[mythtv-users] Raspberry Pi 4 FrontEnd Remote Control Issues

[Stephen Worthington]

On Mon, 11 May 2020 16:09:10 -0500, you wrote:

>
>Hi Stephen!
>
>
>> The Seiki configuration file - - the one I found at
>> https://gist.github.com/gisikw/a2ffa7f45efa0d9c3bee ? is at
>> /etc/lirc/lircd.conf.d/Seiki_LIRC.conf . Good news is it is found/listed
>> by **systemctl status lircd.socket lircd.service**.
>> Good, that is the right place for it.
>
>Figured it was in the correct subdir, just nice to have verified and 
>that being in the wrong place wasn’t the problem.
>
>
>
>> What is the output of:   sudo ir-keytable
>> (without the -t).  It should list your IR receiver(s).
>
>pi at RPi-MythFE:~ $ sudo ir-keytable
>Found /sys/class/rc/rc0/ (/dev/input/event4) with:
>	Name: gpio_ir_recv
>	Driver: gpio_ir_recv, table: rc-rc6-mce
>	LIRC device: /dev/lirc0
>	Attached BPF protocols: Operation not supported
>	Supported kernel protocols: lirc rc-5 rc-5-sz jvc sony nec sanyo mce_kbd rc-6 sharp xmp imon
>	Enabled kernel protocols: lirc
>	bus: 25, vendor/product: 0001:0001, version: 0x0100
>	Repeat delay = 500 ms, repeat period = 125 ms
>pi at RPi-MythFE:~ $
>
>
>
>> I do not know how your remote works, just that it clearly does.  IR
>> remotes need IR receiver hardware, which can be included in or with
>> tuners or as a separate device.  The actual receiver is typically an
>> IR photo-diode, and in less naked devices than an RPi it is usually
>> hidden behind a small hole or transparent plastic window.  So when you
>> are using your remote, what are you pointing it at?  Does the RPi4
>> have a builtin IR receiver, or have you added one?
>I added the IR detector from a Hauppage tuner. According to on-line 
>information for an after-market replacement uses a TSOP 2238 IR 
>Receiver. Information from PiHut says they sell the TSOP3802. AFAICT 
>equivalent for my usage. (PiHut seemed to indicate an IR detector was 
>fine, just the pinouts could differ.)
>
>
>As for directing the remote control’s head, yes, directly to the opening 
>in the Hauppauge sensor – it’s hard to miss! <g> When nothing is 
>indicated on the screen the remote is closer and with grit – you know 
>that joke about how one presses the buttons harder on a remote control 
>with dead batteries?! Yup! <g>
>
>
>
>You had a question on the version: /sudo lircd -v /
>
>
>pi at RPi-MythFE:~ $ sudo lircd -v
>
>lircd 0.10.1

That all looks good.  I am still on lircd 0.10.0, but as far as I know
there are no significant configuration changes between the versions,
so my config files should work for you.  So install the .lircrc and
.lirc/* files as per my previous post.  There are two more steps
needed, which I had forgotten about.  After you have installed the
.lircrc and .lirc/* files, you need to do this:

cd ~/.mythtv
ln -s ../.lircrc lircrc

This sets up a link to the .lircrc file in the place mythfrontend
expects to find it.

Then with lircd running do this:

ls -ald /dev/lircd

This is what I get:

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 May 10 04:51 /dev/lircd -> /run/lirc/lircd

If you do not have a /dev/lircd device like that, then you will need
to install a systemd service that creates it.  I have put the file on
my web server, so do this:

sudo su
cd /etc/systemd/system
wget http://www.jsw.gen.nz/mythtv/lircd-dev.service
chown root:root lircd-dev.service
chmod u=rw,g=r,o=r lircd-dev.service
systemctl enable lircd-dev.service
systemctl start lircd-dev.service
exit

Note that I am not sure where Raspbian puts its user created systemd
unit files - if it is not /etc/systemd/system you will need to adjust
the cd command.

Then either change all the "remote = devinput" lines to "remote =
seiki", or in the Seiki_LIRC.conf file change the "name seiki" line to
"name devinput" and it should start working.  You will need to restart
lircd if you change the Seiki_LIRC.conf file:

sudo systemctl restart lircd

And after installing (or editing) the .lirc/* files, you need to
restart mythfrontend (or restart your "ircat mythtv" command if you
are using that to test with).

You can check your mythfrontend.log file to see if it is finding the
lirc setup successfully.  This is what I see:

May 10 04:51:51 mypvr mythfrontend.real: mythfrontend[3873]: I
CoreContext lirc.cpp:319 (Init) LIRC: Successfully initialized
'/dev/lircd' using '/home/stephen/.mythtv/lircrc' config