[mythtv-users] Wrote Script to Power on Cable Box

Chris Porter hoodlum7 at gmail.com
Tue Jul 10 18:08:54 UTC 2012


On Mon, Jul 9, 2012 at 4:36 PM, Andrew Stadt <acstadt at stadt.ca> wrote:

> On 25/06/2012 1:19 PM, Gary Buhrmaster wrote:
>
>> On Mon, Jun 25, 2012 at 2:40 PM, jr <jraymyth at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I have been having trouble with my Cable Box shutting off on a weekly
>>> basis.
>>>
>> It is my understanding that some cable boxes will turn themselves
>> off after some period of "idle" (determined by lack of button pushes).
>>
>> In some cases, some cable boxes can be configured to disable
>> "sleep" mode (also called Auto Power Down mode).  From what
>> I recall, that usually means you have to go into settings menu
>> of the cable box (not the cable company's menu), and requires
>> various incantations (power off/menu, or equivalent) that are totally
>> STB dependent.  You might want to see if your STB has been
>> references in some posting on the various STB forums.  I would
>> search for combinations of your STB model and idle or standby
>> to see if you can get any hints.  Sometimes you can even contact
>> the cable company and get assistance (either via a phone call, or
>> their online forums).  Here are a couple of example posts by
>> people with similar issues:
>>    http://www.digitalhome.ca/**forum/showthread.php?t=125410&**page=14<http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=125410&page=14>
>>    http://www.tivocommunity.com/**tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=**382333<http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=382333>
>>
>> The other approach may be to send "empty" commands to the
>> STB on some (irregular) schedule to keep the box thinking
>> that it has someone watching it.  Often there is a command
>> that has (essentially) few side effects that you can consider
>> (sometimes you can use the "exit" key; you might have to
>> experiment a bit with your STB).  My recollection is that using the
>> MythTV bindings you can determine whether a particular tuner is in
>> use, and if it is not, you could send an "empty" command to the STB
>> every (few) hours or so keeping it from going into idle/standby.
>>
>> Gary
>> ______________________________**_________________
>> mythtv-users mailing list
>> mythtv-users at mythtv.org
>> http://www.mythtv.org/mailman/**listinfo/mythtv-users<http://www.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users>
>>
> In my neck of the woods I'm stuck with Rogers for cable. Periodically they
> push updates up the pipe and the box shuts down after the update.
>  Unfortunately from talking to the very (lack of) tech support, there is no
> way around these shutdowns.  Never thought of testing for a black
> screen.... have to give that a shot.
>
> Thanks for the idea,
>
> Andrew.
>
>
>
> ______________________________**_________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users at mythtv.org
> http://www.mythtv.org/mailman/**listinfo/mythtv-users<http://www.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users>
>


if you use firewire then stb-command maybe able to check the power status
of the cable box.

http://code.google.com/p/stb-command/

 USAGE: Usage: stb-command [-hrtv] -n <node> <command>
           -h : detailed Help including supported commands
           -n : Node for command - required
           -r : use key Release instead of key press
           -t : Test mode - does not actually send the message
           -v : Verbose Mode
    <command> : command to send to the set top box (use -h for list of commands

  RETURN Value: Dependent on command
                -1 = error
                0  = success but no return value
                power_on, power_off, and power_status return:
                1 = OFF
                2 = ON


-- 
Working on World Domination since 2001
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www.mythtv.org/pipermail/mythtv-users/attachments/20120710/9032dfd0/attachment.html>


More information about the mythtv-users mailing list