[mythtv-users] Need Help: HD-PVR IRBlaster

Martin Lynch martin.lynch.toronto at gmail.com
Mon Dec 20 16:43:43 UTC 2010


*Resent in plain text; changed subject to avoid confusion with Mark 
Pennock's thread*

On 10-12-18 10:10 PM, martin.lynch.toronto at gmail.com wrote:
> Following some good advice I received here, I've gone ahead and bought the Hauppauge HD-PVR. It works fine, except I cannot get the IRBlaster to work. It's been 2 weeks now of Googling and trying all manner of suggestions.
>
> Two questions:
>
> - can anyone who has the IRBlaster working with an HD-PVR possibly post lircd.conf and hardware.conf? Am running Ubuntu 10.04, if that's important.
>
> - can anyone who is successfully changing channels on a Bell 9241 likewise post their channel changing script? I think (but am not certain) that this is equivalent to a Dish vip 612.
>
> I have compiled lirc_zilog and lirc_dev and downloaded the HD-PVR driver, etc etc etc.
>
> My IRBlaster plugs directly into the HD-PVR. I don't need the remote to work, just the channel changes.
>
> "irsend" doesn't work (variety of error messages, which I'm happy to post if needed).
>
> "irsend LIST "" """ returns nothing.
>
> I've been using firewire very successfully for the past 4 years, however my Bell boxes do not include a firewire port (I'm in Canada so they are not legally required to).
>
> Any and all help is very much appreciated, because I've been going in circles for days now on this.
>
> Thanks!
> Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

OK, some additional info:

/var/run/lirc/ contains lircd and lircd.pid
/dev/ contains lirc0 and lircd, which is a link to /var/run/lirc/lircd 
(which I think I created manually - I've tried so many variations to get 
this working that I'm no longer certain...).

/etc/lirc/lircd.conf:

This file is 31,132 lines long, which I'm happy to post if needed. It 
begins with:

*********

#
# this config file was automatically generated
# using lirc-0.5.5pre8 on Sun Apr 18 11:43:45 1999
#
# contributed by Jens Leuschner <leuschner at gmx.net>
#
# brand:             Hauppauge
# model:
# supported devices: WinTV primo; WinTV pci; WinTV radio
#
# This config file will work with both homebrew receivers and
# original Hauppauge TV cards !!!
#

begin remote

   name          blaster
   bits          32
   flags         RAW_CODES
   eps           0
   aeps          0
   plead         0
   gap           333333
   repeat_bit    0
   begin raw_codes
     name 0_1_KEY_0
     65536

*********

/etc/lirc/hardware.conf (please note I've commented out the REMOTE 
stanza as part of my testing; have also tried commenting out the 
TRANSMITTER stanza and uncommenting the REMOTE stanza, and also 
uncommenting both):

*********

# /etc/lirc/hardware.conf
#

#Chosen IR Transmitter
TRANSMITTER="blaster"
TRANSMITTER_MODULES="lirc_dev lirc_zilog"
TRANSMITTER_DRIVER=""
TRANSMITTER_DEVICE="/dev/lirc0"
TRANSMITTER_SOCKET=""
TRANSMITTER_LIRCD_CONF="/etc/lirc/lircd.conf"
TRANSMITTER_LIRCD_ARGS=""

#Chosen Remote Control
#REMOTE="HDPVR"
#REMOTE="blaster"
#REMOTE_MODULES="lirc_dev lirc_zilog"
#REMOTE_DRIVER="dsp"
#REMOTE_DEVICE="/dev/lirc"
#REMOTE_SOCKET=""
#REMOTE_LIRCD_CONF="/etc/lirc/lircd.conf"
#REMOTE_LIRCD_ARGS=""

#Enable lircd
START_LIRCD=true

#Don't start lircmd even if there seems to be a good config file
#START_LIRCMD="false"

#Try to load appropriate kernel modules
LOAD_MODULES="true"

# Default configuration files for your hardware if any
LIRCMD_CONF=""

#Forcing noninteractive reconfiguration
#If lirc is to be reconfigured by an external application
#that doesn't have a debconf frontend available, the noninteractive
#frontend can be invoked and set to parse REMOTE and TRANSMITTER
#It will then populate all other variables without any user input
#If you would like to configure lirc via standard methods, be sure
#to leave this set to "false"
FORCE_NONINTERACTIVE_RECONFIGURATION="false"
START_LIRCMD=""

# Remote settings required by gnome-lirc-properties
#REMOTE_MODEL="Hauppauge"
#REMOTE_VENDOR="Hauppauge"

*********

$sudo irsend LIST "" "" returns nothing.

$ sudo irsend -d /dev/lircd SEND_ONCE blaster select
irsend: command failed: SEND_ONCE blaster select
irsend: hardware does not support sending

$ sudo irsend -d /dev/lirc0 SEND_ONCE blaster select
irsend: could not connect to socket
irsend: Connection refused

/var/run/lirc$ ls -al
total 4
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root  80 2010-12-18 17:48 .
drwxr-xr-x 25 root root 860 2010-12-19 07:42 ..
srw-rw-rw-  1 root root   0 2010-12-18 17:48 lircd
-rw-r--r--  1 root root   5 2010-12-18 17:48 lircd.pid

$ uname -a
Linux HTPC 2.6.31-11-rt #154-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT RT Wed Jun 9 13:40:34 
UTC 2010 x86_64 GNU/Linux

$ ls -al /lib/firmware/ | grep haup*
-rwxr-xr-x  1 martin martin  302355 2010-12-11 20:39 haup-ir-blaster.bin

The command line which started lircd is:

/usr/sbin/lircd --output=/var/run/lirc/lircd --device=/dev/lirc

If I create a symlink called /dev/lirc pointing at /var/run/lirc/lircd I 
get the following result:

$ sudo irsend -d /dev/lirc SEND_ONCE blaster select
irsend: command failed: SEND_ONCE blaster select
irsend: unknown remote: "blaster"

If I instead create a symlink called /dev/lirc pointing at 
/var/run/lirc/lircd.pid, I get

$ sudo irsend -d /dev/lirc SEND_ONCE blaster select
irsend: could not connect to socket
irsend: Connection refused

I think all the correct modules have been compiled and are loaded correctly:

$ lsmod | grep lirc
lirc_zilog             18972  0
lirc_dev               16744  1 lirc_zilog

If I turn on the STB and go into live TV in mythtv, I can watch TV just 
fine, provided I change channels using the STB remote. This, of course, 
won't work for scheduled recordings - my point is simply that the HD-PVR 
appears to work.

Could really use some help, as I'm leaving soon for a trip and would 
dearly like to have my scheduled shows record.

PS: when making changes to lircd.conf or hardware.conf (or changes to 
/dev/lirc) is it a requirement to restart lircd for the changes to take 
effect?

Many thanks!



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