Sony SAT-B3 STB problems

[grangeomatic]

I’ve gotten my GBPVR machine working pretty well, just getting OTA channels with an antenna in the attic of my new house. Now I’ve got my old DirecTV box set up and I’d like to get that working. It’s an older Sony SAT-B3 box, and it doesn’t appear to be supported by the Hauppauge IR blaster that came with my PVR-150. I’ve looked into the serial control, but can’t seem to get that to do anything. I’m using a scrounged serial cable from around work, so I’m not 100% sure it’s good, but I can’t help wondering if I’m missing something.
I've tried the thing at dtvcontrol.com and just get timeout errors.
Has anyone else gotten the SAT-B3 box to work with their setup? If so, I know it can be done and will keep going. Any suggestions are appreciated.
Thanks,
Jeff

[pBS]

try scanning with ir32.exe cuz the boxes aren't always listed under a recognizable name...mine is listed under some brand i've never heard of..

plus get the latest version as they have updated it with tons of new box codes..
[nearly double since 2 years ago]
there is also a learning function present in new versions but not sure if that is only for MCE dongle or built-in ir blaster..

[grangeomatic]

I must admit that I'm not sure what you mean by "scan with IR32.exe". I don't seem to have an IR32.exe anywhere on my computer. I've got an IR.exe.
I have downloaded and run the newest IR blaster configurator from the Hauppauge site. It has a feature where it'll run through ALL the codes and see which one works, and none of them do anything. It goes through over 700 codes and then starts again.
Is there something I'm missing? Is there something else I need to do to activate the blaster?
This is why I'm interested in trying the serial approach, but I don't have a known good serial cable, and the Best Buys near me don't have them. I may have to try a different store.
Thanks,
Jeff

[grangeomatic]

So I was not able to get any form of the blaster to work. I just found out last night that I must've had a bum serial cable, because I tried a different one, and was able to get the channels on my STB to change using the utility at dtvcontrol.com.
Now to get it to work through GBPVR. I've done my best to install the unsupported DirecTVChannelControl utility, but I haven't had any luck yet (it was late last night). Are there any tricks that I need to know, or maybe that this just won't work with this STB or the new PVRX2? I see that utility was originally written for RCA boxes.
Running PVRX2 1.15.
Thanks,
Jeff

[grangeomatic]

After reading the notes for this utility for the umteenth time, I just maybe now realized something:
Inthe part where it says this - "The “Parameters” option will need to be set to “-port COMx #{channel}” - should it actually be more like :
-port <COM1> #<channel>
In other words, is there a misprint between the "{" and the "<", and were these brackets missing on the COMx portion?
Also, I believe I have to use the old commands, so I need to add "- set <old>", correct?
If I want COM1 to be used, and COM1 is the default, can I simply change my "parameters" entry to read
- set <old> #<channel>
I'm new to this kind of stuff, so please bear with me. Also, I'm currently at work, so I can't actually try it out yet.
Thanks,
Jeff

[grangeomatic]

Just in case anyone is following this, I was able to get this working last night. With the combination of a good serial cable and a better understanding of the syntax needed by the Directvcontrol utility, hopefully GBPVR will record some stuff for me tonight.
For me the key was playing around with the command line utility, trying all different kinds of combinations in the syntax. What worked for me was:
directv -port COM1 - set old #{channel}.
It seems I got all confused with the <>, {} and "".
Anyway, it seems to be working great now.
Jeff