[mythtv-users] USB->Serial for controlling DirecTV boxes

Brad Fuller bradallenfuller at gmail.com
Tue Sep 23 17:10:03 UTC 2008


On Tue, Sep 23, 2008 at 10:06 AM, Brad DerManouelian
<myth at dermanouelian.com> wrote:
> On Sep 23, 2008, at 9:48 AM, Brad Fuller wrote:
>
>> On Mon, Sep 22, 2008 at 3:29 PM, Brad DerManouelian
>> <myth at dermanouelian.com> wrote:
>>> Does anyone know where to get older supported USB->Serial converters?
>>> I've bought several over the past couple of weeks. Apparently, the
>>> newer pl2303X ones don't work on the DirecTV boxes where the older
>>> pl2303 ones do. There's no way to tell which chip you have until you
>>> plug it in and I've already wasted a bunch of money on different ones
>>> that the wiki say will work including identical ones that I currently
>>> have working.
>>
>> question: Are you plugging the USB part into the DirecTV box? I ask
>> cause the PL2303 works fine in Linux - you just have to enable the
>> kernel module.
>
> Yeah, that's how it works. You plug in the USB to Serial adaptor into
> the DirecTV box then into a null modem, then into the serial port on
> your myth box (or into another USB to Serial converter and that into
> the USB port on your myth box). I have two of these working just fine
> so I know how it works and I know my hardware is good (I've switched
> out just the new USB to Serial device and used all the other hardware
> from my working setup and it doesn't work).
>
> And yes.. the PL2303 and PL2303X converters both work just fine in
> Linux. The DirecTV box doesn't support the PL2303X chip and the
> manufacturer in all their wisdom decided to keep the same product and
> vendor ID's in the PL2303X as the PL2303. A patch was written in the
> linux module to handle this, but the DirecTV STB still doesn't.

For what it's worth, the HeadGear USB<->Serial convertor/cable uses
the PL2303. I got it at Fry's, kinda expensive though ($20). Don't
know if it uses the PL2303X though. I have it installed right now. Is
there a way to tell? Let me know, and I'll check.

-- 
Brad Fuller
www.bradfuller.com


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