[mythtv-users] So confused. Firewire to STB - channel change script - mythchanger

[Philip Isaacs]

On Mon, Mar 24, 2014 at 3:22 PM, Gary Buhrmaster
<gary.buhrmaster at gmail.com>wrote:

> On Mon, Mar 24, 2014 at 6:53 PM, Philip Isaacs <showcasefloyd at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > Wait. If I'm using Firewire to record (which was sort of my plan at this
> > point) then I don't need an external channel changing script?
>
> *It depends*.
>
> Firewire recording/channel changing either (a) Works well,
> (b) Never works, (c) Works just enough to cause one to
> pull what might remain of ones hair out for lack of predictability,
> or (d) Changes from working to non-working (or vice-versa) due
> to provider changes to the STB firmware.
>
> Comcast has decided to change their naming scheme
> to "hide" the underlying hardware details from the
> customer, so that the RNG150N name is used for
> boxes from (at least) three manufactures (Motorola,
> Pace, and Cisco).  [RNG = Residential Network Gateway,
> the N means it has MoCA capability for AnyRoom DVR
> support].  It is highly likely that there are some subtleties
> in the different models, and since Comcast tolerates,
> but does not embrace, firewire support on their STBs,
> one may find that not all STBs work well (or at all) in
> MythTV (or, really, any Linux app).
>
> So, channel changing, and recording might (or might not)
> "just work" out of the box.
>
> If this is a learning experience regarding options, the
> more power to you, but if you want this to "just work",
> since you have previously stated you are using Comcast
> as your provider, I would strongly recommend you simply
> purchase an OCUR CableCARD recorder.  They just work,
> and MythTV has good support for them.  You would get
> the same content (non-copy protected content) via an
> OCUR recorder as you will get from a firewire device, and
> up to six concurrent recordings at once (depending on
> chosen tuner).
>
> Gary


Hey Gary,

Thanks so much for the explanation. And to answer your question, yes this
is really just a learning experience for me (since I love the challenge of
figuring out how to make something work) but I understand it's sometimes a
waste of time. I know I can purchase a CableCard from Comcast (I already
called and spoke to someone about how to obtain on) but I was just looking
at what options are available with my STB using Firewire.

So far the STB seems to be able to do everything I ask it via firewire fine
(which seemed really encouraging), and MythTV sees the device okay (it id's
it as SA-8KG5-CRONUS-LinuxJUL23200) which I assumed was a Scientific
Atlanta since that's also the type of cable card it has, but someone else
told me it was actually Cisco. Anyhow, my next step is really just to see
if I can get it to show me Live TV, so far it's not working.

Any ideas on where I might look?

Floyd
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