[mythtv-users] Cable box always on

Brian Wood beww at beww.org
Thu Mar 27 16:37:01 UTC 2008


On Mar 27, 2008, at 10:27 AM, Preston Crow wrote:
> On Thu, 2008-03-27 at 09:54 -0600, Brian Wood wrote:
>> Actually even that might not work with DISH receivers, as they seem
>> to
>> move the text and logo around, presumably to prevent burn-in?
>
> Perhaps it would make sense to check the audio, not the video, to  
> get an
> indication of whether the box is on.

Maybe, it's certainly an idea.

Some boxes can mute the audio, so the box could be on and not putting  
out audio (I know, you should use the mute function of Myth, not the  
STB, but I'm just pointing out possible problems).

The real question is does the power function toggle the power switch  
back and forth, or is there a separate "on" and "off" function. As  
long as it's the latter than there would be no harm in sending power- 
on when the box is already on, but I suppose if that's the case then  
the easy answer is to just send it anyway.

If the power function is a toggle, you are almost certainly going to  
get turnoffs when you don't want them.

How long would you sample the audio? How would you tell the difference  
between the box being off and an "artistic" silence or a news anchor  
confronted by a malfunctioning prompter? You might need up to 10  
seconds to be reasonably sure there was no audio, which would cause  
long delays in switching.

Seems to me the two best answers are an STB that stays on no matter  
what, or some positive way for Myth to know the STB's status. Neither  
of these will be easy.

beww



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