irrecord never completes

Help

Lirc 0.10.0
Raspberry pi
irdroid USB IR transceiver

I'm trying to add a new simple two-button remote control for a stair 
lift.  I can't find anything similar in the config database, so am 
trying irrecord.

I run irrecord, get the usual messages, press the buttons repeatedly, get:

................................................................................
Got gap (120926 us)}

Please keep on pressing buttons like described above.

then continue pressing but get lines and lines of dots and irrecord 
never completes.

If I use the -f mode for raw, it completes, but when I try:

$ irrecord -a rawfile

I get

Warning: Running as root.
Using driver irtoy on device /dev/ttyACM0

and irrecord never seems to complete.

The raw file contains:

begin remote

   name  sta
   flags RAW_CODES
   eps            30
   aeps          100

   gap          120905

       begin raw_codes

           name up
               810    1898     447    1898     447

           name down
               831    1898     447     981     831

       end raw_codes

end remote

I can see output from mode2 when I press the buttons so the IR hardware 
seems fine.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

Richard