[mythtv-users] DirecTV D10-300 Serial Interface

[George Mari]

Blaine Nelson wrote:
> I believe the default in the perl script is 9600 baud.  I've never
> done anything in perl, but here's the line I think does that:
> 
> $baudrate = "9600";
> 
> Just to be sure, I ran directv.pl from the command line using the
> baudrate parameter set to 9600 (I also tried 115200 and 57600).
> Again, I tried for both ttyS0 and ttyS1 and for both serial outs on
> the machine.
> 
> Perhaps the order of the parameters is screwy?  Here's what I got for
> the 9600 baudrate attempts:
> 
[deleted]

>>> You've got a D10-100.  Mine's a D10-300.  Maybe the software upgrade
>>> for the D10-300 that's supposed to make it behave like a D10-100
>>> doesn't do the trick any more?  Like directv has put out a newer
>>> version that sucks?

This is a possibility, but I've not heard of problems with the D10-300. 
  The Wiki page at:

http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/Controlling_DirecTV_Set_Top_Box_%28STB%29_via_USB_or_Serial 


seems to indicate it should work.  (There are also many useful links on 
that page, BTW)


>>>
>>> The cable?  Could it be bad?

Well, we know the D10-300 works because other people have reported it as 
working.

The way I see it, there are three things that could be causing your failure:

1. Bad serial port.  To eliminate this possibility, hook up a modem or 
other serial device to your port to make sure the port itself works.

2. Bad cable.  I have found bad connections in my home-made cable using 
an ohm-meter.  If you already have a meter, I suggest checking the cable 
this way.  If not, another possibility is buy another cable, preferably 
from a different source.  Of course, you could get two bad cables, but 
what's the likelihood of that happening?

3. The D10-300 has a bad port.  The way to rule out or verify this is to 
get another D10-300 and try that. (Hey, nobody every said logic was 
convenient.)