New HDMI-CEC plugin

[barnabas1969]

Are you trying to use the TV's internal tuner?

I don't use my TV's internal tuner, so I don't have any commands that do this. It seems that selecting source "TV" should be the correct one. Maybe you could set the EG log to log all events (uncheck the checkbox at the bottom of the logging window), then use the TV's menu to change the source from Media Center to TV. Watch the log. Maybe you can figure out the raw command that is being sent. If so, then you should be able to add a new action to use RCAware to send a raw command.

Beyond that, I don't think I'm going to be much help since I've never used the RCAware device in this way. The only thing internal to the TV that I use (very rarely) are the built-in apps. And, since there is no CEC command to start the "Smart Hub" on the TV, I just programmed a macro in my remote to send the "Smart Hub" command to the TV. Then, when my PC's IR receiver sees the "Smart Hub" command, it triggers a macro that changes the input of the AVR.

How are you getting the audio from your TV to your AVR? Are you using an optical cable, or an HDMI cable (using ARC)? If you're using ARC to feed the TV's audio back to the AVR, then perhaps you can use the RCAware action "Set Audio Mode". Select Mode=On, Control Device=TV.

If you are using an optical cable to get the audio to your AVR, I think you are SOL.

[iDVB]

Yes, I'm trying to use the TV's internal tuner.
I'll have to check how my audio is connected when I get home.

barnabas1969, could you share or PM me your macros relating to your TV and Receiver?
At the very least, I should be able to learn a great deal by reverse engineering.
I'm particularly interested in any macros for turning the TV off. I've tried the default Standby command and it seems to be refused by the tv.

D

[barnabas1969]

I'm curious to know if you started with the default macros that were supplied by RCAware or not. That's where I started, and they worked right out of the box, for the most part. I did a lot of customization to my macros that won't help you, because I decided to control my AVR via Ethernet with the RX-V867 plugin (with a few modifications to the plugin so that I can retrieve information from the AVR in addition to sending commands to it).

The only reason I went that route instead of using CEC to control the AVR was because the AVR seems to send some commands to the CEC bus after the PC goes into standby. Due to the fact that RCAware/Rainshadow chose to make their firmware wake the PC on any CEC activity, there was no way to avoid this except by turning off CEC in the AVR.

That is one primary difference with the Pulse-Eight adapter. It only wakes the PC when it receives a direct or broadcast CEC command to power on. I spent a good part of the weekend trying to write a plugin for Pulse-Eight, but I have been unsuccessful so far. I don't know Python, and that's what EG uses. I don't know C++, and that's the language that Pulse-Eight used to write their software. So, I'm hunting and poking around to figure it out. I'm hoping that the Pulse-Eight adapter is more stable than the RCAware adapter (mine hangs every once in a while, requiring the USB cable to be unplugged before it will begin to work again).

Anyway, back to the subject at hand...

If you use the default macros that were supplied with the RCAware plugin, does your TV turn on/off correctly?

[iDVB]

Yes, I tried using the default macros with no luck with regard to the TV only. All other CEC devices respond as expected.

A few other things of note, I also bought/have the pulseeight CEC device. However, I could not get that device to work with anything at all. Additionally, your sweet event ghost plug was only avail for the RCAWare device.

Also, other then the fact that my TV only responds to the macro you JUST gave me. Everything else works great with RCAware device. No crashing at all.

What I want to know Is why more companies aren't getting behind HTPC CEC to make support for things like evebt ghost easier. This seems like a completely untapped market that could be very lucrative. Cause I know a ton of people that own Harmony remotes and IR sux!

[barnabas1969]

Well, then it seems that your only option at this point is to un-check the box at the bottom of the EG log window and try changing the input on your TV (using the TV's remote) back and forth between the PC and the "TV". This will show you what is being sent on the CEC bus. Then, you can use a "Raw" command action in the RCAware plugin to send the same commands that you see in the logger. Try the different commands you see in the logger, one at a time, until you get the result you desire.

As for the Pulse-Eight device... I think I'm getting closer to a solution in EG. Walter (krambriw) has been giving me some pointers. I'm learning as I go, and the going is very slow. I've spent a lot of time on it lately. I took a break from it last night though.

I agree that the Pulse-Eight folks would have been smart to make an EG plugin for the device (or at least if they would have provided some decent documentation for their API). It would open up a whole new stream of sales for Pulse-Eight if there was a working EG plugin.

[CraziFuzzy]

So, here's a potentially odd question, and forgive me if I should already know this.

- i don't currently use EventGhost
- I don't currently have the CEC-USB bridge device

- I have a TV that does NOT support HDMI-CEC

- The only features I really need on my TV are power on, and power off.
- I have power on and power off working fine via either IR Blaster, or RS-232 from my HTPC (currently using Girder for control).

- i have a couple HDMI-CEC devices that I would like to use - and they work fine as far as selecting the proper input on my AVR.

So, here's what I'd need to 'complete' my automation:

1. I need the CEC-USB bridge to detect that something is sending the image-on/off command, tell the HTPC, which can then turn on/off the TV (via IR Blaster or RS-232, whichever I end up setting up)
2. I need the CEC-USB bridge to be able to send out the proper commands when needed to switch inputs BACK to the HTPC.

Are either of these things possible?

[hotbuddha]

Windows 8 driver now available for the RCAware PC-CEC. This update makes no changes to functionality and will do nothing for you unless you use Windows 8. Existing users that need it please contact me through the user/support group on the RCAware website.