Media Portal RC2 & Sky digital ??

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355 posts

Ultimate Geek

#161708 2-Sep-2008 23:15

Haha, we truly get screwed by Sky here in NZ (see telco companies, public transport, everything...). I'm thinking of ditching it and getting more fresh air. There was a time when I was seriously contemplating a MySky HDi - but I slapped myself hard and snapped out of it

. I'd never leave the house. So I take it completely ditching the decoder is a little ways off yet?

mcraenz

1140 posts

Uber Geek

#161742 3-Sep-2008 08:24

Some are already doing it.
http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?ForumId=84&TopicId=21481

Help me build a better way of doing politics in Aotearoa New Zealand

political.nz

SandmaNZ

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#161920 3-Sep-2008 18:43

After several weeks of getting Media Portal RC2 & Sky digital sorted I seem to have stumbled on the same issue with the channel blasting of the STB.

I have a Hauppauge PVR150 card and a Hauppauge 4000. I even got the epg's working and mapped and combined the channels. (After setting up MP several times I think I could do this in my sleep now lol)

Where I'm having the issue is blasting the STB. I've installed the hauppauge drivers and the ir software. Using the IR Blasterr Configuration I've checked the blaster and it turns on and changes channel fine. However, when I set up MP to use it - I get nothing. Not even the flashing of the ir lights. I notice that there's a Haupauge ir blaster plugin but the combinations of this and ServerBlaster seem to get me no where.

I even tried the IR Server Suite, but that didn't seem to get me anywhere either.

I'm assuming it's something stupidly simple that I've missed as I can't find anyone (other than new users like this post) that have had the same issue.

eXDee

4032 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#161930 3-Sep-2008 19:00

Okay, two people are having issues, so heres what i did from memory, i'll do a proper tutorial later.

I installed IR Server suite. The components you want are the TV server plugin and the client plugin. Client plugin options i think were pretty straightforward. Head over to the tv server plugin and there should be an option to enable it for each tuner card. Enable it for your analogue card(s) that the STB is connected to and then click the and the setup STB button (i think). There should be a whole bunch of presets and i think the ability to learn the commands however i didnt investigate this since i simply chose the SKYNZ Pace DSR600 preset, and tested it, which worked.
Then you have to setup all the channels, with the 'channel number' in the channel settings corresponding to the channel number that it is on the STB, eg Sky Movies is 20. Map them to the cards which you chose to use IR Server Suite on and you should hopefully be good to go.
For each client, simply install the client plugin for mediaportal and input the address of the TV Server. Ensure IR server suite isnt blocked by the firewall on the server.

The only problem is that even though i could see from the IR blast lights flashing that they were sending a signal, one in 20 commands would be missed by our 5 year old pace box meaning it would tune the wrong channel.
Also i think if if there were analogue channels (eg prime) mapped to this card also it will blast the STB whatever is in the channel number box, though i cant confirm this.

This is from memory so each option might not be exactly where i remember it. Hope this helps.

Hotdognz

78 posts

Master Geek

#161987 3-Sep-2008 22:20

Ok stupid Q here, what is IR server suite?? is it a plugin for MediaPortal and does it work with the IR Blaster I got with the PVR150MCE ?? Sorry if these are pretty stupid Qs but then im finding this hard going.

SandmaNZ

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#162007 4-Sep-2008 00:55

Thanks for the timely help exDee, I believe I'm very close to completing my HTPC.

When setting up the TV3 IR Service plugin as you suggest I don't seem to have the ability to select a Blaster Port when selecting 'Set' on the 'Quick Setup' option for the analogue card.

How do I make the IRBlaster Port(s) appear? I can select the Motorola STB that I have, but without the Blaster port I fear it's not working.

SandmaNZ

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#162563 5-Sep-2008 20:58

Hi again, still having trouble here and it seems to be the last part before my HTPCV is complete.

The blasting of SKY stb....

I thought I'd break it down into easy questions (hopefully)

IN MEDIAPORTAL CONFIG:
Does the hauppauge Blaster plugin need to be enabled?
Does the MP Blast Zone plugin need to be enabled?
Since IR Server Suite has the MP plugin active, should I be turning off the remote in the remote section and relying on the server suite? I am using an iMon pad with a Silverstone L16 Case.

IN TVSERVER CONFIG:
Does the BlasterServer plugin need to be enabled? If so - which settings?
In TV3 Blster plugin for IR server suite I click the STB button.
I select the analogue TV card
I select the preset motorola option from the "Quick Setup" dropdown then hit "set" The dialogue box pops up, but all I get in the 'blaster port' dropdown is 'None'. Am I missing something?

Any help would be much appreciated - I feel so close!!!

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

eXDee

4032 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#162568 5-Sep-2008 21:20

SandmaNZ:
Hi again, still having trouble here and it seems to be the last part before my HTPCV is complete.
The blasting of SKY stb....

I thought I'd break it down into easy questions (hopefully)

IN MEDIAPORTAL CONFIG:
Does the hauppauge Blaster plugin need to be enabled? Not sure.
Does the MP Blast Zone plugin need to be enabled? No
Since IR Server Suite has the MP plugin active, should I be turning off the remote in the remote section and relying on the server suite? I am using an iMon pad with a Silverstone L16 Case. I did, i think it would send 2 commands otherwise, though it works with MCE remote unticked in MP config

IN TVSERVER CONFIG:
Does the BlasterServer plugin need to be enabled? If so - which settings? No
In TV3 Blster plugin for IR server suite I click the STB button.
I select the analogue TV card
I select the preset motorola option from the "Quick Setup" dropdown then hit "set" The dialogue box pops up, but all I get in the 'blaster port' dropdown is 'None'. Am I missing something? I'm not sure sorry, i had 2 blaster ports availalbe when i selected my MCE remote

Any help would be much appreciated - I feel so close!!!

I've stopped blasting actually due to a change of TV setup, i can't really help much since my MCE remote was so easy to setup.=

IR Server suite can be found here btw

Mini Tutorial
Heres a quick one a threw together which i think covers each step i took.

The next one is optional, you may want to program in a volume change or something like i did.

The next two shots show setting up the mediaportal plugins. There are two. Ensure the correct server is entered in the change server button for each plugin. For a single seat this should be default localhost.

The next plugin is for mapping buttons on the remote to perform your blast commands etc. This is optional. You can add commands to buttons in map buttons. It's pretty self explainitory, you can add and change the commands of each remote button. There is a Blast: prefix in front of each IR command you learnt.

I think that covers it? Worked for me, not sure what you do if your STB isnt listed.

SandmaNZ

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#162579 5-Sep-2008 22:39

Thanks for that exDee, much appreciated. I seem to have something wrong in that I don't get the port available when opening the blast command (second screen of your first image).

I wonder why it doesn't give me a port. It all seemed simple enough - there must be something I'm missing somewhere along the line. Maybe a clash that then renders the ports useless in the stb setup?

Anyone else experience this?

exDee, do you have irBlaster Configuration setup using the Hauppauge winTV setup disk? If so, is it using port 1 like mine says?

SandmaNZ

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#162618 6-Sep-2008 10:42

I'm not sure if this helps, but when I select Microsoft MCE in the Input Service Configuration it actually allows me to pick port_1, port_2 or both in the drop down box. However it still doesn't actually work. I notice that the Hauppauge ir.exe seems to be switching on and off too.

I'm sure this shouldn't be that hard.....

eXDee

4032 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#162622 6-Sep-2008 11:40

Im not using anything hauppuage for my remote, i don't recall any blaster program being installed off the disk. I can't imagine why your ports don't appear, perhaps you'd be best posting in the IR server suite forum that i linked?

SandmaNZ

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#162628 6-Sep-2008 12:09

Thanks again exDee. Do you have the 150PVR or the MCE version?

I've gone through all the combinations of software and settings. Looks like the ports only come available when you have a transmit ticked in the server suite settings. I'm guessing you have the MCE version have the transmit checkbox ticked for MCE.

I think mine's not working because it's not MCE.

However this is still a guess.

eXDee

4032 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#162631 6-Sep-2008 12:36

I have the official MCE remote with 2 IR blasters. IR server suite is designed to work with many different remotes, again i suggest perhaps asking the author in the thread in the mediaportal forum i linked above.

SandmaNZ

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#162633 6-Sep-2008 12:54

yep, have posted there.

wally5

29 posts

Geek

#162653 6-Sep-2008 16:14

mcraenz: @JoeBloggs:
Yeah maybe I got a bit carried away at some point!

I started out with just the SS2 for DVB-S (before freeview; just TV1 and TV2) and the PVR-150 for analog. Then I added the Technotrend+CI, and a 1M dish with 3LNBs to pickup A couple of Aus channels and whatever was on Optus B3 (Now D2) this was just for the sake of it!. When I did my rebuild for Freeview HD I added the HVR2200. I figure now I have about as many channels as I can possiblily get without paying a subscription (and without going C-Band) And yes, most of them are crap! Using sky on a PC with out a STB i.e. with a cardreader etc is really exciting stuff, it's been a goal of HTPC builder for SOME time; now if only I wasn't too cheap to folk out for a Sky sub!

Did you ever get s*y digital running on your pc. Came across one of your posts in dvdn happysat,did Chessman ever get it to run sweet. Tryed it myseft last year with no luck, my hardware, skystar 2, Jaycar smartcard reader, phoenix mode. Software AltDVB, NDScam 0.0.0.4 by joker and s*y p2 sub card. any ideas.

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