Ok... here's the situation. I know there is no way I could even hope to describe what I am looking to do in the title of the thread, so thank you if you're reading.

As some of you may know, the motorola comcast dvr boxes have the fun little caveat of turning themselves off when they are done recording, but only if they started recording when the box was off.

As a result, on the rare occasion a customer has a recording scheduled at 8:00, for example, and they turn on their system after the recording has begun, the comcast box will shut itself off in the middle of their viewing because it doesn't know someone has started to watch.

What I would like to do is make the hard power button on the remote control power sense whether or not the comcast box is on and have the remote take one of two different actions.

If the comcast box is on, I would like the remote to send one power command and go back to the source selection page. If the comcast box is off, which can only occur in the previously mentioned example if there is a sensing module in place, I would like one power command to be sent and have the remote remain on the comcast page.

My issue is this; if I put the remote in standalone mode I can't include a status test without creating a system macro. I can't put a page link in the power macro unless it is in standalone mode, and I can't put a page link in a system macro, so I can't make the page link conditional on the sensing module.

I thought I had it by putting a power command directly on the power button and going in to the IR properties to deselect all of the other IR outputs so I could make the command conditional on the sensing, then making a macro on the same button to do the page link. However, if I put the button in standalone there is no way of making a command that is not in a system macro output from the RP6 (as far as I know).

Any suggestions would be stupendous, and please ask anything you need for clarification.

Matt

I am not exactly clear on your application or rather the specific need for what you are trying to do.

You can not make page flips conditional on a status test... at least not yet.

I would suggest using a transformer to do a voltage sense out of the outlet on the back of the box rather than a video sense. You can switch the behavior of the outlet in the cable box menu (at least with most boxes depending on the firmware).

Personally, I just leave the boxes on. I find far fewer issues with this method because automated firmware changes can reset setting you may have made (like the switched outlet).

If the box is off is it not correct to assume that the client is not engaged in a viewing activity and thay must choose a new activity to view cable? Why can't you make sure the box comes on in the cable activity macro?

I agree. Leave the cable box on always, but I would provide a cable box power button somewhere for the customer to get to if needed. Or they could walk over and hit the power button...

The box does come on in the cable activity macro. It has a power sensing macro that makes sure the signal gets sent if the box is off. The problem occurs when they switch to the cable if the cable box has turned itself on to record. The macro senses the power, and does not send an additional power command. However, if the box has turned itself on, it will turn itself off when it has finished recording.

His area gets enough power outages that I would prefer to have the cable box not stay on. I would still have the same problem to address if the power went out during the day and a program was set to record before someone happened to start watching tv. It's a small thing, but I know our customers get annoyed over little stuff like this.

What model Comcast box are you using? I ahve Comcast with Motorola DCT-6412/6200/6208 boxes and they don't perform in this manner.

I have not explored this but is there a menu setting that can determine the behavior of the recorder?

One very valuable lesson that I have learned is to establish the level of responsibility early on. Without a doubt, the cable/sat boxes are often the most problematic devices to integrate and I make this clear to the clients. Hell, 90% of my service calls (truck roll and phone) are due to cable box issues. After all kinds of work arounds (voltage sense, menu-power macros, etc...) for discrete power I just quit trying because the level of ease and frustration did not improve with any of the options and neither did the customer satisfaction. That is not to infer that my programming is sub par... I'll put it up against anything out there... it's just that you can quickly get into diminishing returns by trying to do something that was not meant to be done. Think of it this way... you (or your work) are more likely to be judged by creating a solution that does not work well or consistantly than by saying up front that power outages and cable company communications with the box may shut the box down requiring a a simple power button press. The reason for this is that if they pay for your time to create a solution then they expect that it should work and it will always be seen as YOUR problem.

I say put a power button on the screen, explain that they may need to occasionally power on the box OR spec in a battery backup and make some more money :).

Heaven forbid Moto and SA would put discrete power capabilities into their boxes. Tell the customer that god is punishing him for not going with a satellite provider.

Why do you need to go back to the source selection page? Isn't this where the customer would be starting from anyway?

From what I remember with the Moto box on comcast, if you pressed power on the remote, while it was recording, you would get a messahe that would pop up telling you that you in the middle of recording and do you want to cancel. What I do not know is if it is enough to send the power command while it recording to then prevent it still from auto shutting off. When I had comcast I always left the box on and I never experienced this issue.

I have since switched to Verizon and Fios and although it uses the same box , what a difference a carriers software makes. You can turn the box off and on anytime without getting that message and the boxes actually respond immediatly to commands (Sorry... Getting off track...).


If it does work, that when you press the power button during the recording process to then override the autoshutoff after recording, then the customer would press the source button for "Cable" and then it would do what it normally does and then the customer would see the message on the screen about canceling the recording if the DVR was already on. You may then want to also just send the exit command after the power on. I think this would then make that message go away and the customer would not even see it when the TV powers up.

If sending the power command to the cable box does nothing to prevent the autoshutoff then I would think there is nothing you could do anyway and the only way to cancel the autoshutoff is to actually cancel the recording and then power down and back up, there isn't a solution anyway.

Also you do not want to do video sensing only power sensing. I also tested this and the video sensing does not work on the motoboxes. I think something is always output over the outputs even when the box is off.

Well... I got out to the job today and found we were using a non-dvr box in the rack. All of that prep for nothing... cest la vi. Thanks for all of the suggestions though, but I guess I'm just going to have to hope for page links in voltage sensing in the next update along with status indicators and the like.

I did find the same thing as imt for the video sensing though. Every single output is always trickling something, so I went with a voltage sensing module and jammed a 12v power supply in the switched outlet.

Ended up most of my troubles today revolved around controlling a CAV in the rack with RS232... guess I should head over to that thread.

The 6412 will mute with on screen display when turning on while recording, only problem is there is no mute on the Original remote.

FYI
I place a "first aid" icon found in TT on the exit page that flips you to a "reset Comcast Box" button, which toggles the box back on, and flips you back a page. Never get anymore "no picture" calls with a 5 cent solution.