Shaw remote control discussion and fixes

[Jetranger]

I finally found a link to some info on this new remote that Shaw/ARRIS might be looking at:FUSION

[GamerGuy]

"I'd buy that for a $1" to steal a phrase from an 80's cult classic.

[Atlas_74]

I got one of those with my HD pvr box purchase back in January of this year.... so yeah.. they probably will be using them for the next 20 years... I still have one from the early 2000's that works with the new pvr... too

[Jetranger]

Really, with the qwerty keyboard on the back? I would be surprised to hear of anyone who has this remote as it hasn't actually been seen anywhere in the marketplace yet, as best I can determine.

[Atlas_74]

I was actually replying to qwerty-m4n talking about UEI brand remotes and said something about shaw using them a long time ago... but it looks like the message was deleted

but that link you had about the one with the keyboard on the back looks kind of cool... I could use one of those for my Smart TV... the internet portion of it is a pain to use with the direction arrows rather than letters... it'd also be handy with the shaw box when searching... I hate the having to use direction arrows to move a selection through the alphabet..

[querty-m4n]

Darn, I did it again. Got a message deleted and didn't realize there were replies. My mistake.

My original query was wasn't that the brand that Shaw used once before?

I answered my own question. It is the brand Shaw currently is using.

[Jetranger]

As far as I know, all of Shaw's remotes are UEI remotes, of one kind or another. That would hopefully show some promise toward us getting access to this new 'Fusion' remote. It certainly would change things for the Gateway system once they add more of the functionalities they originally promised.

[Kritiker]

This remote looks like it has possibilities. The inclusion of the INPUT selector function for TVs is already a big plus. The layout looks like it's a bit less confusing. But, there's still no dedicated Closed Captioning key.

Notice though, it has a three year warranty but only 14 months on the silk-screening, i.e., the lettering on the remote.

Also note that we would need the IR version and not the RF (RF4CE) version. That might affect the available feature set.

Here's a better look at it.

Also note that some of the desirable features are optional:

• Optional accelerometer can be used to automatically activate keyboard when remote is flipped
  • Orientation activation of keyboard and remote keys for optimal user experience
• LED backlighting (mentioned in one brochure and not the other)

Of course, it's all conjecture at this stage.

[Jetranger]

What I heard was it would be the RF model that uses a USB dongle. It would be made available once they activate the USB ports for communication on the Portals in a later code update. It probably wouldn't be until later this year or maybe next year now that code releases are pushed back. That's what I heard anyway, can't say it would happen for sure.

[Kritiker]

That RF to USB adapter, Jetranger, is pictured and described briefly, in the brochure you mentioned in the first place.

RF might be nice but would have to provide for individual remote-adapter pairing to prevent the different remotes in the house/apartment, or remotes in neighbouring houses/apartments, from interfering with each other.

And, of course, the USB port on the Portal would then be unavailable for other uses.

[Jetranger]

Good point, Kritiker. I don't think it would look very good sticking out from the front of the Portal either. Maybe the next version of Portal will have a USB port on the back and be available at the same time? Wouldn't that be nice.

Edit: I got off my chair and checked and there is a USB port on the back as well so any dongle wouldn't have to hang off the front and there would still be an open port for other devices.

[Kritiker]

I had missed the USB port on the front and thought there was only the one on the back.

[hyperfocal]

Hi - just wondering if anyone has experienced a problem where a single button on a remote isn't working, and if that means the remote needs to be replaced, or...?

We have a new dcx3400 with an atlas 1056B03 remote, installed by a shaw tech. Everything on the remote seems fine, except that the On Demand button does not work - when we press it, we get an on-screen message saying that 'this service is not available at this time'.

It does the same thing no matter which box it's used with (also have a dcx3200), however we know it's not a service availability problem because we can access VOD on both boxs using the remote for the dcx3200.

Any way to jumpstart just one button, or is the remote just plain faulty?

Thanks very much.

[57]

I believe that button is a macro that goes to a specific channel. Did Shaw change the VOD channel number? Just punch in the VOD channel number instead?

If the same thing happens when you go to the VOD channel, your STBs are likely in "broadcast mode" and cannot communicate with the head end. Temporarily remove any splitters or anything else upstream and see if a STB works then.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/show...15#post1246415

[hyperfocal]

Edit: Oops, never mind - we just discovered we can access VOD via the Menu with the futzed remote. An extra couple of clicks needed, but it gets us where we need to go. Thanks for the help.

...............

Hi 57 - thanks for the reply and the link.

We can access VOD just fine on both our STBs if we use a different remote.

It hadn't occured to us that the VOD button is a programmed macro (uh, duh! Geez.). Guess it must be futzed on this new remote (?). We can't locate a channel number for VOD on our program guide, nor through googling for it - guess we'll need to call Shaw and ask (unless anyone here offhand knows what it is)?

Thanks again.