[mythtv-users] DishNetwork + MythTV + USB IR transmitter
Eric Fether
efether at pukin-dogs.com
Fri Oct 29 17:04:28 UTC 2004
Okay, I've read everything I can find on both mythtv-users as well as the web.
Yes, I've tried LIRC and the two How-to's I've found on setting up an IR
Remote to control an external Satellite box/Cable box...and I'm out of
ideas...so I'm looking for help.
Here's the situation:
I bought the ABIT DigiDice (think small PC) for CHEAP, thinking it would make
a great MythTV box. I installed Fedora Core2 (kernel 2.6.8-1.521) and MythTV
on it per this How-to:
http://wilsonet.com/mythtv/fcmyth.php
I'm running the PVR-250 capture board and an NVidia MX440 video card.
Everything works fine. I'm capturing the video via the Coax cable out of my
DishNetwork box (easiest way to keep the audio/video synced. When I tried
captures via the Composite, the audio was out of sync). I'm using a wireless
IR keyboard and a Learning Remote for remote control (no LIRC needed for this
setup). Everything works GREAT! So long as I manually change the channels
on the Dish box, it records, pauses, encodes, plays DVD's/VCD's, weather,
etc., etc., etc. EVERYTHING works great...except the remote control of the
Satelite box.
Okay...so, I move on to the next step...getting an IR transmitter to change
the box. I read over the How-to's, but I'm having problems. You see, the
cmoputer (ABIT DigiDice) doesn't have a serial port. Only USB. When I read
over LIRC's web site, it's FAQ says that LIRC does NOT work with ANY USB IR
transmitters on the market (the exact question/answer was --
1. Is my USB IrDA dongle supported by LIRC?
No, it's technically not possible to use USB IrDA dongles with LIRC. )
Okay...that's a problem. So, I look through my stash of misc computer junk I
have and I find that I have a Serial IR Blaster for sale (ACTiSYS
ACT-IR200L). I then purchase a USB-to-Serial cable, and plug it in. The
system sees the cable and assigns it ttyS0 (Com1). I attach the Serial IR
Blaster onto the end of the cable...and try to follow the directions...but
the system simply will not work with it. The /var/log/messages file states
(including the USB-to-Serial cable) --
----------------------------------------
Oct 29 12:36:12 MythTV kernel: usb 1-2: new full speed USB device using
address2
Oct 29 12:36:14 MythTV kernel: drivers/usb/serial/usb-serial.c: USB Serial
support registered for Generic
Oct 29 12:36:14 MythTV kernel: usbcore: registered new driver
usbserial_generic
Oct 29 12:36:14 MythTV kernel: usbcore: registered new driver usbserial
Oct 29 12:36:14 MythTV kernel: drivers/usb/serial/usb-serial.c: USB Serial
Driver core v2.0
Oct 29 12:36:14 MythTV kernel: drivers/usb/serial/usb-serial.c: USB Serial
support registered for FTDI SIO
Oct 29 12:36:14 MythTV kernel: drivers/usb/serial/usb-serial.c: USB Serial
support registered for FTDI 8U232AM Compatible
Oct 29 12:36:14 MythTV kernel: drivers/usb/serial/usb-serial.c: USB Serial
support registered for FTDI FT232BM Compatible
Oct 29 12:36:14 MythTV kernel: drivers/usb/serial/usb-serial.c: USB Serial
support registered for USB-UIRT Infrared Tranceiver
Oct 29 12:36:14 MythTV kernel: drivers/usb/serial/usb-serial.c: USB Serial
support registered for Home-Electronics TIRA-1 IR Transceiver
Oct 29 12:36:14 MythTV kernel: ftdi_sio 1-2:1.0: FTDI FT232BM Compatible
converter detected
Oct 29 12:36:14 MythTV kernel: usb 1-2: FTDI FT232BM Compatible converter now
attached to ttyUSB0
Oct 29 12:36:14 MythTV kernel: usbcore: registered new driver ftdi_sio
Oct 29 12:36:14 MythTV kernel: drivers/usb/serial/ftdi_sio.c: v1.4.0:USB FTDI
Serial Converters Driver
----------------------------------------
Okay, now here's a list of modules loaded --
----------------------------------------
Module Size Used by
act200l_sir 2369 0
sir_dev 15565 1 act200l_sir
irda 111101 2 act200l_sir,sir_dev
crc_ccitt 1985 1 irda
ftdi_sio 26693 0
usbserial 22313 1 ftdi_sio
snd_pcm_oss 43129 0
snd_mixer_oss 14017 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_intel8x0 30829 1
snd_ac97_codec 58821 1 snd_intel8x0
snd_pcm 83529 3 snd_pcm_oss,snd_intel8x0
snd_timer 25413 1 snd_pcm
snd_page_alloc 8393 2 snd_intel8x0,snd_pcm
gameport 4033 1 snd_intel8x0
snd_mpu401_uart 7361 1 snd_intel8x0
snd_rawmidi 21733 1 snd_mpu401_uart
snd_seq_device 6473 1 snd_rawmidi
snd 45477 10
snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm,snd_timer,snd_mpu401_uart,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_device
soundcore 7713 1 snd
autofs4 20677 0
nfs 171133 2
lockd 52105 2 nfs
sunrpc 141861 5 nfs,lockd
8139too 22465 0
mii 3777 1 8139too
sg 28513 0
microcode 5601 0
dm_mod 47317 0
sd_mod 17473 0
usb_storage 58121 0
scsi_mod 105360 3 sg,sd_mod,usb_storage
uhci_hcd 28505 0
button 4825 0
battery 7117 0
asus_acpi 9177 0
ac 3533 0
msp3400 22036 0
saa7115 10628 0
tuner 17944 0
tveeprom 10400 0
ivtv 802468 0
i2c_algo_bit 7497 1 ivtv
i2c_core 17345 5 msp3400,saa7115,tuner,tveeprom,i2c_algo_bit
videodev 7105 1 ivtv
nvidia 4808532 12
md5 3905 1
ipv6 217349 26
ext3 96937 2
jbd 66521 1 ext3
----------------------------------------
My /etc/modprobe.conf file looks like this --
----------------------------------------
alias eth0 8139too
alias snd-card-0 snd-intel8x0
install snd-intel8x0 /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install snd-intel8x0
&& /usr/sbin/alsactl restore >/dev/null 2>&1 || :
remove snd-intel8x0 { /usr/sbin/alsactl store >/dev/null 2>&1
|| : ; }; /sbin/modprobe -r --ignore-remove snd-intel8x0
alias usb-controller1 uhci-hcd
# nvidia kernel module
alias char-major-195 nvidia-1_0-6111# ivtv modules setup
alias char-major-81 videodev
alias char-major-81-0 ivtv
#IR Stuff
#alias char-major-61 lirc_sir
# IrDA over a normal serial port, or a serial port compatible IrDA port (SIR)#
IrDA over a normal serial port, or a serial port compatible IrDA port (SIR)
alias tty-ldisc-11 irtty
# IrCOMM (for printing, PPP, Minicom etc)alias char-major-161 ircomm-tty #
if you want IrCOMM support
# IRLAN
# But currently the IrLAN protocol is no longer maintained# by the Linux/IrDA
core team.
alias irlan0 irlan
# To be able to attach some serial dongles# These values are hard-coded in
irattach (not instance order)
alias irda-dongle-0 tekram # Tekram IrMate IR-210B
alias irda-dongle-1 esi # ESI JetEye
alias irda-dongle-2 actisys # Actisys IR-220Lalias irda-dongle-3
actisys # Actisys IR-220L+
alias irda-dongle-4 girbil # Greenwich GIrBIL
alias irda-dongle-5 litelink # Parallax LiteLink/ESI JetEye
alias irda-dongle-6 airport # Adaptec Airport 1000 and 2000alias
irda-dongle-7 old_belkin # Belkin (old) SmartBeam dongle
alias irda-dongle-8 ep7211_ir # Cirrus Logic EP7211 Processor (ARM)
alias irda-dongle-9 mcp2120 # MCP2120 (Microchip) based
alias irda-dongle-10 act200l # ACTiSYS Ir-200Lalias irda-dongle-11
ma600 # Mobile Action ma600
# To use the FIR driver. This applies only to the specific device!!!
#options nsc-ircc dongle_id=0x09 # NSC driver on a IBM Thinkpad laptop
#options nsc-ircc dongle_id=0x08 # HP Omnibook 6000
#alias irda0 nsc-ircc
# options smc-ircc ircc_irq= ircc_dma=
# alias irda0 smc-ircc
# options toshoboe max_baud=# alias irda0 toshoboe
alias eth0 8139too
alias snd-card-0 snd-intel8x0
install snd-intel8x0 /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install snd-intel8x0
&& /usr/sbin/alsactl restore >/dev/null 2>&1 || :
remove snd-intel8x0 { /usr/sbin/alsactl store >/dev/null 2>&1
|| : ; }; /sbin/modprobe -r --ignore-remove snd-intel8x0
alias usb-controller1 uhci-hcd
# nvidia kernel module
alias char-major-195 nvidia-1_0-6111# ivtv modules setup
alias char-major-81 videodev
alias char-major-81-0 ivtv
#IR Stuff
#alias char-major-61 lirc_sir
# IrDA over a normal serial port, or a serial port compatible IrDA port (SIR)#
IrDA over a normal serial port, or a serial port compatible IrDA port (SIR)
alias tty-ldisc-11 irtty
# IrCOMM (for printing, PPP, Minicom etc)alias char-major-161 ircomm-tty #
if you want IrCOMM support
# IRLAN
# But currently the IrLAN protocol is no longer maintained# by the Linux/IrDA
core team.
alias irlan0 irlan
# To be able to attach some serial dongles# These values are hard-coded in
irattach (not instance order)
alias irda-dongle-0 tekram # Tekram IrMate IR-210B
alias irda-dongle-1 esi # ESI JetEye
alias irda-dongle-2 actisys # Actisys IR-220Lalias irda-dongle-3
actisys # Actisys IR-220L+
alias irda-dongle-4 girbil # Greenwich GIrBIL
alias irda-dongle-5 litelink # Parallax LiteLink/ESI JetEye
alias irda-dongle-6 airport # Adaptec Airport 1000 and 2000alias
irda-dongle-7 old_belkin # Belkin (old) SmartBeam dongle
alias irda-dongle-8 ep7211_ir # Cirrus Logic EP7211 Processor (ARM)
alias irda-dongle-9 mcp2120 # MCP2120 (Microchip) based
alias irda-dongle-10 act200l # ACTiSYS Ir-200Lalias irda-dongle-11
ma600 # Mobile Action ma600
# To use the FIR driver. This applies only to the specific device!!!
#options nsc-ircc dongle_id=0x09 # NSC driver on a IBM Thinkpad laptop
#options nsc-ircc dongle_id=0x08 # HP Omnibook 6000
#alias irda0 nsc-ircc
# options smc-ircc ircc_irq= ircc_dma=
# alias irda0 smc-ircc
# options toshoboe max_baud=
# alias irda0 toshoboe
# options w83977af_ir io= io2= irq= qos_mtt_bits=
# alias irda0 w83977af_ir
# IrNET module...
alias char-major-10-187 irnet # Official allocation of IrNET
----------------------------------------
The /etc/sysconfig/irda file looks like this --
----------------------------------------
IRDA=yes
DEVICE=/dev/ttyS0
DONGLE=act200l
DISCOVERY=yes
----------------------------------------
And lastly, my /etc/lircd.conf file looks like this --
----------------------------------------
begin remote
name 3100
bits 16
flags SPACE_ENC
eps 30
aeps 100
header 400 6100
one 400 1700
zero 400 2800
ptrail 400
gap 6200
min_repeat 4
toggle_bit 0
frequency 56000
begin codes
power 0x0000000000000800
0 0x0000000000004400
1 0x0000000000001000
2 0x0000000000001400
3 0x0000000000001800
4 0x0000000000002000
5 0x0000000000002400
6 0x0000000000002800
7 0x0000000000003000
8 0x0000000000003400
9 0x0000000000003800
up 0x0000000000006800
cancel 0x0000000000004800
end codes
end remote
----------------------------------------
I run this command to attached the IR Blaster --
`irattach /dev/ttyS0 -d act200l`
and the /var/log/messages says --
----------------------------------------
Oct 29 12:58:44 MythTV irattach: tcgetattr: Input/output error
Oct 29 12:58:44 MythTV irattach: Stopping device /dev/ttyS0
Oct 29 12:58:44 MythTV irattach: ioctl(SIOCGIFFLAGS): No such device
Oct 29 12:58:44 MythTV irattach: ioctl: set_inidisc: Bad file descriptor
Oct 29 12:58:44 MythTV irattach: tcsetattr: Input/output error
Oct 29 12:58:44 MythTV irattach: exiting ...
----------------------------------------
Now according to that log file, it appears as though the attachment
disconnects my /dev/ttyS0 (COM1) from the system. Also of note, I cannot run
"irattach /dev/ttyS0 -d act200l_sir" as it complains that it doesn't support
that module.
----------------------------------------
[root at MythTV sysconfig]# irattach /dev/ttyS0 -d act200l_sir
Sorry, dongle not supported yet!
----------------------------------------
The next step is to make sure the irda daemon is running...but since the
irattach fails...it won't load. And out of curiousity, when I try to run
'irw' to see if MAYBE things would work....I get --
----------------------------------------
[root at MythTV sysconfig]# irw
connect: Connection refused
----------------------------------------
I'm out of ideas....anyone have one? Bueller? Bueller?? :)
Any help is GREATLY appreciated. And if anyone knows of a good USB IR
Transmitter that works in this environment...please tell me what it is...and
I'll go buy it.
Thanks!
--
Eric D. Fether
efether at speedfactory.net
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