Directv

[ca n vt]

I have not even begun but am considering building myself a pretty basic pvr using my existing computer. I was just wondering if anyone has used this software with Directv and how it was. Also, what kind of hardware did you have to get in order to get it to work. I have read a lot of places that have said that they have used IR Blasters to control the set top box however I noticed that there is a USB plug on the back of my D11 box. Can this be used? Also, what would you recommend for a tv tuner? Anyways thanks for reading my post and let me know what you think.

[delicious]

Well, I have directv working with MP. The usb port can be used to control your receiver, but not with MP, at least not right now. Someone would have to code the plugin to work. I'm using an older receiver that works with a current plugin. You'll need a cable to interface your computer to the receiver. As far as a tuner card, I'm using a wintv pvr-150 on my MP box (it also doubles as my mythtv box). The 150 also came with a blaster to control external receivers that I'm not using. I also have a wintv pvr-250 that I'm using on a snapstream beyondtv box. All of that being said, unless you're really patient or can do some coding, I wouldn't recommend MP to you. If you want some software to work immediately and correctly, I'd recommend SageTV or BeyondTV. It really depends on how much you're willing to spend, what features you would like and how much time you're willing to invest. If you'd like, I can give you the pros and cons to all of the software I've tested/used.

[ca n vt]

That would be great. I was considering beyond tv since they have a package specific for directv but then I was looking at yahoo go for tv because well it's free but someone on that board recommended this software. I would be really interested to hear what the pros and cons of a bunch of them are though. I'm taking my time right now and haven't really purchased anything. Trying to make sure I get the right stuff for my cpu. I have a 2.5ghz presario s5000nx with about 632meg of ram.

[mzemina]

I'm surprised by the number of people who do not use the simple search function that is available on this bulletinboard. When using the keyword "directv" I found this thread (of course) but also the thread which you can jump to here.

Note in the first post it says:

For US users with DirectTV - I wrote a plugin that will allow MediaPortal to change channels on your DirecTV box via serial port instead of using an IR blaster. Plugin requires .NET 2.0/MediaPortal 0.2.0.

It uses the "new" DirecTV serial command set and may require a a DB9 to modular cable (email me if you need one).

But in the last post it says:

Hi,

Not too long ago I rewrote this plugin to be more "generic" and so it would support more boxtypes. I'm from the Netherlands though so obviously I don't own such a box. I was just trying to take care of a user on IRC which had difficulties with the original plugin.
The rewritten plugin has been tested with several boxtypes and confirmed working with them. Unfortunately the testing of the plugin came to a standstill and it was never made available publically.

The plugin is supposed to (at least) support the following boxtypes: RCA, D10-100 and D10-200. Whether your box uses an "old command set", "new commandset" or is supposed to change channels by sending "remote keypresses" to the receiver (via the serial interface).

Anyone interested is welcome to test it. Get it from here: http://scoop.cybox.nl/mediaportal/tmp/DirecTV_new.zip

Note: the DirecTV.SerialInterface.dll should go to the MP install directory, the DirecTV.TunerPlugin.dll should go into the plugins\process\ subdirectory.

If this plugin turns out to be a better incarnation than the original plugin then I'll upload it (along with the source) to the MP homepage.

Kind regards,
Michel (scoop)

Why don't you two check it out? If it works for you then there should be more people singing its praises and tell ohter people about it!

[delicious]

@mzemina: I'm aware of that plugin, although I'm using the second directvtune plugin in that thread (the one in MP downloads). The D11 does not have a low speed data port, only a usb connector, so it's going to require a rewrite. I've seen people go through the process with mythtv.

@ca n vt: Yahoo Go is from the developers of Meedio, which was bought by Yahoo. It's still in beta and apparently has a lot of problems. I've used the following software at some point or another: MediaPortal, MythTV, SageTV, BeyondTV and TVedia. I'll just go through them one-by-one.

MediaPortal: It's open source and free. Anyone can work on it and make plugins and enhancements. It's fairly robust and has a lot of features that work (for the most part) well. It's constantly in development to fix the stuff that doesn't come up to snuff. It allows people from every country to use it by using various ways to bring in television, including dvb-t,c,s and standard tuners. While this is great, it's also it's downfall for North American users. It isn't easily setup, the tv database isn't implemented to change channels or browse the epg correctly (at least not in your situation) and I don't think that any of the developers are in NA. There's not a lot of hope to get any of that stuff streamlined or fixed in the near future. However, even if you don't end up using it, you should keep your eyes on it.

MythTV: Pretty much the same pros as MP. It is linux based and has a good amount of users. They were the first to get the D11 box working, for example. I'll go out on a limb and say that since most people who use linux and Myth are very computer literate to begin with, fixes usually come pretty fast. Of course, if you're not very computer literate, just running and configuring linux can be difficult, let alone installing and configuring Myth. There are other linux pvr software solutions, including Freevo and VDR.

SageTV: Probably my favorite software that I don't currently have installed. As is the case with BeyondTV, it's pretty much geared to North American users. Therefore, if you're using a sattelite or cable box, support will be there or at least people will be in the exact same situation as you are and clamoring for a fix. SageTV is the only pvr software that I've seen with intelligent recording. i.e. It will record shows that it thinks that you will like (like an actual tivo box). The only additional supported abilities of Sage is the media center, which will display photos and play mp3s and video files. There is decent plugin support, however.

BeyondTV: This is the first pvr software that I used. I purchased it when 3.0 first came out, years and years ago. It is very strong at what it does, which is tv. However, that is all that it does. They have another piece of software that will do media stuff (Beyond Meda), but it is not integrated with BTV yet and is apparently not very good. It is pvr software, NOT software for htpc.

TVedia: I'm keeping an eye on this one. They recently went through a large overhaul of the frontend and it's capabilities. It looks impressive, but they haven't added pvr functions to the new software yet, but when they do, I will install and test it on a trial basis.

Well, that's it! I'm leaning towards purchasing SageTV myself as the intelligent recording feature is really cool. But right now, I'm seeing if I can tweak MP to make it work like I feel it should. Not because I think it's going to be a long term solution, but because I like a challenge, I guess.

[ca n vt]

Yeah I realize that's annoying. I was in a bit of a hurry when I wrote that and sometimes it can be a little tedious looking through every thread for exactly what you're looking for. I realize that's not much of an excuse.

I have seen with other software that people have said you can control the box through the serial port however that seems to be only up until the d10's. I have a D11 which has no serial port on it. It only has a single USB port on the back and I wasn't sure first if it would still work the same or if it was Directv's way of eliminating peoples ability to do that and second if anyone had the new box and had used it.

My questions were somewhat more general as well since I have not begun really putting my pvr together even yet I am looking into what is most convenient for my situation.

Thank you for pointing that out however.

[ca n vt]

thanks delicious that's pretty helpful. How much storage space would you say is a good amount to have? Should I bump up my RAM or would you say that's enough? Anything like that would be helpful as well.

[CodeMonkey]

I just searched the web a bit and came up with this:

OK, I got it to change channels with the USB/Serial converter and a null modem cable attached to my Linux (FC5) box and directv.pl . Works like a freakin champ. Woohoo!

This confirms that the D11-500 USB port is active, and will accecpt commands from the converter.

ps- as an aside the D11 does not respond to all commands, but I can change the channel, turn it on/off, and get the current time for it. Maybe thats why the TiVo thinks its not responding.

and

From the patersontech.com website:

The DirecTV D11 & H20 receivers have a USB port instead of a serial link. We are developing a new USB TV Translator to control these receivers. If everything stays on schedule (not a certainty!), we should start shipping around August 8th. We will begin accepting orders about a week before the first shipments.

According to http://www.sbcatest.com/installers_help_d10.pdf :

All new DIRECTV Set top boxes (STB) have USB 2.0 data ports replacing the DB-9F or RJ22 data port connectors. The STB USB port has a host configuration. USB 2.0 data ports may have a default baud rate of 9600 or 155200 in new models. Serial commands are interfaced through the data port using a USB-Serial adapter. The following RS-232 compatible serial port adapters will be supported:

• Manufacturer Model USB Vendor ID USB Product ID
  IOGEAR GUC232A 0x067B 0x2303
  ATEN UC-232A 0x067B 0x2303
  BAFO BF-810 0x067B 0x2303

Sounds like it should work. A good first test is to try a USB<=>Serial converter and NULL modem and see if it responds to the plugin. if it doesn't, the document I linked to above gives the command set for the D11 (but try changing the baud rate to 155200 first ).

[ca n vt]

I know I'm going to sound really ignorant here but what is a "null modem"?

[CodeMonkey]

A NULL modem swaps the transmit and receive pins.