Channel changing with two Hauppage HD-PVR's

[htshaugh]

Hello folks,
I have Sage 7, Windows 7 and DirecTV and just added a second HD-PVR. I am using the native blasters. One of the devices works fine and changes channels. However, the second device won't change. What can I do to get this working with both devices? I have searched around but I can't find what I am looking for on the forum here.
Harry

[darcilicious]

I think the issue is that you can't use two Happuage IR blasters on the same system. You need to go with an USB-UIRT...

[htshaugh]

Thanks for the tip.

I bought a USB-UIRT a while back and could never figure out how to get it to work. The instructions that came with it were very poor. I tried to hook up my Sony set top box h21-200 but I could never get the usb port to do anything. That was back when I had one HD and one SD recorder but I gave up on that idea since I couldnt figure out how to get different shows to record with the right tuner.

I recently bought another STB (and the second HDPVR), the new one is a Sony h23-600. Maybe the newer Sony will work better? Although the STBs are different models they seem to look and work the same.

Can I use one USB and one blaster or do they both have to be USB?

Where can I find good instructions that will work with these HD boxes?
Harry

[paulbeers]

I'm not sure we are all talking about the same thing. A USB-UIRT is an IR Blaster that allows you to control up to 3 devices. It is much like the Hauppauge blaster, but allows you to control more than one box. It doesn't use the USB ports on the back of the STB. It plugs into the USB port in your computer.....

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by htshaugh

Thanks for the tip.

I bought a USB-UIRT a while back and could never figure out how to get it to work. The instructions that came with it were very poor. I tried to hook up my Sony set top box h21-200 but I could never get the usb port to do anything. That was back when I had one HD and one SD recorder but I gave up on that idea since I couldnt figure out how to get different shows to record with the right tuner.

I recently bought another STB (and the second HDPVR), the new one is a Sony h23-600. Maybe the newer Sony will work better? Although the STBs are different models they seem to look and work the same.

Can I use one USB and one blaster or do they both have to be USB?

Where can I find good instructions that will work with these HD boxes?
Harry

You plug the USB-UIRT USB plug into your SERVER or CLIENT not your h21-200 or h23-600. If that isn't what you are doing - Sorry. That's how I read it in your post

[toricred]

If you're using DirecTV you can also use serial tuning.

[Skirge01]

Originally Posted by toricred

If you're using DirecTV you can also use serial tuning.

+1 ... This is definitely the most reliable way to tune DirecTV.

[htshaugh]

Actually, now that I think about it, I had bought a patterson device for the directv box and that had the useless instructions. It would be great if you could direct me to a thread or a product I can buy to move forward. The concept of USB or serial tuning sounds great. However, I still don't know where to go next.
Thanks!

[Skirge01]

If you already have the Paterson device, you can use that. It's just a matter of connecting it to a COM port on the computer and the other end to the USB port on the DirecTV box. Then, select the correct COM port in SageTV for the HDPVR. You'll probably need to reboot or even power off the DirecTV box after you make the connection.

If you don't have the Paterson anymore, all you really need are these two parts:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2
http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

$35 versus $8.78 seems like a no brainer to me. I've since replaced the single Paterson device I had (throwing away $35 in the process) because the tiny damned screws were ridiculously difficult to get to when you're reaching behind a computer with a tiny screwdriver. I spent far too much time cursing those frakkin' screws.

[htshaugh]

Thanks, I will give that a try and report back.
Harry

[bhyman1]

Serial port channel changing is great for DirecTV boxes.

You would need more than those two parts if you don't have any serial ports built in however. But you can just use another one of those USB to Serial port adapters if you don't.

Also, I Was never able to get it to work with the newest H24 DirecTV boxes. Everything I tried, and nothing worked. Works fine with my H21 and H23 boxes however, I just do a red button reset after a reboot.

[Skirge01]

Originally Posted by bhyman1

You would need more than those two parts if you don't have any serial ports built in however. But you can just use another one of those USB to Serial port adapters if you don't.

I kinda figured since he previously had a Paterson, he knew that part.

Also, I Was never able to get it to work with the newest H24 DirecTV boxs. Everything I tried, and nothing worked. Works fine with my H21 and H23 boxes however, I just do a red button reset after a reboot.

Now that's interesting. Did you force an upgrade of the software? I had to do that on both of my H21s when I first got them. A few reboots later and they worked fine.

[htshaugh]

Thanks all for your help so far. I did order the null serial (from another source since it was out of stock) and the usb/serial adapter from monoprice.

I started with my older directv box using the existing serial port on my computer (com1). I plugged in the USB end of the USB to Serial into the STB and the serial with adapter into the computer. I restarted the computer and the directv box one at a time. I re-configured the sage by removing the source and adding it again. I picked Directv Serial with the matching COM port.

No dice!

I also tried adding the other USB to serial so that I could use the USB on the computer end. I get an exclamation point in the device manager indicating the usb/serial device could not be started. Not sure if that is a bad thing. I tried COM2 and COM4 with that.

No dice!

I also tried my newer Directv box and that didn't work either.

So, any help on what I may be missing would be great. Does the Directv box need to be configured to enable the USB port? Any other ideas?

Its time to watch some football now. Maybe I can try again next weekend. (insert emoticon drinking beer and crying here).
Harry

[Skirge01]

Maybe a really dumb question, but did you install the drivers for the USB to serial device? It should have come with a mini-CD.

[htshaugh]

Well, I did put the CD in and chose to upgrade the driver from device manager. I pointed it to the CD drive and checked the checkbox to search sub folders for a driver. Windows came back and said I already had the latest driver.

There were a lot of sub-folders on the mini-cd so I didn't think it would be wise to randomly pick a driver to install when windows seemed to think it had things under control.

Anyone know which driver would be the right one for Windows 7?

I will take another look at that cd but I don't think that's it. (Don't be shy if you disagree.) Any other ideas?
Thanks!
Harry

[Skirge01]

I'll try to dig up the CD when I get home tonight and get back to you. I haven't installed it under Windows 7, but maybe something will stick out. If I recall correctly, I think the directions were very specific, too. One of those threatening things where they say "do NOT plug in the device until AFTER the driver is installed" or something. Maybe I'm thinking of something else, though.

Do you show the new COM port in device manager?