[mythtv-users] How turn on / off external box

[Christian Szpilfogel]

On 01/08/2010 3:57 PM, Michelle Dupuis wrote:
> I just got my HDPVR and satellite IRD, and I'm figuring out the channel change script stuff.
>
> But, what's not obvious to me is how does myth know to turn the external sat box on/off?  And what script does that?
>    
The others are correct in terms of the typical power draw of an STB. It 
is also shocking how much power they use.

The main reason you want power control is to ensure the STB is actually 
on before you do anything. Or in some cases you may need to press "menu" 
and "exit" such as with the QIP. Many STBs have power downs in the 
middle of the night, standby modes, or power offs when upgrades occur.

If you only have IR it will be tricky but you could try and write a 
script that checks the success of the HD-PVR and then tries to toggle 
the power. I recall someone on the list doing something like this. If 
you have some discrete outputs from the box that only activate when the 
box is on that might be easier.

If you have a firewire/ieee1394 interface then I created a program to 
send commands to the STB including power on/off/status as well as other 
things like "menu", "exit", "channel_up", etc.
see: http://code.google.com/p/stb-command/

Christian