[mythtv-users] Serial IR Blaster - Huge Issues

[jedi]

On Wed, Apr 23, 2008 at 02:44:42PM -0700, Steve Wilson wrote:
> 
> --- jedi at mishnet.org wrote:
> 
> > >
> > > On Apr 22, 2008, at 7:42 PM, Jeff Clark wrote:
> > [deletia]
> > >> Does anyone have a guide or some knowhow to get
> > it working?  I have
> > >> one of those serial blasters from irblaster.info
> > hooked into COM1.
> > >> I have a PVR-150 but the receiver/blaster cable
> > isn't plugged into
> > >> it.  I've tried both Mythbuntu and Knoppmyth. I
> > have Knoppmyth
> > >> installed, but will quickly install Mythbuntu if
> > those directions
> > >> are easier/faster/work.
> > 
> >     You should give this a try or just try plain
> > Ubuntu 7.10.
> > 
> > >>
> > >> Any guidance?  I am at my wits end and about two
> > steps away from
> > >> buying an Apple TV and hacking together a system
> > that way :)
> > >>
> > >
> > > I heard a rumor that the upcoming Mythdora5 has
> > built-in support for
> > > the PVR-150's IR receiver and blaster. I'm not
> > sure of the release
> > > schedule, but I'm guessing it won't be long.
> > 
> >     Ubuntu 7.10 has seamless support for the MCE
> > blaster and remote
> > that ships with PVR150. That was a really cool
> > suprise/plus that
> > came with the Gutsy upgrade on my backend.
> > 
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> > mythtv-users at mythtv.org
> >
> http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
> > 
> 
> Are you trying to control two pieces of hardware with
> lirc like a remote and the blaster?

    This was something that I was trying unsuccessfully prior
to running Gutsy on my backend. I was trying to use one of
those basic serial IR transmitter and just the reciever portion
of the MCE remote together.

    When I upgraded to 7.10 from 6.06 I still had the blaster
plugged in and found that the blaster and the remote "just worked".
I had gotten the remote to work before by itself and the other
IR blaster by itself. I had never gotten both remote and blaster
working concurrently.

    Ubuntu seemed to pick out the right driver on it's own.

    In general, remote codes can be tricky. I had to tweak the
dtv codes before they would work. Placement of the transmitter
head is also tricky since the transmitters themselves tend to
be pretty weak (say compared to the ones that come with Tivos).

    The prospect of being stuck with an Apple remote is something
I find rather grim. This is one of the big reasons that my minis
run Linux rather than MacOS. I don't want to have to worry about
driver support for a 3rd party remote.