ByeondTV 3.5, DirecTV & USB-UIRT Unable to control chann

[greghorne]

Jon,

I have read as many posts as possible and am still stumped. I’m hoping you can tell me where I’ve gone wrong.

I have the following setup:

DirecTV Hughes SD-HBH satellite set top box with Remote Control
BeyondTV 3.5
ATI All-in-Wonder 9800 Pro
ATI Remote Wonder

I have gone through the BeyondTV setup wizard and have set the following options:
Set the remote to ATI Remote
Selected Unlisted set top box
I then trained the USB-UIRT to the Hughes Remote Control
Set: External Tuner to USB-UIRT

I am able to view TV on my PC

I am able to change channels using the Hughes remote control. However, changing the channels with the Hughes remote control does not change the channels within BeyondTV.

I can change the channels within BeyondTV using the ATI remote but changing them within the software does not cause the USB-UIRT to flash the Hughes set top box. Thus, even though my software says I am on channel 2, (for example), I may actually be watching channel something completely different.

Problem: I can’t figure out how to control the set top box using the USB-UIRT. Either I’ve missed a middle piece altogether, or perhaps my Hughes box is incompatible.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

Regards,
Greg Horne

[jrhees]

Greg,

Some questions:

1. When changing channels in BTV (with the keyboard or the ATI remote), do you see the RED led on the USB-UIRT flash several times in succession shortly after the channel change (the USB-UIRT LED will illuminate when it is trasnitting) indicating it is attempting to tune your receiver?

2. Do you have BTV configured for S-Video or Composite Input (so that it knows it must externally tune your receiver)?

3. When your learned your Hughes remote in BTV, did you use the test feature in the wizard to test whether BTV could change channels on your receiver?

-Jon

[dbrakin]

Hi,

I'm having the exact same problem. I am using DirecTV box model# Hughes SD-HBH. I am also able to view TV on my PC, and I can change channels fine using my Hughes Remote. I trained my USB-UIRT and it is still unable to change the channel. let me attempt to answer the questions you posed to Greg in the hopes you can help me as well.

1. When I change the channel in BTV I do see the Red LED on the USB_UIRT flash several times in succession.

2. I have BTV configured for Composite Input.

3. When I learned the remote, I used the wizard to test whether BTV could change channels on my receiver and it DID NOT work in the wizard.

I noticed some very strange activity in my various attempts to get this to work... whenever I would first start BTV and go to Live TV, I could see the channels that USB-UIRT was entering on the screen. The screen showed "222" and then it would dissapear and then come back and start over "222". This would happen only twice, and no more. If I attempt to change the channel in BTV or using my firefly remote, nothing would happen. Sometimes when attempting to change the channel, it makes the screen go entirely black, and the TV stream dissapears. When I re-enter the Setup Wizard after this happens I notice that even though I initially configured BTV for Composite Input, it has somehow been changed to S-Video. When I change it back to Composite, I get the TV stream back but still no channel changing capability.

I am running Windows XP with an NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Graphics Card. I have the SnapStream FireFly Remote and BeyondTV 3.5.1.

Please Help!!

Thank you,
Daniel

[jrhees]

Daniel,

First lets concentrate on getting the USB-UIRT to be able to send the correct IR codes to your Hughes box. Please contact support@usbuirt.com and I'll send you a utility we can use to sort this out.

-Jon

[dbrakin]

Hi Jon,

Ok so I've done some messing around with the utility you sent me, and I've discovered some interesting things.

1. When I attempt to learn any code, the outcome is always different. For example, if I try to learn "1", the outcome of the IR Code is different every single time.

2. Most of the codes I get in return are 32 characters long, for example one time I tried I got the following codes:

1: 0000 006D 0000 0002 0155 0055 0016 0E41
2: 0000 006C 0000 0002 0155 0056 0015 0E4A
3: 0000 006D 0000 0002 0062 0121 0021 0E48
4: 0000 006C 0000 0002 0156 0056 0015 0E4F
5: 0000 006D 0000 0002 0154 0055 0015 0E39
6: 0000 006D 0000 0002 0155 0055 0016 0E3E
7: 0000 006D 0000 0002 0154 0056 0015 0E3A
8: 0000 006C 0000 0002 0155 0056 0015 0E4C
9: 0000 006C 0000 0002 00C4 00AF 0039 0E59
0: 0000 006D 0000 0002 0155 0055 0016 0E45
Enter: 0000 006C 0000 0002 0155 0055 0015 0E48

However, when I attempt to "Test Transmit IR Code" on any of these 32 digit codes, no communication appears to happen between the DirecTV box and the USBIRT (The green light on my DirecTV box does not flash at all).

3. If I repeatedly "Learn an IR Code" for the same code, I randomly sometimes get codes that are longer than 32 characters. Interestingly, these codes DO work when I click "Test Transmit IR Code", the DirecTV box green light flashes, and the channel changes accordingly. However, the behavior is not desirable. Essentially, if I was trying to Learn the "1" key, the code will actually transmit "111", if I was trying to learn the "2" key, the long code transmits "222", etc. The channel does actually change to "111", "222", etc.

After some time, I collected codes that accomplish this transmission:

111: 0000 006D 0022 0002 0152 00AA 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 05C3 0153 0055 0015 0E30

222: 0000 006C 0022 0002 0155 00AB 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0040 0015 0040 0016 0015 0016 0015 0015 0015 0016 0015 0015 0040 0016 0040 0016 0015 0016 0040 0016 0040 0016 0040 0016 0040 0016 0040 0016 0015 0016 0040 0016 0040 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0040 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0040 0016 0040 0016 0040 0016 0040 0016 0040 0016 05D1 0156 0056 0016 0E4E

333: 0000 006D 0022 0002 0154 00AB 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0016 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 05CC 0155 0055 0015 0E42

444: 0000 006C 0022 0002 0156 00AC 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0016 0015 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0015 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0015 0015 0015 0016 0015 0015 0041 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0015 0016 0041 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 05D6 0157 0056 0016 0E59

555: 0000 006C 0022 0002 0155 00AB 0016 0015 0016 0015 0015 0040 0015 0040 0016 0015 0016 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0040 0016 0040 0016 0015 0016 0040 0016 0040 0016 0040 0016 0040 0016 0040 0015 0040 0016 0015 0016 0015 0015 0040 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0016 0040 0016 0040 0016 0015 0016 0040 0016 0040 0016 0040 0016 0040 0015 05D0 0156 0055 0016 0E4B

666: 0000 006D 0022 0002 0152 00AA 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0040 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 0015 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 05C4 0153 0055 0015 0E32

777: 0000 006D 0022 0002 0154 00AB 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0016 0015 0041 0015 0040 0015 0041 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0016 0015 0015 0015 0016 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 05CF 0155 0055 0016 0E47

888: 0000 006D 0022 0002 0153 00AB 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0016 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0040 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 05CB 0154 0055 0015 0E3D

999: 0000 006D 0022 0002 0154 00AB 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 05CE 0155 0056 0015 0E46

000: 0000 006C 0022 0002 0155 00AB 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0040 0016 0040 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0040 0016 0040 0016 0015 0016 0040 0016 0040 0016 0040 0016 0040 0016 0040 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0040 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0040 0016 0040 0016 0015 0016 0040 0016 0040 0016 0040 0016 0040 0016 0040 0016 05D3 0156 0056 0016 0E52

Enter: 0000 006D 0022 0002 0153 00AB 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0016 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 0040 0015 05CA 0154 0055 0015 0E3C

Does this make any sense to you? What is going on here, and how can I get USBUIRT to transmit each code only once instead of 3 times repeatedly like this?

Thanks,
Daniel

[jrhees]

Daniel,

You're almost there. First of all, the 'short' codes you were getting are likely due to positioning problems with the remote and/or battery issues. Your particular remote sends out an initial burst of data (which has the unique digit information) and then follows it with a continuous 'repeat' sequence. All of your 'short' IR codes contain only the repeat sequence, indicating that the USB-UIRT 'missed' the initial IR burst. You may have pressed your remote's button before learning had begun, or your batteries may be weak, etc., causeing this to not be captured properly.

The second set of codes (your long IR codes) are just fine. Don't worry about the multiple digit issue -- this is a side effect from the fact that the test app sends out the IR code for a rather long time (similar to you holding your finger on a button for too long). This is adjustable in apps such at BeyondTV.

There are three ways to proceed --
1) Tweak your learning process so you can consistently get good learned codes, and then go back to BeyondTV and use that process when going through the wizard,

2) Take the codes you've already collected and manually edit the IR/RMT file BTV creates, or

3) Use the 'lrnHelper' utility *in conjunction* with BTV -- Have the lrnHelper utility running when you go into BTV's wizard. When BTV tries to learn a code, an 'Inject IR Code' button will appear on the lrnHelper app which you can then paste one of the IR codes you've already collected into the lrnHelper IR Code box and click the 'Inject' button -- which will make BTV think you just learned a code with your remote.

-Jon

[dbrakin]

I used method 3 and it worked after I set the interval time between transmissions to 10 milliseconds. Thanks for all your help Jon! Very much appreciated.

- Daniel