[mythtv-users] Need IR advice

Michael Tiller michael.tiller at gmail.com
Tue Aug 30 16:23:10 UTC 2005


This sounds interesting. But I have a few questions. I want this remote to 
function like a TiVo remote. By that I mean I want all the buttons to 
control the MythTV machine except the volume related buttons (UP, DOWN and 
MUTE) and the Power button. These should send codes to the TV. I 
specifically don't want to have to hit the "TV" button to control the TV and 
a "VCR/DVR" button to control the DVR. I want to set it up so that the 
volume buttons in DVR model control the TV.

Is this possible?

--
Mike

On 8/30/05, Jason McMillon <jmcmillon at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> I second the JP-1 idea. You need build yourself a JP-1 cable (an old IDE 
> cable works well) to program your remote with.
>  Check out http://www.hifi-remote.com/jp1/ for more info.
>  Here is what I did to get mine working with MythTV 
> http://jason.sharonandjason.com/remote_mini_how_to.htm
>  Good luck...
> 
> 
>  On 8/28/05, Joe Votour <joevph at yahoo.com> wrote: 
> > 
> > If you can get RC-5 working, then you can use the
> > receiver that came with your PVR-150. No extra
> > expense there. In order to get the extra buttons to 
> > work, you might need a different remote though. (But,
> > remotes can be cheap - the URC-6131 that I use is only
> > $20.)
> > 
> > It sounds like it's a problem with your receiver -
> > either the receiver is broken, or lirc isn't working 
> > with it.
> > 
> > By the way, if you want all of the buttons on your
> > remove to work, you either need to:
> > 1. Find a mode where all of the buttons send IR
> > signals, and use that with your irman-like device
> > (because it won't work with the PVR-150 receiver), or 
> > 2. Get a remote that supports key programming (like an
> > OneForAll remote, or something JP1 compatible) and
> > program the buttons that don't send IR codes to send
> > them.
> > 
> > Also, just so you know, the way I setup my irman with 
> > my universal remote (using RC-5) was to create a
> > config file with the irman tools, and then use a
> > script (I think it was included with lirc) to convert
> > the irman config file to a lirc config file. I've
> > never had much luck with irrecord. 
> > 
> > -- Joe
> > 
> > --- Michael Tiller <michael.tiller at gmail.com> wrote:
> > 
> > > My concern with this approach is that I will still
> > > see the code
> > > "fluxuations" with that device. 
> > >
> > > I did a little more testing and all my remotes have
> > > this problem...even the
> > > RC-5 ones. It just turns out the RC-5 is much more
> > > robust.
> > >
> > > Another interesting (strange?!?) thing I noticed is 
> > > that the "errors" don't
> > > seem to be related to which keys were pressed
> > > previously...they crop up when
> > > I change the position or orientation of the remote
> > > control! If I move the 
> > > remote around while holding a single button down,
> > > the variations correlate
> > > with the movement. WTF?!?
> > >
> > > As such, investing in additional hardware is the
> > > last thing I really want to 
> > > do just now (although once the IR issue settles down
> > > I just might do it). Of
> > > course, buying more hardware reduces my WAF which
> > > I'm actively trying to
> > > raise at the moment. :-)
> > > 
> > > Thanks.
> > >
> > > --
> > > Mike
> > >
> > > On 8/28/05, Joe Votour <joevph at yahoo.com> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > This probably isn't what you want to hear, but 
> > > going
> > > > RC-5 and getting a programmable remote (like the
> > > > OneForAll series) is one of the easiest ways to
> > > go.
> > > > They have advanced key mapping capabilities which
> > > will 
> > > > allow you to use almost every button on the remote
> > > > control, and the RC-5 receiver in the Hauppauge
> > > will
> > > > work with it. (BTW, for RC-5 in my remote, I use
> > > VCR
> > > > code 0081, which works with the Hauppauge card - I 
> > > > think that the VCR part is the key).
> > > >
> > > > I don't use the Hauppauge receiver anymore myself
> > > (the
> > > > jack where it plugs into the card became loose),
> > > so
> > > > I'm using an irman again. Using RC-5 with the 
> > > irman
> > > > is also good, because it eliminated the conflicts
> > > with
> > > > my IR wireless keyboard.
> > > >
> > > > You're probably using your universal remote
> > > control
> > > > setup as a device which uses the changes in code 
> > > to
> > > > mean something specific to that device.
> > > >
> > > > To summarize: If you're not attached to your
> > > > particular remote, get an OneForAll remote (or a
> > > > similar Radio Shack remote), and use the button 
> > > > programming functions to assign extended RC-5
> > > codes to
> > > > the extra buttons you wish to use. It doesn't take
> > > > long (it only took me a couple of hours to setup),
> > > and
> > > > on my URC-6131 remote control, I can use every 
> > > button
> > > > with MythTV, except for SET and the buttons that
> > > > select devices.
> > > >
> > > > -- Joe
> > > >
> > > > --- Michael Tiller < michael.tiller at gmail.com>
> > > wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > After getting my Myth box set up, I have been on
> > > a
> > > > > quest to improve the WAF
> > > > > for my system. There have been many tweaks, but 
> > > my
> > > > > "holy grail" has been to
> > > > > get all the functions (both media center + TV +
> > > ...)
> > > > > on to a single
> > > > > universal remote. I thought my objective was 
> > > within
> > > > > my grasp, but I've been
> > > > > thwarted once again and I'm hoping somebody can
> > > > > provide me with a solution
> > > > > to my latest problem.
> > > > > 
> > > > > First, a bit of background. I have a PVR-150
> > > card. I
> > > > > got the LIRC stuff
> > > > > going with the IR pickup that came with the
> > > card.
> > > > > But, it only works with 
> > > > > the Hauppauge supplied remote. I know in theory
> > > I
> > > > > could probably get it to
> > > > > work with other RC-5 remotes, but none of the
> > > codes
> > > > > I tried on my universal 
> > > > > remote seemed to work.
> > > > >
> > > > > I tried making my own, but the voltages weren't
> > > > > right and I just didn't have
> > > > > the time to iterate on that thing. 
> > > > >
> > > > > So I bought an IRA-3 from
> > > www.home-electro.com <http://www.home-electro.com><
> > http://www.home-electro.com>
> > > > > < http://www.home-electro.com>thinking my days of
> > > > > screwing around were
> > > > > over. Sadly, I was wrong. The IRA-3
> > > > > uses the IRMAN protocol, BTW. 
> > > > >
> > > > > I hooked the thing up and tried to get it to
> > > work
> > > > > with the version of LIRC
> > > > > already installed on my machine (0.7.1). No
> > > dice. I
> > > > > couldn't seem to get 
> > > > > anything. It kept giving me an error in
> > > > > irman_init(). Crap. So I got the
> > > > > source to LIRC and tried building it. No dice,
> > > same
> > > > > error. Because I could 
> > > > > initialize the device on my Windows machine, I
> > > > > didn't understand what the
> > > > > problem was. I got the latest versions of LIRC
> > > and
> > > > > libirman and tried to 
> > > > > sort things out.
> > > > >
> > > > > After a considerable amount of digging and
> > > learning
> > > > > far more about IRMAN,
> > > > > IR, LIRC and serial ports than I ever wanted to 
> > > > > learn, I eventually managed
> > > > > to narrow down the problem. While the IRMAN
> > > protocol
> > > > > specifies 9600 baud, 8
> > > > > data bits, no partity, no flow control and 1 
> > > stop
> > > > > bit, the port
> > > > > initialization fails to actually specify one
> > > stop
> > > > > bit (although it doesn
> > > > > explicitly handle all the other parameters). I 
> > > added
> > > > > one line to the
> > > > > initialization routine in libirman (to set the
> > > stop
> > > > > bit to 1, something it
> > > > > should have already been doing even according to 
> > > the
> > > > > comments in the code)
> > > > > and low and behold...it worked!!! My IRA-3
> > > > > initialized and I started getting
> > > > > data from it in the expected 6 byte chunks. 
> > > > > Hooray!!!
> > > > >
> > > > > At this point, I thought I had finally conquered
> > > > > this stupid issue. I
> > > > > rebuilt libirman and LIRC using the new
> > > > > initialization code and I was well 
> > > > > on my after running irrecord and building up a
> > > .conf
> > > > > file for my remote.
> > > > >
> > > > > Then...disaster struck. After trying to use Myth
> > > > > with the new remote it 
> > > > > seemed like it was ignoring some of the key
> > > presses.
> > > > > I went back into raw
> > > > > mode (using test_io in libirman to output the
> > > codes)
> > > > > and it turns out that 
> > > > > the stupid thing is spitting out multiple codes
> > > for
> > > > > the same key. I don't
> > > > > mean it repeats itself (which it does, but that
> > > is a
> > > > > different issue). I 
> > > > > mean it gives a different code sequence! God
> > > Damn
> > > > > IT!!!!
> > > > >
> > > > > The problem seems to be related to the history
> > > of
> > > > > key presses. As I said, a 
> > > > > single keypress send a duplicated code but that
> > > > > doesn't seem to cause any
> > >
> > === message truncated ===>
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> > > 
> > 
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