Sharing Ceton InfiniTV Tuners with Client HTPC Systems

We have good news, and we have some bad news. The good news is that Ceton has graciously allowed MissingRemote.com to publish a guide to Tuner Sharing with the Ceton InfiniTV beta firmware.  The bad news is that it is still in beta. 

What does that mean to you? Unless you are already part of the beta program you will not be able to utilize the HTPC bliss that is shared Digital Cable tuners. Before anyone starts scouring the Internet for the beta firmware, your InfiniTV serial numbers needs to be registered as part of the beta program for the firmware to install, don’t waste your time.

Assuming the bad news has not completely discouraged you, read on to see what we have in store.

Before I go any further it is important to note that this is a beta firmware.  Not everything will work perfectly and some features may be added or removed before it is released to the public.  Also note that there is no way to revert back to an older firmware so proceed at your own risk.  The beta firmware has worked very well for me but if you are not willing to accept some potential missed recordings or an occasional reboot, do yourself a favor and wait for the production firmware. MissingRemote.com is not responsible for any damage done by this guide to your beloved HTPC...sorry!

For the entirety of the guide I am going under the assumption that you already have the beta firmware installed and have rebooted.  I will make every effort to note areas that I believe will differ from the final firmware and feature set.

Let's get started. The first portion of the guide will focus on the PC with the InfiniTV physically installed in it--I will refer to it as the Host PC.  The second portion will walk you through any steps needed on Client HTPCs for Media Center to discover and use the InfiniTV. 

Network bridging steps on the Host PC

1. Open Device Manager and go to the Network Adapters section. You will see your Ceton InfiniTV there. Right click it and select properties.

2. Update: This step is may not be needed depending on the firmware.

   Go to the "Advanced" tab and select "Support Bridging." On the right side select "Yes" in the drop-down menu and hit OK.

   

3. Open the Ceton InfiniTV4 device webpage.  The default IP address is http://192.168.200.1/ but you can also access it under Network in Windows Explorer.

   

4. Under the System tab there is a next section under the MAC Address, is a hyperlink called "Network Settings." 

   

   Clicking the hyperlink will take you to http://192.168.200.1/Services/NetworkSetup.html

5. By default the InfiniTV will be setup as a DHCP Server.  You will need to uncheck "Default IP Settings (DHCP Server)" for network bridging to work.

6. You now have to choose between static IP address or enabling the DHCP Client.  Either will work however, I highly suggest static IP address.  Windows 7 does a great job of handling network discovery but why risk network discovery issues or delayed DHCP responses preventing a recording?

   

   Note: Unlike Windows the Netmask (aka Subnet Mask) will not automatically update to the appropiate value.  Most users will need to use 255.255.255.0.  I am a 10-net fan myself.

   Please ensure you assign an unused IP address in your network subnet.  I'll add instructions soon but the easiest thing to do is: 1- Enable DHCP Client; 2- See what IP address was provided; 3- Setup a static IP address using the address used.  Most home users will have an IP address in the 192.168.1.x-192.168.1.255 range.

7. Click the "Set Network" button. 

   Note: You will lose connectivity to the InfiniTV device webpage and tuners until the rest of the bridging steps are completed.

8. Go to Start and type in "View Network Connections" to show your network adapters. You should see a "Ceton InfiniTV Network Device" along with your main network device.

9. Highlight the Ceton InfiniTV Network Device and your primary network card interface, Right Click and select "Bridge Connections."

   

   Note: During the bridging process you will lose network connectivity.  If you are connected over Remote Desktop you may no longer be able to connect as the resulting network bridge will have a new IP address.

10. The result will be a new device called a "Network Bridge."  That is your PC's primary connection to your network now.  As above, I highly recommend setting up a static IP address on your Network Bridge.  What I don't lke about the Windows Network Bridge implementation is that Windows will generate a dynamic MAC Address for it.  This prevents us from using Static DHCP to assign a reserved IP address from the DHCP Server.  If you need help configuring a static IP address please let us know in the comments and I'll help out.

11. To confirm your Ceton InfiniTV is working properly as a bridged device try accessing the InfiniTV device webpage as shown above in step #3.  The device webpage should be available from any compter on your network.

12. That completes the Host PC portion of the network bridging setup.

    Note: You will need to run the Client HTPC portion of the setup found below on the Host PC if it will be used as an HTPC. It is not required if you do not plan to use the Host PC as a HTPC.

Steps on the Media Center Client HTPC to find and configure the networked tuners

1. Download and install "Mikinho's InfiniTV Network Tuner Config."  You will be able to download the setup from the comments below.

   Note: You you will need to be logged in as a registered user to download the attachment.  Please do not redistribute the tool without my consent.  It should also be considered a beta product.

2. Once installed run the "InfiniTV Network Tuner Config" via your start menu.  The tool requires administrative rights so if you have UAC enabled (everyone should) you will be prompted to allow the tool to run.  If it is your first time running you will also need to the tool access through the firewall.

   

3. The first thing you will need to do is enable your primary network adapter under the Network Cards tab so Media Center will know to use it for OCUR network tuner discovery.

   

    

4. Select "Apply" and proceed to the Tuners tab.

   If this is your first time running the tool or you have added or removed an InfiniTV continue on, otherwise skip to step #7.   

5. Select "OCUR Unregister."  This will take approximately 30 seconds.

   

6. Select "OCUR Discovery."  Again the process should take approximately 30 seconds.

   

   After that complets you should see the discovered status from each tuner now set to "Yes"

7. Enable each tuner you want made available to Media Center.  I highly suggest assigning specific tuners per Client HTPC and excluding those from the Host PC.

   

8. Select "OK" and launch Windows Media Center.

9. You will need to setup the InfiniTV4 the same as your would on the Host PC. This means running (and passing) the Digital Cable Advisor, installing PlayReady, and running through the CableCARD activation screens. If you have previously activated your CableCARD on the Host PC you will NOT need to do it again.

10. When you run through the Media Center setup you should only see the tuners you enabled in step #7.

    

     

And that is it! Enjoy your network shared InfiniTV tuner. The tool takes care of the firewall exclusions, network interface setting and OCUR discovery tasks.

Also note that the current implementation is not a shared tuner pool. If a Client HTPC attempts to use a tuner from the Host PC pool you will disconnect the tuner from the Host PC and possibly mark it as inactive in the Host PC tuner pool. A future firmware may change this behavior. For now, I highly recommend assigning tuners to a single Client HTPC.

Please leave any comments, questions or feedback on this guide below.

Special thanks to Ceton for involving us in the beta program, and Ylian Saint-Hilaire and Intel for the Developer Tools for UPnP™ Technologies. Makes UPnP development from C# painless.