[mythtv-users] Problems after upgrading frontend from Mythbuntu 12.04 to 14.04

[Stephen Worthington]

On Thu, 3 Dec 2015 09:23:09 +1100, you wrote:

>>
>> 1. You probably are running up against the change of the IR drivers
>> into kernel drivers instead of user mode drivers inside lirc.  In
>> which case, the best option is to use the kernel drivers (devinput),
>> but that means a significant reconfiguration of your IR setup.  So
>> what remote are you using?  Do all the keys work at startup, or only
>> the arrow keys?
>>
>
>Only the arrow keys work.

That is pretty characteristic of this problem.  You are using the
drivers in the kernel and they are producing keystrokes via the
keyboard drivers into all your programs. You are not actually using
lirc at all.  So the IR remote arrows (and maybe a few more keys) will
work in all programs, including at a terminal prompt.

>
>>
>> For working Mythbuntu 14.04 IR config using devinput, see my setup
>> which is available for download from my web server:
>>
>>   http://www.jsw.gen.nz/mythtv/mythbuntu-devinput-lirc.bz2
>
>
>Gulp - holy cow! I just had a look at your README and this looks like it's
>a gargantuan task and not something for the faint-hearted. Lirc was always
>the most difficult and annoying thing to get working as part of a MythTV
>setup. I can't believe it's been made even more complicated!
>
>My remote is a Harmony 600. Is there, by any chance, a shortcut to doing
>this by copying someone else's config for a Harmony 600? if not, I'll start
>working my way through your guide. One of the 1st things I noticed was that
>I don't have /etc/rc_keymaps/ files. I also don't have ir-keytable
>installed. Should I just install ir-keytable or does this indicate a more
>fundamental problem that I need to deal with first?

Go ahead and install ir-keytable.  Without it installed, the drivers
in the kernel can not be configured, but will be running.

There may well be a Harmony 600 file available somewhere, but it does
not take as long as you might think to create a suitable file.  The
standard files in Mythbuntu 14.04 can be found in
/lib/udev/rc_keymaps, and if one is compatible it could be used.  But
a remote only has a certain number of buttons on it, so you just need
to use ir-keytable -t and tee the output to a file, then press all the
buttons on the remote in a known order.  Kill ir-keytable and use the
captured data to create the config file line for each key.

What mode are you running your Harmony 600 in?  If it has an MCE mode,
then you can select that and use the rc6_mce file (standard or my
version) as a base and only have to fix the entries for any keys that
do not match.

I spent several days getting my lirc working again, but a lot of that
was working out what to do and going down wrong paths.  It should only
take a couple of hours if you know what to do.