Fios and LMCE

[Stash_CEO]

Has anybody tried this.  what tv tuner will work.  this is my first step and setup.  any ideas?

[tschak909]

The Verizon FIOS setups that I have, use a variant of the Motorola DCT6200 tuner, which will work out of the box with the DCT6412 template that is in our database.

In LinuxMCE, you have two choices of how to handle TV watching: (1) you can either use MythTV for TV viewing and recording, or (2) you can simply treat the cable box as an AV device in the system, and have LinuxMCE handle switching and controlling the device. Ironically, I opt for option 2, because MythTV simply does not lend itself well to live TV watching when bolted to an external cable box (the latency between channel changes is noticeable, and can drive some people crazy).

Currently, I have the device controlled via a USB-UIRT, which is connected to my Amplifier (which is an Ethernet controlled Denon 2312CI), Once you've added the cable box, either via Sarah, or via the web admin, you should see scenarios which will allow you to select the cable box, and use it, causing the TV to switch.

The 6200's still have component outputs, which can be passed through a Hauppauge HD-PVR (the original 1212 unit), to distribute the signal to other media directors, and to allow Orbiter's UI to be laid over the top. The newer DCT3200 tuners, however, only have HDMI, and currently there is not an HDMI capture device that will work correctly under Linux for this particular application, at this time.

-Thom

[Stash_CEO]

Thanks Thom,
   also, thanks for helping me get on the forum, I was the guy having trouble getting on and posted on your youtube video.

Thanks Again.
I will post my thoughts on this once I get really started but I think first i'll buy a USB-UIRT.

[tschak909]

Hi. Glad you were able to register

a USB UIRT will control a number of IR devices within the range of the media director. We also support controlling devices via Ethernet and RS232, and have device templates for a number of these devices. Typically, RS232 and Ethernet control will be infinitely more reliable than IR, and allow for more possibilities (discrete volume control, etc.)

I also highly suggest that the core/hybrid that you initially build for this purpose have two network cards. The Core's purpose is to substitute as the router/gateway for the home, so it creates an internal home network that all house devices sit on, we use this for device detection, and a wide range of other reasons (to try and make things just work).

The only other piece of advice i can give on a new system build, is to use NVIDIA graphics hardware to start with, it will give you something that just works. We're working on making other GPUs/chips also just work.

-Thom

[Stash_CEO]

do you use an orbiter as a remote or the fios remote

[tschak909]

an Orbiter, of course.

-Thom

[Stash_CEO]

Just bought a house and getting ready to start LMCE deployment...I would like to have 3MD and 2 Fios STB and 1 DVR box wired into one closet.  Can I use just one USB-UIRT to send all the signals to the boxes.  if my orbiter is set to control say...the living room, is the md or core smart enough to know not to change the channel on the bedroom STB...any suggestions?

[tschak909]

For this setup, you will need to use a GC-100, because the system will need to distinguish one cable box from another, and a set of Xantech IR emitters.

-Thom

[Stash_CEO]

ok.  So before I got drop some cash on that...I want to setup one system...so, do I plug the USBUIRT into the MD or the Core, the core will be upstairs and the MD in the closet next to the fios dvr

[tschak909]

The UIRT can be plugged into either the MD or Core, but I would probably plug it into the MD.

-Thom

[jamo]

... outputs, which can be passed through a Hauppauge HD-PVR (the original 1212 unit), to distribute the signal to other media directors, and to allow Orbiter's UI to be laid over the top.

Thom.... regarding this option above... I was under the impression you still needed to use Myth to capture the HD-PVR stream... is that the case or is there another way to capture this stream and redistribute as you describe? (Cos I'm battling with Myth ;-)

[tschak909]

Well, initially, AV devices could be sent via Xine Player to everywhere in the house. The problem has become that the HD PVR seems to puke on this, and what we see, is a bunch of buffer overruns.

You can see the original functionality in the demo video, and it works with older SD only cards, but the HD PVR seems to fight with Xine on this.

You can set this up by literally either setting it up in the setup wizard, selecting the HD PVR's output port, and connecting it to the cable box, and you'll see a LiveTV scenario made for your cable box... This also has the effect of setting the FK_CaptureCard_Port device data to the device ID of your tuner's input port.

-Thom

[jamo]

Thank Thom, will give it a go....

[Techstyle]

Just bought a house and getting ready to start LMCE deployment...I would like to have 3MD and 2 Fios STB and 1 DVR box wired into one closet.  Can I use just one USB-UIRT to send all the signals to the boxes.  if my orbiter is set to control say...the living room, is the md or core smart enough to know not to change the channel on the bedroom STB...any suggestions?

For this setup, you will need to use a GC-100, because the system will need to distinguish one cable box from another, and a set of Xantech IR emitters.

-Thom

Thom,
couldn't he just have 3 USB-UIRT's one connected to each MD controlling one of the Cable boxes?

Stash_CEO,
how are you going to get the video signal to the screens and control the screens/volume etc?

[tschak909]

He could.

But for that price, $50 a piece, you'd be better off getting a GC-100

-Thom