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<blockquote data-quote="mm1352000" data-source="post: 1193498" data-attributes="member: 82144"><p>Hello again Wayne</p><p></p><p>First I apologise in advance for the length of this reply. Too much to say... <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p></p><p>This is really helpful, as is the rest of the content of your reply. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite24" alt="(y)" title="Thumbs Up (y)" loading="lazy" data-shortname="(y)" /> <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite24" alt="(y)" title="Thumbs Up (y)" loading="lazy" data-shortname="(y)" /> <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite24" alt="(y)" title="Thumbs Up (y)" loading="lazy" data-shortname="(y)" /></p><p></p><p></p><p>Great. That's all fine. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p></p><p>It's exactly as you say: everything in the chain except the blaster is working. The TV Server log file shows that TV Server is trying to use the blaster via the TVE3 Blaster plugin, but it's not working yet because you haven't been able to successfully learn commands yet. I'll come back to this.</p><p></p><p></p><p>This is not critical. Any means of selecting a channel using either a mouse or keyboard should work.</p><p></p><p>Additionally, if you've learnt and configured a remote control correctly with the IRSS MP-Control plugin for MediaPortal (in MP Config -> plugins section), you should be able to do it with the remote control as well. Note that getting a remote control working doesn't require the blaster to be working as a prerequisite.</p><p></p><p></p><p>So far so good. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite24" alt="(y)" title="Thumbs Up (y)" loading="lazy" data-shortname="(y)" /></p><p></p><p></p><p>You don't need this. Please go back and disable it MP Config -> plugins section.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Good. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite24" alt="(y)" title="Thumbs Up (y)" loading="lazy" data-shortname="(y)" /></p><p>That's the critical thing for getting the blaster working.</p><p></p><p></p><p>From a blaster perspective these are not relevant. You may find them useful down the track though, so it doesn't hurt to have 'em.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Hmmm, I would have recommended installing as a service, but if that's what you want then fine. As long as you have some way to ensure that you start IRSS every time you reboot.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Excellent. I can see that's there and working. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite24" alt="(y)" title="Thumbs Up (y)" loading="lazy" data-shortname="(y)" /></p><p></p><p></p><p>Yup, that's the right thing to do. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite24" alt="(y)" title="Thumbs Up (y)" loading="lazy" data-shortname="(y)" /></p><p></p><p></p><p>Indeed, this appears to be the sticking point.</p><p></p><p>The log files show that the problem stems from IRSS. TV Server and the TVE3 Blaster plugin are fine.</p><p></p><p>So, what's up with IRSS?</p><p>Well for a start, you're definitely further along than you were previously. In particular, IRSS is recognising your transceiver's capabilities correctly:</p><p>2016-08-14 17:46:23.810353 - Device Capabilities:</p><p>2016-08-14 17:46:23.810353 - <strong>NumTxPorts: 2</strong></p><p>2016-08-14 17:46:23.810353 - NumRxPorts: 2</p><p>2016-08-14 17:46:23.810353 - <strong>LearnPortMask: 2</strong></p><p>2016-08-14 17:46:23.810353 - ReceivePort: 0</p><p>2016-08-14 17:46:23.810353 - <strong>LearnPort: 1</strong></p><p>2016-08-14 17:46:23.810353 - DetailsFlags: 0</p><p>2016-08-14 17:46:23.825979 - TxPortMask: 1</p><p></p><p>This is a good thing. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite24" alt="(y)" title="Thumbs Up (y)" loading="lazy" data-shortname="(y)" /></p><p></p><p>The TV Server Configuration log file shows me when you're trying to learn, and the result:</p><p>[collapse][2016-08-14 17:51:19,537] [Log ] [GenericPCQueue] [DEBUG] - TV3BlasterPlugin: Received Message "RegisterClient"</p><p>[2016-08-14 17:51:19,537] [Log ] [GenericPCQueue] [DEBUG] - TV3BlasterPlugin: Registered to IR Server</p><p>[2016-08-14 18:07:34,750] [Log ] [GenericPCQueue] [DEBUG] - TV3BlasterPlugin: Received Message "LearnIR"</p><p>[2016-08-14 18:07:34,750] [Log ] [GenericPCQueue] [ERROR] - TV3BlasterPlugin: Learn IR command timed-out</p><p>[2016-08-14 18:07:56,531] [Log ] [GenericPCQueue] [DEBUG] - TV3BlasterPlugin: Received Message "LearnIR"</p><p>[2016-08-14 18:07:56,531] [Log ] [GenericPCQueue] [ERROR] - TV3BlasterPlugin: Learn IR command timed-out</p><p>[2016-08-14 18:11:40,313] [Log ] [GenericPCQueue] [DEBUG] - TV3BlasterPlugin: Received Message "LearnIR"</p><p>[2016-08-14 18:11:40,313] [Log ] [GenericPCQueue] [ERROR] - TV3BlasterPlugin: Learn IR command timed-out</p><p>[2016-08-14 18:11:56,407] [Log ] [GenericPCQueue] [DEBUG] - TV3BlasterPlugin: Received Message "LearnIR"</p><p>[2016-08-14 18:11:56,407] [Log ] [GenericPCQueue] [ERROR] - TV3BlasterPlugin: Learn IR command timed-out</p><p>[2016-08-14 18:12:15,594] [Log ] [GenericPCQueue] [DEBUG] - TV3BlasterPlugin: Received Message "LearnIR"</p><p>[2016-08-14 18:12:15,594] [Log ] [GenericPCQueue] [ERROR] - TV3BlasterPlugin: Learn IR command timed-out[/collapse]</p><p></p><p>If I go and have a look in the IRSS MicrosoftMceTransceiver_DriverVista.log file at the corresponding date/time I see:</p><p>2016-08-14 18:07:22.453423 - Learn()</p><p>2016-08-14 18:07:22.625299 - Received timing: +250, -850, +250, -1700, +250, -750, +250, -2850, +250, -1300, +250, -1300, +250, -1150, +250, -2700, +250, -13000, +250, -850, +250, -2850, +250, -750, +250,</p><p><strong>2016-08-14 18:07:22.625299 - System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.</strong></p><p><strong> at IRServer.Plugin.DriverVista.ReadThread()</strong></p><p><strong>2016-08-14 18:07:22.625299 - Read Thread Ended</strong></p><p>2016-08-14 18:07:32.719063 - End Learn</p><p>2016-08-14 18:07:44.437849 - Learn()</p><p>2016-08-14 18:07:54.500356 - End Learn</p><p>2016-08-14 18:11:28.219486 - Learn()</p><p>2016-08-14 18:11:38.281964 - End Learn</p><p>2016-08-14 18:11:44.313264 - Learn()</p><p>2016-08-14 18:11:54.375772 - End Learn</p><p>2016-08-14 18:12:03.500810 - Learn()</p><p>2016-08-14 18:12:13.563316 - End Learn</p><p></p><p>...and bingo - there's the problem. That "read thread ended" message means IRSS has lost all ability to receive and/or learn. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite3" alt=":(" title="Frown :(" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":(" /></p><p></p><p>I think I may understand why this happened.</p><p></p><p>If you look at the earlier part of that same IRSS MicrosoftMceTransceiver_DriverVista.log file you'll see lots of lines like:</p><p>[collapse]2016-08-14 18:07:20.125306 - Received timing: +150, -99250,</p><p>2016-08-14 18:07:20.250306 - Received timing: +200, -99250,</p><p>2016-08-14 18:07:20.344051 - Received timing: +150, -99250,</p><p>2016-08-14 18:07:20.515920 - Received timing: +200, -99250,</p><p>2016-08-14 18:07:20.828412 - Received timing: +100, -99250,</p><p>2016-08-14 18:07:21.000290 - Received timing: +150, -99250,</p><p>2016-08-14 18:07:21.156543 - Received timing: +100, -99250,</p><p>2016-08-14 18:07:21.719047 - Received timing: +100, -99250,[/collapse]</p><p></p><p>These mean that IRSS is receiving IR pulses every ~400 milliseconds.</p><p>That's not normal or good.</p><p>Normally the log file should only contain "Received timing..." entries when you actually press a button on the remote. Then you'd see entries like this:</p><p>[collapse]2016-08-14 18:05:53.312640 - Received timing: +250, -900, +250, -1750, +200, -750, +200, -2850, +200, -1300, +250, -1300, +250, -1150, +250, -2700, +250, -13000, +200, -900, +200, -2850, +200, -750, +250,</p><p>2016-08-14 18:05:53.422015 - Received timing: -750, +200, -700, +250, -700, +250, -700, +250, -750, +250, -81950, +250, -900, +250, -1700, +200, -750, +200, -2850, +200, -1300, +200, -1300, +200, -1150,</p><p>2016-08-14 18:05:53.531402 - Received timing: +250, -2700, +250, -13000, +200, -900, +200, -1750, +200, -1850, +250, -750, +200, -750, +200, -750, +250, -750, +250, -750, +250, -99250,[/collapse]</p><p></p><p>All of this means that your remote control receiver is picking up "interference" - unwanted signals that are not actually from a remote control, and that can cause problems for the receiver.</p><p></p><p>...and I'm pretty sure this "interference" is what caused the read thread to stop and learning to fail.</p><p></p><p>How to get rid of the interference?</p><p></p><p>That's a tougher question... but in short and practical terms: you need to move the transceiver unit to a better/different position. Ideally it should be as far as possible from sources of heat (because the infra red signals that it's trying to receive are effectively "heat waves") and light (especially fluorescent light and the light from a PC monitor/display or TV). A few inches may be enough.</p><p></p><p>After you've moved it, restart IRSS and try to learn again.</p><p>If you don't restart IRSS, you'll continue to get the "learn IR timed out" error forever... so restarting IRSS is critical. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></p><p>If learning fails again with the same timed out error, it probably means that the receiver is still picking up interference and needs to be moved further or in a different direction.</p><p>Finding a good position is a process of trial and error. Keep restarting IRSS, attempting to learn, then moving the receiver if learning times out.</p><p>Remember that you need to hold the remote really close (2 - 5 inches / 5 - 10 cm) from the receiver when you're learning.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Hopefully everything I've said is clear.</p><p>Feel free to reply with questions if you have any.</p><p></p><p></p><p>You're very welcome! <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="mm1352000, post: 1193498, member: 82144"] Hello again Wayne First I apologise in advance for the length of this reply. Too much to say... :) This is really helpful, as is the rest of the content of your reply. (y) (y) (y) Great. That's all fine. :) It's exactly as you say: everything in the chain except the blaster is working. The TV Server log file shows that TV Server is trying to use the blaster via the TVE3 Blaster plugin, but it's not working yet because you haven't been able to successfully learn commands yet. I'll come back to this. This is not critical. Any means of selecting a channel using either a mouse or keyboard should work. Additionally, if you've learnt and configured a remote control correctly with the IRSS MP-Control plugin for MediaPortal (in MP Config -> plugins section), you should be able to do it with the remote control as well. Note that getting a remote control working doesn't require the blaster to be working as a prerequisite. So far so good. (y) You don't need this. Please go back and disable it MP Config -> plugins section. Good. (y) That's the critical thing for getting the blaster working. From a blaster perspective these are not relevant. You may find them useful down the track though, so it doesn't hurt to have 'em. Hmmm, I would have recommended installing as a service, but if that's what you want then fine. As long as you have some way to ensure that you start IRSS every time you reboot. Excellent. I can see that's there and working. (y) Yup, that's the right thing to do. (y) Indeed, this appears to be the sticking point. The log files show that the problem stems from IRSS. TV Server and the TVE3 Blaster plugin are fine. So, what's up with IRSS? Well for a start, you're definitely further along than you were previously. In particular, IRSS is recognising your transceiver's capabilities correctly: 2016-08-14 17:46:23.810353 - Device Capabilities: 2016-08-14 17:46:23.810353 - [B]NumTxPorts: 2[/B] 2016-08-14 17:46:23.810353 - NumRxPorts: 2 2016-08-14 17:46:23.810353 - [B]LearnPortMask: 2[/B] 2016-08-14 17:46:23.810353 - ReceivePort: 0 2016-08-14 17:46:23.810353 - [B]LearnPort: 1[/B] 2016-08-14 17:46:23.810353 - DetailsFlags: 0 2016-08-14 17:46:23.825979 - TxPortMask: 1 This is a good thing. (y) The TV Server Configuration log file shows me when you're trying to learn, and the result: [collapse][2016-08-14 17:51:19,537] [Log ] [GenericPCQueue] [DEBUG] - TV3BlasterPlugin: Received Message "RegisterClient" [2016-08-14 17:51:19,537] [Log ] [GenericPCQueue] [DEBUG] - TV3BlasterPlugin: Registered to IR Server [2016-08-14 18:07:34,750] [Log ] [GenericPCQueue] [DEBUG] - TV3BlasterPlugin: Received Message "LearnIR" [2016-08-14 18:07:34,750] [Log ] [GenericPCQueue] [ERROR] - TV3BlasterPlugin: Learn IR command timed-out [2016-08-14 18:07:56,531] [Log ] [GenericPCQueue] [DEBUG] - TV3BlasterPlugin: Received Message "LearnIR" [2016-08-14 18:07:56,531] [Log ] [GenericPCQueue] [ERROR] - TV3BlasterPlugin: Learn IR command timed-out [2016-08-14 18:11:40,313] [Log ] [GenericPCQueue] [DEBUG] - TV3BlasterPlugin: Received Message "LearnIR" [2016-08-14 18:11:40,313] [Log ] [GenericPCQueue] [ERROR] - TV3BlasterPlugin: Learn IR command timed-out [2016-08-14 18:11:56,407] [Log ] [GenericPCQueue] [DEBUG] - TV3BlasterPlugin: Received Message "LearnIR" [2016-08-14 18:11:56,407] [Log ] [GenericPCQueue] [ERROR] - TV3BlasterPlugin: Learn IR command timed-out [2016-08-14 18:12:15,594] [Log ] [GenericPCQueue] [DEBUG] - TV3BlasterPlugin: Received Message "LearnIR" [2016-08-14 18:12:15,594] [Log ] [GenericPCQueue] [ERROR] - TV3BlasterPlugin: Learn IR command timed-out[/collapse] If I go and have a look in the IRSS MicrosoftMceTransceiver_DriverVista.log file at the corresponding date/time I see: 2016-08-14 18:07:22.453423 - Learn() 2016-08-14 18:07:22.625299 - Received timing: +250, -850, +250, -1700, +250, -750, +250, -2850, +250, -1300, +250, -1300, +250, -1150, +250, -2700, +250, -13000, +250, -850, +250, -2850, +250, -750, +250, [B]2016-08-14 18:07:22.625299 - System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object. at IRServer.Plugin.DriverVista.ReadThread() 2016-08-14 18:07:22.625299 - Read Thread Ended[/B] 2016-08-14 18:07:32.719063 - End Learn 2016-08-14 18:07:44.437849 - Learn() 2016-08-14 18:07:54.500356 - End Learn 2016-08-14 18:11:28.219486 - Learn() 2016-08-14 18:11:38.281964 - End Learn 2016-08-14 18:11:44.313264 - Learn() 2016-08-14 18:11:54.375772 - End Learn 2016-08-14 18:12:03.500810 - Learn() 2016-08-14 18:12:13.563316 - End Learn ...and bingo - there's the problem. That "read thread ended" message means IRSS has lost all ability to receive and/or learn. :( I think I may understand why this happened. If you look at the earlier part of that same IRSS MicrosoftMceTransceiver_DriverVista.log file you'll see lots of lines like: [collapse]2016-08-14 18:07:20.125306 - Received timing: +150, -99250, 2016-08-14 18:07:20.250306 - Received timing: +200, -99250, 2016-08-14 18:07:20.344051 - Received timing: +150, -99250, 2016-08-14 18:07:20.515920 - Received timing: +200, -99250, 2016-08-14 18:07:20.828412 - Received timing: +100, -99250, 2016-08-14 18:07:21.000290 - Received timing: +150, -99250, 2016-08-14 18:07:21.156543 - Received timing: +100, -99250, 2016-08-14 18:07:21.719047 - Received timing: +100, -99250,[/collapse] These mean that IRSS is receiving IR pulses every ~400 milliseconds. That's not normal or good. Normally the log file should only contain "Received timing..." entries when you actually press a button on the remote. Then you'd see entries like this: [collapse]2016-08-14 18:05:53.312640 - Received timing: +250, -900, +250, -1750, +200, -750, +200, -2850, +200, -1300, +250, -1300, +250, -1150, +250, -2700, +250, -13000, +200, -900, +200, -2850, +200, -750, +250, 2016-08-14 18:05:53.422015 - Received timing: -750, +200, -700, +250, -700, +250, -700, +250, -750, +250, -81950, +250, -900, +250, -1700, +200, -750, +200, -2850, +200, -1300, +200, -1300, +200, -1150, 2016-08-14 18:05:53.531402 - Received timing: +250, -2700, +250, -13000, +200, -900, +200, -1750, +200, -1850, +250, -750, +200, -750, +200, -750, +250, -750, +250, -750, +250, -99250,[/collapse] All of this means that your remote control receiver is picking up "interference" - unwanted signals that are not actually from a remote control, and that can cause problems for the receiver. ...and I'm pretty sure this "interference" is what caused the read thread to stop and learning to fail. How to get rid of the interference? That's a tougher question... but in short and practical terms: you need to move the transceiver unit to a better/different position. Ideally it should be as far as possible from sources of heat (because the infra red signals that it's trying to receive are effectively "heat waves") and light (especially fluorescent light and the light from a PC monitor/display or TV). A few inches may be enough. After you've moved it, restart IRSS and try to learn again. If you don't restart IRSS, you'll continue to get the "learn IR timed out" error forever... so restarting IRSS is critical. ;) If learning fails again with the same timed out error, it probably means that the receiver is still picking up interference and needs to be moved further or in a different direction. Finding a good position is a process of trial and error. Keep restarting IRSS, attempting to learn, then moving the receiver if learning times out. Remember that you need to hold the remote really close (2 - 5 inches / 5 - 10 cm) from the receiver when you're learning. Hopefully everything I've said is clear. Feel free to reply with questions if you have any. You're very welcome! :) [/QUOTE]
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