Problem w/ USB-UIRT and Girder

[strohmrs]

Jon,

I have a strange problem that I am having a heck of a time narrowing down. I had a HTPC set up and running SageTv and the USB-UIRT was accessed directly through SageTv's settings. This didn't work too well because sometimes I'd have to push the remote buttons repeatively to before the program responded. Using the mouse or keyboard had immediate effects.

I recently built a new HTPC (Biostar M7NCG 400 nForce2) and decided to use Girder to send the keyboard commands to Sage. After a quick learn of Girder, I setup all the keystrokes needed for each remote button and did a learn of each one. Now here comes my problem. The all the commands from the remote work great and the appropriate command is executed in Sage but only if the remote is less than one foot from the USB-UIRT. If I am any further away (normal sitting distance is 11 feet) Girder receives a different code each time the same button is pressed. Very rarely does it show the learned code when at a distance. If I move up close to the USB-UIRT the learned code is received again.

I've replaced the batteries in my remote (Home Theater Master MX-500), repositioned the USB-UIRT, tried different USB ports, installed a seperate USB card, reinstalled Girder and the USB-UIRT drivers and still could not get things to receive correctly at a distance. I then decided that maybe that maybe the v2.0 USB ports were causing a problem. I tried installing everything on my laptop and the correct codes were received! Decided to try installing everything on my main PC w/ an Abit NF7-S (an nForce2 board as well) and everything worked fine there as well! So now I'm stumped as to why it won't work on my HTPC. Something isn't compatable here. Nothing on the motherboard appears to be bad and the latest BIOS has already been flashed to it.

Here are the details of my HTPC:

Biostar M7NCG 400, mATX, nForce2
nVidia GeForce MX (Integrated)
Integrated sound
256MB PC2100
200GB Maxtor HD
XP Pro w/SP 1
Girder 3.3 (v2.5.9 plugin)
USB-UIRT (v1.2 drivers)
SageTv (v1.4.10)
2 Hauppauge PVR-250's (-16's)
Home Theater Master MX-500 Remote
Mitsubishi WS-55511 HDTV

Thanks,
Rick

[strohmrs]

Here is some more info for you Jon. I Just setup Sage to use the USB-UIRT directly again and shut off Girder. I can reliably use the remote from a max of 6 feet away this way. Any further away and the chance of hitting the right code is dramatically reduced. Girder is only picking up the code at 1 foot max. My remote is pretty powerfull and causes the USB-UIRT to flash at over 20 feet away and off of walls. I'm not sure if Girder isn't receiving the correct code from the USB-UIRT or if it's Girder that is scrambling the code?

Hope that helps,
Rick

[jrhees]

Rick,

I cannot explain why things would be behaving differently between using Sage and Girder (they both essentially use the same code).

Judging by your description, it *may* be a noisy/low power supply issue with the USB ports on your HTPC. One way to verify this is to connect the USB-UIRT behind a *powered* USB hub.

The other remote possibility is that there is an environmental issue (ambient light/plasma screen/etc.) near your HTPC which is not present near your laptop.

Is there a possibility of trying a powered hub?

-Jon

[strohmrs]

I'll have to buy a powered hub, but I'm doubting it will do any good being that I measured 5.1V on the motherboards USB ports and even bought and tried a Belkin PCI USB card and got the same bad results. Both sets of USB ports are however still powered by the same PC power supply (230W microATX) so maybe a powered hub would help. My other thought is wondering if I'm not seeing a problem on my other computers because they don't have to deal with processing the PVR cards like the HTPC does. Almost forgot, the laptop was tried in the same room and lighting as the HTPC.

Rick

[jrhees]

Rick,

I don't see any way the PVR-250's could have any effect for two reasons:

1) The USB-UIRT decodes all IR reception with its built-in microcontroller -- the host pc isn't even involved, and

2) If something on the PC were causing a problem, you would *not* see an improvement when the remote was brought closer to the USB-UIRT.

-Jon

[strohmrs]

Jon,

I agree with you about the PVR-250's. I can shut everything down except girder and I still get a different received code everytime I press the same remote button unless I'm less than a foot away. Every other remote I own acts the same way so I'm sure it's not the remote or the codes I'm sending. I tried Girder 3.2.9b and Girder 3.3. Couldn't find any older versions to try.

I also bought an AC powered hub and it had no effect on the range of receiving a good code. I'm stumped! I've looked in this forum and the Girder forum and the only similar problem to mine was with a different device called an Igor SFH56. Here is the post:

http://www.girder.nl/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=5593

I realize that the USB-UIRT plugin doesn't have the same options they used to fix the problem, but do you think anything could be related? Any other driver or girder tests I could try to find were the code is getting scambled?

Thanks,
Rick

P.S. Thanks for the email offering to exchange the USB-UIRT. I may have to take you up on that as I'm running out of options. I can return the USB card and the hub since I've ruled them out and purchased them locally. It would also be easier to try a different USB-UIRT before RMA'ing the motherboard. Thanks again for all your assistance!

[strohmrs]

Jon,

Nevermind about swapping USB-UIRT's. This one works fine now! While taking out the hub in disgust, I unplugged the AC power from the hub and the power light was still on. Sure enough, this small hub had a micro switch hidden on its side and was still set for bus power. Switched over to self powered and all is well now! Thanks for a great product and even better support!

Rick