I need to use an external script to change channels.

But in my setup (R5F27), it is missing!

The manuals all say to put the path to the script in:
mythtv-setup | input connections

But in my setup, there is NO dialog box for external command there!

Where is it? Did it move? I've searched all over!

I have the command line script working and tested, so all I have left is to tell Myth to use the lirc script.

I'm using:
AirStar-HD5000AV-PCI
lirc and the irblaster
and trying to change channels on a Comcast DCT5100

Then you must have something else wrong.

If you run mythtv-setup and select "4. Input Connections" on the main menu, and hit Enter, you should see a list of inputs for each of the cards you defined under "2. Capture Cards". If you select one of those inputs and hit Enter again you should see a screen which includes the following fields:

Capture device: <This field is read only>
Display name (optional):
Video source:
External Channel change command:
Preset tuner to channel:
2 buttons
Starting channel:
Input priority:

Just in case it's not screamingly obvious the one I've marked in bold and underlined is the one for setting your external tuning script.

Thanks for the reply, I with it were so simple. My version of knoppmyth (R5F27) give me just this on R5F27:

[img]
http://the-summit.net/tmpgal/600xmyth-t ... -input.JPG
[/img]

What's the deal? Is my mythtv-setup font too large? Can it be changed?

I don't think it's my font, because <TAB> moves control to every wigit in the screen. I.e. There are no "hidden" wigits?

Is there perhaps something I can do in the database directly?

WTF??? Why are these wigits missing?

Hi all,
I have a pvr500 (mpeg analog tuner) and an HD-3000 (digital). If I follow tjc's directions and select the analog tuner I get tjc's menu. If I select the digital tuner (dvb), I get LinHiNun's menu. For some reason the menus are different if you select an mpeg card or a dvb card!

The reason they are different as they use different drivers and different options are available. The screen cap LinHiNun has provided shows he is configuring the DVB input of the card. You need to have the other input that the Comcast will be coming in on, such as S-Video or Composite.

If you TV Card has multiple inputs you may need to add each input manually so that you have a DVB input and a [insert input here] input in your capture card setup.

_________________
Girkers

I figured this out, thanks to the guys on the MythTV IRC channel.

From reading the Docs, I was completely misled. I hope someone will read this and make things clearer for them.

The Comcast Digital TV Set Top Box (Motrolla DCT5100 in this case), has a coax TV out. I was under the impression (from reading the docs) it output the HD mpeg stream of whatever channel it was tuned to.

-- WRONG --

It's output is SDtv.

I thought I would use the ir-blaster to change the channel on the STB, and pipe the output to the HD-5000 card for capture.

-- WRONG --

For some reason, the driver of the HD-5000 card does not allow it to be set to channel "3" or "2" and just read HDTV stream from the input. I guess this is not an issue because of my first false understanding.


The way to do it, and I have not seen it spelled out in any doc, wiki, faq, or howto, is:

Use irblaster to change the STB channel.
Use FIREWIRE to output the mpeg HD stream from the STB to a "FIREWIRE" capture device. I talked to comcast today, the customer support guy told me they DO have STBes that have firewire out, and they are known to work. Cool!, by my STB does not have one.

Apparently, comcast is rather liberal if you want to exchange it with one that does have firewire output. I go there first thing in the AM and see what they can do for me.

I hope this posting helps someone in the future. I thought I knew what I was doing, but apperently I didn't "read between the lines" of the docs throughly enough.

Yes, it's surprising how many people don't realize that you can't get an HD signal from your set-top box to your TV via "coax" cable, composite (yellow plug) or S-video. You can only get it over component (analog) or DVI/HDMI (digital). (Of course, if your TV or card has an HD tuner in it, that's a different story, see below)

If you get a Firewire-enabled set-top box you can definitely capture unencrypted channels via Firewire. However, you should also be able to change channels via Firewire--no need for IR blasting.

Also, if you're capturing via Firewire, your AirStar tuner card is not being used for anything.

If you run your Comcast cable directly into the AirStar you should be able to configure MythTV to tune clear QAM channels on it. (Do a search on QAM both here and the MythTV wiki for details.) You'll probably get less channels than you would over Firewire.