USB-UIRT Stops working...

[jrog]

Hmmm,

This is odd, I've been working for about a week with the USBUIRT, but two days ago it appears to have given up around 5 or 6pm, approximated by when the recordings stopped changing channel. I had a bunch of recordings be wrong, so I stopped and restarted the Sage Service, and everything was back to normal, channel changing and all. Now, today, two days later, it did it again, and about the same time. I restarted Sage Service, and it's fine again. I have not rebooted my PC, and I have not removed the USB-UIRT. It's connected through a USB hub, with 2 HD-PVRs and 1 PVR USB2.

Anybody else have similar issues? Is there anything I can check or try to see about eliminating this? If nothing else works, can I set SageTV to restart the service everyday at 1PM or something??

[CollinR]

Becareful with it's wire routing keep them well away from high voltage, power supplies and electric motors and whatnot.

[jrog]

I have the unit itself resting on top of one of the cable boxes, and the 2 other IR emitters connected to boxes underneath. It seemed to be working fine until I moved it to the hub. My plan was to run a cable to a hub through the wall to my garage, and then move all my devices into the garage. I haven't noticed an issue with the encoders being on the same hub though...

[jelgart]

My USBUIRT stopped working reliably last week. It worked very reliably under sage for about 2 years but seems to require a system reboot every couple of days. Does anyone have any suggestions?

[appelm]

As CollinR mentioned, the wires are very sensitive to noise. If you've shifted stuff around at all and the wires come close to power cables, there can be a problem with the signal. I've found if I move the wires as best as possible away from other wires (power, video, etc), *and* reboot the computer, the usbuirt works again.

[jrog]

The problem for me, is that the unit stops sending IR commands. It doesn't even blink. The USB cable, and IR cables are at least a half foot away from any AC cables. All I need to do is restart the SageTV Service, and it starts working properly again. Nothing else.

I Suppose I can try connecting the USB-UIRT to a USB port on the motherboard, instead of through the powered hub, but I'm not sure how that would be different.

[CollinR]

Anything that changes the wire paths (both USB and emitters) will have effects. This is rather easy to reproduce with newer USBUIRTs.

[MattHelm]

Question 1. Did you install XP SP3. That's doing weird things to some USB systems.

Suggestion 1. Go into the device manager, and mack sure none of the USB devices are being allowed to be turned off by the OS.

[jrog]

Originally Posted by CollinR

Anything that changes the wire paths (both USB and emitters) will have effects. This is rather easy to reproduce with newer USBUIRTs.

I don't get what you are saying. To get it to work again once it has stopped working, I'm not moving anything or changing any of the cables. When it's working, it works perfectly, and changes all three cable boxes independently, but then after a day or so, it stops sending IR signals. If I go into the Tuner Setup, and then send a test IR code, I don't even get a blink of the RED LED on the front of the unit. Without physically changing anything, I just stop and start the SageTV Service, and it behaves as expected. In Tuner Setup, I can send Test IR signals, and the RED LED lights up again, and all works fine.

I'm running SP3, but have for weeks. I will check that the OS isn't turning the device off, but my system never goes into standby.

[CollinR]

Well plug a hairdrier in nearby and run the emitter cable near it while the heater and blower are active. Usually the USBUIRT will die off and act as you discribe immedately. Basically it is inducing something and when that occurs the device fails as you discribe, unplug/replug or restart and it comes back. If the number of days and time is very predictable you may be able to find the actual source but it's easier to just reroute the cables carefully.

[jrog]

Hmm... the only thing they are near is the actual cable boxes themselves. I do have the UIRT itself sitting on top of the three cable boxes, and bouncing the signal down to the top box, and then the bottom two boxes have cardboard in front of them and the IR blasters stick on to the front of those boxes.

Do I need to pay special attention to the USB cable or the UIRT box itself? is this just an issue with picking up feedback on the IR blaster cables?

I will probably start by moving the UIRT away from resting on the cable box, to aiming at it from a few feet away, then try arrange the blasters so that they aren't near between the UIRT and the front of the other two boxes.

Thanks, I wasn't getting what you were suggesting earlier.

[gplasky]

If you attach it to a hub it needs to be a powered hub. You're best off moving it back and connecting it to the USB port on the computer.

Gerry

[MattHelm]

Originally Posted by jrog

but my system never goes into standby.

This isn't a standby thing. This is windows saying you aren't using something, so put that ONE device in lowpower mode. Not sure that is it, just making sure.

And like others said, make sure the hub is powered.

BTW, I have used a 10 foot cable on a USB device with a 3 foot cable, and it worked fine.

[jelgart]

I tried the disabling the power thing, but that didn't work. Unlike the other dude, restarting sage doesn't bring the USBUIRT back up. I need a reboot. The wire interference theory is nice, but those wires are the same for 2 plus years. My next move? I might buy a new USB-UIRT and see if that solves it for $45. Alternatively, are there other IR blasters out there?

[JREkiwi]

Had similar problems, would change channels most of the time on scheduled recordings, but if I tried testing it with live TV it would only ever send the second number for the channel change. Needed to reboot to get it working properly.

John

[Fluffdaddy]

http://forums.sage.tv/forums/showthr...highlight=uirt

[JREkiwi]

This might be a good place to start if you're using a hub.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/908673

If you have WinXP SP3 installed you just need to make the registry change in the KB article.

John

[jelgart]

So I ordered a replacement USB-UIRT and guess what? The old one has worked flawlessly for 24 hours now. I am starting to suspect that some program like an HP printing suite was interfering. I'm slowly pulling all these programs off my computer as I get ready to dedicate this machine to TV.

[MrD]

Originally Posted by jrog

I don't get what you are saying. To get it to work again once it has stopped working, I'm not moving anything or changing any of the cables. When it's working, it works perfectly, and changes all three cable boxes independently, but then after a day or so, it stops sending IR signals. If I go into the Tuner Setup, and then send a test IR code, I don't even get a blink of the RED LED on the front of the unit. Without physically changing anything, I just stop and start the SageTV Service, and it behaves as expected. In Tuner Setup, I can send Test IR signals, and the RED LED lights up again, and all works fine.

I'm running SP3, but have for weeks. I will check that the OS isn't turning the device off, but my system never goes into standby.

I believe he is talking about induced EMI. Basically the emitter is acting as an antena and stray magnetic fields are inducing a voltage on the wire. This *may* cause the USB-UIRT an issue.

I believe I had this issue, I wrapped the wire around a ferite core and the problem has disappeared.

[jrog]

Okay, I have been running fine for the last few days, except, it appears that my USB hub is a little flaky. I've had it go completely out to lunch, and I have to power cycle it and disconnect it from my computer to come back. I think it's time to replace it. It's just a 7 port Belkin, but it's probably a few years old.

My sensors are positioned well, and I made the breakout cable myself, which is working great too.

Thanks for the tips