[mythtv-users] Getting lirc working on a Logitech Harmony

Wed Oct 10 22:17:42 UTC 2007

Harry Devine wrote:
> Daniel Arfsten wrote:
>   
>>> On 04/10/2007, Harry Devine <lifter89 at comcast.net> wrote:
>>>     
>>>       
>>>> Nick Morrott wrote:
>>>>       
>>>>         
>>>>> 1. Just to be clear, do you have a blaster (transmitter)
>>>>>         
>>>>>           
>> or receiver?
>>   
>>     
>>>> I have an IR Blaster from irblaster.info (the one that they
>>>>       
>>>>         
>> say works
>>   
>>     
>>>> with Myth).  I ran dmesg and saw the following entries for
>>>>       
>>>>         
>> lirc:
>>   
>>     
>>>>                lirc_dev: IR Remote Control driver
>>>>       
>>>>         
>> registered, at major 61
>>   
>>     
>>>>                lirc_serial: auto-detected active high
>>>>       
>>>>         
>> receiver.
>>   
>>     
>>> Harry,
>>>
>>> Just to be sure we're not talking at cross-purposes here:
>>>
>>> i) my understanding is that you want to be able to control
>>>     
>>>       
>> MythTV (and
>>   
>>     
>>> other LIRC software) with your Harmony remote control.
>>>
>>> ii) an IR blaster (what you state you have, and why I asked)
>>>     
>>>       
>> is solely
>>   
>>     
>>> used to control an external device like a cable or satellite
>>>     
>>>       
>> box, by
>>   
>>     
>>> 'pretending' to be a remote control. You configure LIRC to
>>>     
>>>       
>> mimic the
>>   
>>     
>>> remote's commands, and it can change channel on the STB
>>>     
>>>       
>> automatically
>>   
>>     
>>> via irsend.
>>>
>>> iii) an IR receiver (what you need to be able to use a remote
>>>     
>>>       
>> to
>>   
>>     
>>> control MythTV, and what I worry do not actually have)
>>>     
>>>       
>> receives the
>>   
>>     
>>> output from your remote control. When running LIRC with
>>>     
>>>       
>> MythTV, LIRC
>>   
>>     
>>> decodes these signals and passes them to MythTV to allow you
>>>     
>>>       
>> to
>>   
>>     
>>> navigate the menus and control playback etc.
>>>
>>> Only a combined IR receiver/blaster (transceiver) will allow
>>>     
>>>       
>> you to
>>   
>>     
>>> use a remote control and control an external device as
>>>     
>>>       
>> described
>>   
>>     
>>> above.
>>>     
>>>       
>> Harry,
>>
>> correct me if i'm wrong, but what i'm reading from your posts is
>> that
>> you purchased an IR Blaster and have that installed.  your 'TV'
>> service has a set top box that you currently control with a
>> dedicated
>> remote.  you already have a wireless keyboard and mouse hooked
>> up and
>> working with your MythBox.
>>
>> is that correct?
>>
>> if so, (and list, please correct me if i'm wrong as i don't use
>> this
>> setup) you 'may' be able to use the IR receiver that your
>> keyboard
>> uses to get button pushes from your remote into Myth.  LIRC will
>> then
>> decode them and control the various Myth functions.  if you want
>> to
>> change channels on your set top box you will still need the IR
>> Blaster, so Myth can tell your STB to change channels.
>>
>> forget the IR Blaster and the on order IR receiver for the
>> moment.
>> look over the wiki and in the archives for details on how to use
>> 'irrecord' and 'irw' to create your own lircd.conf file.  it's
>> actually very easy to do, and then you can customize it for your
>> remote and your preferences.  try to use irw and irrecord to
>> capture
>> button presses from your remote pointed at your wireless
>> keyboards ir
>> receiver that you have hooked up to your MythBox.  if irw is
>> able to
>> receive signals then you can return the IR Receiver that you
>> just
>> ordered.  after you've played with and tweaked your newly
>> created
>> lircd.conf file (following the instructions on the wiki) you can
>> go
>> about setting up the IR Blaster to change channels on your STB
>> from
>> Myth using your harmony remote.
>>
>> i hope i didn't muddy the water any with my comments.  i think
>> you
>> just need to start at the beginning and take it one step at a
>> time.
>> it sounds like you're trying to get too many different pieces to
>> work
>> at once.
>>
>> hope that helps
>>
>> I just went through this and it's not fun and as far as I am concerned there 
>> could be way better docs on the wiki for this. Setting up STB control using 
>> lircd is what I am talking about.
>>
>> Just to be clear here, is your Harmony remote a learning remote? If it's 
>> not, you'll need a ir receiver that can capture the remote signals from 
>> whatever remote you use to change the channels on your Set Top Box (whether 
>> its directtv, dish or cable) You can create your stb lircd.conf using 
>> irrecord as stated above. If you Harmony is capable of learning the ir 
>> signals from your STB remote, then you can easliy make your harmony control 
>> your STB which is easier I believe. You'll still need to use irrecord to 
>> create a lircd.conf which will match the ir signal codes to button pressed 
>> on the remote. I actually created a seperate instance of lircd named 
>> differently for ir blasting my stb and have the original lircd running for 
>> "receiving" the ir commands from my pvr-350 remote. I followed this guide 
>> here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=550068
>> I used the latest 8.2 lirc version to do this and it works beautifully. The 
>> most important things are 2 different config files.
>> /etc/lircd.conf (this is the config for the harmony remote)
>> /etc/ledxmitd.conf (this is the config for the remote that was controlling 
>> the stb, so the stb receives the signals it's expecting)
>> /home/username/.mythtv/lircrc (this is the config that maps the remote 
>> button presses to functions within mythtv and can even control other 
>> programs like mplayer, xmms, etc etc.)
>>
>> Daniel
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> mythtv-users mailing list
>> mythtv-users at mythtv.org
>> http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>>
>>   
>>     
> I do believe that the Harmony 550 is a learning remote, but I'm not 
> trying to have it control my set top box by learning.  This remote has a 
> configuration program that runs on Windows where I tell it my STB's 
> make/model and it programs the remote to function like that device.  
> Actually, I have my TV, DVD Recorder, STB, and stereo receiver all 
> programmed in there now.  I now have that 1 remote instead of 4 seperate 
> ones.  It can also be programmed to emulate a PVR device, so that's why 
> I was trying to emulate a Hauppage remote to control the Myth menus, 
> since alot of people on this list seem to rave about them.
>
> Thanks,
> Harry
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users at mythtv.org
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>
>   
I just got my IR Blaster receiver today, plugged it in and, Wa-La!  
Success.  I can now move around using the remote, so I'm very happy.  
It'll take some getting used to, mainly learning what buttons do what, 
etc., but this was a major hurdle for me.  However, there are to things 
that I saw that I thought someone might have some info on. 

First, when I go the my videos section, I can change the Parental 
control level by pushing the desired level on the remote and entering 
the PIN (pressing 4 then the PIN).  However, there are 2 options on that 
screen that say "MENU - Options" and "INFO - Actions".  These 2 option 
don't seem to map to any button on my remote.  Any ideas on how I can 
get these 2 options mapped?

Second, when I actually play a video, it plays with Xine.  I can pause, 
fast forward, etc., but when I stop the video, I want to have Xine exit 
out and go back to the front end.  This doesn't happen.  The Xine splash 
screen stays up, and I have to ssh into the box and kill the process.  
Any thoughts on how to do this more gracefully?

Thanks,
Harry
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