HD-PVR and Motorola DCH3200 IR control

[mayamaniac]

I just received and setup the HD-PVR today, seems to record just fine. No problesm so far. It says Rev C2 at the bottom so I assume its a "fixed" version.

Anyway, everything is good except for channel changing in SageTV. I'm using the IR blaster from the HD-PVR. I have a Motorola DCH3200 box and I copied the MotorolaDCT2000.ir file to the Huappauge IR Blaster folder, but it doesn't seem to be working. Is there anohter .ir file that works with the DCH3200?

Edit: Oops, Topic should say DCH3200, not DCT2000.

[mayamaniac]

Nevermind, after a reboot, it works now.

[mayamaniac]

After a few hours of testing the IR blaster, it doesn't work all the time and I can't figure out why sometime it doesn't work. It seems to work well with the Hauppauge IR Remote app, but not through SageTV.

I wish there's a guide to setup the HD-PVR with SageTV, sorta like the guide for the HDHR.

[mayamaniac]

It works perfectly with the Hauppauge IR app. The problem is with SageTV, where channel changing is erratic, most of the times it doesn't work.

I submitted a bug report. If anyone got the HD-PVR IR Blaster to work with the DCH3200, please post the steps you did to make it work.

[phelme]

I find that none of the bundled IR blasters (Hauppauge, MCE etc.) are as reliable as the USB-UIRT. It's the hardware that's the problem IMHO. The USB-UIRT is more powerful and can blast from a good distance away, as opposed to IR "bugs" which have limited range and with most boxes need to be placed in a "sweet spot". I've never had good luck with "bugs" on DirecTV boxes, but have no experience with Motorola cable receivers.

And while not inexpensive, the USB-UIRT is SageTV supported out of the box.

[mayamaniac]

The USB-UIRT is more powerful and you don't have to put it directly on the IR sensor. But that's for one unit, if you want to control multiple boxes, then you still have to use the little "bugs" with the USB-UIRT.

My problem is with SageTV. The IR Blaster works perfectly with the Hauppauge IR app. I have yet it to see it fail to deliver a command. Under SageTV, when it fails, I don't see the red flashing lights on the "bug" IR blaster, which means SageTV is not sending any commands to it. I have no idea why it works sometime and why it all of sudden stops working.

I'm waiting from tech support. But I'm tempted to try the firewire method to change channels because if it works, it will be faster and 100% reliable that it change to the correct channel.

[mayamaniac]

Just tried channel changing via firewire, but having the same problem as with the Hauppauge HD-PVR IR Blaster. This is frustrating.

[mayamaniac]

Problem Solved.

Tech support had me uninstalled SageTV, including deleting everything in the SageTV folder except for wiz.bin and Reinstalled it. Had to spend a couple of hours doing that but afterward, channel changing works great. Via firewire is awesome, it is much faster than via the IR blaster. It takes about 5-6 seconds on firewire to finish changing channels. It takes about 12-15 seconds with the IR blasters. So if your STB has a firewire port, I suggest to try the firewire method.

[GollyJer]

Thanks for posting this mayamaniac. I had the same problem and the solution worked for me as well. It's a major pain though. Too bad there wasn't a simpler solution.

I love having two HD cable boxes changing channels via firewire each hooked to an HD-PVR. It doesn't get much better than this for the price.

[sic0048]

Originally Posted by mayamaniac

...if your STB has a firewire port, I suggest to try the firewire method.

I would 100% agree with that. Fire wire is faster and more consistant than IR. You never have to worry about the IR emitter falling off your STB

Glad to hear it is working for you.