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[HTPC4ME]

hi. i just build my HTPC.. and could use some help and suggestions on getting directv onto it.
I'd like to be able to view the directtv guide, watch shows change channels and record the tv shows to my htpc via theaterview.
is this possible yet? how are you guys doing it? any wiki's or forum links you can provide?

With the products i've listed what items would i need to buy to accomplish this? my tivo box was at the time over $700.00 but its OLD and if i need to upgrade to accomplish this. i'm willing to do that. (if it's not possible to watch\look at guide, record with jriver yet being its directv, is there a sat. box i could buy that maybe has a usb connection on it so that when the directv dvr\tivo records shows i could have the usb plugged into htpc and copy the files over to htpc and tag them and then be able to view them in theaterview?

When you guys record your sat channels is there a way to record the shows but not the commercials? or are you guys all cutting the commercials out manually, Via Vid Splitters and then Rejoining them With VidJoiners?

any helps would be appreciated.

my specs are below.
thank you.

Sony Sat T60 - http://www.amazon.com/Sony-SAT-T60-DirecTV-Receiver-Tivo/dp/B00006I5TW

Motherboard - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00284CBHG/ref=oss_product

video card - Item Description
BFG Tech BFGE85512GTE GeForce 8500 GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
Model BFGE85512GTE
Interface
Interface PCI Express x16
Chipset
Chipset Manufacturer NVIDIA
GPU GeForce 8500 GT
Core clock 450MHz
Stream Processors 16
Memory
Memory Clock 800MHz
Memory Size 512MB
Memory Interface 128-bit
Memory Type GDDR2
3D API
DirectX DirectX 10
OpenGL OpenGL 2.0
Ports
D-SUB 1
DVI 1
TV-Out HDTV Out
VIVO No
General
Tuner None
RAMDAC 400 MHz
Max Resolution 2560 x 1600
SLI Supported Yes
Cooler With Fan
System Requirements 512MB of system memory
CD or DVD-ROM drive
50MB of available hard disk drive space for basic driver installation
Microsoft Windows Vista or XP operating system
PCI Express-compliant motherboard with one vacant PCI Express x16 slot
300W PCI Express-compliant system power supply**

[Daydream]

And a deafening silence followed. Look, I hope this was no joke, because if it was, you should've given a hint .

So, on points:

1) I don't know of any DirecTV hack for PC, and even if I did the moment I would open my mouth this post will probably disappear. 5 years back the war was still going on with people hacking and cloning cards and DirecTV raining updates to render the hacks useless, but I haven't heard anything recently. Except that some guy got 7 years in jail. Anyways if you go and google DirecTV PC tuner you probably won't find any hits newer than 2008. There were talks of a dedicated unit. DirecTV killed the project after less then a year of development.

2) Historically people had success with firewire connection from any... source, to PC. Not USB. Otherwise solutions like Directv2PC will allow you to see the content recorded on your DVR to any PC on the home network. That is streaming, so you can't edit it.

3) There are all in one go solutions for editing (not vid splitter & joiners). If a stream is unencrypted you can use something like VideoRedo - that even has a smart ad detection routine - to chop unwated parts off, and output a cleaned file, losslessly for most part; small portions (few seconds) are reencoded if the cut doesn't fall on an I-frame. This is all for MPEG-2. MPEG-4 is a different story.

4) Sony Sat T60. Wasn't that box invented in 2002? That's a couple of eons back in tech time. This is 2010. So everything is HD, is HDMI not Svideo, and advanced codecs. In other words an HD-DVR that's a couple of orders of magnitude different than this unit. You can see what a DirecTV HD-DVR does today on DirecTV own site.

5) The rest of the HTPC specs. I don't know how you see it. If I'd build an HTPC today, I would look for 3 things:
- lossless HD bitstream via HDMI. That is an HTPC either with an ATI 5xxx series card (your Nvidia pick doesn't have HDMI to begin with), or an Intel system with H55 chipset (the "feature" is integrated in the chipset). I don't know what other Nvidia offers are out there because I'm flat out biased against them.
- small form factor, small, small, small! ITX form factor small. So small that you don't hear it (is passive cooled), you don't see it (because it's so small that disappears behind other gadgets). How small? Small enough that you can bolt it on the back of a 22" monitor and not see it. Sure, in my vision this system will just sent stuff to a AV receiver, stuff that is stored somewhere else, on multi-terrabytes arrays. If you don't go with that and want some local storage on the HTPC, for casual recording/other storage needs, sure a 500GB or 1TB drive can be fit in, maybe even 2, without increasing too much the volume (aggressively search for the right case).
- it needs to do everything I set it to do unattended. Wakeup, record, go to sleep again, without fail, etc.

There is definitely more to it, especially on the TV DVR aspect (satellite or no satellite), but if you were looking for some opinions to shape up things maybe this will help you get a perspective. Maybe people more in the knowing will add to it.

[JimH]

Daydream,
I always enjoy your posts.  Thanks.

Jim

[HTPC4ME]

no joke...

i didnt know it was illegal

if it's illegal or a hack.. what about the umpteeen posts here with images of people with tv series in there jriver libraries?  i guess i assumed these were recorded in the television side of jriver, and then the people tagged them properly.  i guess  i'm ignorant on the Televsion aspect of jriver.

and hoped i could have all my media in one interface. instead of having to switch inputs on tv and reciever to watch sat. and also have the ability to add cover arts and make it look neat.

Feel free to delete this post. it's obviously a mute (even a joke of a) topic.

[JimH]

Feel free to delete this post. it's obviously a mute (even a joke of a) topic.

Thanks, but don't worry about it. 

[Daydream]

if it's illegal or a hack.. what about the umpteeen posts here with images of people with tv series in there jriver libraries?  i guess i assumed these were recorded in the television side of jriver, and then the people tagged them properly.  i guess  i'm ignorant on the Televsion aspect of jriver.

Believe me, if anything I would've laughed with you, not at you. You have no idea how many people don't get the differences in broadcasting specs between US, Europe, UK, Australia and so on, between satellite, cable, FTA/OTA (Free to air/ Over the air) etc. I had a hard time too learning what's the status in US, and then explaining to my friends back in Europe, why certain things are different.

Your question about how come some stuff shows up on people collections is a good one. My explanation above was that hacking satellite is hard, maybe currently impossible, and illegal. Besides that certain sources do not require hacking and they are legal -> HD streams via ATSC (your 'local' channels) can be watched/recorded with an indoor antenna and an ATSC tuner in your PC (there are zillions out there, JRiver sells one). So you can get whatever is broadcast on CBS, NBC, FOX, ABC, CW, etc (depends on the region in US), in HD for free. Note this Over-The Air thing is influenced by the geography, if you live in a valley with the station behind the hill, you can forget about it).
Also, every cable company - we're moving to ClearQAM broadcast on cable now - is required (by the content owner, by law, etc) to carry these channels in the clear (ClearQAM). Here comes the army of guys using HDHomerun devices (that you can read in this forum) tuning ClearQAM channels. So yes, from Lost to Chuck you can get them in HD for free.

What happens with the other shows? How come 720p copies of Spartacus Blood And Sands (Starz), Caprica (SyFy), and in the summer Entourage (HBO), Weeds (Showtime), TrueBlood (HBO) pop up online 4 hours after being broadcast on their respective channels? Those are premium channels and those posts are illegal. However if I said that hacking satellite is difficult maybe currently impossible, it doesn't mean that other encrypted sources are not easier to break (and since the posts exist, they don't come out of Nirvana, some guys, somewhere, have a workaround for certain sources). And I'll stop at that. .

Now since I'm editorializing, I'll let out one thing that's killing me. Not being able to pick channels à la carte! I would like to be able to pay and get just an HD channel package. Can't (except on Dish?), has to buy the SD ones too (have no need), the bill goes over $50, just TV. I want just the HD premium channels then (HBO, Starz, Showtime...). Can't, have to buy the SD channels, an HD channel package and then the premiums. Okay... I want the Tennis HD channel. Sure sir, you need to buy the SD package, an HD package, and the sports HD package. Wait a second I don't need the whole sports HD package, I don't want to watch N football games on ESPN 1, 2 and x+1, I just want my Tennis in HD... No can do. Then I'll hack your channel...! Oh, dang that's illegal... Can I give you all my money and not get anything in return? All cable and satellite operators suddenly are ready to grab the money away from me.

If a Cardassian ship appears and shoots down all satellites from orbit I almost won't feel sorry...!

[HTPC4ME]

now there's an explanation.

thank you