SageTV, Winlirc and Girder - Can't Change Sat Box Channel

[mor_eli]

I have an HTPC with Heppaugue 350 PVR.
I've build home made IR trasmitter that is being controller by WinLirc. I can successfully use WinLirc to change channels on the satellite box that I have.
I'd like to be able to use SageTV to change the channel with the home brew IR transmitter. My transmitter is connected to COM 1.
I've tried the following:
1. Install EXETUNERPLUGIN and set it up to communicate with Girder. But I cannot get SageTV to change the channel and/or even open notepad for that matter.
2. Get SageTV to talk with WinLirc. No Go. Seems like Sage doesn't like to send out any commands/messages

Please, Please, Please...
Any advise as for how to get Sage to change the channel on the sat box will be greatly apreciated. What i'm trying to get is to navigate thru sage live tv screen, and by changing the channel on the live tv, having sage change the channel on the sat box, or...
When trying to set up a recording, having sage automatically change the channel on the sat box, so it'll record the correct channel

I've been looking all over the place but most of the threads i've read were dealing with having Sage use Ir Blaster, or USB IRT. What about having it just talk with win lirc? or just send commands to Girder?

Can anyone please provide as detailed guide line as possible?

Many Thanks!!

[nielm]

or just send commands to Girder?

You need to configure the EXETUNERPLUGIN to send a Girder event using the GirderDSSTUNE.reg registry file attached to the zipfile. (you may need to edit this file if Girder is in a different path to the standard one).

You can now test to see if Girder is receiving the event (Girder's logging plugin is useful for this!)

You now need to configure a Girder action to respond to that event, get the channel number from the event payload, and tell WinLirc to send the IR commands for each digit in the event payload.

A search for "girder exetunerplugin" brings up quite a few posts, but mostly for sage->exetunerplugin->girder->USB-UIRT, however it should not be too difficult to change the girder action to drive WinLirc...

(thread with example GML)

[mor_eli]

I've tried using girder, but for some reason, Sage does not sends anything out. I've tried putting in the registry the command line notepad.exe %channel% but notepad doesn't open.
Sage just doesn't sends out any events, not to open notepad, or nothing to girder even.

It looks like I have an issue with Sage or the properties, or i'm doing something wrong. I've tried versions 2.2.8 and 2.0.1 Same issue on both.

Any advice please???

[nielm]

hmmm... are you sure that ExeTuner Plugin is selected for the source (you should see it if you select the source in the Setup/Source Wizard), maybe deleting the source and re-creating it and making sure that you select ExeTunerPlugin when prompted for the IR device... (if you have not already done this)

[mor_eli]

I don't know what else to do. I'm trying to put my hands on the EXEtunerplugin source code without success.
I've tried it in any shape or form, but no go.
I've un-installed and re-installed sage already, I know how much time each screen is on.
I'm attaching the registry keys and the properties file.
If anyone has any idea why it's not working, i'll be in debt forever!!

Thanks!!

[nielm]

Try enabling the debugging console to see if there is any useful error messages (see the faq)...
Try using the full path to notepad...
Try contacting sage support...

[mor_eli]

I've turned on the debug flag but I couldn't see any errors. In fact, I couldn't identify a line that indicates that SageTV or the EXETunerPlugin is trying to change a channel
I've attached the debug log.

Any ideas?

[dagar]

Which receiver are you using?

FWIW The D10-100 series (not sure if it's also the 200/300) got a 'downgraded' firmware that 'messed up' (whether intentional or otherwise) the serial port on them so you can't change channels. But if you don't have D* and/or don't have a D10-x00 series it may not be affecting you.

[mor_eli]

Using Girder and the transmitter I've built, along with WinLIRC, I can change the channels on the reciever without an issue.
What's the indication in the Sage debug log that it's talking with EXETunerPlugin? How can I tell that it's actually trying to send the event/signal out to change the channel? I couldn't see anything in the logs that indicates that it's trying to do that.

[nielm]

What's the indication in the Sage debug log that it's talking with EXETunerPlugin?

There may not be anything in the logs -- I was wondering if there were any error messages, and it appears that there are none.

Just had a play.. Are you using the SageTV Service?

It does not work in service mode (silently fails) unless you go into windows service manager (right click My Computer; select Manage; Select Services and Applications; select Services) and edit the properties for the SageTV Service and in the logon tab select 'Use LocalSystem Account' and 'Allow service to interact with desktop'. Note that using LocalSystem means that the Sage Server will not be able to access network drives.

The other option is to disable the service and run Sage as a normal appl.

If this solves your problem, you should report it to Sage Support so that they can fix it in a future version!

(note I only tested that the EXETunerPlugin runs notepad... good luck with the rest of Girder + stuff!)

[nielm]

(continued from the other thread)

Originally Posted by mor_eli

No, the SageTV service is disabled.

Sorry, but I am out of suggestions...

For me it just worked -- put the dll in FreyTech/common, restart Sage, create source, select exe tuner, and then use the .reg file included in the exetuner zipfile (edited to run notepad instead of girder's event.exe). No .properties file editing required, no modification of any other registry entries.

The only time I had problems was when I was running Sage as a service, as mentioned above...

[mor_eli]

Thanks for trying!
I've got the ExeTuner source code, and i'm going to add some debug data to it, so I can try to figure out where is the problem

Cheers...