Techno Dummy needs help

[Hawkmoon]

Satellite TV hook-up issues: I'm trying to get a new flat-screen television and a new DirecTV box set up in the guest bedroom before house guests (in the form of two grandchildren, so television is a must) arrive later this month. I pulled the cable from the bedroom to the attic, DirecTV came, made their connections, and left us with the new box working. So far, so good ... we have television.

But ... I can't figure out how to connect a DVD player into the mix. I have both a 3-wire "composite" cable (red, white, yellow) and a 5-wire "component" cable (green, blue, white, red, and mystery color of the week). Tried connecting the component cable directly from the DVD to the television and got the DVD video with the television audio, and the DVD player didn't respond to commands. Then tried connecting from the DVD player into the DirecTV box using the component cable (no results) and then the composite cable (also no results).

What am I doing wrong? I can't find anything on-line or in any of the printed documentation for the television or the DirecTV box that tells me how to set this up.

[Ben]

Are you trying to do this all off one remote, or are DVD commands not working off the DVD remote?

My first suggestion would be to switch to an HDMI cable, which, if it's a new TV and new box, you should have plenty of HDMI ports.

[Hawkmoon]

Are you trying to do this all off one remote, or are DVD commands not working off the DVD remote?

My first suggestion would be to switch to an HDMI cable, which, if it's a new TV and new box, you should have plenty of HDMI ports.

It is a new TV and it is a new DirecTV box. But the DVD player is a couple of years old and a fairly basic model of Magnavox. The television has HDMI ports ... the DVD player and the DirecTV box do not.

All instructions I find on-line say to connect the DirecTV box into the DVD player, and then the DVD to the television. But the DVD doesn't have any input jacks. It has both composite output and component output ... no inputs at all.

The DVD doesn't respond (at least, on screen) to either the DirecTV master controller or the DVD's own controller.

Maybe I need to connect both boxes into a hub? (Or whatever they call them when it's for television.)

[Doggy Daddy]

1) Which TV inputs is the Direct TV using?

2) Do you have a set of component inputs plus a set of composite inputs, or one set of inputs that can be either/or?

Post make and model numbers of the DVD and TV.  Maybe one of us can find the manuals online and get a better idea of what's going on.

[Hawkmoon]

The DirecTV installer set it up to use the composite (3-wire) cable. Television appears to have component input for video, but not for audio. Is that possible? Doesn't have five component RCA jacks, only four in addition to the three composite jacks.

I've got it at least playing. The DirecTV box has a coax output, so I ran that straight to the television, then used the composite cable to connect the DVD player directly to the television. The DirecTV controller now doesn't control all functions of the television, so to run everything we need all three controllers, but we have the capability of watching television or playing DVDs, and I think that's going to have to suffice unless one of you resident geeks has a better suggestion.

[Doggy Daddy]

I'm thinking the TV is "Component OR Composite" with both options sharing common audio inputs.  If so, you might want to check Monoprice for a component/composite to HDMI converter.  It won't make the component signal the equivalent of HDMI, but it would allow you to use one of your HDMI inputs for the DVD player.

This should work, but unless you have 3.5mm stereo outputs on the DVD player (like a earbud jack) you would need an adapter to go from your rca audio outs to the 3.5mm cable going to the box.  http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=101&cp_id=10114&cs_id=1011404&p_id=7110&seq=1&format=3#specification

[Brad Johnson]

What model tv so we can look up the manual.

Brad

[Hawkmoon]

The television is an RCA, Model LED24B45RQ

The DVD Player is a Magnavox, Model DP100MW8

The television has inputs for HDMI, S-Video, Component, and Composite. But the component and composite inputs share the same audio jacks, so I can't do both at once. And the DVD has component output and composite output, but NO input so I can't feed the DirecTV box through the DVD player.

[Doggy Daddy]

Having looked at the manuals I have to go with going through a converter box to hook the DVD component output to the TV HDMI input.

get this cable: http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10235&cs_id=1023507&p_id=2182&seq=1&format=1#largeimage
and this adapter: http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10429&cs_id=1042902&p_id=7189&seq=1&format=2

to go with this box http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=101&cp_id=10114&cs_id=1011404&p_id=7110&seq=1&format=3#specification

[Hawkmoon]

Un-flippin' believable.

Just called DirecTV, and they cheerfully told me there is no way to run the DVD player and their box together. They say the only way I can do it is to manually unplug the cable from one box and plug it into the other when we want to change sources.

[Doggy Daddy]

Un-flippin' believable.

Just called DirecTV, and they cheerfully told me there is no way to run the DVD player and their box together. They say the only way I can do it is to manually unplug the cable from one box and plug it into the other when we want to change sources.

They're wrong.  See above.

[Frank Castle]

HDMI FROM TV to DirecTV box

HDMI from TV to DVD / blueray box


TV impute SETUP

impute 1 DirecTV and impute 2  DVD .

[Hawkmoon]

HDMI FROM TV to DirecTV box

HDMI from TV to DVD / blueray box


TV impute SETUP

impute 1 DirecTV and impute 2  DVD .

Neither the DirecTV receiver nor the DVD player has HDMI outputs.

Since I have already accomplished what all the answers I've found on-line AND DirecTV's tech support say is impossible, I guess I'll have to live with the solution I have. It's less convenient than being able to use just the DirecTV remote to control everything, but it's a lot more convenient than crawling around under/behind furniture to switch the cable from the DVD to the satellite box and back every time we want to change sources -- and that's what DirecTV says we have to do.

[Doggy Daddy]

You could also go to Walleyworld and get a new Blu-ray DVD player with HDMI out for about the same price as the adapter box and cables you'd need to hook up your old dvd player.  

And WW will try to rape you for an HDMI cable.  Get that from Monoprice and save a decent amount.

[Brad Johnson]

If I'm seing the correct manual your tv has 3 hdmi jacks and a selectable component/composite in.

Run your directv receiver to the hdmi jacks and the dvd player via the component in.  If your directv box is standard def then do not, I repeat NOT, buy a compisit to hdmi converter. You can buy an open box bluray player. Last weekend I picked up a display Samsung unit at Best Buy for 60 bucks. It normally sells for 150.

Brad

[Frank Castle]

Neither the DirecTV receiver nor the DVD player has HDMI outputs.

wtf

[Hawkmoon]

wtf

It's a standard def DirecTV receiver box, and the DVD player is a few years old. Neither has HDMI outputs.

This is a set-up for a guest room that will be occupied for about two weeks in February, then may not see another guest for several years so I don't want to spend any more on it than the bare minimum. Wife already went over the budget on the television.

[Brad Johnson]

Sounds like the best thing to do is to hook up the dvd player and don't worry about the DirecTV. Give them a stack of movies, make sure the tv connections are accessable so they can plug in the xbox, and don't worry about it.

Brad

[RocketMan]

Target has an upscaling Sony DVD player with HDMI output online for $45.  Get that or something similar from elsewhere and feed it to an HDMI input on the TV.  Use the composite or S-video output from the DirecTV box to the appropriate input on the TV.
Or, tell DirecTV to hie themselves back out to your abode with an HD box that has an HDMI output.

[Hawkmoon]

Target has an upscaling Sony DVD player with HDMI output online for $45.  Get that or something similar from elsewhere and feed it to an HDMI input on the TV.  Use the composite or S-video output from the DirecTV box to the appropriate input on the TV.
Or, tell DirecTV to hie themselves back out to your abode with an HD box that has an HDMI output.

Both of those solutions cost money -- and the latter will keep on costing money every month for as long as I have DirecTV. Did you miss the part about not wanting to spend more than necessary?

I've managed to accomplish what DirecTV says is impossible. I think we can call it a win, albeit not exactly a walk-over. Using the coax from the satellite box to the television is supposed to result in the lowest picture quality, but I just watched Under Siege on the new setup and I don't notice any video degradation compared to when the video was fed from the satellite box via composite cables.

Thanks, gents. Your suggestions kept pushing me to research it deeper, and that finally resulted in a work-around.

[RocketMan]

Did you miss the part about not wanting to spend more than necessary?

Did you miss the part where you're supposed to spoil the grandkids?   

[Brad Johnson]

I've managed to accomplish what DirecTV says is impossible. I think we can call it a win, albeit not exactly a walk-over. Using the coax from the satellite box to the television is supposed to result in the lowest picture quality, but I just watched Under Siege on the new setup and I don't notice any video degradation compared to when the video was fed from the satellite box via composite cables.

One of the few benefits of a standard def box feeding an HDTV set.  Glad you got a workaround.

Brad

[Hawkmoon]

Turns out I did it right. Late last night I poked and prodded and traced, pushing a small flashlight into small holes in the back of the cabinet in the master bedroom, and discovered that the way I did it is exactly the way the original installers from DirecTV set up the boxes in the master bedroom when they did the original installation oh-so-many years ago.

Now, if wife or daughter or grandkids decide they want to watch any of the old VCR tapes we have around, I think I'll just quietly go down to the basement and hang myself.