Hi, I have been using plex for around 1 year. I got a email telling me about this new service. I really am interested in it. I was wondering if a Motorola m-card might with with hdhomerun prime? I am using GCI as my cable provider. So having this info would be a big help! 
I have 5 Primeâs with Motorola M-Cards and MTR700 Tuning Resolverâs. One is dedicated to the Plex DVR beta.
It works. Just be advised that Plex DVR doesnât support DRM protected channels so you may (depending on your cable company) be limited to only a handful of channels. For sure local broadcast channels will work with Plex DVR.
The only issue with that is my cable company. Doesnât have any idea what plex or hdhomerun. I donât even know what to ask.
@NetflixSucks said:
The only issue with that is my cable company. Doesnât have any idea what plex or hdhomerun. I donât even know what to ask.
Do they offer CableCARD? All you need to tell them is you have a âTiVo.â
The Prime has the same hardware requirements as any CableCARD enabled TiVo unit. Meaning, the Prime supports Switched Digital Video and therefore if your cable company uses SDV they will need to provide a Tuning Resolver (Motorola/Arris MTR700) so your Prime can tune in any channel that requires SDV.
Oh well they do support tivo and they do offer cablecards. Well awesome guess, I be getting this then. Thanks <3
@NetflixSucks said:
Oh well they do support tivo and they do offer cablecards. Well awesome guess, I be getting this then. Thanks <3
So because it sounds like this is your first experience with CableCARD, let me just give you some tips on keeping calm during this (what might be) a very frustrating experienceâŠ
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Constantly remind yourself that this is your hobby and itâs âfun!â
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Remember to take a deep breath and resist the urge to puch anyone.
Buy the tuner and familiarize yourself with the menus. The Prime is a very straight forward GUI. A little too simple for my tastes meaning, compared to my old Ceton tuners, the Prime doesnât offer much of the in depth information that the Ceton equipment did. With that said, the Prime is a thousand more times reliable and in fact I would say bulletproof really. Works perfect day in and day out!
One thing the Prime doesnât have is the ability to set a static IP. Itâs DHCP only! So I would suggest going into your routers GUI and setting an IP reservation for the Prime so that everytime the Prime goes to ârenewâ itâs IP the router assigns the same address. Most routers have a simple button to click on in the GUI that allows you to do this.
Also, install the desktop drivers for the Prime so that you can update the firmware. Plex has itâs own drivers for talking to the tuner but doesnât upgrade firmware. The latest firmware was released back in November.
Beyond that I think youâll be good to go. Spend a few minutes going through the menus in the Prime so that when it comes time to pair the CableCARD you will know what menu does what. The validation screen will be your friend!
Do you think that when Plex comes out of dvr beta the drm issue will be fixed?
Do you think itâs Plex that will fix it or is it up to HD Homerun coming up with a patch?
I so want to get rid of my tivoâs.
@hitnrun30 said:
Do you think that when Plex comes out of dvr beta the drm issue will be fixed?
Do you think itâs Plex that will fix it or is it up to HD Homerun coming up with a patch?
I so want to get rid of my tivoâs.
No. Playing DRM content requires a lot of money to be invested by Plex with the cable consortium (CableLabs) for certification. I doubt very much Plex will ever support DRM recording/playback.
@kegobeer-plex said:
@hitnrun30 said:
Do you think that when Plex comes out of dvr beta the drm issue will be fixed?
Do you think itâs Plex that will fix it or is it up to HD Homerun coming up with a patch?
I so want to get rid of my tivoâs.No. Playing DRM content requires a lot of money to be invested by Plex with the cable consortium (CableLabs) for certification. I doubt very much Plex will ever support DRM recording/playback.
Then what can be done. I think in the method that I pay for those channels, I should be able to use any device that can get them. is there a box that allows for it or some sort of descrambler?
Any device that captures or records encrypted cable channels must go through CableLabs certification. Plex just canât record/live view them because they donât have the certifications to do so. If recording that content is important to you, there are off the shelf products you can rent/purchase.
Just like thereâs no talk of how to circumvent DVD/Blu-Ray encryption on this forum, thereâs no talk of how to circumvent cable DRM.
@hitnrun30 said:
@hitnrun30 said:
Do you think that when Plex comes out of dvr beta the drm issue will be fixed?
Do you think itâs Plex that will fix it or is it up to HD Homerun coming up with a patch?
I so want to get rid of my tivoâs.
Then what can be done. I think in the method that I pay for those channels, I should be able to use any device that can get them. is there a box that allows for it or some sort of descrambler?
Your only options right now to play/record DRM channels from your cable company is either rent their equipment, keep your Tivo and use that, Windows Media Center on Windows 7 or 8.1 Pro.
If you want playback only, right now the Silcondust company offers playback on Windows 10 through their App and via Xbox One. They are working on getting all the certification and technical issues laid down to allow recording on Windows 10 with their software but there is no definite timeline when that will happen.
Plex not being able to view or record DRM content isnât something that is broken and needs to be fixed or that HDHomerun has to patch. There is a LOT more to playing and recording DRM content than a simple code addition in the software. Itâs governed by Cablelabs and you have to have licensing to legally play/record that content.
Any device that captures or records encrypted cable channels must go through CableLabs certification.
In case itâs not clear, this also means that every app and the server on every platform must also go through that same certification or it will not be allowed to play it. I would guess that the cable industry would be long dead before that feat could be accomplished.
As per what to do, you could demand your cable company fix it. Be prepared to spend an hour or more trying to get to someone who knows what you are talking about because very few understand these things. They may not be able to do anything though. In my case, the DRM marked channels were contract requirements by the content owner (NBC Universal). Iâll ream them when I get the next Nielsen ratings survey when content from their channels are no longer present in what I watch as well as calling them out in the comment section. Maybe theyâll learn that DRM only serves to inconvenience the ones who donât pirate content.
