Control STB with GBPVR and MCE 2005 v 2

[jhulbert]

My goal is to simply have GBPVR change the channel on my STB

I spent about 4 hours of research on the forums/hip and elsewhere and decided to post. If there is a stickey or guide with my questions answered somewhere my apologies and could someone point me in the right direction.

I have GBPVR running pretty well. My last hurdle is getting the MCE remote I have change channels on my Comcast STB.

My equipment:

PVR150 - not the MCE version
MCE2005 Remote Version 2 Purchased seperately
Comcast STB (Motorola HD Box)

My big question is:

Do I need to use HIP or can I use the MCE 2005 Blaster Plugin? What is the best practice?

My first goal is to simply have GBPVR change the channel on my STB

I first set the channel changer to MCE 2005 Blaster Plug in and learned the comcast remote with no problem. I set the blaster to 1 and 2. No dice changing the STB.

Is there a light that is supposed to light up on the IR emitter to show it is working? I see the one on the IR receiver light up but not on the emitter.

The remote works fine controlling windows and I have the blaster over the sensor window.

Thanks in advance!!

[stefan]

I don't know how to configure your setup, but one thing you can try to see if the blaster emits anything is to look at it through a webcam/digital camera/digital camcorder. Unless you have a really expensive camera, it will not have any (good) ir filter, and hence the ir will light up like fire when watching it that way.

[jhulbert]

Great Idea!

I checked the remote and could see the lights flash.

Nothing is coming from the emitter from either 1 or 2 with the receiver light on.

[jhulbert]

The other emitter was still wrapped up never opened and still no flashing when I hooked it up. Still using a digital cam to check.

From what I read the receiver simply passes the code to the emitter. So are the chances good that I have two bad emitters?

[jhulbert]

I found an adapter to connect the MCE ir emitter to another ir blaster I have to control the STB for our upstairs TV. The emitters are working albeit dim.

They are definately not working from the MCE IR receiver.

Other than setting the channel changer plugin to MCE 2005 and learning the STB remote, am I supposed to be doing something else?

[sub]

Other than setting the channel changer plugin to MCE 2005 and learning the STB remote, am I supposed to be doing something else?

No, thats pretty much it. If it doesnt work for you you might need to look into using HIP and the 'exe channel changer' (pointing at hipsend.exe) like quite a few other MCE2005 blaster owners do.

[jhulbert]

I'll take a deep breath and work my way through hip.

At least I know which direction to go. That was half the battle.

[pBS]

here's something to try to see if it's a software issue, use the MceIrPlay.exe and MceIrRec.exe to record and send command straight to it..
if they don't get it glowing nothing will..
[talks straight to hardware]
from the readme:
========================================================================
COMMAND LINE TOOLS
========================================================================

- MceIrRec.exe : allows you to record IR into a file
syntax: MCEIRREC -o C:\TEST.IRK
- MceIrPlay : to send a previously recorded file through IR blaster #1
syntax: MCEIRPLAY -i C:\TEST.IRK -b 1

if it makes it glow then i'd suggest checking software config again..

[jhulbert]

I wiped and reloaded WinXP which seemed to do the trick. I also loaded only the latest Happauage drivers. I let XP load the drivers for the remote and receiver. Which it did without my assistance.

Anyway, I can get the MCE2005 IR Blaster to light up the emitter. It does light up with a bright red LED. For all that are wondering you definately do not need a digital camera to see it.. I think that is all that is in the emitter. It does not, however, change the channel of my DCT6200 STB.

I have learned the remote ok. I have tried to point the emitter right over the IR receiver and nada.

What I find strange is that when I change the channel with the remote the tuner changes channel as well as lighting up the emitter. I thought that by setting the channel changer for MCEREMOTE the tuner would stay set to channel 4.

Is there another place to keep the tuner from changing channel?

I have a real IR emitter from a rf remote and repeater. I am going to try hooking that up to the MCE receiver.

I will post my results as it seems that many seem to have the same trouble.

[haxorboy]

Did you have any luck getting this to go?