[mythtv-users] Getting lirc working on a Logitech Harmony

[Harry Devine]

Daniel Arfsten wrote:
>> On 04/10/2007, Harry Devine <lifter89 at comcast.net> wrote:
>>     
>>> Nick Morrott wrote:
>>>       
>>>> 1. Just to be clear, do you have a blaster (transmitter)
>>>>         
> or receiver?
>   
>>> I have an IR Blaster from irblaster.info (the one that they
>>>       
> say works
>   
>>> with Myth).  I ran dmesg and saw the following entries for
>>>       
> lirc:
>   
>>>                lirc_dev: IR Remote Control driver
>>>       
> registered, at major 61
>   
>>>                lirc_serial: auto-detected active high
>>>       
> receiver.
>   
>> Harry,
>>
>> Just to be sure we're not talking at cross-purposes here:
>>
>> i) my understanding is that you want to be able to control
>>     
> MythTV (and
>   
>> other LIRC software) with your Harmony remote control.
>>
>> ii) an IR blaster (what you state you have, and why I asked)
>>     
> is solely
>   
>> used to control an external device like a cable or satellite
>>     
> box, by
>   
>> 'pretending' to be a remote control. You configure LIRC to
>>     
> mimic the
>   
>> remote's commands, and it can change channel on the STB
>>     
> automatically
>   
>> via irsend.
>>
>> iii) an IR receiver (what you need to be able to use a remote
>>     
> to
>   
>> control MythTV, and what I worry do not actually have)
>>     
> receives the
>   
>> output from your remote control. When running LIRC with
>>     
> MythTV, LIRC
>   
>> decodes these signals and passes them to MythTV to allow you
>>     
> to
>   
>> navigate the menus and control playback etc.
>>
>> Only a combined IR receiver/blaster (transceiver) will allow
>>     
> you to
>   
>> use a remote control and control an external device as
>>     
> described
>   
>> above.
>>     
>
> Harry,
>
> correct me if i'm wrong, but what i'm reading from your posts is
> that
> you purchased an IR Blaster and have that installed.  your 'TV'
> service has a set top box that you currently control with a
> dedicated
> remote.  you already have a wireless keyboard and mouse hooked
> up and
> working with your MythBox.
>
> is that correct?
>
> if so, (and list, please correct me if i'm wrong as i don't use
> this
> setup) you 'may' be able to use the IR receiver that your
> keyboard
> uses to get button pushes from your remote into Myth.  LIRC will
> then
> decode them and control the various Myth functions.  if you want
> to
> change channels on your set top box you will still need the IR
> Blaster, so Myth can tell your STB to change channels.
>
> forget the IR Blaster and the on order IR receiver for the
> moment.
> look over the wiki and in the archives for details on how to use
> 'irrecord' and 'irw' to create your own lircd.conf file.  it's
> actually very easy to do, and then you can customize it for your
> remote and your preferences.  try to use irw and irrecord to
> capture
> button presses from your remote pointed at your wireless
> keyboards ir
> receiver that you have hooked up to your MythBox.  if irw is
> able to
> receive signals then you can return the IR Receiver that you
> just
> ordered.  after you've played with and tweaked your newly
> created
> lircd.conf file (following the instructions on the wiki) you can
> go
> about setting up the IR Blaster to change channels on your STB
> from
> Myth using your harmony remote.
>
> i hope i didn't muddy the water any with my comments.  i think
> you
> just need to start at the beginning and take it one step at a
> time.
> it sounds like you're trying to get too many different pieces to
> work
> at once.
>
> hope that helps
>
> I just went through this and it's not fun and as far as I am concerned there 
> could be way better docs on the wiki for this. Setting up STB control using 
> lircd is what I am talking about.
>
> Just to be clear here, is your Harmony remote a learning remote? If it's 
> not, you'll need a ir receiver that can capture the remote signals from 
> whatever remote you use to change the channels on your Set Top Box (whether 
> its directtv, dish or cable) You can create your stb lircd.conf using 
> irrecord as stated above. If you Harmony is capable of learning the ir 
> signals from your STB remote, then you can easliy make your harmony control 
> your STB which is easier I believe. You'll still need to use irrecord to 
> create a lircd.conf which will match the ir signal codes to button pressed 
> on the remote. I actually created a seperate instance of lircd named 
> differently for ir blasting my stb and have the original lircd running for 
> "receiving" the ir commands from my pvr-350 remote. I followed this guide 
> here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=550068
> I used the latest 8.2 lirc version to do this and it works beautifully. The 
> most important things are 2 different config files.
> /etc/lircd.conf (this is the config for the harmony remote)
> /etc/ledxmitd.conf (this is the config for the remote that was controlling 
> the stb, so the stb receives the signals it's expecting)
> /home/username/.mythtv/lircrc (this is the config that maps the remote 
> button presses to functions within mythtv and can even control other 
> programs like mplayer, xmms, etc etc.)
>
> Daniel
>
>
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>
>   
I do believe that the Harmony 550 is a learning remote, but I'm not 
trying to have it control my set top box by learning.  This remote has a 
configuration program that runs on Windows where I tell it my STB's 
make/model and it programs the remote to function like that device.  
Actually, I have my TV, DVD Recorder, STB, and stereo receiver all 
programmed in there now.  I now have that 1 remote instead of 4 seperate 
ones.  It can also be programmed to emulate a PVR device, so that's why 
I was trying to emulate a Hauppage remote to control the Myth menus, 
since alot of people on this list seem to rave about them.

Thanks,
Harry