new plugin for changing channels (DirecTV w/serial port) (2 Viewers)

[mackandall]

Thaks for the help so far guys. I dont mean to be bother or get any one annoyed but for some reason my problem still persists. I get a tv guide with all my channels listed but when i select them the capture card tires to tune them instead of media portal doing so via the serial connection to my box.

I have a d10-300 direct tv box. When I am configuring the plug in I use the closest option which is the d10-200 in the drop down menu.

I am wondering if the problem arises from the fact that my serial port is actually on a docking station for my laptop. I was sure to put it on com1 to get the direct tv plug in work so i hardly think that should be a problem. GBPVR and Beyond tv down seem to have a problem tunining the box via serial but media portal does. I really want to get it working because it seems to use a lot less system resources than the others. The following is a part of my error log relating to the serial plugin:

006-10-26 02:42:06.968750 [ERROR][MPMain]: Exception: System.TimeoutException: The operation has timed out.
at System.IO.Ports.SerialStream.ReadByte(Int32 timeout)
at System.IO.Ports.SerialStream.ReadByte()
at System.IO.Ports.SerialPort.ReadByte()
at DirecTV.SerialInterface.ReadResponse(Byte verify, Byte& expect, Byte& response)
at DirecTV.SerialInterface.SendCommand(Command cmd, Byte[]& receivedData)
at DirecTV.SerialInterface.SendCommand(Command cmd)
at DirecTV.SerialInterface.TuneWithRemoteKeys(Int32 channel)
at DirecTV.SerialInterface.TuneToChannel(Int32 channel)
at DirecTV.TunerPlugin.TunerPlugin.OnThreadMessage(GUIMessage message)
at MediaPortal.GUI.Library.SendMessageHandler.Invoke(GUIMessage message)
at MediaPortal.GUI.Library.GUIWindowManager.SendMessage(GUIMessage message)
2006-10-26 02:42:23.734375 [ERROR][MPMain]: Exception: System.TimeoutException: The operation has timed out.
at System.IO.Ports.SerialStream.ReadByte(Int32 timeout)
at System.IO.Ports.SerialStream.ReadByte()
at System.IO.Ports.SerialPort.ReadByte()
at DirecTV.SerialInterface.ReadResponse(Byte verify, Byte& expect, Byte& response)
at DirecTV.SerialInterface.SendCommand(Command cmd, Byte[]& receivedData)
at DirecTV.SerialInterface.SendCommand(Command cmd)
at DirecTV.SerialInterface.TuneWithRemoteKeys(Int32 channel)
at DirecTV.SerialInterface.TuneToChannel(Int32 channel)
at DirecTV.TunerPlugin.TunerPlugin.OnThreadMessage(GUIMessage message)
at MediaPortal.GUI.Library.SendMessageHandler.Invoke(GUIMessage message)
at MediaPortal.GUI.Library.GUIWindowManager.SendMessage(GUIMessage message

 

[Hesse]

ca n vt

bxs122 wrote a separate plugin that I'm using for the D11-500 and it works like a charm. This plugin didn't work for me, but it would be nice if all the source code for these plugins could be combined to make it simpler for new users because I see a lot of posts about people being frustrated about how to get DirecTV to work.

Jesse

 

[natrlhy]

mackandall,

Try changing the channel with this utility. You should be able to use it in order to test the functionality of your cable and COM port setup. I did this and once I verified that I could change channels, I knew it was working.

A few times I would see that timeout error, even in the dtvcontrol utility. To resolve it, I would have to unplug the power from my DirecTV receiver and I think in a few cases, I even rebooted my PC just to be safe.

See if you can get that dtvcontrol utility to work and change channels through that. If you want to change the settings with the dtvcontrol utility, just right click on the bar with the close/maximize/minimize buttons and you will see a settings option to change things around to test.

Hope this helps!

 

[mackandall]

I got it configured natrlhy. Given the errors I was seeing in teh log i thought it was the plugin that was the problem. Turned out i neglected to manually set each channel to be tuned via the external device in the channel setting section. I went back to the second version of the serial plugin posted here and configured each channel manually. Do you know if there is a way to save this channel configuration for future installs? Would want to have to go through them one by one again.

 

[ca n vt]

Cool, thanks Hesse that's good to see. I'll give it a try. It's hard to sort through all the directv posts since there are so many different people using different receivers but I'm glad to see there's finally something that migh work with mine.

 

[opusnut]

Hi all,

I am going to try and compile a new version of this plugin that is a little more intuitive for choosing your STB model and finally have one plugin that will work for everyone. So what i need is for everyone to send me or post here your STB make and model and what setup you are using in the configuration.

thanx...
opusnut

 

[natrlhy]

Very exciting news! I'm looking forward to to testing your new plugin!

Receiver: Hughes HTL-HD
Model: RCA (New)
Serial port: COM1
Baud rate: 9600
Read timeout: 1000

Advance settings:

Keymap: RCA keymap
__ Use old command set
_X Use "channel set" for tuning
__ Use power-on before tuning
__ Enable extensive logging

 

[jburnette]

I've got a D10-100 and use all the standard settings as they were when I installed the plugin.

 

[Hesse]

I have a D11-500 and use the plugin by bxs122 which I linked to a few posts back. The only settings in the plugin is the COM port.

Thanks

Jesse

 

[mikethefin]

Nokia 9802s

Hi! Is it possible to configure the plugin so it works with my Nokia 9802s satellite receiver. Codes are found at http://www.satzentrale.de/nokia/faqmediamaster9.shtml ? I cant get the remote blaster to function with Nokias remote in MP (all other remotes works of course , Microsoft MCE learns it ok.

Mike