[mythtv-users] low-cost low-grief remote

[jedi at mishnet.org]

> On Tuesday 27 March 2007 15:17, jedi at mishnet.org wrote:
>>
>>     The only real "shenanigan" is the relatively crude daemon
>> associated with lirc. Everything else is stuff that you really
>> can't get away from. You're going to need device drivers, a
>> layer to map what's on the remotes and another layer to map to
>> what exposed functions in the apps.
>
> This is mostly true, but misleading. MythTV responds to keyboard input
> with no
> special configuration. Thus, if you're using an IR keyboard (or a remote
> configured to emulate an IR keyboard) and its receiver, MythTV will just

...except remotes don't quite operate the same way as keyboards.

In your rush to treat the two as the same, you're neglecting this.

> plain work with no special Linux or MythTV configuration required. That
> said,
> MythTV does rely on device drivers for the keyboard, but the Linux
> keyboard
> device drivers are so universal that most people can just plain ignore
> them.
> The two mapping layers you mention are configured in your distribution's
> setup process and by MythTV defaults (or by your tweaks to them). You

Which distribution would that be?

Although you bring up a nice point.

As long as the distributors handle the details, it doesn't really
matter much what the guts are. The lirc daemon and drivers and
button mappers will be handled transparently.

The problem now isn't so much that lirc is good or bad but that
it isn't integrated with the kernel or most distributions.

> probably want a keyboard working on your MythTV box, whether or not you
> use
> an IR keyboard, so so all of this pretty much has to be configured,
> whether
> or not you use LIRC. In sum, compared to using a keyboard for MythTV
> control
> (wireless or not), using LIRC adds complexity.

It also adds flexibility. Treating the input as more than just
a naeively configured keyboard is rather useful, especially in
a device targeted towards consumer users.

>
> As a practical matter, if you want to use a remote with a wireless
> keyboard
> configuration, you shift much of the remote setup task from LIRC to your

That would be a case of intentionally making things difficult for
yourself when you really don't have to.

> remote, which has to be flexible enough to send the same IR codes as your
> IR
> keyboard. Not all remotes -- even "universal" remotes -- can do this.
> Thus,
> your overall configuration task might not be any easier if you go this
> route
> vs. using LIRC; however, it's not a Linux or MythTV configuration task,
> unless you need to change MythTV keybindings to avoid multi-stroke
> mappings
> (Ctrl+keystroke, etc.). I had to change about three or four for the
> functions
> I wanted, IIRC.
>
> Of course, if you move into other non-LIRC realms, such as a remote with a
> matching USB receiver that's recognized as a USB HID device, you're likely
> to
> add complexity. I'm unfamiliar with such devices (I don't even know if any
> exist), so I can't comment on them in any detail.