Goal

My goal is simple:  I have an old computer I want to turn into a TIVO and control my Dish Network receiver.

Background

I signed up for Dish Network to escape the high fees that come with Comcast, and a few months later I realized I really missed On-Demand.  But the prices for Dish are unbeatable, so switching was not really an option.  And the prices they charge for the DVR are too expensive ($199).  Plus, one day when I change providers I would like to keep my DVR and use it with the new one.  So building my own was the best option, but it was not as straightforward as I would have liked.  So I put this together to share the information I learned.

Hardware

Price was important for me, so I wanted to keep hardware costs to a minimum.  My hardware is as follows:

  • Hauppauge WinTV PVR 150   ($20 through eBay)
  • Nvidia Geforce2 with S-VIDEO out ($20 through eBay)
  • Media Center Remote Control and IR Blaster ($24.99 through Xoxide)
  • Dell Dimension 4550 (Old machine I had running around)
    • 1GB RAM
    • 350 GB HD
    • 2.2 Ghz Pentium 4
    • 533 FSB
  • Dish Network DUO VIP 222K dual-tv receiver

Configuration

I set up the system usingMythBuntu.  The configuration was mostly straightforward, but there were a few things that were less than straightforward.  These were mostly related to the Dish Network DUO VIP222k receiver and the IR-Blaster. There was no lirc configuration file for the VIP222k receiver, so I had to create one using irrecord.  irrecord can be used to generate config files for any receiver, but if you are using the VIP222k you can just download and use the file I created:

vip222k-v2.conf

Once I had the correct configuration file, the problems were not over.  The Dish receiver does some strange things that I could not find a channel change script that did.  First, the receiver has 4-digit channels.  So I had to change the script to account for that.  Next, the receiver occasionally ends up in a state where there is no picture and asks to either press OK or press channel up or channel down.  So, I have the script first press these buttons before changing the channel.  With this script I have never run into a problem where the receiver is stuck in a weird state.  So, I am posting that script up here for those of you that need it.

change-channel-lirc.pl

Summary

MythBuntu was a breeze to setup, and I only had to change two files: change-channel-lirc.pl and the lirc configuration file.  I also built the system for $60 with hardware from Ebay.  The downside is that I can record only analog signals, as I connect to the receiver using standard RCA cables, and output to the TV through S-Video, but the hardware for recording and playing back digital signals was too expensive.  I have been using the MythBuntu box for a few months now and it works beautifully !  I hope this helps!