[mythtv-users] Fwd: Re: LIRC IRSEND - Channel changing not working

Mon Feb 13 16:39:02 UTC 2012

On 2/12/2012 9:10 PM, Steven wrote:
> >I missed something; when you press a button on your remote, does 
> anything come out of the ir transmitter on the USB-UIRT box?
> Maybe there is another use for these as a repeater or some sort.
>
> I am trying to use the USB UIRT as both a receiver for my media center 
> remote, and a transmitter to control my Comcast DTA and change the 
> channels so that mythtv can record the right things.
>
> The receiving is correctly working.  I can control Mythtv using my 
> remote.  The transmission seems to be working in that it blinks red 
> when I use IRSEND, and a digital camera picks up the IR, but no matter 
> what I do the comcast DTA does not respond to the transmission.
>
>
> >On my UsbMce box, it has an external blaster extension that's taped 
> onto the cable box >and flickers red when I press a button.  Either 
> you see the LED flicker of the external blaster, or use a digital 
> camera to see the ir >signals.
> >If you see a flicker, we talk driver (i.e. protocol) and config; if 
> not we look upstream.
>
> Not sure what other protocols or drivers to use.  I've tried both USB 
> UIRT drivers (as far as I know there are only two). and if this config 
> works for others http://lirc.sourceforge.net/remotes/motorola/DTA100 
> how can I help found out what is different?
>
> >...and yes, remote control issues are very irritating.
> >These are similar to the box I have:
> >http://www.ebay.com/itm/Microsoft-MCE-Media-Center-remote-control-and-receiver-plus-IR-blaster-/290669079675?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43ad3a2c7b 
> <http://www.ebay.com/itm/Microsoft-MCE-Media-Center-remote-control-and-receiver-plus-IR-blaster-/290669079675?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43ad3a2c7b>0
> >
> >http://www.ebay.com/itm/Microsoft-MCE-Remote-Control-USB-IR-Receiver-Win7-Vista-/220626196153?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item335e5896b9 
> <http://www.ebay.com/itm/Microsoft-MCE-Remote-Control-USB-IR-Receiver-Win7-Vista-/220626196153?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item335e5896b9>
>
> Do you use those with Mythtv 24.1 fixes and 11.10?  Seriously I don't 
> care what I use, I'll buy those both if they'll work with my setup :)
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* Don Brett <dlbrett at zoominternet.net>
> *To:* MythTv-Users <mythtv-users at mythtv.org>
> *Sent:* Sunday, February 12, 2012 12:01 PM
> *Subject:* [mythtv-users] Fwd: Re: LIRC IRSEND - Channel changing not 
> working
>
>
> On 2/12/2012 10:30 AM, Steven wrote:
>> Seriously I'm considering just finding someone to build me a robot to 
>> press buttons on the remote.
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> *From:* Don Brett <dlbrett at zoominternet.net> 
>> <mailto:dlbrett at zoominternet.net>
>> *To:* Steven <stevenc413 at yahoo.com> <mailto:stevenc413 at yahoo.com>; 
>> Discussion about MythTV <mythtv-users at mythtv.org> 
>> <mailto:mythtv-users at mythtv.org>
>> *Sent:* Sunday, February 12, 2012 9:19 AM
>> *Subject:* Re: [mythtv-users] LIRC IRSEND - Channel changing not working
>>
>> On 2/12/2012 7:41 AM, Steven wrote:
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> I've tried unsuccessfully to fix this issue the last few weeks.
>>>
>>> I am using Mythbuntu 11.10 and trying to get a USB-UIRT and Comcast 
>>> DTA working.
>>>
>>> I followed the directions here: http://regx.dgswa.com/html/node/134
>>>
>>> Today after spending hours on it, I got the point where IRSEND is 
>>> not producing an error, and the light is going off on my USB-UIRT 
>>> transmitter, and I confirmed with a camera that it is indeed 
>>> sending.  Problem is the signals are not being received by the box, 
>>> or they are the wrong signals.  IRECORD is not working for me, which 
>>> seems to be a common problem.
>>>
>>> I am using this lirc.conf file:
>>> http://lirc.sourceforge.net/remotes/motorola/DTA100
>>>
>>> And here is part of my lirc hardware.conf file:
>>> #Chosen Remote Control
>>> REMOTE="Windows Media Center Transceivers/Remotes (all)"
>>> REMOTE_MODULES=""
>>> REMOTE_DRIVER="uirt2_raw"
>>> REMOTE_DEVICE="/dev/ttyUSB0"
>>> REMOTE_SOCKET=""
>>> REMOTE_LIRCD_CONF="mceusb/lircd.conf.mceusb"
>>> REMOTE_LIRCD_ARGS="-l"
>>>
>>> #Chosen IR Transmitter
>>> TRANSMITTER="USB-UIRT2 : Motorola Cable box"
>>> TRANSMITTER_MODULES=""
>>> TRANSMITTER_DRIVER="uirt2_raw"
>>> TRANSMITTER_DEVICE="/dev/ttyUSB0"
>>> TRANSMITTER_SOCKET=""
>>> TRANSMITTER_LIRCD_CONF="/usr/share/lirc/pace2.conf"
>>> TRANSMITTER_LIRCD_ARGS=""
>>>
>>> Anyone know how I can finally get this working?  Happy to provide 
>>> any other files that would be useful.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> mythtv-users mailing list
>>> mythtv-users at mythtv.org  <mailto:mythtv-users at mythtv.org>
>>> http://www.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>> I'm not an expert, but I'll give it a try; my daughter's comcast 
>> system has the DC50X, so I'm a little familiar with that guide.  What 
>> part of the procedure did you stop on?  It sounds like the 
>> remote-control works; I assume you confirmed it with irw?
>>
>> If every button-press of the remote results in something coming out 
>> of the transmitter, you might be right about the commands being mixed 
>> up; which would point to this:
>>
>> /usr/share/lirc/transmitters/pace/pace.conf
>>
>> or, this
>>
>> include /usr/share/lirc/transmitters/pace/pace.conf
>>
>> You mentioned irrecord.  What are your using it for?  I thought 
>> irrecord was used to capture commands, but don't you already have 
>> that?  By the way, I recall reading that the DC50X used a whole 
>> different protocol than traditional cable boxes, but the guide 
>> doesn't seem to be concerned about that.
>>
>>
>> If interested, here's the Tivo thread that discusses the protocol:
>> http://forums.tivo.com/pe/action/forums/displaythread?rootPostID=10412354
>>
>> Protocol site:
>> http://www.uei.com/html.php?page_id=89
>>
>> Remote Central discussion about the DC50X:
>> http://www.remotecentral.com/cgi-bin/mboard/rc-touch/thread.cgi?3576
>>
>>
>>
> I missed something; when you press a button on your remote, does 
> anything come out of the ir transmitter on the USB-UIRT box?  On my 
> UsbMce box, it has an external blaster extension that's taped onto the 
> cable box and flickers red when I press a button.  Either you see the 
> LED flicker of the external blaster, or use a digital camera to see 
> the ir signals.  If you see a flicker, we talk driver (i.e. protocol) 
> and config; if not we look upstream.
>
> ...and yes, remote control issues are very irritating.
>
> These are similar to the box I have:
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/Microsoft-MCE-Media-Center-remote-control-and-receiver-plus-IR-blaster-/290669079675?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43ad3a2c7b
>
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/Microsoft-MCE-Remote-Control-USB-IR-Receiver-Win7-Vista-/220626196153?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item335e5896b9
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users at mythtv.org <mailto:mythtv-users at mythtv.org>
> http://www.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users at mythtv.org
> http://www.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
I wasn't suggesting that you buy a different remote control, just showed 
those as examples of the one I have; yours look pretty similar.  I 
bought that particular one because it seemed to be very popular and all 
the issues were probably worked-out.  Actually, I suspect your blaster 
is fine and the problem is with the DC50X, just as you suspected; 
everyone seems to have challenges with it (I think Comcast likes it that 
way).

I did some looking-around and found a couple things we should confirm.

-From the config file you're using, the protocol support for the DC50x 
requires lirc version 0.8.6 or later, so verify the version (which 
should be OK if you're using MythBuntu 11.10).  Open a terminal and do:

don at zedo:~$ lircd -v
lircd 0.9.0

-I'm not sure how this part works, but it seems good to match-them-up.  
Verify that the selections in lircd.conf matches hardware.conf.  Here's 
mine:

 From /etc/lirc/hardware.conf:
#Chosen IR Transmitter
TRANSMITTER="Microsoft Windows Media Center V2 (usb) : Motorola Cable box"
TRANSMITTER_MODULES="lirc_dev mceusb"
TRANSMITTER_DRIVER=""
TRANSMITTER_DEVICE=""
TRANSMITTER_SOCKET=""
TRANSMITTER_LIRCD_CONF="motorola/dctxxxx.conf"
TRANSMITTER_LIRCD_ARGS=""

 From /etc/lirc/lircd.conf:
#Configuration for the Microsoft Windows Media Center V2 (usb) : 
Motorola Cable box transmitter:
include "/usr/share/lirc/extras/transmitters/motorola/dctxxxx.conf"

I assume yours should say:
include "/usr/share/lirc/pace2.conf"

-Your selections in the setup seems to be correct (USB-UIRT2 : Motorola 
Cable box).  The only wild-card is the config file you're using 
(/usr/share/lirc/pace2.conf).  I don't have that file, so I assume you 
created it.  Check the backend log and make sure it's not throwing a 
permission error.

don at zedo: cd /var/log/mythtv/mythbackend.log
don at zedo: /var/log/mythtv$ grep mythbackend.log lirc
don at zedo: /var/log/mythtv$ grep mythbackend.log pace2

-Here's another config file to consider using:
http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/users/418412?search_string=pace;#418412

-And another, one of the guys in this thread thinks the raw codes work a 
little better.
http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/users/445515?search_string=pace;#445515

-This site says some blaster transmitters are really weak.  How close is 
it to the DC50X?

 From http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/MCE_Remote
"Transmitter (Blaster) LEDs flash with irsend but device does not respond

The small (1/4in) Microsoft MCE transmitter LEDs have a very short range 
(<2cm) since they are designed to be attached directly over the IR 
receiver window. If you cannot get it close enough, it probably will not 
work. I replaced the original MS MCE transmitter LEDs with the PVR500's 
(slightly bigger 1/2in length) transmitter LEDs and I was able to 
control the IR receiver device. They are both equivalent devices and 
uses lirc_mceusb2.

It's also possible that there is infrared light interference. Certain 
LCD displays are known to interfere with infrared remotes. Try turning 
off possible interference sources, shielding the receiver (sometimes 
putting the receiver inside an open cabinet, behind a semi-transparent 
door, or putting a thin paper towel over the receiver helps). "

This is all I can think of at the moment, let's see how it works out.

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