[mythtv-users] Irrecord - lirc.conf - help needed

Jarod Wilson jarod at wilsonet.com
Thu Feb 3 17:59:42 UTC 2011


On Feb 3, 2011, at 2:49 AM, Tom Runner wrote:

> Hi all, 
> 
> Months I'm trying to setup my IR blaster. I finally purchased a commandIR one. Still I cannot manage to have the cablebox working.
> Configuration:
> - Ubuntu 10.10
> - CommandIR III
> - Lirc 0.8.7 pre3
> - NowTV cable box in Hong Kong having a very tricky nasty remote
> 
> There are 2 Nowtv broadband lircd.conf available on the lirc database. One is doing nothing, the second one is making the IR led on the cable box reacting, blinking, but no channel change (see below).
> Si I decided to go for irrecord
> 
> First attempt (see file generated below)
> "sudo irrecord now -H commandir", but after the header detection (see below), each time I try to set a key it returns "something went wrong". So impossible to have the key codes.
> 
> Second attempt (see file generated below)
> irrecord in raw mode, which went well until the end and generate a complete file. But then the cable box does not react at all to the signal.
> Raw code generated, checked with "cmd2", which gives almost the same code.
> irrecord -a givers a failure for each code

This *should* have worked, but its possible you need to add 'min_repeat x'
to the config (w/x somewhere between 2 and 5 or thereabouts), so the
transmitter sends the command a few times. A lot of STB actually expect to
see the code retransmitted a few times before they'll actually act on it.

> Third attempt, 
> As I found somewhere on the web, the protocol should be XMP for this box. I used a XMP template and then tried to use irrecord to get teh code.
> Codes are successfully detected, on the contrary of attempt 1. But not result on the cable box either.
> 
> Any idea on how I can identify the remote code and build the lircd.conf ?


I know squat about XMP just yet, but here's a quote from Christoph Bartelmus
related to XMP and irrecord:

----8<----
The problem probably is that irrecord currently does not correctly set the  
pre_data value.
...
The other problem is that irrecord will not automatically recognise the  
XMP protocol, so you always have to use a template file or live with raw  
mode.
----8<----

Looks like the template you're working from is for the Comcast/Pace DTA boxes,
so the pre_data value of 0x170f443e might not be right, but I'm just shooting
in the dark, I don't know much about XMP myself. A bit of googling suggests
that not very many people do -- there are no open specs for it, and even learning
remotes seem to have problems learning it. The only xmp spec I can find is for
eXtensible Metadata Platform, which is graphics thing.


-- 
Jarod Wilson
jarod at wilsonet.com





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