[mythtv-users] Getting HVR-1600 IR receiver to work

[Jarod Wilson]

On Mon, Apr 19, 2010 at 12:12 PM, faginbagin <mythtv at hbuus.com> wrote:
...
> The HVR-1600's cable looks the same as the PVR-150, with both receiver and
> blaster. I just haven't needed a blaster, although maybe my cable co (WOW -
> Wide Open West) will force cable boxes on me some day. So it sounds like
> lirc_zilog is probably the right module, even though I don't have near term
> plans to use the blaster, right?

lirc_zilog is the more correct module, but its possible lirc_i2c would
work as well, if you don't yet care about transmit support.

>>> I welcome thoughts on lirc vs keyboard emulation, like which might
>>> provide
>>> the best user experience in 2.6.32? Right now, I'm wondering which to try
>>> first. Has anyone played with both and formed an opinion?
>>
>> Both can be used with lirc, so there's really not a big difference in
>> the end, if you want to control mythtv. The input layer ("keyboard
>> emulation") route Just Works for anything that knows how to talk
>> native linux input layer without requiring any end-user configuration
>> work, but mythtv is not in that class (yet).
>
> I assume you're referring to the "new ir-core bits" you mentioned above and
> not to the ir-kbd-i2c module.

Both, actually.

> Yes, I do want to control mythtv. Controlling
> other apps would be nice, but it's not a "must have". Let me see if I
> understand the options:
>
> 1) lirc with the lirc_zilog module (or maybe lirc_i2c).
>
> 2) lirc with the ir-core module.
>
> 3) input layer/keyboard emulation with the ir-core module, with
> configuration via a configuration file and input-kbd, right?
>
> 4) input layer/keyboard emulation with the ir-kbd-i2c module, with
> configuration via a configuration file and input-kbd, as suggested by Mark.

Options 2 and 3 aren't yet possible, lirc_zilog still needs to be
ported to ir-core, and I'm not sure what configuration file we're
talking about in 3 or 4. Option 1 is fairly straight-forward, assuming
you can get lirc_zilog built and bound to the card. Option 4 is
slightly more involved in configuring on the lirc side, but with
lircd's devinput support, can be done...

> Assuming all of these options are viable, I'm wondering if one is faster and
> more reliable in delivering key presses to mythtv than the others. I believe
> option 1) is closest to what I was used to on kernels <= 2.6.28. On those
> older kernels, my impression was that lirc, with both PVR-150 and HVR-1600
> IR receivers, was somewhat sluggish and would drop second, third ... presses
> of the same key if done too soon after the first. If one option is a little
> more efficient in how IR codes propagate up from the receiver to the driver
> to the application, and is better at handling multiple key presses, then
> that's the option I'd like to pursue.

I'm not sure on the key delivery reliability differences of any of the methods.

> If it's all the same, then I'm
> thinking options 1) or 2) are probably going to be less work, since I can
> use the same configuration files for lirc I've always used, right?

For option 1, yes. Option 2 actually requires a different configuration.

-- 
Jarod Wilson
jarod at wilsonet.com