The CableTV driver allows you to create a standard AV Family device that is controlled via IR. This way you can control the cable box using standard AV Family commands and let the driver translate them into the required IR commands.
If your CableBox is located in an equipment rack out of sight, then use a IP2IR hardware and secure the IR emitter in the right place (see instructions below). You can also use the SmartRemote IR blaster.
The CableTV driver works in conjunction with the GenericIR driver. So start by using the Server's software updater to install the CableTV AND GenericIR drivers.
Adding IR commands:
In this example we will be adding IR codes for an XFinity X1 cable box. You will follow these exact steps for your make and model cable boxes.
Navigate to the Dashboard Management dropdown and select the IR Database option.
Then click on the IR Command Testing button. From the right side Cloud Database Lookup choose the brand, type, and model from the three drop down selectors. Once you have found your cable box and its IR codes the text box in step 4 will show the suggested new name for the set of codes. Rename if you like and then click "Save To Database". This will download the IR codes from the cloud database to your local myServer database.
The codes will be downloaded and strored. Close the IR Command Testing to return the main IR page.
You'll see all the new IR codes that have been downloaded.
You will repeat this process for any other IR devices that you might want to control using infrared.
Once you have the IR codes you can advance to the GenericIR driver to define what devices will be used for sending these IR codes. Go to the Dashboard Devices page and open the GenericIR driver.
We currently support sending IR using Global Cache hardware or the SmartRemote. Support for other IR emitters may be added at a later date.
In our example we will being using a Global Cache iTachIP2IR for our emitters.
Make sure you have your Global Cache devices on the network and set for a static IP address. You always want to have all you equipment set to static IP addresses whenever possible.
You can manually add the iTach using the driver's command builder but it is easier to just let the driver find them. Click on the Discover button and let it run until it has found your IR devices.
Here we see we've found the iTach.
The three IR ports on the iTach were added using the generic names IR 1 to 3. We suggest taking the time to change the name of these devices to better match the device it will be trying to control. We have two cable boxes one in the Living Room and another in the Office and they are on IR ports 1 and 2. We'll make the following name and room changes to each of these devices.
At this point in time you can start sending IR using the GenericIR driver's SendIR command. However, we want to make the process easier by using the CableTV driver to create a virtual Cable TV device that will respond to normal AV commands.
So now we move on to the CableTV driver.
Use the driver's command builder to add a new cable tv box in the system. Select the AddCableBox command from the available commands.
You will want to give this box a unique name and place it is the appropriate room.
From the IR Device ID dropdown select the GenericIR device that will be responsible for sending the the IR commands. From the previous steps.
From the IR Device Model dropdown select the IR model that you created in the very first steps fof this document.
Place the box in the desired room and optionally enter the TV Guide lineup ID if you have a subscription to the TV service. Leave the Lineup ID field blank if you do not have a subscription.
In the following image you see that we have added both of our cable boxes.
If you go over to the Sources & Apps page under the Configuration dropdown you will see that the system has automatically created the appropriate activation macros for these devices.
And over in the Sources & Apps By Room page you'll see the devices enabled in the rooms.
Lastly from the SmartRemote or tablet UIs you'll see the cable box as an option in the room
IR Emitter Hardware
Setup for Infrared control of popular cable receivers
It is important to install the IR emitter to the proper location on the Cable Box receiver.
From:
Below please find some X1 boxes along with photos depicting where to find the IR Target Eye locations (notated in yellow square), as well as the manufacturer name, X1 Platform name and any pertinent notes.
Important point: ALL X1 boxes (excluding the RNG150 models) can do both RF and IR.
For larger images of more information, please message me.
Below is the Samsung XG2, manufacturer model number (on the bottom of the unit) is SX022ANM
Below is the Samsung RNG-150N, manufacturer model number SR150BNM
Below is the Pacxe XG2, manufacturer model number PX022ANM. Please note, the target is small and will appear as a tiny triangle centered just below the face of the unit.
Below is the Pace XG1, manufacturer model number PX001ANM
Below is the the Pace RNG-150N, manufacturer number PR150BNM
Below is the Pace Xi3, Manufacturer model number PX032ANI.
Below is the Pace XiD, Manufacturer model number PXD01ANI.
Below is the Cisco XiD, manufacturer model number CXD01ANI
A few more important notes to remember regarding IR usage. First, all X1 boxes use the same IR codes. So, if you change from one X1 box to a different model X1 box, you will not need to change any IR codes in myServer 6 configuration. Some boxes have different sensitivity concerns with the IR signal, but the codes are the same.
Second, you cannot use Legacy Box IR codes with X1 boxes. They will not work. The same goes for the reverse; X1 codes will not work with Legacy products.
Lastly, not all Legacy product IR codes will work across different Legacy products. Many will, but some will not.
It is also important to ensure that the IR emitter output is only seen by the cable receiver it is installed on. The IR emitter should be covered so as not to allow IR leakage to other IR receivers.