[mythtv-users] USB to Serial Adapter cable for IR Blaster?

[Brent Meyer]

On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 7:58 AM, Ben Eisemann <ben at locojeeper.com> wrote:
> Hey gang,
>
> In response to Comcast making my world more complicated with the
> digital conversion...
>
> I have ordered 2 serial IR blasters from http://www.irblaster.info
> only to realize that my backend's motherboard (an Asus M4A78 Pro) only
> has one serial port, and off an internal header at that.  Yes I
> realize I can buy a serial port bracket for under $5, but that still
> only leaves me with 1 serial port.
>
> Has anyone had any success running the USB to Serial adapter cables?
> I read (okay, skimmed) an article in Linux Journal about kernel driver
> versions and it just made my head hurt.    Is there anything out there
> that I can use?
>
> I'll save the rest of my "comcast and their greed is ticking me off"
> rant for later.
>
> - Ben
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>

Unfortunately, serial IR blasters do not work with USB adapters. As I
understand it, the serial blasters exploit a feature of the serial
port that simply cannot be recreated by a USB adapter.

A few months ago, I faced the same situation you're facing now. After
spending too much time and money trying to get various solutions to
work, I threw in the towel and bought a CommandIR mini. It's an
expensive unit, but it works very well and was very easy to set up.
It's definitely worth the price.

You might also look into the IguanaWorks IR blaster, which is half the
price. It seems like some people have been able to get it working
pretty reliably.