v14 USB IR Receiver disconnecting randomly on RPI 2
#1
Hi!

I had a RPI Model B for some years running OpenElec on a secondary TV in my house, connected by a wired connection to a home server. I hooked a USB IR Receiver with a media center remote and it was working but sometimes, when the RPI was left idle for a couple of hours, the remote was not detected anymore and I had to push about every buttons for about 2 minutes for the RPI to detect it again.

I endured this problem for a long time. Recently I bought a brand-new RPI2 and god, what an incredible improvement. To cope with the more demanding power usage of the PI2, I paired it with a ASUS 5V/2A Power supply.

Still using the same IR receiver and the same controller, at first it was silky smooth, but then again after a day or two, problems came back. It seems to be disconnecting randomly and, even as I stand about 1 feet from the receiver, it takes me about 1-2 minutes of button mashing to wake this thing up. The RPI seems A1 all this time, it is showing the current date and time.

Now my wife's really angry with it and wants me to buy a CEC-compatible TV to use the TV remote instead of my WMC remote. Our old TV is from 2008.

Can this be related to Kodi shutting down USB ports to limit power usage, as Windows often does? Can I override this setting?

All help is appreciated, because otherwise, I'll buy another 500$+ TV with CEC standards...

Thanks!! Big Grin
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#2
USB on the RPi is a custom chip instead of the standard ehci so maybe there's a weird compatibility issue.

I suppose you could try adding max_usb_current=1 to your config but I doubt it is a power issue. Still, it's something to try before spending money Smile

You might also want to look into a Flirc since they are commonly paired paired with the Rpi. I have a couple and can confirm that they work well with the Rpi 2.

And CEC works well too Smile That's what I use on my primary TV.
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#3
Frustrating.

More detail needed regarding what IR receiver you are using.

If you have a smartphone you can try the XBMC official remote control app and see if Kodi is giving you issues when the IR receiver is unplugged and after the RPi is left idle.

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#4
(2015-02-27, 18:01)naloj Wrote: USB on the RPi is a custom chip instead of the standard ehci so maybe there's a weird compatibility issue.

I suppose you could try adding max_usb_current=1 to your config but I doubt it is a power issue. Still, it's something to try before spending money Smile

You might also want to look into a Flirc since they are commonly paired paired with the Rpi. I have a couple and can confirm that they work well with the Rpi 2.

And CEC works well too Smile That's what I use on my primary TV.

Thank you for the quick answer! I'll definitely look into the system settings, but I also doubt this a power issue, as the RPI2 never rebooted and always show the correct time and date.

I did not know about Flirc, but I'll surely look into it! Thanks Smile

As for CEC, yes I know this is great, my 2 other Samsung TVs are more recent (2011 and 2013) and I initialy tested my RPI2 on one of them and this was great!
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#5
(2015-02-27, 18:08)wrxtasy Wrote: Frustrating.

More detail needed regarding what IR receiver you are using.

If you have a smartphone you can try the XBMC official remote control app and see if Kodi is giving you issues when the IR receiver is unplugged and after the RPi is left idle.

Yeah, my wife's really annoyed Wink

I will look into the IR receiver this evening, as far as I know, this a USB IR receiver I had with my Zotac ZBOX, but never used it before using it on the RPI. My other TVs are paired with Logitech Harmony's so no need for it.

I don,t think the exact model is written on it, but I'll try to dig further!

I'll also try your smartphone option to see if everything's fine Smile

Thanks!
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#6
As a reference, here is the IR receiver and remote I am using, which came with a ZOTAC ZBOX:

Image

Did a small search and this seems to be to product id:

PHILIPS MCE USB IR Receiver- Spinel plus
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#7
I have these on a rPi, rPi2, windows, and openelec box and works great on all of them. http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Microsoft-MC...1119874805

Use it with Harmony and MCE remotes, and have never had any issues.
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