[plugin] DirecTV D11 Serial Codes

[doctah]

just wanted to give another account that the "cables unlimited" (bought it from Fry's) didn't work - but the IOGear (bought from Micro Center) does work.

[tremor_tj]

The QVS serial/usb converter works like a champ. I got it at Microcenter since they were out of the iogear brand. This is SO much nicer than IR-blasters.

[G7n167]

Hi,

I'm the proud owner of a D11-300. I've got the cables (all purchased from Radio Shack) and have had no luck getting my computer/Beyond TV 4.XX to talk with the D11. I've configured as instructed in the beginning of the thread. I guess the simplest question is, how do I determine the "port #" the serial cable is pugged into? I've looked in Control Panel-->System in Windows XP with no luck. I know enough about Windows to be dangerous. My other solution is to get the IOGEAR cable, but have a hard time believing my problem is the Radio Shack cable.

Any help?

Thanks,

Rich

[grandpaken]

Originally Posted by G7n167

Hi,

I'm the proud owner of a D11-300. I've got the cables (all purchased from Radio Shack) and have had no luck getting my computer/Beyond TV 4.XX to talk with the D11. I've configured as instructed in the beginning of the thread. I guess the simplest question is, how do I determine the "port #" the serial cable is pugged into? I've looked in Control Panel-->System in Windows XP with no luck.

Any help?

Thanks,

Rich

Why not tell us exactly what you're using and how they're hooked up? You need to have a USB>serial adapter that get's plugged into the back of the D11 and a null modem cable or adapter plugged into the serial port of your computer. You should only have 2 comm ports on the back of your computer which should be Com1 and Com2.

[G7n167]

Thanks for the reply.

I've got a USB to Serial Adapter plugged into the D11, null modem adapter which is plugged into the 1 of the 2 serial ports on my computer. I guess what confused me about the port situation is Beyond TV allows you to select port numbers 1 thru 25. I've rebooted the computer after running the wizard, which didn't help. I've read about "rebooting" the D11, does that involve unplugging the power cord, or simply turning the D11 off, then on?

Thanks,

Rich

[grandpaken]

Originally Posted by G7n167

Thanks for the reply.

I've got a USB to Serial Adapter plugged into the D11, null modem adapter which is plugged into the 1 of the 2 serial ports on my computer. I guess what confused me about the port situation is Beyond TV allows you to select port numbers 1 thru 25. I've rebooted the computer after running the wizard, which didn't help. I've read about "rebooting" the D11, does that involve unplugging the power cord, or simply turning the D11 off, then on?

Thanks,

Rich

I unplugged the D* receiver, plugged in the USB cable then plugged it back in. Although a majority of the USB>Serial adapters will work there are a minority that will not. I haven't tried the Ratshack model so I can't vouch for it. Unless you have a weird setup your comm ports should be 1 or 2. You can look in device manager to see what they're set up as. Snapstream put 1-25 in because someone could have a custom setup using virtual comm ports which can be set to any number up to 256. At one time I had a computer with 8 comm ports using a device called a Digiboard but not too many people use that many comm ports nowadays.

[G7n167]

Problem sovled!!

Purchased IOGEAR cable and everything works well.

Rat Shack Serial to USB cable WILL NOT WORK!!!

Thanks,

Rich

[grandpaken]

Originally Posted by G7n167

Problem sovled!!

Purchased IOGEAR cable and everything works well.

Rat Shack Serial to USB cable WILL NOT WORK!!!

Thanks,

Rich

Great....Too bad we don't have a place to keep a record of which adapters work and more importantly which ones don't. I am using a Radio Shack null modem cable along with a USB>Serial adapter which works but I don't think brand matters much on the null modem since it's just a cable with 2 lines switched. I'm not sure if SS is distributing the D11 remote with
4.5 but I think we've tested enough to know it works and it's stable.

[canekid]

I thought I would chime in...

Fry's has the IOGear...

I had to do a complete power down, unplug the STB for 10 seconds and then when I plugged power back in, the STB recognized and accepted the codes from my computer.

This was on an H20-100, but I don't see why it would be any different. You just may have to go that far to get it to work.

Now as far as USB - Serial bridges. Sure the docs say IOGear, but if you look at the specs, there's not much different between different models of the USB - Serial bridge. If the bridge says it's compatible with MAC OS 8.5+ then it should work with the D11/H20. Why? Because Mac OS 8.5+ to OS X has a generic driver that identifies the USB - Serial briges as the same model. If adaptor supplies their own version of a driver for MAC, then it could be proprietary.

IOGear does not provide a driver for the MAC and the box says it's compatible with Mac OS 8.5 or greater. There must be an industry standard spec for bridges, kinda like VISA for VGA.

[ZetaVu]

Ok, silly question, but what is stopping us from taking a USB cable and and slicing off the end, then wiring it correctly into a 9 pin serial connector for the computer? That was how I wired up my current connector for the low speed data port. Unfortunately, as that stb gets old I figure I'll be getting a d11 soon and thought I'd look into the wiring.

So, is there something magical about usb cables that stops us from slicing them into a serial cable? Does the adaptor have some resistors in it or does it merely cross wires correctly? Theoretically you could take a USB cable and any serial cable, slice them in half and correctly wire your cable if we kne the wiring scheme (which an owner of the correct two cable could determine with a potentiameter and 5 minutes)

From what I've read, USB cables have 5 wires, red is vbus (power) white or orange is D-, yellow or green is D+, Black is ground, then a shield wire.

Getting to the next point, why not use the USB on the computer to connect to the USB on the D11? Just get a USB A to A male to male cable and then program a BTV plugin specifically for that. http://www.casecooler.com/3ftusb20toma.html

[grandpaken]

Originally Posted by ZetaVu

Ok, silly question, but what is stopping us from taking a USB cable and and slicing off the end, then wiring it correctly into a 9 pin serial connector for the computer? That was how I wired up my current connector for the low speed data port. Unfortunately, as that stb gets old I figure I'll be getting a d11 soon and thought I'd look into the wiring.

So, is there something magical about usb cables that stops us from slicing them into a serial cable? Does the adaptor have some resistors in it or does it merely cross wires correctly? Theoretically you could take a USB cable and any serial cable, slice them in half and correctly wire your cable if we kne the wiring scheme (which an owner of the correct two cable could determine with a potentiameter and 5 minutes)

From what I've read, USB cables have 5 wires, red is vbus (power) white or orange is D-, yellow or green is D+, Black is ground, then a shield wire.

Getting to the next point, why not use the USB on the computer to connect to the USB on the D11? Just get a USB A to A male to male cable and then program a BTV plugin specifically for that. http://www.casecooler.com/3ftusb20toma.html

I think the D11 uses a special USB circuit that communicates via serial such as:

"FT8U232AM and FT8U245AM which takes the hassle out of USB. One provides a asychronous serial interface, while the other provides a byte wide FIFO with little need to worry about the underlying USB protocols and USB device drivers."

This would require that the serial protocal is used but just transmitted over the USB cables. I'm a programmer and not a chip expert so perhaps someone else with electronics knowledge can chirp in here.

[ZetaVu]

That's the trick, is it wiring or is it intelligent communication? I see it as signals transmitted over wires, and as long as the correct wire is connected then the signal goes through. Since we can send the correct signal through the serial connector using a null modem and serial to usb, then A, can we wire a cable with serial on one end and usb on the other, and B, can we write a plugin to use the usb on the computer and just use a male to male usb cable?

Now, if we slice open the serial to usb cable and find it has more than just wires going from one end to another, life becomes a little more complicated. (I suppose testing continuity between points would be less messy. If someone with that cable were to do that and post the connection diagram, I'd be willing to slice up a few cables and test it out.)

[JacobHaley]

I can confirm that this plugin along with a Dynex USB to serial converter from Best Buy and null modem cable works with my new H20 receiver. Thanks!

[trogers401]

I currently have the cables for the D10 and had to buy a Serial to USB adapter as my pc does not have a serial port. If I follow instructions to use the USB on the HD receiver by getting the USB to Serial adapter and null modem cable, would I then plug the null modem cable into the existing Serial to USB on my pc? Man, it would be nice if I could just use a USB cable to connect the two, but see above that it would not work. Any thoughts?

[grandpaken]

Originally Posted by trogers401

I currently have the cables for the D10 and had to buy a Serial to USB adapter as my pc does not have a serial port. If I follow instructions to use the USB on the HD receiver by getting the USB to Serial adapter and null modem cable, would I then plug the null modem cable into the existing Serial to USB on my pc? Man, it would be nice if I could just use a USB cable to connect the two, but see above that it would not work. Any thoughts?

I don't know of anyone who's tried it...at least not where it worked. You would need 2 adapters...a USB>Serial adapter on your computer and another USB>Serial adapter on the STB with a null modem between them. You most likely will need to load a driver for the adapter on your PC. Let us know if you get it to work.