[mythtv-users] DirecTV D10-300 Serial Interface

[Blaine Nelson]

Hi,

Apologies if this post is boring and outdated.  Most of my searches on
this topic have yielded posts that are more than 2 or 3 years old.

Anyhow, I've been trying to get an old D10-300 satellite receiver to
interface with a new install of MythTv.  I've followed the
instructions posted in the following:

http://www.pdp8.net/directv/directv.shtml
http://mythtv.org/pipermail/mythtv-users/2005-October/107586.html

That is,

1. I've bought and installed the serial-to-low-rate cable from
http://www.dtvcontrol.com/index.aspx?content=cable.
2. I've performed the reset on the satellite box to get the updated software
3. And, tried calling directv.pl at the command line with a number of options

So, for instance:

blaine at blaine-desktop:/usr/local/bin$ directv.pl box_type D10-100
verbose version
Version 1.7

blaine at blaine-desktop:/usr/local/bin$ directv.pl box_type D10-100
verbose get_channel
SEND: 0xFA [�] 0x87 [�]
RECV: Timeout Error


SEND: 0xFA [�] 0x87 [�]
RECV: Timeout Error


SEND: 0xFA [�] 0x87 [�]
RECV: Timeout Error


SEND: 0xFA [�] 0x87 [�]
RECV: Timeout Error


Error excessive retries

blaine at blaine-desktop:/usr/local/bin$ directv.pl box_type D10-100 port
/dev/ttyS1 verbose get_channel

yields the exact same output.  One post I read offered the possibility
that there is some conflict on the serial port and suggested using
lsof to see.  Came up null:

blaine at blaine-desktop:/usr/local/bin$ lsof | grep /dev/ttyS0
blaine at blaine-desktop:/usr/local/bin$ lsof | grep /dev/ttyS1

Another post suggested using statserial to check out serial ports.  I
did this, but don't understand the output:

Device: /dev/ttyS1

Signal  Pin  Pin  Direction  Status  Full
Name    (25) (9)  (computer)         Name
-----   ---  ---  ---------  ------  -----
FG       1    -      -           -   Frame Ground
TxD      2    3      out         -   Transmit Data
RxD      3    2      in          -   Receive  Data
RTS      4    7      out         1   Request To Send
CTS      5    8      in          0   Clear To Send
DSR      6    6      in          0   Data Set Ready
GND      7    5      -           -   Signal Ground
DCD      8    1      in          0   Data Carrier Detect
DTR     20    4      out         1   Data Terminal Ready
RI      22    9      in          0   Ring Indicator


Yet another post suggested that the excessive retries error message is
associated with faulty cable.  It seems like alot of folks were making
these cables themselves, but I bought mine.  What are the chances it's
defective?

Should I give up on the D10-300 receiver?  Is there equipment
(satellite - directv) that is easier to interface with?  Is the reason
I haven't been able to find any more recent posts on this topic b/c
people have moved on to newer gear?

Any help, guidance, ideas will be greatly appreciated.  I've spent so
much time trying to get this working.

- Blaine