XM radio with RR... please help

**HoffR1** · 08-09-2008, 06:15 PM

Okay, I feel like a bit of an idiot for not being able to get this working, because I very rarely have this much trouble when it comes to computers and code.

I have RR installed, currently with the beta from here in order to get weather to work: 05/27/08 Road Runner Official Beta, Weather Fixed!

I've got everything else configured but cannot for the life of me get XM Radio to work. I'm using the mp3car usb converter for xm radio along with an xm reciever. The xm receiver is hooked up with antenna input and audio going to the line in jack. The ps2 controller goes the the mp3car adapter with has external power and is hooked up to the pc with usb.

As for the RR settings, I'm using XM Serial Port 0, which seems to be the correct one, because if I change it I get an error stating no xm radio detected. I've tried it both with the line in box checked, and the "use line in plugin" box checked.

But when I launch RR and click the XM button, nothing shows up in the channel list and I get no audio. Granted, it's a new antenna which I just activated, but I should still be able to see something in the channel list or hear the preview channel, shouldn't I?

At this point I'm using the RR XM radio rewrite from this thread in an attempt to get XM to work (no luck there either) MJSG RR - Public Release - NEW XM, Improved HD *7/18/08 - UPDATED*
and I've run regasm with both the dlls in the RR install directory and in the xmradio directory (the "MJSG-RR-RunMe1st.cmd" and RunMe1st.cmd files to use their shortcuts)

I have the .NET framework both 1.1 and 2.0 installed and am using the DigitalFX4.0 skin

Can anyone help me figure out what I'm doing wrong? I've been trying to search the forum for 2 days now, and all I'm getting is more frustrated.

The clostest I've gotten to working seems to be to NOT use mitchjs code update, in which case the title bar updates with the Sat: and Ter: signal strength bars and the Channel: displays as "1 XM Preview" but there is still no sound, and the actuall channel list on the right simply shows the last mp3 I played while RR was running.

**HoffR1** · 08-09-2008, 06:35 PM

This is what I see if I click the XM button. It states along the top that it's supposedly channel 1 xm preview, but the window on the right shows the mp3's from the latest album I was listening to, and the channel + and - buttons just navigate up and down this list of mp3's

http://s174.photobucket.com/albums/w...nt=xmradio.jpg

**barnyard** · 08-09-2008, 06:42 PM

Definitely a connection issue. I'm not familiar with the usb converter. Is assigned a COM port somehow by software?

**HoffR1** · 08-09-2008, 07:11 PM

There's a USB driver that comes with the adapter, but apart from that, I'm not aware of anything being done to choose which COM port it uses. I have it set to 0 in the RR config, which I'm assuming is the correct value, because when I tried changing it (I set it to 1, I was going to cycle through the first 20 ports and see if anything changed) it complained no xm radio detected. But it doesn't give that error if I reset to 0

Is there a step I'm missing?

**bmo** · 08-09-2008, 07:49 PM

I think that if you set it to 0 it turns if off or tells rr that there is no tuner there.
The usb driver should be installed, I think that its a usb to serial adapter. After installing the driver you should be able to go into device manager and see what com port it is using. You should see it under usb or com ports, cant remember. Then go into RR config and set the port number to the one that was in device manager. Then you should be ok.
If not you should try it outside RR. Did it come with any other software ? If not you might try Mitch s sotware that is basically stand alone and see if that works...

hope that helps
bmo

**HoffR1** · 08-09-2008, 08:09 PM

I just reinstalled the drivers for the USB adapter and this time it installed a USB-Serial portion that it didn't the first time for some reason. Hopefully this will fix it. Still not sure why it didn't install correctly the first time. Maybe I was missing some pre-requisite and didn't realize it

**DeadlyAP1** · 08-09-2008, 09:08 PM

If it loaded the drivers, go into windows device managger and find the MP3car USB device. Right click for properties and it will tell you what COM port it is on. Set that in RRconfig and try doing it without the "lin in plugin" checked. Yuo probably do not need that.

At this point, you should see the XM data and channels in RR at a minimum. If you still get no sound, make sure you have RRconfig set to the propper source to un-mute for XM, be it line in or mic, whichever you use. If still no sound, enter the windows sound settings and make sure the voume slider for either the line in or mic is set high enough.

**bmo** · 08-09-2008, 09:52 PM

did ya get it...

**HoffR1** · 08-09-2008, 10:04 PM

It's kind of working now. It seems like the USB converter portion is working since I can see the channels and all, but the sound is just horrible static.

EDIT: Well, I have sound now. The only thing I did was turn power off on my test layout a few times, and remove and re-plug in the cables a couple times, but it all seems to be working now. Thanks so much for the advice.

**DeadlyAP1** · 08-10-2008, 08:34 AM

Originally Posted by HoffR1

It's kind of working now. It seems like the USB converter portion is working since I can see the channels and all, but the sound is just horrible static.

EDIT: Well, I have sound now. The only thing I did was turn power off on my test layout a few times, and remove and re-plug in the cables a couple times, but it all seems to be working now. Thanks so much for the advice.

I had aweful static too. what are you using to power the USB adapter? 12v from the car or 12v from the PC power supply? For me, the unregulated 12v from the battery created a ton of noise. I then took power from the 12v rail off the power supply and the noise is gone.

give that a shot and let us know what happens.