[gegy]

Hello.

I am going to change my server (Intel Mac Mini) from Mac OS to Linux. So i want to install XBMC from the LIVE Cd.
I think it will not be a problem to install the XBMC but i need something like a Tutorial to get work the Apple Remote.
I also have a Logitech HARMONY 885. I think the best way would be to use the Harmony with the IR sensor in my mac mini. Could somebody give me a tutorial how get XBMC working with the IR sensor from the Mac Mini and my Harmony?
I saw a point in the setup-menu from XBMC for Apple Remote but i don't think i have this menu point in the LINUX XBMC.

[gegy]

Wow, nobody with this setting?

[BDPNA]

I have the same needs and also haven't been able to make it happen yet. Lirc is the key to doing this but for whatever reason I can't get lirc to run under Ubuntu 9.04 on the mini to a point where it activates the IR sensor in the mini to receive commands. I've spent probably over 12 hours in research, trial and error and nothing seems to work.

If you get it working, let me know. I figure if I can at least get the Apple remote working I can then worry about remapping to my harmony. For now I just want to get lirc and the mini seeing commands, period. Can't even get THAT far.

[gegy]

Hey... I think it should work because i read on some pages that it is possible to use the apple remote with linux and xbmc. At the moment i use my apple remote with plex on mac os and this works fine...but i need Linux!

[BDPNA]

Yeah there are users who have gotten it working but there's not really a 100% perfect guide that has worked for me so far. Most of the how-to's I found were for older versions of Ubuntu or lirc and for whatever reason don't seem to be able to get that darn IR sensor working on my mini.

[gegy]

At the moment i am setting up ubuntu desktop (9.04) on an external usb drive un my macbook pro. If this is ready i will start my experiments to get the apple remote working on linux and xbmc. If i have news i will post them. Can you please post this tutorials (the links to them) you were talking about?

[BDPNA]

Sure. This is the post I followed:

http://www.xbmc.org/forum/showpost.php?p...stcount=33

But the steps on the lirc part didn't work for me. I imagine you have different settings in lirc for your macbook but if you discover anything to get IR working I'd love to hear. Your heading said Mac Mini, are you trying to do this on a mini or on a macbook pro?

Good luck.

[gegy]

Thanks for the link. I have got both systems: a macbook pro and a mac mini. The mac mini is my server and mediacenter and is running macos leo at the moment. So before i put my mac mini on the road to linu-hell *g* i am going to try this on my macbook pro because i think the IR receiver is nearly the same hardware. I want to do this on an external usb drive but with this i had problems yesterday. The mac didn't boot from the external drive. So today i am going to try a trick to fire up the linux on the external usb harddrive. If this works i am going over to lirc and xbmc.

[gegy]

so now i have ubuntu on my macbook pro.
first now i did the following step from this tutorial (ubuntu is allready on my macbook)

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1192296

add the repository to /etc/apt/sources.list
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/mactel-support/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main

install the ppa key

update the system: sudo apt-get update

install the files for the apple computer:
sudo apt-get install pommed applesmc-dkms bcm5974-dkms

Apple Remote still isn't working!

[gegy]

Ok i installed pakage: gnome-lirc-properties

apt get install gnome-lirc-properties

it is a little GUI for GNOME to detect the remote control.
In the test the Apple remote is working

But i can't still use it in XBMC

son now i am searching for the trick to get it working in XBMC

[BDPNA]

Thanks for the update. I'll try installing that same device to see if I can get the Apple remote to work as well. Then maybe I can help you with the Harmony/XBMC config aspect for lirc.

[gegy]

Then maybe I can help you with the Harmony/XBMC config aspect for lirc.

oh yes that would be nice.

[BDPNA]

Well I tried running this program (really nice find by the way) but it's locking up when I try and run its auto-config, and when I try setting the IR device manually (any of the 3 options on the mini) it claims it doesn't see the IR receiver device.

At least now I have what looks like some pretty clear evidence that Ubuntu is not initializing the IR receiver in the Mac Mini for some reason. Not sure why. I'll probably post some logs over in the Ubuntu forum in the hopes someone can help me figure out which config files I need to change to get the OS to initialize the IR.

[gegy]

Try the commands from your link to the tutorial again. I did this commands before. In the config there i set the apple mac mini driver.

[gegy]

Solution 1:

So here is the solution which workes for me:

1.) Check if apple remote is respont whit irw in consol.

Code:

gegy@gegy-linux:~$ irw
0000000087ee810b 00 VOLUP Apple_A1156
0000000087ee810b 01 VOLUP Apple_A1156
0000000087ee810d 00 VOLDOWN Apple_A1156
0000000087ee8108 00 BACKWARD Apple_A1156
0000000087ee8104 00 PLAY Apple_A1156
0000000087ee8102 00 MENU Apple_A1156
0000000087ee8102 01 MENU Apple_A1156

You should see something like above if you press some buttons.

2.) If this works make two files in folder ~/.xbmc/userdata

Code:

Lircmap.xml

and

Code:

keymap.xml

3.) the files should look like this:

Lircmap.xml

Code:

<lircmap>
    <remote device="Apple_A1156">
        <select>PLAY</select>
        <left>BACKWARD</left>
        <right>FORWARD</right>
        <up>VOLUP</up>
        <down>VOLDOWN</down>
        <menu>MENU</menu>
    </remote>
</lircmap>

keymap.xml

Code:

<keymap>
    <global>
    <joystick name="Apple_A1156">
        <button id="1">Up</button>                                        <!--- Up --->
        <button id="2">Down</button>                                      <!--- Down --->
        <button id="3">Left</button>                                      <!--- Left --->
        <button id="4">Right</button>                                     <!--- Right --->
        <button id="5">Select</button>                                    <!--- Play --->
        <button id="6">PreviousMenu</button>                              <!--- Menu --->
        <button id="9">Left</button>                                      <!--- Hold Left --->
        <button id="10">Right</button>                                    <!--- Hold Right --->
        <button id="11">ContextMenu</button>                              <!--- Hold Menu --->
        <button id="12">Info</button>                                     <!--- Hold Info --->
    </joystick>
    </global>

    <Home>
    <joystick name="Apple_A1156">
        <button id="6">ActivateWindow(shutdownmenu)</button>              <!--- Menu --->
        <button id="11">FullScreen</button>                               <!--- Hold Menu --->
    </joystick>
    </Home>

    <MyFiles>
    <joystick name="Apple_A1156">
        <button id="6">ParentDir</button>                                 <!--- Menu --->
    </joystick>
    </MyFiles>

    <MyMusicPlaylist>
    <joystick name="Apple_A1156">
        <button id="6">Playlist</button>                                  <!--- Menu --->
        <button id="9">MoveItemUp</button>                                <!--- Hold Left --->
        <button id="10">MoveItemDown</button>                             <!--- Hold Right --->
        <button id="11">Delete</button>                                   <!--- Hold Menu --->
        <button id="12">XBMC.ActivateWindow(Visualisation)</button>       <!--- Hold Play --->
    </joystick>
    </MyMusicPlaylist>

    <MyMusicPlaylistEditor>
    <joystick name="Apple_A1156">
        <button id="6">Playlist</button>                                  <!--- Menu --->
        <button id="9">MoveItemUp</button>                                <!--- Hold Left --->
        <button id="10">MoveItemDown</button>                             <!--- Hold Right --->
        <button id="11">Delete</button>                                   <!--- Hold Menu --->
        <button id="12">XBMC.ActivateWindow(Visualisation)</button>       <!--- Hold Play --->
    </joystick>
    </MyMusicPlaylistEditor>

    <MyMusicFiles>
    <joystick name="Apple_A1156">
        <button id="6">ParentDir</button>                                 <!--- Menu --->
        <button id="10">Queue</button>                                    <!--- Hold Right --->
        <button id="12">XBMC.ActivateWindow(PlayerControls)</button>      <!--- Hold Play --->
    </joystick>
    </MyMusicFiles>

    <MyMusicLibrary>
    <joystick name="Apple_A1156">
        <button id="6">ParentDir</button>                                 <!--- Menu --->
    </joystick>
    </MyMusicLibrary>

    <FullscreenVideo>
    <joystick name="Apple_A1156">
        <button id="1">BigStepForward</button>                            <!--- Up --->
        <button id="2">BigStepBack</button>                               <!--- Down --->
        <button id="3">StepBack</button>                                  <!--- Left --->
        <button id="4">StepForward</button>                               <!--- Right --->
        <button id="5">Pause</button>                                     <!--- Play --->
        <button id="6">OSD</button>                                       <!--- Menu --->
        <button id="9">Rewind</button>                                    <!--- Hold Left --->
        <button id="10">FastForward</button>                              <!--- Hold Right --->
        <button id="11">Stop</button>                                     <!--- Hold Menu --->
        <button id="12">Info</button>                                     <!--- Hold Play --->
    </joystick>
    </FullscreenVideo>

    <FullscreenInfo>
    </FullscreenInfo>

    <PlayerControls>
    </PlayerControls>

    <Visualisation>
    <joystick name="Apple_A1156">
        <button id="1">NextPreset</button>                                <!--- Up --->
        <button id="2">PreviousPreset</button>                            <!--- Down --->
        <button id="3">SkipPrevious</button>                              <!--- Left --->
        <button id="4">SkipNext</button>                                  <!--- Right --->
        <button id="5">pause</button>                                     <!--- Play --->
        <button id="6">XBMC.ActivateWindow(MusicOSD)</button>             <!--- Menu --->
        <button id="9">Rewind</button>                                    <!--- Hold Left --->
        <button id="10">FastForward</button>                              <!--- Hold Right --->
        <button id="11">FullScreen</button>                               <!--- Hold Menu --->
        <button id="12">Info</button>                                     <!--- Hold Play --->
    </joystick>
    </Visualisation>

    <MusicOSD>
    <joystick name="Apple_A1156">
        <button id="11">stop</button>                                   <!--- Hold Menu --->
    </joystick>
    </MusicOSD>

    <VisualisationSettings>
    <joystick name="Apple_A1156">
        <button id="11">stop</button>                                   <!--- Hold Menu --->
    </joystick>
    </VisualisationSettings>

    <VisualisationPresetList>
    <joystick name="Apple_A1156">
        <button id="11">stop</button>                                   <!--- Hold Menu --->
    </joystick>
    </VisualisationPresetList>

    <SlideShow>
    <joystick name="Apple_A1156">
        <button id="5">Pause</button>                                     <!--- Play --->
        <button id="11">ZoomNormal</button>                               <!--- Hold Menu --->
        <button id="12">ZoomIn</button>                                   <!--- Hold Play --->
    </joystick>
    </SlideShow>

    <ScreenCalibration>
    <joystick name="Apple_A1156">
        <button id="5">NextCalibration</button>                           <!--- Play --->
        <button id="10">NextResolution</button>                           <!--- Hold Right --->
    </joystick>
    </ScreenCalibration>

    <GUICalibration>
    <joystick name="Apple_A1156">
        <button id="5">NextCalibration</button>                           <!--- Play --->
    </joystick>
    </GUICalibration>

    <VideoMenu>
    <joystick name="Apple_A1156">
        <button id="6">OSD</button>                                       <!--- Left --->
        <button id="3">Left</button>                                      <!--- Left --->
        <button id="4">Right</button>                                     <!--- Left --->
        <button id="1">Up</button>                                        <!--- Left --->
        <button id="2">Down</button>                                      <!--- Left --->
        <button id="11">Stop</button>                                     <!--- Left --->
        <button id="6">PreviousMenu</button>                              <!--- Left --->
    </joystick>
    </VideoMenu>

    <MyVideoLibrary>
    <joystick name="Apple_A1156">
        <button id="6">ParentDir</button>                                 <!--- Menu --->
    </joystick>
    </MyVideoLibrary>

    <MyVideoFiles>
    <joystick name="Apple_A1156">
        <button id="6">ParentDir</button>                                 <!--- Menu --->
        <button id="10">Queue</button>                                    <!--- Hold Right --->
    </joystick>
    </MyVideoFiles>

    <MyVideoPlaylist>
    <joystick name="Apple_A1156">
        <button id="6">Playlist</button>                                  <!--- Menu -->
        <button id="9">MoveItemUp</button>                                <!--- Hold Left --->
        <button id="10">MoveItemDown</button>                             <!--- Hold Right --->
        <button id="11">Delete</button>                                   <!--- Hold Menu --->
    </joystick>
    </MyVideoPlaylist>

    <MyPictures>
    <joystick name="Apple_A1156">
        <button id="6">ParentDir</button>                                  <!--- Menu --->
    </joystick>
    </MyPictures>
</keymap>

Now start XBMC and your Apple Remote should work!