Page 1 of 1

AT&T U-verse and Windows Media Center Edition Setup

Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2007 2:04 am
by ShadowHawk
I just got AT&Ts new U-verse TV and internet service and so far I'm impressed. I was having trouble with cable, so I decided to stop giving Time Warner my hard earned money for poor signal and crappy customer service. The only complaint I have is the occational pixelization and they are fixing it (I'm the second subscriber in my apt complex, so it is relatively new in the area.)

The down side is, the Motorola VIP 1216 DVR/Receiver does not have the capability at the moment to use the USB ports to transfer recorded TV to PC. So I have found a work around to this: Use Windows Media Center Edition to record TV through the set-top box. Down side is, MCE does not recognized the AT&T U-verse remote. This is how you manually do it for those who subscribe later (And I would ecommend it when it gets to your area).
  1. Stick the IR Transmitter in front of the IR Reciever as shown.
    Image
  2. Open windows Media Center.
  3. Right click on the screen and select settings.
  4. Click on "TV".
  5. Click "Set Up TV Signal" and Click "Yes" if it comes up on the screen.
  6. On the Set Up Your TV Signal Screen, "select Next".
  7. On the Confirm Your Region Screen, make sure it is set to your region. IF it is, click "Yes", if not, change it. Click "Next".
  8. On the Automatic TV Signal Setup Screen, select "I will manually configure my TV signal" and click "Next".
  9. On the Select Your TV Signal Screen, select "Cable" and then Next.
  10. On the Do You Have a Set-top Box Screen, click "Yes" then Next.
  11. On the Prepare for Set-top Box Setup screen, click "Next".
  12. On the Select a Working TV Signal, Select the one you have setup (COAX would use Channel 1-4, others self explainatory).
  13. On the Set-top Box Remote Screen,Select ""Yes" and then "Next".
  14. On the Identify Set-top Box Remote, click "Next".
  15. Follow the on screen instructions. When it goes to the Remote Not Recognize Screen, select "Have Media Center learn my remote from scratch" and then "Next".
  16. On the Prepare to Identify Remote Screen, hit next.
  17. On Channel Change Buttons, select the method used, (on mine I selected "No, it does not". May be different for different areas or future upgrades) and click on "Next".
  18. On the IR Learning Screen, Make sure the U-verse remote is set on "AT&T" and hold the remote away from the IR reciever for Media Center. Hold down the number, raise the remote to the receiver until it says "Release button to continue" then move it away from the IR receiver. Keep the button held down.
  19. Do this a minimum of two times until it is ready for the next button and repeat step 17. If it takes more than 4 times (one entry try and one confirm try), then make sure the remote is not in the line of site on the receiver until the button is held down for a second and that when held up to the receiver, it is no more than three inches from it. Aparently it sends some type of junk before the actual code is sent (Universal remote thing?).
  20. On the Set-top Box Codes Learned Successfully Screen, click on "Next".
  21. On the Select Number of Digits Screen, select "Four Digits" and then "Next.
  22. On the How Do You Change Channels? Screen, Select the approprate option (Mine was "No, I just enter the channel number"), and click "Next".
  23. On the Test Channel Changing Screen, use the Media Center Remote and try changing the channel. Wait about 10 seconds and the channel should change (Give it a little time for the IR signal to travel down the wire to the Set-top Receiver and the TV signal to clear the video capture card buffer to the screen). If successful, select "The set-top box changed the channel correctly", then "Next".
  24. On the Set IR Signal Speed screen, hit the channel up or down buton buttons at least six times. With a delay, the channels should change. It does go in order (1,2,3,4,...), so if the channel does not exist, just hit up or down until it hits a channel that exists. Select "The channel changed correctly" if it changed and then "Next". (Signal speed should be "Fast".)
  25. On IR Signal Speed Set Screen, Click "Next".
  26. You are done. Select "Return to TV Settings" and click "Finish". (As of this writing, the Dallas area does not have a guide for u-verse, so the Set up guide option is useless.")
Now the down side to it is all MCE will be able to do is change the channels, but for those that want to use their comps as a second DVR, it will do fine. My suggestion though is that if you do that, you would need to set your system clock to what the program guide shows in the Media Center Player because there is a slight delay in the signal from the Video Capture Card buffer. There is also about a seven second delay on channel changes. Not sure if there is a way to speed that up though.