[mythtv-users] Advice on IR blasters

Brian Wood beww at beww.org
Tue May 11 15:13:47 UTC 2010


On Tuesday 11 May 2010 09:06:11 am Michael Tiller wrote:
> On Tue, May 11, 2010 at 10:20 AM, Brian Wood <beww at beww.org> wrote:
> > On Tuesday 11 May 2010 07:57:12 am Michael Tiller wrote:
> > > So I'm interested in low maintenance alternatives.  I've seen notes
> > > that say the MCE-USB IR devices are supported out of the box but I've
> > > seen other posts saying they don't have very good transmission
> > > strength.
> >
> >  I've
> >
> > >  seen mention of USB-UIRT devices they seem a bit pricey and don't even
> > >  seem to come with an emitter (just a port for it) and I've not clear
> > > how good the support for them is.
> >
> > What you really want is a USB MyBlaster, sadly they are no longer made.
> > They
> > came in serial and USB versions, and are great, from opening the box to
> > working perfectly took me less than 10 minutes. Best $50 I ever spent on
> > Myth
> > gear.
> 
> As a matter of fact, I have a MyBlaster.  Sadly, it is the serial variety.

Unlike the LIRC-based blasters, the serial MyBlaster can be used with a USB-
to-serial adapter, assuming the chipset in the adapter is supported by Linux.

So you may be OK. The serial MyBlaster was once sold with a commercial 
adapter, before the USB version was available.

The MyBlaster uses a serial port in the standard way, unlike lirc devices that 
toggle the handshaking lines, which is why they won't work with USB-serial 
converters.

Perhaps you can get an adapter to try, with return rights if it doesn't work. 
If it works with Linux in general, it should work with a serial MyBlaster.


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