Help connecting Austar to Tivo

[Bjay]

Hi Guys
I'm new to the forum and fairly new to TiVo.

I have just got Austar connected, through an Atlas decorder. In the guided setup the IR codes available are 30016 and 30017. 30016 does not seem to work at all but 30017 works but seems very flaky. Is there a better way or more stable set of codes or way of using the IR blaster???

Also the decoder has an RS232 port at the back, can i use this as a serial connection instead of the IR blaster??

I would appreciate any advice you guys can give me.
Thanks
Brad

[Darren King]

Hi Brad

Although I am in "outer metro Melbourne" and can get Austar I choose not to, so I cannot help you with any instant solutions. However I can provide you with a solution that may help you and was only released a couple of days ago by a member of the OzTiVo mail list (coincidently another Brad - Brad McGill) in the form of a mostly automated form of capturing the correct codes. His email post went like this:



Ive finished the first version of what im calling the IrSliceCreator. It will take you through a menu driven process to create an IR Slice for your device. It can also create shell scripts to transmit individual codes once captured (as requested by Stephen Noble).


The package is available at http://anastasia.geomonkeys.com/irSliceCreator.zip

Id recomend creating a new folder to run the script from as it creates lots of temporary files. You need to put both scripts from the zip file in this folder and then run ./irSliceCreator.sh, configure the options (these can also be passed in on the command line, run it with --help argument to see the usage) and start capturing codes. Id also recommend running it when your tivo isnt recording or doing anything special as it can put a huge load on the tivo when converting codes and cause the video to pause. It also won't be able to change chanels on a settop box while you are capturing codes.


If you cancel the script (with ctrl-c) you can leave a process of irtest running which may lock up your tivo from normal use via the remote. Just kill it using
"ps"
to see the pid then
"kill pid"
and your tivo will come back to normal.


After it has been tested a few times and Ive written a guide on its use Id love for it to be included on the ozTivo images, or at least hosted at minnie. Who should I talk to about this?


It would be possible to drive this app through newtext2osd and trickey but that would add another level of complexity that a 12kb bash script could really do without. I think most Tivo users would be happy with connecting to a shell to run this script. But if anyone really wants it to work that way then feel free to grab my script and start hacking away. Im happy to help out.


Ive really enjoyed writing something to help out the oztivo community and am keen to work on anything else that needs doing, or adding any new features to the irSliceCreator that you might dream up. Just let me know.


Brad.


When Brad mentions running the IR Slice Creator program he means either gaining a linux bash prompt either via the serial cable method or via telnet if you have an ethernet card in your TiVo and know your IP address. Hint: DO NOT try and use Windows Telnet as it does not work welll. Use a freeware program called PuTTY.

In answer to your question about the serial port on the back of the Austar decoder the answer is no. These are used for factory uploading new firmware only and do not serve any other purpose.

The other thing to note is that "flakey" IR Blaster operation may be caused also if you have any compact flourescent lighting in your room, or if the STB can see the IR codes emitting from the "eye" in the front of the TiVo which are mixing with the IR codes from the external IR Blasters. Yes - the TiVo itself has an inbuilt IR Blaster in the "eye".

You can confirm both these problems by building a little "tent" around the IR Blaster near your STB to shield out interference. If that does not work then try making your own IR codes with the above program.

Hope that gets you started at least.