[tlinux-users:07711] Re: Infrarred and remote control

My final update on the infrared remote control:

NEC-pulse.conf is appropriate for the Toshiba P20 laptop remote control.

$ sudo irrecord -d /dev/lirc0
/usr/src/lirc-0.8.0/remotes/generic/NEC-pulse.conf

produces this (renamed) to /etc/lirc/lircd.conf

[snip]

# brand: SMK
# model no. of remote control: 401RRS-420-MIG
# devices being controlled by this remote: Toshiba Satellite P20 laptop
#

begin remote

  name  SMK
  bits           16
  flags SPACE_ENC|CONST_LENGTH
  eps            30
  aeps          100

  header       9000  4500
  one           563  1687
  zero          563   562
  ptrail        563
  repeat       9000  4500
  pre_data_bits   16
  pre_data       0xC798
  gap          108000
  toggle_bit      0

  frequency    38000
  duty_cycle   33

      begin codes
          video_out               0xAA55
          onesquare                0x42BD
          twosquare                0xC23D
          vol_up                   0x22DD
          vol_down                 0x629D
          arrow_up                 0xA25D
          arrow_down               0xD22D
          arrow_left               0xE21D
          arrow_right              0x926D
          enter                    0x12ED
          mute                     0x2AD5
          twoarrows                0x52AD
          menu                     0x32CD
          mode                     0xB24D
          play_pause               0x728D
          stop                     0xF20D
          track_prev               0x0AF5
          track_next               0xCA35
          skip_back                0x8A75
          skip_fwd                 0x4AB5
      end codes

end remote

which contains all buttons except the power button -- which powers down
my laptop already! I don't know what some of the buttons are meant to do
(hence the dumb names in some cases).

$ sudo lircd -d /dev/lirc0 /etc/lirc/lircd.conf
$ irw
00000000c798a25d 00 arrow_up SMK
00000000c798926d 00 arrow_right SMK
00000000c798d22d 00 arrow_down SMK
00000000c798e21d 00 arrow_left SMK
00000000c79812ed 00 enter SMK
00000000c79832cd 00 menu SMK
00000000c798f20d 00 stop SMK
00000000c798728d 00 play_pause SMK

etc is observed on button presses.

I can now create a lircdrc file to do something on button presses, using
irexec, irxevent or alternatively, emulate mouse events using lircmd.
I've successfully tested this with irexec, it brings up a dialogue box
by running zenity on a button press.

My only whinge: the range of the laptop remote control seems to be very
short and receptive only from the right hand side (where it appears the
infrared receiver is located). I think I'll try one of the other
infrared remotes in the house, we have an assortment to choose from!

Thanks to Manuel for his original (very helpful) post on this topic and
to all those who offered advice.

Cheers!


Paul Koufalas wrote:

>I forgot to add that the remote I'm using is the one that came with the
>P20, a mini Toshiba laptop remote.
>
>It's obviously an infrared remote; I'm not sure what else it could've
>been (possibly a cheap RF remote?)
>
>I still can't figure out why the remote's laptop power on/off button
>works without having to do anything. I should try now that smsc_ircc2 is
>not loaded...could the BIOS be responsible...I get a clean shutdown as
>if I'd pressed the power button on the laptop.
>
>
>
>
>Paul Koufalas wrote:
>
>  
>
>>G'day everybody.
>>
>>Just an update on my progress with the remote control for those few who
>>are interested...
>>
>>I downloaded the tarball of lirc 0.8.0 and compiled it for IRDA
>>compliant remotes. I figured that since my P20 has the smsc superio chip
>>and it's IRDA compliant, that's what I should choose. So after
>>./setup.sh, make, sudo make install, I had kernel modules lirc_dev.ko
>>and lirc_sir.ko in my lib/modules/...
>>
>>Brief note: I had to prepare for the above by make menuconfig in my
>>linux kernel source tree, load config file from /boot/config-,
>>exit/save...and make oldconfig just to be sure, as I was using a distro
>>kernel image (Ubuntu Breezy 5.10, kernel 2.6.12-10-686). I also had to
>>install pciutils-dev (the absence of which was why it failed to compile
>>the first time around, could not find pci/pci.h).
>>
>>Not convinced my BIOS initialises the smsc superio chip properly, I
>>downloaded smcinit-0.4.1. ./configure, make, sudo make install. smcinit
>>would not work for me. I edited smcinit.c to make the defaults match the
>>P20 requirements. I found these from the dmesg output based on initially
>>loading the smsc_ircc2 kernel module, which contains smcinit. It told me
>>DMA=1, not DMA=3 (which is on the smcinit web page), and somewhere I
>>read this is because DMA 3 is allocated to the Atheros 802.11a/b/g chip.
>>smcinit then complained that the LPC bridge was not an 82801CAM. So I
>>spent some time trawling through Intel chipset doco, and found that the
>>registers for the ICH5 and ICH3-m are identical, so I changed smcinit.c
>>to allow for the ICH5 too.
>>
>>$ sudo smcinit -v
>>smcinit 0.4
>>
>>Default-Values for Satellite P20:
>>SIR ioport: 0x2f8
>>FIR ioport: 0x6f8
>>FIR interupt: 3
>>FIR DMA: 1
>>
>>Detected IO hub vendor id: 0x8086
>>Detected IO hub device id: 0x24d0
>>Detected Chip id: 0x5a
>>
>>SIR ioport register      write: 0xbe     read: 0xbe
>>FIR interrupt register   write: 0x3      read: 0x3
>>FIR ioport register      write: 0xdf     read: 0xdf
>>FIR dma register         write: 0x1      read: 0x1
>>
>>Initialisation of the SMC 47Nxxx succeded
>>
>>$ sudo modprobe lirc_sir debug=1
>>$ dmesg
>>
>>[snip]
>>
>>[4332356.183000] lirc_dev: IR Remote Control driver registered, at major 61
>>[4332356.190000] lirc_dev: lirc_register_plugin: sample_rate: 0
>>[4332356.204000] lirc_sir: I/O port 0x02f8, IRQ 3.
>>[4332356.204000] lirc_sir: Installed.
>>
>>$ sudo mode2 -d /dev/lirc0
>>space 16777176
>>pulse 9000
>>space 4493
>>pulse 593
>>space 1653
>>pulse 592
>>space 1654
>>pulse 593
>>
>>[snip]
>>
>>
>>
>>Cheers,
>>Paul.
>>
>>
>>
>>Manuel López-Ibáñez wrote:
>>
>> 
>>
>>    
>>
>>>Hi ursus and others,
>>>
>>>Could you elaborate on which hardware and software configuration are
>>>you using to achieve remote control of the laptop? Please, provide
>>>versions of kernel, kernel modules and software and any parameters
>>>that may be involved (even if you do not provided). Don't need to post
>>>any configuration file that may exist in my distribution.
>>>
>>>Cheers,
>>>   Manuel.
>>>
>>>x wrote:
>>>
>>>   
>>>
>>>      
>>>
>>>>Paul--
>>>>--- Paul Koufalas <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>     
>>>>
>>>>        
>>>>
>>>>>G'day all.
>>>>>
>>>>>Was there any conclusion to how to make use of the infrared and
>>>>>remote
>>>>>control? (see below)
>>>>>       
>>>>>
>>>>>          
>>>>>
>>>>1. xmms with lirc-plugin works ok (kind of cool to see the
>>>>volume-slider
>>>>  move from RC).
>>>>2. Couldn't get mplayer or vlc going. don't know, if they need a plugin
>>>>  or need to be compiled especially with lirc-support, using
>>>>binaries    from videolan.org resp. linuxpackages.net.
>>>>3. Got last MoviX2 and remastered the CD, editing some cfg-files for
>>>>  my TV-remote and second attempt worked, so if u have trouble for
>>>>  testing I'd recommend trying MoviX2, as it's pretty "lirc-ready",
>>>>  though it doesn't have all the lirc cfg- & testing tools included.
>>>>  If u find an existing cfg-file for specific RC it's sure easier.
>>>>
>>>>HTH & HAND
>>>>
>>>>ursus
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>   
>>>>
>>>>   
>>>>      
>>>>___________________________________________________________
>>>>Telefonate ohne weitere Kosten vom PC zum PC: http://messenger.yahoo.de
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>     
>>>>
>>>>        
>>>>
>>>      
>>>______________________________________________ LLama Gratis a
>>>cualquier PC del Mundo. Llamadas a fijos y móviles desde 1 céntimo por
>>>minuto. http://es.voice.yahoo.com
>>>
>>>
>>>   
>>>
>>>      
>>>
>> 
>>
>>    
>>
>
>
>  
>