External Channels Tab? (1 Viewer)

[idonwong]

Hi all,
I've installed MediaCenter version 1.0 and have been trying to set it up to control my STB. I think i almost got everything down, but am missing a big piece which is, what has happened to the "External" setting in the Edit Channels dialog? It seems without this setting, MediaPortal doesn't know to send out IR commands to my STB. It seems from posts from other users that this setting did exist for previous versions of MediaPortal. Am i a complete idiot, or am i missing something?

Here's my setup:
Athlon X2
Hauppauge 1600
Vista Home Premium

Thanks in advance!

 

[RSykes]

External STB

I assume you are using an external STB, so do you have a picture for the channels you have specified?

I have an STB connected to my TV card and have all channels set up and this causes mediaportal to send the channel number change to you STB.

I have attached a picture of where in TV server you need to change.

Robert

 

[idonwong]

Thanks for your reply. Here is some more information:

Yes, i'm trying to control my external digital cable box which is connected via S-video to the Hauppauge WinTV HVR-1600. The channel is basically the same as you showed in your screen shot, except I set it to SVHS#1. The video is received fine, but the problem is when i try to switch to another channel also set up for SVHS#1 on the same card *say channel 100) it doesn't send out the IR.

I found an earlier forum post that explained that the externals tab is no longer necessary in this MP release, and that it should be enough to associate the channel with the card and specify the card with the ServerBlaster or TV3 Blaster plug ins. However, i have so far had no luck.

FYI, i have the IR blaster from the Hauppage card, as well as an MCE IR Blaster.

I verified the Hauppauge blaster works from Hauppauge's IR config utility.

I installed IR Suite, and got the TV3 Blaster plugin as a result. I selected and tested my STB selection through the TV Server configuration. I am able to successfully send the IR to change the channels from the Plug In's Test functionality. I see the IR blinks and the STB receiving the IR codes. But in MP, i get no IR when changing channels.

I also tried setting the ServerBlaster plugin configuration for microsoft's IR, and set the card selection to the HVR-1600. Still nothing.

I do have a Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-250 installed as well which i planned to use for the analog tuner. Is it possible having both cards is causing a problem?

Has anyone else encounter any problems like this? This isn't the first HTPC i've built, but it is the first time I am trying MediaPortal and it's getting pretty fustrating. I figured out the EPG already so it's just this IR that's the problem right now. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[duddingc]

Did you ever get an answer?

Idonwong, did you ever get this sorted? I have an almost identical installation with an HVR-1600 and the Hauppauge IR Blaster.

I have a very similar issue issue, MediaPortal can view the STB output but won't use IR Blaster to change channels, when WinTV by Hauppauge will.

best regards

 

[idonwong]

I did manage to get it working by reading the IR Server Suite thread a little more carefully. The part I missed was:

Edited by Rekenaar; 2009-01-30. Reason: Attach 1.0.4.1 patch files here
If you are still using V1.0.4.1, please install the following 2 patches.
You must disable the input service (start menu, run, services.msc, find the input server and stop it) before you can update the files.
Microsoft MCE Transceiver 1.0.4.1 - SP1
TV3BlasterPlugin - 1.0.4.1 2008-01-13

After I installed the MCE replacement, and blaster plugin, i was able to control the external STB from inside the MediaPortal client. Good luck!