HDHomeRun MCE Instructions - Digital Cable

Link to Digital Antenna instructions

Preparation

Download and install the latest video card drivers for your video card directly from the nVidia/ATI/Intel website. A number of early video driver releases for Vista cause problems with MCE.

MCE 2005: The HDHomeRun requires the MCE Rollup 2 update from Microsoft. Run Windows Update and go through the custom selection to install this optional update. If it is not listed as an optional update then it is most likely already installed.

Software Installation

Download and install the latest HDHomeRun software from downloads.

HDHomeRun Setup Wizard:

  • System:
    • Check that the HDHomeRun is detected. If not, double check that it is plugged in and click Rescan.
    • If the HDHomeRun is directly connected to the PC it can take a minute before the HDHomeRun is detectable - wait and click Rescan.
  • Lineup:
    • Set your location and postcode.
    • Set the source to "Digital Cable".
    • The lineup id field can be left blank.

Channel Mapping

  • Run HDHomeRun Setup from the Start menu.
  • Go to the Lineup tab. Verify the lineup configuration is correct. The lineup id field can be left blank.
  • Click the "Channel Editor" button.
  • Select a tuner and click "Scan". The scan will take around 10 minutes to complete.
    • The digital channels are often above 650MHz so it may take a while before the first digital channel is found.
    • The top bar graph shows the signal strength. Green indicates a strong digital signal. A white graph indicates a non digital signal.
  • Click the "Zap2it Website" button to launch a web browser and go to the zap2it website. Select your cable provider.
  • For each channel:
    • Click the View button to view the channel in VLC.
    • Compare with the zap2it website to identify the channel.
    • Change the "Guide Name" field to exactly match the name of the channel from the zap2it website.
      • For local channels the zap2it listing may have two channels - one analog (for example "2 KTVU") and one digital (for example "702 KTVUDT"). Use the digital channel name "KTVUDT".
    • Set the "Enabled" field.
      • Music only channels should be disabled.
    • Repeat for all channels detected. Save as you go.

Windows MCE - Configuration

  • You must go through the MCE "Set Up TV Signal" wizard after making any change to the channel mapping configuration.
  • Run Media Center.
  • MCE 2005: Go into Settings, TV, Set Up TV Signal.
  • Vista: Go into Tasks, Settings, TV, Setup Up TV Signal.
  • Confirm you region.
  • Choose "I will manually configure my TV signal".
  • Select the input source (Cable, Satellite, Antenna) for your analog card. If cable it will ask if you have a set top box.
  • Vista: If you do not have an analog card Vista will skip this step.
  • MCE 2005: It should ask "Is your Digital TV Antenna connected?" This means it has detected the HDHomeRun. Choose yes.
  • Vista: If should report "TV Signal: Digital TV antenna". This means it has detected the HDHomeRun.
  • Choose "Set up guide listings" and go through the next screens configuring the guide data for your digital cable provider. You must go through this guide configuration after making any change to the channel mapping configuration.
  • MCE will test the signal strength of each channel. Un-tick all channels below 1800, even if they show signal. The QAM channels are numbered starting at 1801.
  • Click Finish.
  • If MCE did not ask you to select your cable provider in the "Set up guide listings" step:
    • Go to zap2it and look up your channel lineup (enter your zipcode and choose your Digital Cable provider).
    • The URL shown in the address bar should contain the "lineupId=XXXXXX". For example, in the URL "http://tvlistings.zap2it.com/tvlistings/ZCGrid.do?method=decideFwdForLineup&lineupId=CA04614:X&zipcode=94086&setMyPreference=false" the lineup ID is "CA04614:X".
    • If the lineup ID is not shown in the URL then click "Change my Location" and choose your Digital Cable Provider again.
    • Run HDHomeRun Setup. Enter the lineup ID on the lineup page. Click Apply.
    • MCE 2005: Go into Settings, TV, Guide, Get Latest Guide Listings.
    • Vista: Go into Tasks, Settings, TV, Guide, Get Latest Guide Listings.

Windows MCE - Live TV

  • MCE 2005: From the main menu go to My TV, Live TV.
  • Vista: From the main menu go to TV + Movies, Live TV.
  • Change to a digital channel. The digital channels have 4-digit channel numbers.

Troubleshooting

No signal

Check that the channel number is above 1801. If not, go into the "Digital Antenna Signal Strength" menu:

MCE 2005: Go into Settings, TV, Digital TV Antenna Signal Strength.
Vista: Go into Tasks, Settings, TV, Digital TV Antenna Signal Strength.

Untick all channels below 1800, even if they have signal.

No guide information or incorrect guide information

If MCE reports that there is no guide information available for a channel or does not report the correct guide information:

  • Run HDHomeRun Setup and choose the Lineup tab.
  • Ensure that the Source is set to "Digital Cable".
  • Enter the lineup ID and click Apply. If you had previously entered the correct lineup ID just click Apply - this will force a configuration update.
  • MCE 2005: Go into Settings, TV, Guide, Get Latest Guide Listings.
  • Vista: Go into Tasks, Settings, TV, Guide, Get Latest Guide Listings.
  • Note that MCE will wipe this lineup ID setting if you run through the MCE TV Setup wizard. If you need to go through the MCE TV Setup wizard in the future, remember to repeat these steps to re-apply the lineup ID.