[mythtv-users] Digital Cable Box, MythTV, and Serial Cables Oh My!

[Donald Saltarelli]

Warren- you need a straight through db9 cable to connect the PC serial
to the serial on the cable box. i got a 'switch box' db9 male-male and a
female-female gender changer to do the trick. the next thing is you have
to configure only the 'Composite 4' input in the Video inputs
configuration of the mythtv 'setup' program (mythsetup under Gentoo) and
use the Composite out on the cable box to the composite in on the pvr
card. You also specify the channelchange script in the same place (you
must do so).

I'm writing a soup to nuts HOW-TO on the dct2xxx, MythTV and PVR-250
w/remote that i hope to have finished as soon as i get clarity on the
ivtv/firmware/? problem i'm having. maybe they can link to it off the
FAQ if everyone likes it. Took me a few days of digging around the net
to get to where i am, too.

Donald

On Thu, 2003-12-11 at 01:06, Warren Pattison wrote:

> Hello,
>  
> Ok, it's 3:00 in the AM, and I'm excited.  After three weeks of
> waiting and troubleshooting, I just got the basic features of MythTV
> setup and running!  Faulty hardware had to be returned, and I had to
> conquer the TV OUT issue.  (For those struggling with TV OUT on
> NVidia, search the forums for "ConnectedMonitor" and nvidia driver
> bug.  Your card may require that option to read ",TV".  Very
> frustrating!)
>  
> Anyway, I've got what I hope is a simple question.
>  
> I've got MythTV working on Live TV pausing/starting/etc.  But to test
> that, the hardware setup was as follows:  [Cable TV Wall Outlet] ->
> [PVR-250/MythBox] -> [TV Out (Composite)] -> [TV].  With this setup,
> I'm able to view...a channel.  Channel 3 to be exact.  Notice the
> cable box isn't in play there.
>  
> My next hurdle is to change channels.  I have a Motorola Cable Box,
> model DCT2224, and I snagged the dct-channel-1.5.tar.gz to allow me to
> control the channel changing via the serial/data port on the back of
> the box.  (Thanks Jim!)  Compile, install.  I can execute 'channel -v'
> with no problem, and it returns the current channel I am on.  Nifty!
>  
> So, my question is:  How do I hook all of this up?  Am I correct in
> thinking that I will be able to view all channels via MythTV,
> including the digital cable channels, if I have the cable box in the
> chain of hardware?
>  
> I tried this setup, but I only get snow when I watch TV via Myth: 
> [Cable TV Wall Outlet] -> [Motorola DCT2224] -> [PVR-250/MythBox] ->
> [TV Out (Composite)] -> [TV].  The serial cable is connected to the
> MythBox and the DCT2224, and via command line it's tested and
> working.  I have inserted the path to the binary in the MythTVSetup
> for my Input Connections.  That part should be fine and dandy.
>  
> I think I'm missing something easy here.
>  
> If I need to supply more information, I can.  I was thinking of
> drawing an ascii pic of the setup, but it's late.
>  
> Thanks,
>  
> Warren Pattison
> wjp3 at wjp3.com
>  
> "In a world of compromise, some don't."
>  
> 
> 
> 
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> 
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