DIRECTV COM1000 Integrator's Manual Software Version ST02.08.07 REV. 2.
Contents 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................... 10 2 COM1000 PRODUCT DESCRIPTION .................................................... 13 3 MECHANICAL OVERVIEW .................................................................. 17 3.1 COM200 Front View ................................................................................................ 17 3.2 COM200 Rear View ....................................................................................
5.2.1 Preparing Your Computer’s Network Connections ..................................................... 33 5.2.2 Avoiding IP Address conflicts ...................................................................................... 35 5.3 Using a TFTP Server ................................................................................................. 35 5.3.1 Determining Your IP Address ...................................................................................... 35 5.3.
6.11 Using the COM24 Syslog Command ......................................................................... 93 6.12 Using the COM24 ATSC Command ........................................................................... 94 6.13 Using the COM24 401 Command ............................................................................. 95 6.14 Using the COM24 QAM Command ........................................................................... 96 6.15 Using the COM24 Help Command ..........................
Appendix C TROUBLESHOOTING THE COM1000 .................................. 125 List of Figures Figure 1 – COM1000 System Overview ...................................................................................... 14 Figure 2 – COM200 Front View ................................................................................................... 17 Figure 3 – COM200 Rear View .................................................................................................... 18 Figure 4 - COM24 Card ......
Figure 26 – COM1000 Scan Page ................................................................................................ 50 Figure 27 – COM1000 Refresh Page ............................................................................................ 52 Figure 28 – COM1000 Display Page ............................................................................................ 53 Figure 29 – COM1000 Pairing Info Page .....................................................................................
Figure 58 – QAM24 SW Upgrade .............................................................................................. 105 Figure 59 – QAM24 SW Upgrade Results ................................................................................. 106 Figure 60 – Network Connectivity Indicator LEDs .................................................................... 112 Figure 61 – Configuring VLC Media Player ..............................................................................
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1 INTRODUCTION This document describes the processes and procedures for configuring a COM1000 system. The following sections will provide a brief overview of the system hardware, an in-depth guide to the COM24 user interface, and descriptions of certain system processes. Also included are several indices that cover common troubleshooting problems.
Term COM24 Definition Individual DIRECTV receiver card that fits within a COM200 chassis and is capable of sourcing 2 DIRECTV HD or SD channels. Individual DIRECTV receiver card that fits within a COM200 chassis and is COM24FLX capable of sourcing 3 DIRECTV SD channels. Software upgradeable to 2 HD channels with a software upgrade license purchase. The QAM6 is an optional circuit board (i.e., internal Edge QAM) that replaces the Ethernet Card in the upper left side of a COM200 Chassis.
Term Definition Transcryption The process by which the COM 1000 system converts content streaming from DIRECTV’s conditional access system to Pro:Idiom encrypted video. “Hot- The unit or device this term describes may be added to, removed from, or swappable” replaced within the system it is a part of without powering anything down. SD Standard Definition HD High Definition System The person or company that performs the onsite installation.
2 COM1000 PRODUCT DESCRIPTION A fully populated COM200 chassis is capable of tuning and transcrypting up to 24 DIRECTV HD channels or 36 SD channels. The satellite signal is tuned and demodulated resulting in a DIRECTV Legacy or MPEG-2 transport stream. This transport stream is then IP-encapsulated using standard Internet protocols and RFCs and is sent out via the Ethernet interface. The data leaving the system is in a format suitable for input to an edge QAM device or for distribution on an IPTV network.
Refer to Figure 1 below for a diagram illustrating a complete COM1000 system. RF Signal Level: -50dBm to -30dBm per Transponder SWM32 (Single Wire Multi-switch) LNB 1 COM120 (RF Distribution Panel) OR LNB 2 LNB 3 External Edge QAM OR QAM24 or QAM6 RF Signal Level: -55dBm to -25dBm per Transponder COM200 Chassis RF Distribution TV ... TV Series of any number of Pro:Idiom enabled Digital TVs with tuners Admin PC ... (Optional) Up to… ...
COM120 (RF Distribution Panel) – This device receives the incoming satellite feed via your dish receiver and distributes the signals using a series of multiswitches. It then sends these signals into the COM24 cards via the RF Inputs (labeled “Tuner 1” and “Tuner 2”). COM200 Chassis – This device houses the COM24 and COM24FLX cards. All video traffic is routed through the Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) port on the rear of the chassis or to the QAM24.
content compression type and it will stream either MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 encoded transport streams.
3 MECHANICAL OVERVIEW The following sections contain a brief overview of the devices that you will be interacting with along with the associated hardware. The intent is to give you a working knowledge of how the system operates under normal circumstances so that you will be able to recognize it when something goes wrong. 3.1 COM200 Front View Card Slots #1 – 12 Ethernet Ports (Management) Ventilation Grate Figure 2 – COM200 Front View Figure 2 above shows the faceplate of the COM200 chassis.
3.2 COM200 Rear View Gigabit Ethernet Port Power Supply Fans Exhaust Fan 1 Exhaust Fan 2 AC Input 1 AC Input 2 Figure 3 – COM200 Rear View Rear Mounting Bracket Figure 3 above shows the rear of the COM200 chassis. The two AC input connections shown at the bottom right provide power to the COM200 chassis. Only a single AC input connection is required in order for the system to operate. However, utilizing both AC input connections creates a DMR (Dual Modular Redundant) system.
3.3 COM24 Card The COM24 card is a customized DIRECTV receiver with a built-in smart card and has been specifically designed to meet the unique requirements of the Lodging and Hospitality market. below shows a detailed picture of the COM24 card. Upper Thumbscrew Indicator Lights Reset Button Ethernet Port RF Inputs Lower Thumbscrew Figure 4 - COM24 Card Each COM24 card contains two RF inputs, a 10/100Mbps Ethernet port, three indicator lights, a recessed reset button, and thumbscrews on either end.
or newer supports SWM (Single-Wire Multiswitch) inputs. A RF distribution panel is required to support the COM200 to enable delivery of Ka B band signals. If using a SWM, the SWM must be connected to the Tuner1 F connector (lower) and must be powered up at the time that the COM24 is booted since the COM24 only detects a SWM at power on. If the first tuner is receiving HD channels from satellite 103 and a multi-switch is being used, then satellite 119 must also be received for background guide monitoring.
SWM Input Figure 5 - COM24FLX Card 3.5 GbE Card The COM200 chassis has an integrated Ethernet switch on the backplane. This switch provides gigabit speed on two ports. One of those is the port on the back of the chassis the other is card slot number one. The gigabit port that is available on the back of the chassis is the port that the QAM24 card uses when it is installed.
COM1000 system. Each QAM channel can carry 2 HD or 8 SD video channels. The QAM24 can be configured from any COM24 running version ST02.05.05 or higher. Figure 6 – QAM24 Board installed in Chassis The QAM24 board plugs into the Ethernet Card slot and therefore replaces that card. There are no card guides in the chassis; the board is retained by front panel screws, which MUST be installed. Install the QAM24 Board as follows: 1. Remove power from the chassis. Remember to unplug BOTH power cables. 2.
Card Edge Connector Ethernet Port RF Output LEDs Recessed Reset Button Figure 7 – QAM24 Front View The QAM24 outputs three unique channel-grouping of four channels each according to the EIA North American Cable Television Frequency Plan (see EIA-542B) from the front RF connector. The four channels within each channel-grouping must be adjacent to one another and within the same band.
cycle is required. The 10/100 Ethernet Interface on the front can be used to manage the COM1000 System. 4 GETTING STARTED The COM1000 System is quite a bit different from the DIRECTV set-top box (STB) receiver traditionally used in these installations. This is because the COM1000 does not natively decode any audio or video, instead relying upon other devices in the system to decode and display the MPEG streams it produces. Furthermore, the COM1000 does not have any native user interface.
Chassis ID Configuration Switch Figure 8 – COM200 Chassis ID Configuration Switch Location Figure 9 – COM200 Chassis ID Configuration Switch Closeup 25
The DIP switch pictured above will allow you to assign the chassis a unique ID between 1 and 12 by setting the switches as described in Table 2. Note: The photo above and the table below are written as if you are standing with the front of COM200 facing you and are looking down on the rear side of the backplane.
Table 2 – COM200 Chassis ID Configuration Chassis ID Switch #1 Switch #2 Switch #3 Switch #4 1 UP DOWN DOWN DOWN 2 DOWN UP DOWN DOWN 3 UP UP DOWN DOWN 4 DOWN DOWN UP DOWN 5 UP DOWN UP DOWN 6 DOWN UP UP DOWN 7 UP UP UP DOWN 8 DOWN DOWN DOWN UP 9 UP DOWN DOWN UP 10 DOWN UP DOWN UP 11 UP UP DOWN UP 12 DOWN DOWN UP UP 4.
The optimum RF input levels for the COM24 cards are -25 to -55 dBm per transponder. COM24FLX cards can only be connected to a SWM module, they will not support a multiswitch. The RF connections from the COM24FLX to the SWM module MUST be as shown in Figure 10 or some channels will not be received properly. Cards in slots 1, 4, 7, and 10 MUST be on separate SWM outputs. Normal operational behavior of the COM200 chassis is achieved in ambient environments of 95°F (35°C) or less.
Figure 10 - COM24FLX to SWM Module connections 29
5 CONFIGURING THE SYSTEM This section will guide the integrator through the process of configuring a COM1000 to meet the needs of the system operator. 5.1 Useful tools You should be aware that the firewall on your PC might prevent some of the following tools from working correctly. This is particularly true when attempting to execute file transfers to a COM24 card via a TFTP server. 5.1.
5.1.3 Video Playback During the configuration and installation process, it may be necessary to verify the COM24 video streams in the absence of a Pro:Idiom enabled television. The COM24 card can facilitate this type of debug activity by allowing the user to bypass the Pro:Idiom encryption process temporarily. It should be noted that this feature is only available when tuning to DIRECTV channel 100. Please refer to Section 6.8.1 (“Security_Mode” setting) for additional information on this feature.
As mentioned previously, the multi-function tool Tftpd32 is very effective at handling the file transfer needs for a log file or a software update to the COM24 card. Because the COM1000 is field-upgradable, it is important that everyone working with the system in the field understands how to perform this function, so a brief overview of how to set up the TFTP server will be provided in Section 5.3. 5.1.
5.2 Connecting to the COM1000 5.2.1 Preparing Your Computer’s Network Connections As mentioned previously, interaction with the COM24 cards can only be achieved by providing a computer interface via one of the cards‟ Ethernet ports. However, this can only be achieved if the computer to be used for this purpose has been configured correctly. The directions below are intended to help you through this task step-by-step.
Figure 13 – Internet Protocol Configuration In the window that you have just opened, you will see that there are two options available for defining an IP address for your PC. If your system has a DHCP server, you may select the first option, “Obtain an IP address automatically.” The benefit of this option is that it greatly minimizes the chances that you will have duplicate IP addresses in your network.
5.2.2 Avoiding IP Address conflicts When building a system that is comprised of a mixture of cards from different sources, there is a possibility that some of the cards will have duplicate IP addresses, thereby making communication with these cards unreliable. There are two recommendations for addressing this problem. The first is to use a DHCP server to ensure that each card gets a unique address.
Figure 14 – Accessing the Command Prompt window In the program window that appears, you will be prompted to enter a command. Type in “ipconfig” and press Enter (see Figure 15 below).
In the example above, the computer is communicating with the COM1000 system over the “Local Area Connection” via an Ethernet adapter. In this case, the management PC has been assigned the IP address 192.168.1.137. This is the IP you will be using with the TFTP server and possibly later on with a program like VLC Multimedia Player (covered in Sections 5.1.3 and 10.1.2) when testing the system configuration. 5.3.
From here, you may fine-tune the settings by clicking the “Settings” button at the bottom of the screen. Figure 16 – Tftpd32 Startup Screen The window that comes up should look like the one below in Figure 17. At times, things like firewall setting and improper IP address configurations can interfere with the file transfers between your computer and the COM24 cards.
Figure 17 – Tftpd32 Settings Window (Global Settings) 39
Figure 18 – Tftpd32 Settings Window (TFTP Settings) 40
Figure 19– Tftpd32 Settings Window (Syslog Settings) If you do not see a progress-bar (shown in Figure 20) within 30 seconds after hitting the Submit Query button on the upgrade page (see Section 7 on upgrading your system), then the file transfer will not happen. In that case, it is advised that you review your setup.
Figure 20 – Tftpd32 File Transfer Progress Screen On rare occasions, the progress bar shown above in Figure 20 will appear, but you will find that the requested file has not successfully transferred to the COM24 card. In order to get a better understanding of what happened, you should be sure to review the “Log Viewer” tab of the Tftpd32 interface. If the file transferred successfully, you should see a statement similar to the last line shown in Figure 21 for each file you attempted to upload.
6 USING THE COM1000 WEB INTERFACE Each COM24 card contains a basic web-based application that provides an easy means to control and configure the COM1000 system. This tool can be accessed by entering the IP address of one of the COM24 cards in the system into any web browser‟s address bar or by using the card discovery tool discussed in Section 5.1.6.
clicking the Discover link at the top of any other page1. Figure 23 - COM24 Discover Page Figure 25 shows a basic data summary that is also similar to the pages you will get by clicking on the Scan, Refresh, or Display hyperlinks at the top of any COM1000 web interface page. The differences will be discussed in later sections. Figure 24 shows the Discover page for systems containing COM24FLX cards.
Figure 24 - Discover Page w.
There are several changes from the old discovery page to this new one: • • • • • • • • Color coded problem areas have been added Network name and channel are now both displayed “Clickable” channel name results in tune Card IP address no longer shown RF output channel and subchannel if directed to internal QAM24 port are shown Destination IP address and IP port if directed to an external device is shown Program bit rate if directed to an internal QAM24 port (static snapshot) Clickable Slot_ID link shows CAM
The following is a detailed list of the information found on these pages. 6.1.1 Fields prior to ST02.05.05 no longer present Edit – Clicking the Tune hyperlink is the method by which you access the “Channel Tune” interface of the COM24 cards (covered in Section 6.8.1). Each tuner in the system is independently controllable (two per card). (Field removed in ST02.05.05.) CardIP – This field shows the IP address of the COM24 card that resides in the chassis and slot combination to its left.
wish to stream. Channel – This field shows the Channel Name and the DIRECTV channel number you tune to on a typical DIRECTV tuner. This field is also a link that permits the user to change channels. If the smart card has not been authorized or paired then the channel will be highlighted in red. SNR – This field returns the Signal-to-Noise Ratio associated with the selected tuners. In ST02.05.05, if the SNR is low, it will be highlighted in yellow and if the SNR is very low, it will be highlighted in red.
6.2 Scanning for COM24 Cards Using the Scan link is not recommended. Figure 26 below is the result obtained by clicking the Scan link at the top of any COM1000 web interface page. You may suppress the status messages at the top by the clicking the Display link. It should be noted that the more chassis a property has, the longer the Scan command will take. There are cases where the scan can take an hour or more.
Figure 26 – COM1000 Scan Page The Scan function displays a limited amount of information in the same format as was covered in Section 6.1. It primarily displays all IPs found within an area in numerical order. The information can be resolved into a more useable format (i.e. COM24 card information only) by clicking the Refresh link.
6.3 Refreshing the COM1000 Display Figure 27 below is the result obtained by clicking the Refresh link at the top of any COM1000 web interface page. Please note that this table is filled in with data obtained during execution of either the Discover or Scan commands, so if it appears to be empty, simply perform one of these operations first and then come back to this screen.
Figure 27 – COM1000 Refresh Page 6.4 Displaying COM1000 Status By clicking the Display hyperlink at the top of any COM1000 web interface page, you can see the information last obtained from a Discover or Refresh with the signal status of all cards in the system as shown in Figure 28 below.
Figure 28 – COM1000 Display Page When used in conjunction with the Scan and Refresh commands, it simply filters the table so that all discovered COM24 cards are shown at the top of the table and removes any system status messages that may appear when running the previously covered functions.
6.5 Evaluating COM24 Authorization Status By clicking the PairingInfo hyperlink at the top of any COM1000 web interface page, you can quickly evaluate the authorization status of all cards in the system as shown in Figure 29 below. For details on how to obtain more in-depth information on this topic, please refer to Section 7. This page also provides direct access to a card‟s internal syslog and CAM log and the ability to upgrade multiple cards.
Following is a detailed list of information available on the PairingInfo page. Chassis – This field reports a unique identifier for the chassis. In systems that contain multiple chassis, this can be used to identify each card in the system. See Section 4.1 on how to assign unique identifiers to multiple chassis within a system. Slot – This field identifies the card‟s location within a chassis, numbered 1 through 12.
Software Upgrade –The fields in this section are covered on the next page. Figure 30 below shows in detail the upgrade section available on the PairingInfo page. Figure 30 – COM24 Multi-card Upgrade Feature Following is a brief description of the relevant fields on this page. Upgrade – By checking this box for a particular card, you will make each of the fields under “Software Upgrade” heading active for that card.
Note: Options 4 through 7 are not available to users and are for development purposes only. Figure 31 – COM24 Multi-card Upgrade Results Page See Section 7 for more information on upgrading your system.
6.6 Evaluating COM1000 System Status By clicking the SysInfo hyperlink at the top of any COM1000 web interface page, you will access the page shown below in Figure 32. This table gives you the ability to select from one of a number of different unique identifiers for every COM24 card if your system needs such capability.
Following is a detailed list of the information available on the SysInfo (System Info) page. Chassis – This field reports a unique identifier for the chassis. In systems that contain multiple chassis, this can be used to identify each card in the system. See Section 4.1 on how to assign unique identifiers to multiple chassis within a system. Slot – This field identifies the card‟s location within a chassis, numbered 1 through 12.
6.7 Evaluating COM1000 Health Status By clicking the HealthInfo hyperlink at the top of any COM1000 web interface page, you will access the page shown in Figure 33 below. The data available here gives you an impression of the overall health of the COM1000 system, and can be used to identify potential problem areas at a glance.
Following is a detailed list of the information available on the HealthInfo page. Chassis – This field reports a unique identifier for the chassis. In systems that contain multiple chassis, this can be used to identify each card in the system. See Section 4.1 on how to assign unique identifiers to multiple chassis within a system. Slot – This field identifies the card‟s location within a chassis, numbered 1 through 12.
*See device labeled “Exhaust Fan 2” in Figure 3 in Section 3.2.
6.8 The Tune Command The Basic Tune screen shown in Figure 34 can be accessed by clicking the ChannelNumber link in the Channel column of the Discovery page (see Figure 25 ). There was no equivalent to this screen in SW versions earlier than ST02.05.05. You can also access the Basic Tune screen of any given COM24 card and tuner combination by clicking the channel name/number hyperlink in the Channel column on the Refresh or Display pages.
Dest_IP_Address – In this field, you will enter the IP address of the device you wish to stream video content to (i.e. an edge QAM). Dest_Port_Number – This field represents the port of the IP address you wish to stream video to. Depending upon the destination, this value may not be freely chosen. Major_Number – This field is equivalent to the DIRECTV channel number you tune to on a typical DIRECTV tuner. The second way is used if a QAM24 is in the chassis.
Figure 35 – Advanced Tune screen portion of Advanced Edit page Information identify the tuner currently being tuned is displayed at the top of the web page below the command links. A unique tuner can be identified by chassis number, slot number, tuner number, and IP Address. Chassis – This value shows the Chassis number of the COM200 that holds the COM24 card you are currently tuning. Slot – This value shows the Slot number within the COM200 chassis that holds the COM24 card you are currently tuning.
A detailed description of each advanced tuning field on the Advanced Edit page follows: Dest_IP_Address – In this field, you will enter the IP address of the device you wish to stream video content to (e.g. an edge QAM). The COM24 will stream to any valid unicast or multicast IP address entered with no additional steps necessary. However, older COM200 Chassis (pseudo codes BC004 and NC004) require that multicast streams be sent out the front port and an external Ethernet switch be used.
This allows you to turn Pro:Idiom encryption off so that a standard HDTV or PC-based utility like VLC Media Player can be used for troubleshooting. The value should be set to „1‟ at any other time. The default value is 0. Persistent – Setting this value to „1‟ tells the COM24 to retain all channel and IP-destination settings in memory (i.e., data entered into the card is “persistent”). This eliminates the need to reprogram the COM24 cards after every power-cycle or reboot. Persistent is on by default (i.e.
6.8.2 Evaluating COM24 Informational Status The information shown in Figure 36 below is one of the subsections available on the Advanced Edit page. Figure 36 – “Info” Section on Advanced Edit Page. This section provides a selection of many key indicators to the operation of the COM24 card. It acts as a concise index to the characteristics of each individual COM24 card according to its status and user-defined settings. Following is a brief explanation of each field shown above.
Chassis_ID – This field represents which COM200 chassis the card resides in when there are multiple chassis in the system. Slot_ID – This field identifies the card‟s location within a chassis, numbered 1 through 12. Tuner – This field identifies the tuner‟s location on the COM24 card (0 or 1). Card_IP – This field shows the IP address of the COM24 card you are currently interacting with. Receiver_ID – This field reports the DIRECTV Receiver ID, or RID.
Using the COM24 “Direct Tune” Feature The information shown in Figure 37 below is one of the subsections available on the Advanced Edit page. Figure 37 – “Direct Tune” Interface on Advanced Edit page This section gives you a method to force a tuner to a particular satellite and transponder pair. This ability can especially useful when attempting to track and isolate RF problems with the COM1000 system.
6.8.4 Using the COM24 LED Control Feature The information shown in Figure 38 below is one of the subsections available on the Advanced Edit page. Figure 38 – “LED Control” Interface on Advanced Edit page This section gives you the ability to assume control of the PWR LED temporarily. This feature can help you easily identify a specific card within a chassis if there is ever any doubt about which card you are accessing.
6.8.5 Using the COM24 File Transfer Utility The information shown in Figure 39 below is one of the subsections available on the Advanced Edit page. Figure 39 – “File Transfer” Interface on Advanced Edit page Similar in function to the upgrade section found on the PairingInfo page, this section provides you with a method of transferring software updates to or transferring log data from individual COM24 cards. See Section 7 for more information on upgrading your COM24 cards.
Usage – This field is used to tell the COM24 which type of transfer to execute. Only two values are available for customer use (all others are for development purposes only): 2 = Software Upgrade – This option is used to update the COM24 software. In this case, the file is downloaded to the COM24 card specified by the earlier Card IP address. 3 = Log – This option tells the COM24 to transfer its log file to the destination entered in the “IP_Address” field (i.e., log file is uploaded to PC).
6.8.6 Setting the COM24 User Configuration Options The information shown in Figure 40 below is one of the subsections available on the Advanced Edit page. Figure 40 – “User Config” Interface on Advanced Edit page This section gives you the ability customize select features of the COM24 cards to better suit your application. The cards actually support a few more features than shown here, but the two most useful features have been made available here.
4 = Fixed 5 = NA 6 = NA 7 = NA 8 = NoChange Base_IP – This field gives the COM24 card a starting point for defining its IP address in several of the modes listed above. Subnet – This field allows you to give a subnet mask of your choosing to the COM24 card. Clear this field to use a default subnet. Gateway – This field allows you to set a default gateway of your choosing for the COM24 card. Clear this field to remove the gateway value. Time-to-Live – Time to Live field in IP protocol header.
Figure 41 – “CAM Log” Interface on Advanced Edit page This section gives you the ability to read the log files generated by any COM24 card‟s Conditional Access Module (CAM), also known as its smart card. The messages reported here match the ones that may be seen on a normal set-top box, and can be used to determine whether the card has been properly authorized and paired.
Under normal circumstances, an authorized card will produce a very short CAM log file that looks like the image shown in Figure 42 below.
There are a few fields as described below: Refresh – Refreshes this display. Clear_CAM_Log – Clears all current entries in that card‟s CAM log.
6.8.8 Using the COM24 Software Reset Feature The information shown in Figure 43 below is one of the subsections available on the Advanced Edit page. Figure 43 – “Reset” Interface on Advanced Edit page This section allows you to initiate a software reset on the card identified in the “CardIP” field. This is sometimes helpful in situations where a card has become non-responsive.
6.9 Using the COM1000 TuneAll Command The information shown in Figure 44 below is the result of clicking the TuneAll hyperlink at the top of any COM1000 web interface page.
This section provides a practical way to configure an entire COM1000 system with minimal effort. In order to use this feature, you can start by copying and pasting the information provided at the bottom of the browser page (below the Submit Query button) either directly into the text field provided or into your text editor of choice, and then modifying it as indicated by the guide comments located above the text field. Examples are provided below to help you understand how to utilize this feature.
1-3-0, 1-3-1, 1-4-0, 1-4-1, 1-5-0, 1-5-1, 1-7-0, 1-7-1, 1-9-0, 1-9-1, 192.168.4.245:6658, 192.168.4.245:6659, 192.168.4.245:6913, 192.168.4.245:6914, 192.168.4.245:6915, 192.168.4.245:7169, 192.168.4.245:7170, 192.168.4.245:7171, 192.168.4.245:7426, 192.168.4.
6.10 Using the DIRECTV Electronic Program Guide (EPG) Each COM24 card gives you access to an integrated Electronic Program Guide (EPG) that can be used to create a user-defined guide channel of all programming offered at your location. The setup is done through the same web interface as is used for the normal system setup. The guide can be expanded to include all channels being offered at the property, whether the source is the COM1000, an analog SMATV system, or over-the-air signals.
6. It is possible to add non-DIRECTV channels to the EPG. This is done by adding an entry where instead of a DIRECTV channel number, the capital letter „N‟ appears followed by the channel name, and program information separated by underscore characters. For example: 10-1 NLobby_The_lobby_channel 1 17 7. Each channel in the EPG is comprised of a still image and it can take up to 10 seconds to produce the image for every channel being offered when the EPG is first loaded.
6.10.1 Starting Out In order to access the EPG setup screen shown in Figure 45 below, simply click the EPG hyperlink at the top of any COM1000 web interface page. Figure 45 – COM1000 EPG Page Following is a brief explanation of each field available on the EPG page as shown above.
DestIP – This field represents the IP address of the device you wish to send the EPG data to. In a typical installation, this will be the address of the edge QAM device. The default value is 0.0.0.0. Note: the default value of 0.0.0.0 can be entered at any time to disable the EPG channel. DestPort – This field represents the port number that is to be used to map the EPG to a specific QAM channel. The default value is 0.
chassis – This tells the guide which chassis the QAM24 is in so that it knows the QAM24‟s IP address for sending PSIP guide data. If not using PSIP this field can be set to -1. port – This tells the guide which QAM24 UDP port is being used for sending PSIP guide data. If not using PSIP this field can be set to -1.
Figure 46 – COM1000 EPG Page (Configured) 88
6.10.2 Configuring the EPG The screen shown in Figure 47 below is the result of clicking the EpgLoad button located at the bottom of the EPG screen. Doing this provides a convenient starting point for building an EPG for your system.
The results shown on this page contain the programming information for all COM24 cards in your system based on the current tuning table. The function builds a channel lineup starting with channel 10. It then assigns channel information starting from the first tuner on the leftmost card in the lowest-numbered chassis and steps up one channel for every successive tuner. This information will automatically be loaded into the appropriate text field the next time you visit the EPG page.
In order to customize the EPG to match the property‟s lineup, you will need to go back to the main EPG screen by clicking the EPG link at the top of the page. From this screen, you will need to tell the COM24 card where to send the EPG data (an edge QAM, for instance), define a time zone offset, and modify the lineup as needed. You may also upload a logo for the property that will be displayed in the upper right corner of the EPG. See Section 6.10.3 for instructions on selecting and uploading a logo.
6.10.3 Adding a Logo to the EPG The COM24 has a built-in facility for superimposing a property‟s logo into the upper right corner of the EPG. Should the System Operator express an interest in providing such a logo, it is entirely up to the property to employ someone to do so. It is recommended that you work with someone in either the property‟s Branding or Corporate Identity department or with a graphics professional in order to obtain an image that is in the proper format to be added to the EPG.
6.11 Using the COM24 Syslog Command The information shown in Figure 51 below is the result of clicking the Syslog hyperlink at the top of any COM1000 web interface page. Note that this method of displaying the syslog will only show the last 500 lines of messages from the card you are currently logged into.
In addition to clicking the Syslog hyperlink at the top of any COM1000 web interface page, the syslog data may also be accessed directly from the PairingInfo screen as discussed in Section 6.5 by clicking directly on the hyperlinks for each card‟s IP address, as seen in Figure 29. It should be noted, however, that this particular feature will only give the results shown above if the card you are logged into and the card you wish to access are both running a firmware version higher than ST02.00.03.
6.13 Using the COM24 401 Command The 401 tab can send control messages to DCI401MCS Digital Security Terminator devices (DSTs). The DCI401 can receive Pro:Idiom encrypted QAM channels and output HDMI video to a TV. Each message can be sent to either a single DCI401 based on its unique Receive ID (RID) or to all DCI401s by setting the Receiver_ID to 0xffffffff.
6.14 Using the COM24 QAM Command The QAM24 link will display the page below: Figure 52 – QAM24 Command Screen (top portion) The QAM24 card is controlled by any of the COM24 cards via Ethernet. The QAM24 card has a fixed IP address = 192.168.6.“Chassis ID” + 1. An arbitrary alternate address can be assigned.
QAM output channels have a destination port of QamChannel *16 + subchannel number. The top screen shows the status of each channel. The RF groups are labeled Qam1-Qam12. Each RF channel can have up to 8 subchannels or programs. If a subchannel is active, its bit rate will be shown. Bitrates are static snapshots. Figure 53 – QAM24 Command Screen (bottom portion) The bottom screen controls the RF output configuration and provides SW upgrade capability. 12 RF output channels are defined in 3 groups of 4.
The alternateIp field will configure the QAM24 to have a second IP address. This IP address can be a multicast IP address. However, the QAM24 does not notify a managed switch that it wants this multicast IP address via IGMP. Some QAM24 boards have an RF spur that can interfere with analog television channels. The spur is 1176 MHz minus the desired center RF frequency for each group of four channels. For channels 23 through 94 this means that the spur will be at (1086 – 6 * channel) MHz.
6.15 Using the COM24 Help Command The help command can be reached by clicking “Help” at the top of any COM1000 page. It briefly describes all of the other commands.
7 COM1000 FIRMWARE UPGRADE PROCEDURES When you first receive your COM1000 system, your distributor should have already installed the most recent firmware on every COM24 card. However, since we are continuing to improve upon the software associated with the system, you may find it useful to stay up-to-date as future versions are released. Note: The latest firmware release covered in this manual is ST02.07.05.
If one desires to update all of the COM24 cards in a chassis, then all upgrade fields would be checked as shown in Figure 55 below. Figure 55 – Multi-card COM24 SW Upgrade Please note that when executing a multi-card firmware upgrade, the upgrade command will be sent to the leftmost card slot first, and then to each of the cards in succession. As soon as each card finishes its download, it will reset itself.
The results of the upgrade in Figure 55 is shown in Figure 56.
7.3 Upgrading a FLX24 from SD to HD Upgrading the FLX24 from SD only (3 channels) to HD (2 channels) requires the purchase of an upgrade license key from Technicolor. To purchase a key, contact your distributor. Once an upgrade license has been purchased, it is applied using the – COM1000 Pairing Info Page as shown in Figure 57 below.
Figure 57 - COM24FLX PairingInfo screen 7.4 Upgrading QAM24 Firmware Upgrading the firmware for the QAM24 is similar to updating the firmware for the COM24 and XDR24 except for the following differences: QAM24 upgrade is tftp only. Ftp is not available.
Only one QAM24 can be updated at a time. QAM24 does not automatically reset after the new SW is downloaded. It must be manually reset by depressing the recessed reset button on the front of the card. To perform the SW update, first access the QAM command as shown in Figure 52 in Section 6.14. At the bottom of the page are the fields necessary for the SW upgrade (Figure 53). Figure 58 below shows those fields filled in as an example upgrade.
Figure 59 shows the results of starting a QAM24 SW upgrade.
8 COM1000 DIAGNOSTIC CAPABILITIES When it comes to troubleshooting your COM1000 system, the COM24 card has a few built-in mechanisms that can assist you. Each of these can be very helpful in diagnosing general issues associated with system status and card connections that will be covered in the following sections. 8.1 Indicator lights The three indicator lights on each COM24 faceplate have multiple functionalities.
“brown-out”, effectively disabling both power supplies. If this is the case, unplugging the system and plugging it back in may remedy the situation. More commonly, you may see unlit LEDs on one or multiple COM24 cards, but not the whole chassis. Things to check for when this situation occurs: All COM24 cards are fully aligned in their grooves. All COM24 cards are properly connected to their receivers on the back panel. All thumbscrews are tightened completely.
If the guide acquisition state (flashing PWR LED) lasts longer than expected without the Tuner LEDs turning on, then the system is probably having difficulty acquiring the APG (Advance Program Guide). In this case, it is recommended that the installer verify proper and healthy RF levels being fed into the COM120 RF Distribution panel. The card may appear to “forget” its old settings during this time, but they should reappear once the situation has been remedied.
8.1.4 Software Upgrade There are two phases to the COM24 software upgrade sequence. The initial phase is referred to as the bootloader, and it is at this time that the card evaluates requests for a software upgrade. The second phase, also known as the updater, is when the new code is downloaded, authenticated, and installed to the card.
The directory path and filename do not exceed the maximum limit of 200 characters.
8.2 Network Connectivity Indicators The Ethernet jack on the face of the COM24 and XDR24 cards contain two LEDs. The upper one is a yellow-orange color and it indicates whether video is flowing from the card. The lower one is a bright green color, and it indicates whether the Ethernet port is actively linked with another. Refer to Figure 60 below for an illustration of these LEDs.
9 DIRECTV AUTHORIZATION Like any other DIRECTV receiver, all COM24s require authorization from DIRECTV before they will function properly. Each COM24 receiver in each COM200 chassis should be authorized individually by the System Integrator. Without this authorization, the cards will not be able to stream video programming from the DIRECTV satellites.
10 GENERAL TROUBLESHOOTING TIPS The most common problems encountered with the COM1000 systems are due to bad or loose connections. Before moving on to detailed troubleshooting of any problem, you should check whether all necessary connections (power supply, Ethernet, and coaxial cables) are fully plugged or screwed in, and that all cards are fully inserted. Once you have ensured that everything is tightly secured, try retuning and/or rebooting any problematic cards.
10.1.2 Streaming Video to your PC If you prefer to use a PC during troubleshooting, the only thing you need is an application like VLC Media Player (as covered in Section 5.1). The instructions for configuring your PC to stream video from the COM1000 using the VLC Media Player application are included below. First, you will need to tune the COM24 card you are testing to stream to your PC. The instructions for doing so follow. 1. Under the “Tune” interface on the Tune page (refer to Section 6.8.
In the new window (see Figure 62), set the network URL to something like “udp://@17”, where “udp” stands for the UDP protocol, “@” stands for your PC, and 17 is the port number. The “//” and “:” are delimiters. Set the “Port” field to the value you were asked to note earlier during setup. Figure 62 – Opening a Network Stream If you have set up all your connections as directed, VLC Media Player should start streaming video output from channel 100.
Figure 63 – Streaming Video from a COM24 Card 10.2 Preventing Pro:Idiom key loss Each commercial TV that supports Pro:Idiom decryption must contain a copy of the secret Pro:Idiom decryption keys. These keys can be corrupted which will prevent the TVs from decrypting Pro:Idiom encrypted video until the TV is re-keyed. The main way that Pro:Idiom TVs lose their keys is as follows: A Pro:Idiom encrypted channel is being watched. The Pro:Idiom keys are sent on a different PID for each video channel.
10.3 Changing the Input If a particular channel in the system is not playing, the first thing you should do is to ensure that your RF signal strength is outputting appropriate values. Next, try resetting the card. If the problem persists, you need to determine whether the video feed is glitchy or if you are working with faulty equipment. Locate the problematic tuner and go over the following steps. 1. Tune to the faulty channel on another tuner that is known to be functioning.
Appendix A COM24 IP Configuration Considerations The COM24 cards have a lot of flexibility when it comes to selecting an IP addressing scheme to use on your COM1000 system. This flexibility can be very helpful in making sure you get the optimal IP configuration for your installation, but it also has the potential to make the system non-operational if care is not exercised when changing these parameters. If the front Ethernet port is connected, the back Ethernet port will be disabled.
A.2 IP_CONFIG The IP_Config field allows you to select one of nine possible modes for assigning IP addresses to the COM24 cards. A detailed description of each of these modes is given below. 0 = Default This mode is programmed into the cards during the manufacturing process. In this mode, each card generates a unique IP for itself using the following formula: 192.168.3.[ 1 + ( Chassis_ID x 16 ) + Slot_ID ] Example: The card in slot #1 of chassis #1 is assigned an IP address of 192.168.3.18.
2 = Do not use 3 = Do not use 4 = Fixed This mode is designed to give you the ability to “hard-code” the IP address of each COM24 card in your system. This mode gives you the luxury of controlling what IP addresses are assigned to each card, and works the same way regardless of whether or not a DHCP server is present. If you wish to use this mode, you must define a “Base_IP” address. The COM24 cards will then store this value in memory and use it as the new IP address upon the next reboot.
A.3 BASE_IP The Base_IP field tells the COM24 card what IP address to use in mode Fixed. In order to ensure a level of uniformity across all of your COM100 installations, it a good practice to assign addresses for the cards in the 192.168.1.xxx or the 192.168.3.xxx subnets.
A.4 SUBNET The Subnet field tells the COM24 card what subnet mask to apply to the IP address it generates. This field is optional and, if left blank, the COM24 will not apply any subnet mask. If the subnet mask is incorrectly set, it may not be possible to talk to the card. To force the card to reset the subnet to the 255.255.0.0 default, reboot the card four times each time waiting for the power LED to flash before rebooting. A.
Appendix B RF Sanity Check In order to address the situation where a receiver loses its authorization every 3 to 4 days, we recommend that installers perform a spot check to verify that the COM1000 can successfully tune to each of the satellite/transponder pairs where the DIRECTV program guide updates can be found.
Appendix C Troubleshooting the COM1000 Problem/ Condition Possible Interpretations What to do PWR LED continues to flash for more than 2 minutes after reboot Card is still searching for guide. Communication with card may be unreliable until guide data is acquired. If the current weather conditions are favorable, it is recommended that the installer revisit the RF installation guidelines. Tuner LED is unlit / SNR = 0 / AGC = -140 Tuner is not locked to a channel.
Problem/ Condition Possible Interpretations What to do IP Address = 192.168.0.0 Card has not fully booted yet. An invalid IP destination was entered. Card rebooted with Persistent set to „0‟. Wait for the PWR LED to stop flashing. Verify the configuration settings. Try reprogramming the card, making sure to set Persistent set to „1‟. All tuners locked to 99B channels lock and unlock simultaneously, but only for a few seconds at a time.
Problem/ Condition Possible Interpretations What to do If the channels are supposed to be coming from the same slot, it could mean a problem with that COM24 card If the channels are on different cards, it could mean an RF signaling problem If the channels are on different cards, it could mean a guide acquisition problem Verify that the PWR and Tuner LEDs behave as expected Verify that there are no authorization problems with the affected cards.
Problem/ Condition Video quality is severely degraded when using an IPonly distribution system. 128 Possible Interpretations Older COM200 Chassis (pseudo codes BC004 and NC004) require that multicast streams be sent out the front port and an external Ethernet switch be used. You are attempting to stream transcoded content. What to do In such an installation, an external GbE switch will be required.