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DirecTV GCEBO and changing channels via serial cable
http://forum.linhes.org/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=11726		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  cbrandst [ Tue Sep 19, 2006 8:37 pm ]
Post subject:  DirecTV GCEBO and changing channels via serial cable
I've seen several articles that say my receiver can be controled via the serial port but I'm having trouble doing so. I've used the Windows program from here to to to control the box and am not able to:

http://www.dtvcontrol.com/index.aspx?content=cable

I just wondered if anybody here has been able to get the GCEBO working or if I should resort to an IR Blaster.

Thanks for any tips or suggestions.
Author:  cbrandst [ Fri Sep 22, 2006 11:31 am ]
Post subject:  made some progress!!!
I was able to contorl my DirecTV box with the utility from this website:

http://www.gbpvr.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ ... nelControl

I had to specify the "old command set" when sending commands, but I was albe to verify that my home built serial cable works and that the port is good on the receiver. I tried to run the directv.pl perl script manually to test out being able to change channels but didn't get very far. Maybe I need to adjust the script to use the old command set???

If I can get the channel change issue resolved I might actually get to use this thing! Any help would be great since my wife has already gotten tired off the amount of time I've spent digging into this. I think I just need a nudge in the right direction at this point.

Thanks
cbrandst
Author:  cecil [ Fri Sep 22, 2006 11:37 am ]
Post subject: 
Are you looking for assistance to control this via Linux or Windows?
Author:  cbrandst [ Fri Sep 22, 2006 8:57 pm ]
Post subject: 
Linux/MythTV. I'm a lot more familar with Windows and wanted to make sure my cable was good and that my receiver could be controlled before getting too deep in the Linux side of things. Now that I know that part is working, I'm trying to figure out how to get the MythTV box to send out the "old command set" to the receiver. Been searching this forum and with Google but haven't hit the right info just yet. Not giving up though because I think I'm really close.

Correction: I may have found what I was looking for here:

http://mysettopbox.tv/phpBB2/viewtopic. ... ht=directv

I'm going to dig into that file and see if I can get it to work. I've got to get this figured out because there is a Degrassi marathon on right now and I REALLY need to change the channel! :)

UPDATE:

Running the ./d10control.pl command manually and getting "Error excessive retries". I've tried 11520 and 9600 for a baud rate along with all 3 receiver types. I even called DirecTV and verified my receiver is running the latest code. Still getting the same error and searching. :? I also checked the rights on my serial port and they look good. Frustrating.

I get the above error with the script that came with MythTV, but with the directv.pl script, I get something similar, but more descriptive:

Initializing Serial Port...
Retry Fri Sep 22 18:45:09 2006
Retry Fri Sep 22 18:45:11 2006
Retry Fri Sep 22 18:45:13 2006
Retry Fri Sep 22 18:45:15 2006
Error excessive retries
(in cleanup) Can't call method "setcflag" on an undefined value at /usr/lib/perl5/Device/SerialPort.pm line 482 during global destruction.
Author:  cbrandst [ Fri Sep 29, 2006 9:04 am ]
Post subject:  Problem solved
It turns out that the directv.pl script that comes with Knoppmyth doesn't include (for some reason) the "RCA_OLD" box_type. I had to download the script from this site:

http://www.pdp8.net/directv/directv.shtml

And I'm able to change channels now. Once I did that, I was able to use the following at the command prompt:

/usr/local/bin/directv.pl box_type rca_old 105

That allowed me to change the channel to 105. I put the command in input connections like the above site suggested and I'm changing channels now.

Now I've got to figure out how to get it to change to the channels below 100. I've seem some posts related to that searching for my problem, so a little search action and I should be good to go.

Just thought I would post this in case somebody else had a similar problem and need to use the "old" commands to control a DirecTV receiver.

Craig
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