# Talking to the 921



## Wackford (Jan 16, 2005)

First of all, I've been a 921 beta tester for two weeks (thanks CostCo). Aside from an occasional sticky/slow remote com problem, I love it.

Now for the question:
Has anyone tried to communicate to the 921 through the ports? My observation of the posters in here, is we all seem to be "early adopters" A.K.A "geeks". Someone out there has to have a USB sniffer of some kind.


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## SimpleSimon (Jan 15, 2004)

USB doesn't work - not enabled from the host side.

If it ever does work, it's likely to be keyboard only.

No idea why they haven't done it - I'm told it works fine in the 721, and that level of the code is likely still the same (or close enough) between the two boxes.


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

SimpleSimon said:



> No idea why they haven't done it - I'm told it works fine in the 721, and that level of the code is likely still the same (or close enough) between the two boxes.


My theory is that the reason the ports don't work are for the same reason the expansion ports on other receiver models don't work and haven't worked for years. "FUTURE use." To E*, future use = NEVER.


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## BobMurdoch (Apr 24, 2002)

Probably for those combination Keyboard/remote control keyboards that get shown at trade shows but then are never produced. I am SO sick of using a remote to enter in search info.


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## invaliduser88 (Apr 23, 2002)

Yes, cool features that were originally developed for the box, but then were disabled for "business" reasons.


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## RobbyG (Dec 28, 2004)

The problem is....E* didn't "create" this machine itself. It's actually an off the shelf VIA motherboard (http://www.viaembedded.com/designwin/productDetail.jsp?categorys=12&company=78), running Linux, with some tuner cards made by who knows etc...etc... So the fact is, that they just picked a motherboard that they could get cheap enough, that would "work". The firewire, usb, extra pci slots were not the plan of E*, they just happend to also be on the board they choose.

My 2 cents...


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## paulcdavis (Jan 22, 2004)

RobbyG said:


> The problem is....E* didn't "create" this machine itself. It's actually an off the shelf VIA motherboard (http://www.viaembedded.com/designwin/productDetail.jsp?categorys=12&company=78), running Linux, with some tuner cards made by who knows etc...etc... So the fact is, that they just picked a motherboard that they could get cheap enough, that would "work". The firewire, usb, extra pci slots were not the plan of E*, they just happend to also be on the board they choose.
> 
> My 2 cents...


I'm glad that they did not design the motherboard - just think about all the possible hardware bugs that we would be finding instead of (mostly) software bugs.


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## Neil Derryberry (Mar 23, 2002)

That said, I wonder if a faster processor/more memory would make a difference here.. anybody try it?


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## LASooner (Jan 24, 2005)

> It's actually an off the shelf VIA motherboard


Is that why there seems to be PCI slots that will never be used?


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## Michael P (Oct 27, 2004)

At one time E* was going to have an IRD with a built-in DVD player. I bet this was the same platform that that aborted product was going to be built. It would be cool if they would put a dual-layer DVD burner on the 921, then you could back-up all your programs.


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## Neil Derryberry (Mar 23, 2002)

From the pictures I've seen, the slots look like agp slots.


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## Wackford (Jan 16, 2005)

I'm wondering what percentage of E* profit is from hardware? I also wonder what is their cost of hardware support? It can't be a big percentage.

E* needs to open the hardware specs, open the source code or create an API to hide their propritary portion. And oh yeah, open the ports... 

If E* really want to be at the center of the home appliance market, open it up to more then a few people in the UK. We'll have these things tweaked, broke, and screaming cool stuff faster then you say E*, D* or Vooooo something. Are they afraid we'll see how poor the architechture is???? 

If the source were open and we developed/fixed something I'm sure we'd post the source right back to them just to get a better product for everyone. That's what the Linux culture is based on. OPEN SOURCE! E* quit hiding in the box. Learn the power of parallel processing (all of us working together)

Imagine what we would could do to the "guide" ............
Drag and drop favorites
Custom Themes

I'm ranting here... I guess I like to see myself talk (type)


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## BobMurdoch (Apr 24, 2002)

Unfortunately it would proably make it even easier for pirates to bypass the smart card protection as well if they opened up the code.....

Don't get me wrong, nobody would be happier than me if they were to get the bugs out, but I see the chances of this scenario as next to nil.


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