No MCE blasting (on non-MCE Windows) (1 Viewer)

[Doron]

I cannot get the MCE blaster to work on my HTPC. It is an SMK Transceiver that came with my Hauppauge pvr-150mce.
The bedug cllient shows that there was a succesful transmition, but there isn't.
Receiving works fine.
I tried IR Suite 1.4.2 & 1.0.4.1 with and without the patch.
I tried it on 3 different computers:

1. Vista ultimate (includes Media Center, original MCE driver) - Works with no problem.
2. Windows XP Pro (no Media Center but includes original MCE driver) - Does not blast.
3. Windows XP Home (does not include original driver) - This is my HTPC. I tried using the replacement driver, and I tried using original driver - Does not blast.

The attached logs were collected while trying with with the replacement driver.

 

[Doron]

I have found more logs hiding in root directory.

 

[Doron]

Well, it works.
Turns out that 3 different problems made it hard to figure out what happned. I had all 3 problems together:

1. MCE blaster problem with previous version of the IR server. So I installed IR Server Suite - Test Build 1.4.2.2391.zip

2. A compatibility problem with MCE transceiver made by SMK. Selecting "both" ports does not work. Looks like this bug is still there. So I am now using "port 1".

3. The MCE replacement driver does not learn my STB box codes properly. So I am now using the original driver. Since it is not built in XP home, I downloded it.

Now the only problem I am facing is how to disable the default behavior of the arrow buttons without disabling them for Girder. But I guess I'll figure that out. I was experimenting this for few minutes only, so maybe I did something wrong.

That's ends up my monolog for now... I hope I helped others who are facing the same problem.

 

[MiamiBeach]

Doron,

Thank you very much for documenting your steps. I also have the PVR-150 transceiver and although the remote has been working with no problems, I now want to use the blaster to turn my receiver on and off from MediaPortal and I've been having lots of problems with it.

1. MCE blaster problem with previous version of the IR server. So I installed IR Server Suite - Test Build 1.4.2.2391.zip

For me, 1.0.4.1 with the MCE patches worked.

2. A compatibility problem with MCE transceiver made by SMK. Selecting "both" ports does not work. Looks like this bug is still there. So I am now using "port 1".

Thanks for pointing this out. Now that I am using Port 2 and not Both, I see the light on the IR blaster each time I push the [Test] button.

However, I can't get the commands to work properly all the time. I get the Receiver to turn off in les than 10% of the tests and generally only in the first test, then I close the plugin window, reopen, and then a test may work.

3. The MCE replacement driver does not learn my STB box codes properly. So I am now using the original driver. Since it is not built in XP home, I downloded it.

What do you mean by this? I think I am using the drivers from Hauppauge, but I do suspect that IR Server is not learning my codes properly either.

Now the only problem I am facing is how to disable the default behavior of the arrow buttons without disabling them for Girder. But I guess I'll figure that out. I was experimenting this for few minutes only, so maybe I did something wrong.

That's ends up my monolog for now... I hope I helped others who are facing the same problem.

Thank you for your help!

 

[Doron]

3. The MCE replacement driver does not learn my STB box codes properly. So I am now using the original driver. Since it is not built in XP home, I downloded it.

What do you mean by this? I think I am using the drivers from Hauppauge, but I do suspect that IR Server is not learning my codes properly either

As far as I know Hauppauge MCE package does not include MCE remote driver. I guess their assumption is that you are going to use it with Windows MCE edition.
If you are using Windows MCE edition then you already have this driver, unless you replaced it by instalation of the replacement driver.
If you do not have Windows MCE then I suggest you download the original driver.
You can see in control panel if your driver is made by Microsoft or by and-81.

 

[MiamiBeach]

As far as I know Hauppauge MCE package does not include MCE remote driver. I guess their assumption is that you are going to use it with Windows MCE edition.
If you are using Windows MCE edition then you already have this driver, unless you replaced it by instalation of the replacement driver.
If you do not have Windows MCE then I suggest you download the original driver.
You can see in control panel if your driver is made by Microsoft or by and-81.

I have used both the Hauppauge CD 3.4d1 and 4.6b downloaded from their website and both included irbus.inf and irbus.sys, although I manually installed these drivers each time (I am using WinXP Pro).

What I didn't realize is that the MCE Replacement Driver [Obsolete] thread has a registry edit to make the eHome driver behave like the MCE Replacement Driver. When I saw that the thread said "Obsolete" I completely ignored it so I missed this and didn't know what you meant by MCE remote driver.

I am going to try again now with those registry changes and see if it makes any difference in my setup.

 

[Doron]

I think the registry changes are only the disable the default keys behavior of the MCE remote.

 

[MiamiBeach]

I think the registry changes are only the disable the default keys behavior of the MCE remote.

Yeah, it didn't make any difference. I did upgrade to IR Server Suite Test Build 1.4.2.2627 and for the first time I was able to make each IR Command work at least once, which was a first. Unfortunately, that's as far as I got, and there is no consistency of when it works and when it doesn't.

The IR Blaster is working fine, I just tested it with the TV and there are no problems there, it's just with my Yamaha RX-V663 receiver. Each time I relearn the commands, the .IR files saved are different, I can't imagine that this is normal.

Thank you for your help.

 

[Doron]

You can try writig the IR files. Here you have all code files:

RC Files: Miscellaneous - Yamaha Master IR Collection by Smeeon

For a start, you can try this code for Power button:

0000 006D 0022 0002 0155 00AA 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 05ED 0155 0055 0015 0E47

Or maybe this code:

0000 006D 0022 0002 0155 00AA 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 05ED 0155 0055 0015 0E47

I never tried it myself.

 

[MiamiBeach]

You can try writig the IR files. Here you have all code files:

RC Files: Miscellaneous - Yamaha Master IR Collection by Smeeon
I never tried it myself.

Learning about the Yamaha codes opened up a whole lot of new things for me to learn (like discrete codes to turn my TV on and off as opposed to the on/off toggle). Unfortunately, they worked just as much as the learned codes.

After A LOT of troubleshooting, I finally figured out what my problem was... I have a remote control extender, and if the blaster cable that comes out of it touches the blaster cable from the PC in any way, apparently the interference causes the signals to not work on the receiver I am not talking about exposed wires touching/shorting, but wires simply running next to each other. After I rerouted them and taped them on completely separate paths, everything is working great.

Thanks so much for taking the time to help!