main goal relates more to Linux and its been a while since I've done much development on windows.

The rtsp method that Jason was using previously was compiled with cygwin instead of the microsoft compiler. Compiling for cygwin is actually easier than microsoft compiler because you don't have to worry about winsock.

I'm experimenting now with grabbing the video stream from hava http://myhava.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3648.

Thx,
Elfman

Now if we could just use two HAVAs of one system life would be grand!

[Jason]

Originally Posted by mike_15

the only thing i have noticed is that when the channel changes it flashes a command prompt then disappears. I think there are some things I could add to the registry setting so it does not steal focus, but that is for another day.


Thanks for your efforts
Mike

You could do the poor man's 'fix' and use trayit...

http://www.teamcti.com/trayit/trayit.htm