CableCARD supported (yet)? How to get premium HD channels?

[wackychimp]

Hi all,

Wondering if LMCE / Myth support CableCARDs to allow for digital cable in the US yet?  I found this post from several months back:

http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php?topic=1622.0

and wondered if any progress had been made in this area. 

This would be the only way I could get premium HD content (like sports & HBO) from my cable company (I think).

[Zaerc]

I believe babakrezai is referring to CableCARD, not a capture card capable of recording digital cable.  CableCARD is a small plug-in card that allows you to view encrypted digital cable in the US.  CableCARD was touted as an alternative to renting a set-top box from the cable company.  I believe the Tivo Series3 and Vista Media Center are currently the only DVR's on the market that support CableCARD.  The Cable companies don't like CableCARD, and you have to jump through numerous hoops to license it (just ask Tivo).  I highly doubt that it will be available legally for Linux for quite some time. 

I think that answers your question.

[wackychimp]

Gotcha.  So will I never be able to watch premium cable content on LMCE? 

Possible workaround: getting a cable box from my cable company and using some kind of USB-UIRT thing to control it.... maybe?

Anybody doing anything like this? (I just gotta get ESPN HD)

And, yes, Time Warner Cable sucks!

[teedge77]

well they used IR in the demo video. you might want to check that and get a better idea of how to do it.
youd still need to have your tv hooked up straight to the cable box.
you can use the usb-uirt to switch input on the tv to the cable box and control it with linuxmce.
then switch the input back to linuxmce to watch dvds or whatever.

[wackychimp]

Yeah, that looks like it might work but I couldn't DVR the premium content. Right?

Possible to do:

Cable box (controlled by IR) ---> LMCE Box ---> HD Projector

and have a High Def DVR?

[Todd]

I am not sure, but I believe it is not possible because HD is encrypted, except for over the air signals.

[teedge77]

what kindof output would you use on the cable box?

[Zaerc]

Yeah, that looks like it might work but I couldn't DVR the premium content. Right?

Possible to do:

Cable box (controlled by IR) ---> LMCE Box ---> HD Projector

and have a High Def DVR?

I think that's your only option for now, don't know about the High Def though.

[PeteK]

I think this is one of those 'never say never' cases.  CableCard decoders are very new on the market, and they're currently only shipping in pre-configured PCs.  Things like these tend to be ripe targets for crackers, so there may be another DVD Jon out there who can make life a lot easier.  Also, the music industry went through this phase and eventually came to realize the benefits of selling DRM-free media.  Hopefully, the mpaa learns something from them.

[wackychimp]

... Hopefully, the mpaa learns something from them.

      Yeah that's funny.  Heh.

@ teedge77 -  Don't know as I don't even have the cable box in my hands yet.  This is all theoretical.

So overall, as it stands now, LMCE isn't the best choice to be a HD DVR... good for QAM/OTA HD but not for premium content.  Right?

[teedge77]

yeah not for premium content. cross your fingers for the cablecard support

[tafypz]

Cable companies in the US are required by the FCC to provide a working firewire port on their HD cable boxes.
I run mythtv 0.20.2 on my network, I connected a Scientific Atlanta 4250HD to my server through firewire.
I registered the cable box in mythtv-setup, after that I was able to watch the premium channels in HD (and channel changing happens through the firewire port, no IR required).

There is a BIG disclaimer though:
Not all cable providers provide premium channels in clear on the Firewire port;
Tech support (Lvl1 and Lvl2) is usually totally clueless about firewire and about what it takes to get an output out of the cable box.
I am one of the lucky ones who can access their whole cable lineup through firewire; you may want to give it a shot as you may be lucky too.

[teedge77]

tafypaz, who is your cable provider?

[Zaerc]

That's a pretty sweet solution, glad to be wrong. 

[tafypz]

Cablevision is my provider