I've been using a totally cheapo remote which has been a pain to set up because it's one of those that's seen by Linux as a USB keyboard, so you can't use lirc with it. It works, but not very well.
Can anyone point me to a good, fairly cheap, lirc-supported remote that I can buy in the UK? For some reason I'm finding it hard to find one that I'm sure will actually be OK.
Thanks for any help.
Pretty much any MCE-compatible remote will work just fine. I use
this one which works a treat.
Thanks - although I was looking at that yesterday. The IR receiver is a USB key-style thing, which is a non-starter for me becuase I can't have that poking out of the front of my nice-looking HTPC case
The thing is that they all say "MCE compatible" - but that's not a very reliable indication of whether they actually work with lirc and XBMC or not. Like I say, the one I have (a SpeedLink SL-6399) is one of the ones that don't.
Of course, if I wanted to spend actual money, that would be a different story :-)
gilgongo Wrote:Thanks - although I was looking at that yesterday. The IR receiver is a USB key-style thing, which is a non-starter for me becuase I can't have that poking out of the front of my nice-looking HTPC case
How is your current IR receiver connected then?
In terms of whether a remote is fully supported by LIRC, check out
this page. If it's supported, chances are it'll have a config file on that page. The important caveat is to read the notes in the config file - eg. for the SL-6399, it specifically states at the top that the file will *only work with a home-brew receiver*, which is presumably because of the whole recognised-as-keyboard thing.
The remote I have came with a receiver on the end of a USB cable, designed to be placed on a table top so I can have it nicely under the TV.
I suppose I could try making a home brew receiver, but it seems best to just pogo between Amazon, Dabs, Maplin etc. and the lirc compatibility list until I find something suitable.
If it helps, the remote I linked to comes with a USB extension cable so you can place the receiver under the TV too (in fact that's how I have mine, although I use a Shuttle PC case that has USB sockets on the back so it's not so big a problem).
Good luck with your hunt.
gilgongo Wrote:Thanks - although I was looking at that yesterday. The IR receiver is a USB key-style thing, which is a non-starter for me becuase I can't have that poking out of the front of my nice-looking HTPC case
The thing is that they all say "MCE compatible" - but that's not a very reliable indication of whether they actually work with lirc and XBMC or not. Like I say, the one I have (a SpeedLink SL-6399) is one of the ones that don't.
Of course, if I wanted to spend actual money, that would be a different story :-)
If you have the original xbox remote (dvd playback kit), you can reuse them by hooking it up with a special usb cable (bought mine on ebay).
You do not necessary need to hook the remote up onto your nice-looking HTPC, since XBMC has build-in support of event client. The remote can be installed on any pc in the same room that supports lirc and python, and if you really fancy sharing the remote between multiple xbmc, have a look at my python script
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=47288
I installed mine (xbox remote) on the appletv (running ubuntu 8.10), start up the script as a service. Any key stroke on the remote will be sent to xbox and the other pc running xbmc at the same time. Due to the protocol nature (udp), if one or all of the machines are not up or not running xbmc, they will not affect the performance of the remote in any way.
You can however configure as many machines (name or ip) as you like.
The other alternatives can be:
1. ps3 bluetooth remote (the bt dongle can be placed inside or behind the case)
2. a J2ME event client running on your sony-ericsson mobile (this requires you have a bt dongle, same as 1)
Hi airyphary, i picked up one of those remotes from maplin but i haven't had a whole lot of luck... i selected MCE remote from the Lirc wizard but it doesn't seem to do much how did you set it up?
Try selecting the OTHER MCE remote in Lirc and it might begin working - there's not just one. Does IRW show anything?
I've found this page helpful in the past working with MCE remotes... ->
http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/MCE_Remote
Hi gilgongo,
I also suffered a lot with trying to get my technisat remote to work that came with my DVB-T card. I never really worked as I would have liked it.
I also have a chep usb cordless mouse and keyboard -> but that is way to complicated for my wife.
The final solution, and really the coolest solution was to buy for 10EUR an USB Bluetooth adapter (it is a digitus DN-3020 - worked out of the box with Ubuntu 8.10) and set it up with one of my Wii remotes.
Cheers
bluetooth dongle on ebay is about £2 inc p&p
PS3 remote on ebay is about £20.
I haven't configued mine yet as I am still building my htpc (just need case and hdd) and I cba fiddling with my old working install on my tmp htpc.
cheers for the help BLKMGK.. i ended up installing intrepid (was running hardy) remote worked straight away. Im one happy camper now, though i'm getting strangely emotional about putting my xbox out to pasture. That big ol' slab has done me proud for the last 6 years or so
