[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