[mythtv-users] Linux: Replacement for lirc_zilog driver

[Stephen Worthington]

On Tue, 23 Jul 2019 23:38:09 -0400, you wrote:

>On Mon, Jul 22, 2019 at 5:43 AM Stephen Worthington <
>stephen_agent at jsw.gen.nz> wrote:
>
>> On Sun, 21 Jul 2019 22:34:20 -0400, you wrote:
>>
>> >So with the upgrade to 18.04, it isn't just that LIRC was broken - They
>> >took the entire lirc_zilog driver way.
>> >
>> >They replaced it with ir-kbd-ic2, the notice is here:
>> >https://www.mess.org/2017/12/18/What-s-coming-in-v4-16-for-rc-core/
>> >
>> >So now it doesn't use the lirc.conf I was using to send IR blaster
>> >information from the HDPVR to my STB.  I did see in the dmesg the notice
>> >"add enable_hdpvr parameter", so I created /etc/modprobe.d/ir-kbd-ic2.conf
>> >with the line
>> >
>> >options ir-kbd-ic2 enable_hdpvr
>> >
>> >I now use my script that I used before and it lights up the HDPVR and no
>> >errors are generated - but also, no information is sent to the STB.
>> >
>> >Has anyone found documentation on how to use this driver to send blaster
>> >information via the HDPVR ?
>>
>> My Ubuntu 18.04 is running kernel 4.15 (4.15.0-54-generic), so the
>> changes on the above page are supposedly still in the future when 4.16
>> arrives.  Maybe Ubuntu has backported the changes to their version of
>> the 4.15 kernel?
>>
>> In any case, it looks like the new driver is available and you are
>> getting it to do something.  So the problem is likely in your lirc
>> configuration, which has all changed in the new lirc version.  So what
>> do you have in the main lirc config file
>> (/etc/lirc/lirc_options.conf)?  What driver file do you have loaded in
>> /etc/lirc/lircd.conf.d?  Do you have an IR remote input as well as the
>> blaster on the HDPVR?
>>
>>
>Configuration is exactly the same on the 18.04 and on the old 16.04. which,
>it seems would be wrong.
>
>Also note: There's still a comment on the HDPVR page on the wiki
>
>https://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Hauppauge_HD-PVR
>
>"f you have the ir_kbd_i2c module loaded, this can cause the HD-PVR to hang
>after a short amount of recording (60-120 seconds). Remove this module via
>'rmmod ir_kbd_i2c' and try again if this is affecting you."
>
>Every recording I've tried has hung after between 11 and 18 minutes with
>the i2c driver loaded, so I'm quite concerned :-(
>
>lircd.conf.d has the devinput conf file.  I've now renamed it to .dist.
> I'm not sure what to put in there for the HDPVR blaster.
>
>etc/lirc/lirc_options.conf:
># These are the default options to lircd, if installed as
># /etc/lirc/lirc_options.conf. See the lircd(8) and lircmd(8)
># manpages for info on the different options.
>#
># Some tools including mode2 and irw uses values such as
># driver, device, plugindir and loglevel as fallback values
># in not defined elsewhere.
>
>[lircd]
>nodaemon        = False
>driver          = devinput
>device          = auto
>output          = /var/run/lirc/lircd
>pidfile         = /var/run/lirc/lircd.pid
>plugindir       = /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/lirc/plugins
>permission      = 666
>allow-simulate  = No
>repeat-max      = 600
>#effective-user =
>#listen         = [address:]port
>#connect        = host[:port]
>#loglevel       = 6
>#release        = true
>#release_suffix = _EVUP
>#logfile        = ...
>#driver-options = ...
>
>[lircmd]
>uinput          = False
>nodaemon        = False
>
># [modinit]
># code = /usr/sbin/modprobe lirc_serial
># code1 = /usr/bin/setfacl -m g:lirc:rw /dev/uinput
># code2 = ...
>
>
># [lircd-uinput]
># add-release-events = False
># release-timeout    = 200
># release-suffix     = _EVUP
>
>I'll bet this is a problem...it still refers to zilog in hardware.conf.
>Again, not sure what to change....
>
># /etc/lirc/hardware.conf
>#
>#Disable kernel support.
>#Typically, lirc will disable in-kernel support for ir devices in order to
>#handle them internally.  Set to false to prevent lirc from disabling this
>#in-kernel support.
>#DISABLE_KERNEL_SUPPORT="true"
>
>#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=""
>
>#Chosen IR transmitter
>TRANSMITTER="HD-PVR"
>TRANSMITTER_MODULES="lirc_dev lirc_zilog"
>TRANSMITTER_DRIVER=""
>TRANSMITTER_DEVICE="/dev/lirc0"
>TRANSMITTER_SOCKET=""
>TRANSMITTER_LIRCD_CONF=""
>TRANSMITTER_LIRCD_ARGS=""
>
>
>lircd.conf begins with this:
>
>#
># 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
>
>
>lircmd.conf has just comments.

The configuration for modern versions of lirc is quite different.  The
hardware.conf file is not used at all.  You are supposed to run
lirc-setup and get it to set up the configuration in the
lirc_setup.conf file and download the correct device file into
lircd.conf.d directory.  That works for IR receiver devices, but I am
not sure how to set up transmitters.  In any case, the device that I
think you need to configure it for is hauppauge_pvr, but I am not
about that as I have never had an HDPVR.  The hauppauge_pvr config is
in this file:

https://sourceforge.net/p/lirc-remotes/code/ci/master/tree/remotes/hauppauge/hauppauge.lircd.conf

but lirc-setup should be able to download that and install it for you.
You do need to switch the "default" driver, as the devinput driver
does not work with transmitters.  So, run lirc-setup as root or sudo,
click on "Use default driver".  In the search box, type
"hauppauge_pvr" and click on Search.  That will get it to download the
hauppauge.lircd.conf file.

Whether that will get the transmitter to work is another matter.  When
I find that time, I am hoping to have a read of the lirc source code
and work out just how the configuration of transmitters works in the
0.10.0+ versions.  I do have an MCE receiver with a transmitter, so I
should be able to work out the basics of transmitter setup using that.