Please help - Sage and HD-PVR IR Blaster

[Phydeaux]

I'm having trouble getting Sage to change channels on my STB via my Hauppage HD-PVR and HD-200 Media Extender. It's likely that I have not read enough, although my eyeballs are taking on a distinct 3:4 aspect ratio... Here's my setup:

My HTPC is a headless unit stashed away in a rack in my utility room. It runs Windows XP, patched up to date, and has one of the latest Sage betas installed (I'll update it to 6.5 now that it was just released) and the latest version of SageMC. There is no other software installed on the PC. Sage is set to run as a service. I access the HTPC via Windows Remote Desktop Connection for maintenance, installing software, configuring etc.

Until recently we had no broadcast TV. I live in a rural area with no cable TV and no high-speed Internet. So Sage has been dedicated to simply serving archived media. I use no software clients. I have a couple of Sage HD-200 Media Extenders with the latest firmware installed and have been using them for a couple months to watch media archived on a NAS via the Sage server. It all works reasonably well and I have no outstanding functionality issues. There's nothing too imaginative here, pretty plain Jane installation.

I recently added a StarChoice STB and a Hauppage HD-PVR to the mix. Both are physically located in the utility area with the HTPC. I also added a USB modem and dial-up Internet connection. Here's where I'm at:

I installed the latest HD-PVR drivers downloaded from the Hauppage website. I also installed just the two IR related items that came with the HD-PVR (Blaster and Config?) as I have no use for the other software. I ran the config utility and can change the channels on the StarChoice STB using the IR blaster and the config utility. The other IR component - the mini remote control icon that shows up in the system tray - doesn't seem to do anything. If I double-click on it, a mostly blank white window comes up with two buttons on the bottom: One which just minimizes to the tray again and the other which exits the program. I image that it should show up as a virtual remote control, but it doesn't and of course there is no documentation.

On the Sage side, from the HD-200, I re-ran part of the Sage setup and it saw the Hauppauge as a new source. I've added it and added the StarChoice channel guide and waited while my slooooowwww Internet connection got the listings. Going into the My TV area and selecting Watch Live TV let's me view the channel that the STB is tuned to. But I can't change channels. I mean, the Sage guide shows that I've changed channels, but the STB didn't get the message...

Going into the Sage Sources setup, I see that the Hauppauge IR-Stub device is selected, but none of the configuration options have any options in the list. I've been banging my head against this for awhile now with no success

What am I doing wrong? Also, I just remembered that the HD-PVR came with a remote control. Should I be using that instead of (or in addition to) the one that came with the Sage HD-200? If so, is there a way to merge the channel up/down and direct channel entry (via numbers) so that I can just use the Sage remote for everything? I'm really lost here.

Also, can someone direct me to information about using a dial-up connection with Sage? I have Sage set to dial-up when needed, but really would just like to set it to dial up the Internet and get updated channel listings and weather once per day at, say, 4:00am...

RLW

[TallMomof2]

I know you're running XP on your server but on my WHS server I had to install the WinTV program in order for the IR blaster to work. The IR porgrams wouldn't even install because they needed a .dll that was installed with WinTV. That may not be your problem but it might work.

[Phydeaux]

Thanks for the suggestion. I hadn't considered that, and since both the IR components installed without error I assumed they should work without error. And easy thing to check however.

In the reading I've done there seems to be some question as to whether one can continue to run Sage as a service. But I haven't seen a definitive statement one way or the other, so I'm hoping someone seeing this thread can step up and tell me what my options are.

And my confusion over remotes is likely not helping.

Thanks again. I'll check that tonight.

[TallMomof2]

I run Sage as a service and did the same when I used an XP server. You may want to run the clear program to remove all your Hauppauge drivers and programs and reinstall all the Hauppauge stuff except the mp4 conversion program.

[Phydeaux]

I'm not familiar with the clear program you mention, but would like to do exactly as you suggest as it seems a reasonable next step. I'll install from the original CD, then update the drivers with the downloaded updated ones.

Thanks,
RLW

[TallMomof2]

If you go to the Hauppauge support page, it's the last link in the left hand column. HCW Clear

[Phydeaux]

Thanks. I'll uninstall the clear all settings before I reinstall.

RLW

[Phydeaux]

Just thought I would close the loop on this thread as I now have everything working. For anyone finding this thread in the future and wondering what I did to resolve my issues...

I uninstalled all Hauppauge software and drivers, then ran the HWClear program that is on the installation CD to clear out all the related registry settings etc. Rebooted. I re-ran the Hauppage driver installation from the setup CD and also installed all the software, using the custom installation option so that I could select both the IR Blaster and the WinTV IR app. Then I ran the driver updates that I had downloaded from their website and installed the most recent IR Blaster utility, also from the Hauppauge website. Rebooted.

I ran the Blaster config and set it up so that it changed channels on the STB. I clicked on the IR remote icon which was minimized in the system tray... and it was the same as previously: a big blank window with an Exit button and a Close button. And Sage still didn't control channel changes. I exited the IR program... and Sage worked fine. I removed the IR program from the Startup folder and rebooted. Without logging in, Sage works fine, changes channels with no drama or glitches. I logged in and things continue to work fine.

At this point, although it doesn't appear I need any of the crappy software that comes with the HD-PVR beyond the drivers and the IR Blaster, I'm not uninstalling anything. As TallMomof2 suggested, there may be some unknown dll dependency. I just deleted the icons for all the other junk and carried on.

On the other topics I was asking about:
The HD-200 extender remote and the remote that comes with the HD-PVR work interchangeably. Since the Sage one is a little nicer and obviously better tailored to controlling SageTV, it's really the correct one to use.
Forcing Sage to update channel listings at a particular time is also possible, and works well in conjunction with the detailed setup option of letting Sage dial when it needs to. This is detailed in the SageTV FAQ.

Thanks for the assistance!

RLW