ReplayTV 5040 / Gary Gray cable / Comcast DTA

I followed eslave's instructions just a week ago to setup using the DCI105 for my daughter, using WiRNS to load the codes. Depending on which file(s) you used to upload to the Replay is which blaster code you need to use, 0237 or 2009. I used the Pace overwrite file, which uses code 0237, and it worked perfectly with the Gray's cable on two different ReplayTVs using the DCI105. The important thing is to be sure and reboot the ReplayTV after you upload the new IR Blaster codes...

The other thing is that just because you got the clock and CPU meter to pop up, all that means is that it ran the lines before and after the IR Blaster file copies. However, that doesn't mean that the file copies were sucessful, it just means that they were attempted to be copied. If you have the path specified incorrectly, that you didn't put the IR Blaster file(s) on the ReplayTV in the same location that they are specified to be copied from, then the copy will fail. You'd have to check that you actually copied the new files onto the ReplayTV system, which you can reverse the copy command and then look at the file in the Photos partition to see if it is the new one or the old one...

Henry

Nah, you don't need to start over. Once the script is run, the files are copied and they are on the system. I think you need the reboot to then have it start using the new files...

I don't know why nobody else has done this, but I simply put the reboot at the end of the script (when I did the second unit). I watched how the first unit went through the whole process, and once I discovered that it runs the script after it has finished the net connect, I tried the second one with the reboot as the end of the script and it worked perfectly!

Henry

What model(s) DTA's will cable work with? Looked on ebay could not find it.

I have the same problem. My current guess is that the power level is too high on the cable. Haven't spent the time digging to confirm it, though. Possible cause: deteriorating power supplies?

Again, no, that shouldn't be a problem. All you care about is getting the files copied. After that, it shouldn't matter what you do...

So, what I wrote previously, you need to check that you actually copied the files to the system. Double check your script copy commands (cp) to see that the path they specify matches where you stored the files on the ReplayTV before changing the name server. If you want to check the files, switch the source and destination on the copy commands and then use whatever you used to put the files on the ReplayTV to retreive them and make sure they are the updated files...

Henry

Are you using the original CD image or one that has been made with the newer Comcast blaster files? I know there have been a lot of blaster files for Comcast recently, so I don't know which all have been generated. I used the Pace with 0237 single update file. But, I think the original udpate was to add a 2009 IR Blaster code. I think you should be able to check which files are contained in the CD image to see if it has a 2009 file or not (and, whether it contains the Comcast updates or not). However, I don't remember how the boot CD places the files on the ReplayTV in the first place. I thought you had to put the files on there yourself using httpfs and then the boot CD allowed the ReplayTV to execute copying the files to the system. But, it's been a very long time since I've looked at it and I've never used it myself, I just did it manually for the very first time very recently...

By the way, I used the WiRNS method for everything and really didn't have to touch the ReplayTV at all. I used WiRNS to copy over the update files and then after placing the shellcmds file on the WiRNS system, I simply clicked the "Reboot" button in WiRNS to have it force the ReplayTV to net connect, load the shellcmds, and reboot after finished...

Henry

AFAIK, if a certain 'AppShell' command executes, it confirms the command(s) before it executed successfully. Thus, if the file copy was UNSUCCESSFUL, the following 'AppShell(s)' wouldn't be run because the script would have aborted.

IIRC, that was the whole purpose of adding the (up to 5 available) 'AppShell' commands - "DEBUG DISPLAY" so to speak - to see EXACTLY where the error occurred.

Troubleshooting a shellcmds Script Error...

Which "pre-made bootable CD" image did you use?

IMHO, the 'problem' with this upgrade for so many 'non Techies' is that so many of the steps are difficult to confirm.

Inside:

ClearToLand's Picks For Best Answers to Common ReplayTV Questions: you'll find:

[How-Do-I] Control My NEW OTA / CABLE Digital STB With My OLD ReplayTV? containing the research I conducted at that time.

ReplayTV & STB/DTA: Troubleshooting Logically explains the steps for the 'non Techies'.

Bottom line is you have MANY variables:

1. Did you load the (correct) code?
   .
2. Is the IR Blaster working?
   .
3. Is the IR Blaster located in the CORRECT place to control the STB?

If, for example, you also have a Motorola STB, confirming that you can control that will verify steps 2 & 3 since the Motorola code is 'built-in' to the ReplayTV.

I couldn't get the CD Image(s) to work since there is a "Known BUG" with my 'ancient' D-LINK NIC cards. But, good old WiRNS (1.2x?) on my 'ancient' Pentium 233 w/Win98 & NT4 SP6a worked just fine.

If you read my LINKs and do a SEARCH for Mikeyboy's additional input on the topic, you should be able to complete the task in no time. IIRC, Mikeyboy added a step or two that I would have never thought of.

Good Luck!

I'm not aware of that situation, but I guess it would depend on if the copy indicated properly whether it was successful or not. I'd have to try it to see if it actually works that way or not...

Henry

That's what I was calling the "original" boot CD. FlipFlop certainly hasn't updated it in years. However, I thought I remembered that someone posted an update for it in the Comcast thread. So, that's what I was calling the newer Comcast files. So, I think if you're using FlipFlop's boot CD, it seems pretty unlikely to me that it contains the IR Blaster codes for the Comcast DTAs and that would likely be your problem...

Henry

I happened to be searching and found this post about using FlipFlop's original CD and then modifying the environment to include the newer Comcast files. They even attached the update files to the post to make it even easier! This is what I was referring to as "someone posted an update"...

Henry

Help

I just bit the proverbial bullet, hooked up the Pace DTA from comcast to my replay using the Gray cable, and now I am lost and confused. I see the use of a bootable CD to upload new codes and can not find any reference on how to do this, can someone point a direction for the codes, cd and how to upload. I am not using WIRNs. Does one need Wirns to upload the new codes?

Thanks

Well, if you're interested in the boot CD method, I would certainly check out my post right in front of yours...

And, here is a post where I linked several sets of directions for different methods. You don't need WiRNS to upload the new codes, but you need some kind of proxy. The boot CD is also a proxy. Or, you can build your own proxy out of the RNS stuff that Ian made. Basically, using the boot CD sets up everything for you in one shot (although, you need the update in the post that I linked in my post right above yours). WiRNS is also pretty much do it all in one thing, but you have to do all the steps yourself manually...

And, I would certainly highly recommend your reading the entire Comcast DTA thread...

Henry

Henry
thanks for the links and file location, however, I suppose being part luddite, I do not understand how to copy the file to the replay, the "build your own proxy out of the RNS stuff" escapes my comprehension. Is there a link or simple (I guess I mean REAL simple) explanation on how to transfer the file to replay. Using DVarchive I was able to create the install folder, I tried the simple drag and copy the file to dvarchive, i got the rid file on dvarcive and thats where it is, however, the 2009 code did not show up as an option on the replay setup, clearly I am missing something (in addition to basic knowledege of networking lingo).

thanks

art

I'm not aware of much more explanation than I've posted. There is certainly the original IR blaster thread, which I hope was linked in there somewhere. However, lets start with the first requirement, which is to get updated IR blaster files onto the ReplayTV file system. As you can well imagine, ReplayTV does not provide a mechanism for the user to be able to make changes to the ReplayTV file system. However, they have provided a mechanism for users to be able to place picture files onto a safe Photo partition, which does not affect the operation of the ReplayTV. So, when you are placing IR blaster files onto the ReplayTV, you are simply placing pictures into the Photo partition. That does not make them usable by the operating system...

So, you have two choices:

1. You actually place the IR blaster files on the ReplayTV files system. This requires your pulling the hard drive out of the ReplayTV and hooking it up to some PC so that you can physically copy the IR blaster files onto the ReplayTV files system. If you read eslave's post on updating the IR blaster files, he has given good instructions on using extract to copy the files directly onto the ReplayTV file system...

2. You use ReplayTV's ability to update the file system to place the iR blaster files on there. This requires using a proxy system to pretend to be ReplayTV and instruct the unit to update the files on the file system. However, this mechanism requires having the ReplayTV have access to the IR blaster files that you want to use to update, which are normally downloaded from ReplayTV itself. While the proxy could also serve the IR blaster files to the ReplayTV, the eaiser way to do this is to simply copy the IR blaster files to the ReplayTV's photo partition so they are accessible by the file system. Then, using the proxy, the ReplayTV can be commanded to copy the IR blaster files from the Photo partition to the file system. And, you have only completed step one of this method, that you have placed the IR blaster files on the Photo partition...

So, copying the IR blaster files on the ReplayTV is pretty easy, either using DVArchive, WiRNS, or ReplayPC to store the files on the ReplayTV Photo partition. But, then you have to run some kind of proxy to send the ReplayTV the shell commands to instruct it to copy the IR blaster files from the Photo partition to the file system. For this, you have basically have the choice of using the boot CD, which also takes care of copying the IR blaster files onto the ReplayTV; WiRNS, which can also be used to manually copy the IR blaster fiels onto the ReplayTV; or make your own proxy, such as Ian documented. Not that I recommend making your own proxy, but just letting you know the possibility...

So, depending on which way you want to go, if you want to use the boot CD, then you need to be aware that the published boot CD does not contain the latest IR blaster files, so you have to first update the files after you get the boot CD running, as is documented in one of the posts that I linked. Or, you have to get WiRNS running on a Windows PC just enough to use it to send the shellcmds to the ReplayTV to have it copy the IR blaster files which you have to manually copy onto the ReplayTV's photo partition. In this case, the shellcmds file has to be placed in the WiRNS directory so that it is sent to the ReplayTV when it net connects...

There are a couple of other choices as well. You could send your unit to Mikeyboy and have him update the IR blaster files on your unit. Or, you could try to get an image which already contains the IR blaster files that you need, and then pull the hard drive yourself and use RTVPatch to upgrade the file system on your ReplayTV more easily (and, also factory reset your unit)...

If you go with the WiRNS method, you only have to install WiRNS, you don't have to configure it with a lineup and such. Just get it running so that it can act as the proxy, place the shellcmds file on it, and then change your ReplayTV's DNS address(es) so that it net connects through WiRNS, and then change your DNS address(es) back. After you get WiRNS installed, you might like it so much that you want to fully configure it and start using it all the time!

Henry

Henry

I think i have WiRNS installed, while I am getting an error message on startup (Wirns or WIrnsMOn has stopped working. I can access and manage wirns through web page. (not sure if this means wirns is working, but the log files indicates that something is happening. As stated before I uploaded the RID file to the replay using DVarchive (do I also need the other two files that came in the zip file?). I have edited the shellcmds file to include the cp command and also did the net connect, but still the new RID file does not show up on the setup menu. I guess I am not sure how to do the Shellcmd using WiRNS.

What next?

First, WiRNS logs all the net connect activity, so you should be able to view the log file to tell what's going on. You can either use WiRNSMon's Live Logfile Viewer to watch the log during the net connect (if WiRNSMon is working), or you cat stop WiRNS as a service and start it manually in App mode (from the Start menu) and simply watch the command prompt screen as it logs the net connect...

Second, the thing about the files and the shellcmds depends on everything in total. If your using code 2009, then you need the three files (I think it's three), whereas if you use the Pace code (which is what I did), then you only need one file. Second, the shellcmds path for the source files (from the Photos partition) has to match where you stored the files. If you use DVArchive to copy the files, then you MUST put them in a folder within the Photos partition, and you have to put that same folder name in your cp command. If you use WiRNS to copy the files, then you don't have to put them in a folder, and you wouldn't have the folder name in the cp command. So, it depends where you got the shellcmds from. Some of the shellcmds have the cp command using the /install folder, and you have to be sure and create an install folder with DVArchive and put the IR blaster files there. So, you need to be sure that the cp command path matches where you are copying the files. If you have the two process "indicators" in your shellcmds (the toggle clock and toggle cpu), then I am told that the cpu meter won't toggle unless the file copies are successful (which I've never verified)...

And, by the way, since someone else had a problem with this, you need to be sure that you are using the newest 2009 files versus an older version (which is what is on the boot CD)...

Finally, you may need to reboot your RTV after installing the new files to get them to activate, especially since you are installing a new code set...

Henry

Henry

Thanks for your patience and help. Between your explanations, lots of googling and some dumb luck, I got WiRNS "working" to enable it to serve as proxy to enable the new rid codes. Replay appears to working and able to switch channels using the gray cable. Yippee!!.
However, I still get the error message when I actually try to get WiRNS or WiRNSMON to startup. I never see the WiRNS icon in task bar. Not sure whats up with that. But I am happy, and my son is happy that replay is replaying. All is well.

Thanks

Art

(Now if only I can figure out the WiRNS issue? :-)

I think we should take this to another thread. However, most normally, WiRNS starts as a service, so you wouldn't see it in the task bar. WiRNSMon is a tray icon, so you should see it in the tray as a solid-colored circle with a 'W' in it. The color of the circle is the condition of WiRNS: green: operating, yellow: running but not operating, red: not running...

If you want to post into another thread the error messages you are getting, then I can help you further. You can also stop running WiRNS as a service and run it as an application (from the Start menu) so that you can see what exactly is going on. And, WiRNS and WiRNSMon make log entries to a wirns.log file, so you can look in there for more clues and information...

henry

I am really glad that you got it working using the WiRNS method! At least you found a method that works! Did you try following these instructions to use the new codes with the boot CD? While that may not be everyone's cup of tea, it's still a reasonable way to go for those who don't want to install WiRNS. And, quite honestly, it's really not that different than using WiRNS. Basically, you use the DVArchive method to get the latest files onto the ReplayTV, and then you're using the boot CD to run the shellcmds to get the files copied onto the OS. You just have to do the extra step of using DVArchive to upload the latest files instead of letting the boot CD do that step for you. However, I could certainly see how for some, that would be the easiest way to go...

Henry

Thanks to the help and support of these forums, I have been able to 1) get my replay working with the Pace cable box using the Gray cable setup and 2) install and use WiRNS.

Now i seem to be experiencing an issue on recorded shows. It seems that during the recording, the replay (and cable box) is changing channels during the recording. While watching a recording I see initially the channel that the replay is sset to record pop up on the screen (lower right), However, during a 1 hour show, the different channel numbers begin to appear and the channel changes. Initially it changes back to teh recorded channel, but evenutually it just stays on the new channel (not sure yet, if there a consistency to the new channel or whether random numbers pop up).
Is anyone else experiencing this issue?
Anyone with a fix?

Thanks

Sorry to join this thread so late, but my Motorola DCH70 just died and I had to connect the Comcast supplied Pace DC50X DTA to my Replay 5040. I have been reading threads and got a Gary Gray cable. Is there now a way to get the proper code on my Replay 5040 to control the Pace without taking the hard drive out? Any help would be appreciated.