[Oil Country]

Hi there I was curious if anyone has any advice or experience with IR control with a Crestron Pro 2 controlling a PVR box. To recap my original problem I lost control of one of my 2 PVR’s, a Blu-ray player and volume control on a receiver. I had been troubleshooting the IR connections so much I think I may of damaged the original IR emitters I had coming out of serial outputs of Pro2. So after a bit of research someone recommended Xantech emitters. So I was able to buy some new ones online once they arrived I did the following below And here is the results;



1. First after I installed 3 new emitters I did get control back of volume control of receiver, control of 4K blu ray player however my TV box or PVR does go on now with some control but some strange things still happening

A). When go to change Tv channels with my ML 600 on PVR I get very slow response on button presses such as to change channels, or access TV guide. It is really painful to channel surf or flip between or search for new channels. PVR 2 which is hooked up to different serial output port is super fast at responding to commands. PVR 2 acting how it should respond. However PVR 1 does nothing at all after any button commands on ML 600.

B). I found out through trial and error that sometimes to unfreeze PVR control I find the only way I can do this is unplug my Pro 2 power and reboot it. I do gwin control back when do this for a while but PVR 1 commands not like PVR2 as far as responsiveness. And eventually all control goes away again.

C). Funny thing now is my basement TV won’t go on now when send command to turn on PVR. I physically have to press manual button on TV to turn on,but after toon still no actual control of channel surfing.

So curious on few things

1. Could it be where I am placing IR emitters on PVR? I notice in my experiences that this may effect it but should be common sense you place the emitter one would think? I have tried a few spots close to Eye on PVR, Hanging emitter in front of eye etc...

2. I do have black tape-over PVR 2 IR emitter should I do this on PVR 1. Should that make any difference?

3. Do you think it could be faulty PVR 1.? Faulty new IR emitter.? Faulty PRO 2. Location of IR emitter.

sorry for being long winded but any advice here or previous experiences where one PVR is fine and other is slow to respond.

And just curious why does unplugging PRO 2 help sometimes?

Thanks Again

Oil Country

 

[Malibuair]

I would check the connection of the IR emitters on the phoenix connector on the back of the Pro2 first. Be aware the IR emitters are polarity sensitive. Also, make sure the phoenix connector is fully seated. Maybe when you unplug the Pro2 it wiggles a loose connection? If that is all tight I would swap PVR1 and PVR2 IR connections on the back of the Pro2. If your issue still persists but is now swapped you have eliminated a PVR issue. Could be a faulty IR emitter. Could be the placement of the emitter (reference the PVR box that is working). Could be a bad port on the Pro2. If the problem stays exactly the same it could be a faulty PVR box. Have you tried rebooting that box? Could be a faulty emitter. Could be emitter placement. I would say it would be rare to see a single IR port go bad on a Pro2. In my experience with Crestron if a port goes bad the whole slot goes bad. Not to say it's not possible I've just never seen it. Is there a spare port? Are you the programmer? If it is a bad port, it is easy to swap. Hope this helps.

 

[Oil Country]

Thank you for great. Advice, First I am end user not programmer so makes some troubleshooting difficult sometime. I like your idea about seeing if PVR #1 is faulty or not, will try to figure that out first. I have rebooted the PVR many times. Do you think any chance could be corrupted Pro 2 program. Do you think if reload program any chance of fix the problem?


also noticed that PVR #2 and a second DVD player are twisted together and coming out of same port in Pro2. And both are working?....

How is that possible? is there a way you program could of been written that way?

thanks

Oil Country

 

[Malibuair]

Thank you for great. Advice, First I am end user not programmer so makes some troubleshooting difficult sometime. I like your idea about seeing if PVR #1 is faulty or not, will try to figure that out first. I have rebooted the PVR many times. Do you think any chance could be corrupted Pro 2 program. Do you think if reload program any chance of fix the problem?


also noticed that PVR #2 and a second DVD player are twisted together and coming out of same port in Pro2. And both are working?....

How is that possible? is there a way you program could of been written that way?

thanks

Oil Country

Thank you for great. Advice, First I am end user not programmer so makes some troubleshooting difficult sometime. I like your idea about seeing if PVR #1 is faulty or not, will try to figure that out first. I have rebooted the PVR many times. Do you think any chance could be corrupted Pro 2 program. Do you think if reload program any chance of fix the problem?


also noticed that PVR #2 and a second DVD player are twisted together and coming out of same port in Pro2. And both are working?....

How is that possible? is there a way you program could of been written that way?

thanks

Oil Country

Yes, that is common to share ports. If you are out of ports you can share as long as it's not the same IR code set. Not the first choice of design. For example, an AppleTV and a PVR can use the same port being either command for either box will have no effect. Could have some collisions if using a video matrix. One Video Zone is watching AppleTV and a different Video Zone is watching PVR and both try to send a command at the same time...Corrupted files are possible. I would say unlikely. I think a corrupted file would have larger problems or nothing at all would work. If you have the ability to reload the program I dont think it would hurt as long as you're positive you have the most recent file.

 

[Oil Country]

Yes, that is common to share ports. If you are out of ports you can share as long as it's not the same IR code set. Not the first choice of design. For example, an AppleTV and a PVR can use the same port being either command for either box will have no effect. Could have some collisions if using a video matrix. One Video Zone is watching AppleTV and a different Video Zone is watching PVR and both try to send a command at the same time...Corrupted files are possible. I would say unlikely. I think a corrupted file would have larger problems or nothing at all would work. If you have the ability to reload the program I dont think it would hurt as long as you're positive you have the most recent file.

 

[Oil Country]

Hi I did more trouble shooting this weekend and have PVR 1 working better but speed of channel surfing still not at same speed as PVR 2 when using ML 600.

When I use PVR remote directly both PVR’s same to respond same speed. That is why I think still IR related. Do you know or does anyone know does IR emitter see through sticky side attached to IR eye or through front facing part?

And would anyone recommend where exactly IR emitter should be placed relativel to IR eye on PVR?

should it be placed right on center or off to side of IR eye?

And for some more testing I did reload Pro 2 program just to rule that out.? No change

I guess next test would be to swap the two PVR’s around and see if problem follows its self.

Only issue scared to move IR eye on PVR2 because it is working so well and scared may mess something up in process.

Any other trouble shooting tips greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Oil Country