Getting a remote working

[adrenaline_nz]

Hi all,

I have setup a lounge room PC with FC4 and MythTV, everything is working well, except the DVD Ripping and CD Ripping but I'm not too bothered with that at the moment, what I want to do is be able to use my remote with MythTV and KDE.

The remote I have is a StreamZap, works well under Windows and is also supported by the latest Lirc.

The thing is I can't get it to work at all!

Under KDE in the Control Center I can go to Peripherals and then Remote Controls but it has the message "There are no Remote Controls available. You must first setup LIRC correctly; see www.lirc.org for more information"

LIRC site is not helpful at all, unless I'm looking in the wrong place.

I have installed with Synaptic all of the LIRC rpms I could get my hands on and also the ones for MythTV but still no go.

Can anyone help?

[juan]

While I do not use the StreamZap remote I have been able to use my remote (Firefly). I also don't use MythTV nor KDE at this point, but I might be able to point you in the right direction, at the very least.

First: Did you setup your /etc/lirc.conf file for your remote? If not, then you should do that first, you can get the configuration for your remote from the lirc tarball under the remotes directory, just look for the streamzap one. While I have not confirmed this will work, it's a start ( I got mine from someone on this forum )

Second: You might have have to restart the lirc daemon for the changes to take effect. ( /etc/init.d/lircd restart as root should do the trick )

Third: Check to make sure it's working by using the irw command, and press buttons on your remote. If all goes well, you just have one last step to go.

Fourth: You have to configure your .lircrc file in your home directory for MythTV, since I don't use MythTV I don't know which commands you'd have to set, but I'm sure you could find out that information either on this forum or on their website. Maybe KDE does this for you? I'm not sure.

Good luck!

[adrenaline_nz]

Thaks Juan for those, they have helped a small bit :) I downloaded a conf for the StreamZap remote from lirc.org and renamed it to lirc.conf and placed that in /etc.

Whan I run lircd as root, i get a message pop up advising that a remote connection has been made and that a remote is available this message is from irkick, which is just a program to tell you that the remote is receiving commands, within a second I get a second message pop up advising that the infrared system has severed the connection and remote controls are no longer avilable.

If I run irexec (a command I found on lirc.org) I get the message:

[root@localhost mythtv]# irexec
irexec: could not connect to socket
irexec: Connection refused

If I run irrecord I get:
[root@localhost mythtv]# irrecord
Usage: irrecord [options] file
irrecord: invalid argument count

[juan]

Ok, let me list a few steps that you may or may not have done yet, but that way you might get your remote to work after that ( if not, just keep posting, it's got to work eventually ). I should mention that I used fedorafitz howto to setup my firefly remote ( http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=47489 ) and I just changed some steps that I think pertain to your remote.

1) Is the kernel loading the right module?
type: /sbin/lsmod | grep lirc
If I'm not mistaken you should get a mention of lirc_streamzap in there, I think this is the module based on the lirc configuration's output. If it does not mention this, then you will have to load it with:
/sbin/modprobe lirc_streamzap
as root.

As fedorafitz mentioned one way to load it automatically at bootup is to modify your /etc/modprobe.conf file and add/replace the following lines ( hopefully the right ones for your remote )

alias char-major-61 lirc_streamzap
alias lirc_dev lirc_streamzap

2) I had a problem with the install not creating the proper files. If you type:
ls /dev/lirc*
you should ideally get /dev/lirc /dev/lirc0 /dev/lircd as the output for a successful install. However, with me the /dev/lirc was always missing, so I just simply created a symbolic link to /dev/lirc0 as /dev/lirc. That fixed it for me, though I'm not sure why the install did not do it for me.

3) If you either you don't have a /dev/lirc or get an error loading any of the modules, then you might benefit from simply rebuilding the lirc package ( that's what I had to do because of problems with the kernel modules).
Anyway, read through this link http://community.moertel.com/ss/space/Rebuilding+RPMs if you don't already know how to rebuild packages. You can get the lirc source from http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/fedora/linux/extras/4/SRPMS/lirc-0.7.1-3.src.rpm.

Good luck! Let's just hope you get to skip step 3.

[juan]

Oh, I should also mention, to check that the remote works correctly, you should probably use irw over irexec. irw simply outputs the remote keys being pressed onto the terminal. irexec on the other hand actually reacts to the keys being pressed, and I think has to be configured properly for it to work. I use irexec to launch programs, and to control tvtime.

[eof]

Howdy,

first of all I should probably mention that I own a streamzap remote myself :-)
So what you need to do is this:

1. download the lirc-?.?.?.src.rpm from fedora extras
2. build your kernel modules with 'rpmbuild --rebuild --with modules --target i686 lirc-?.?.?.src.rpm'
3. Install the kernel modules with rpm -ivh %YOUR_RPM_ROOT%/RPMS/i686/kernel-module-lirc-2.6.*.i686.rpm

After doing so, I could use the module by just replug the usb thingie.
I did all this right now, so am not aware of other fatal consequences ... Tell us about your experience.

hth
Steffen

[DittoBox]

I hate to bump this thread but I'm currently building a MythTV box and am having some trouble getting this streamzap usb receiver working.

I did what eof said to do, I found the fc4 srpm for 0.7.2 at fc4 extras and used the command above to build it. Here's the (relevant) output (ran as root with su -):


[root@mythtv mythtv]# rpmbuild --rebuild --with modules --target i686 lirc-0.7.2-1.1.fc4.src.rpm
Installing lirc-0.7.2-1.1.fc4.src.rpm
warning: user mockbuild does not exist - using root
warning: group mockbuild does not exist - using root
warning: user mockbuild does not exist - using root
warning: group mockbuild does not exist - using root
warning: user mockbuild does not exist - using root
warning: group mockbuild does not exist - using root
warning: user mockbuild does not exist - using root
warning: group mockbuild does not exist - using root
warning: user mockbuild does not exist - using root
warning: group mockbuild does not exist - using root
warning: user mockbuild does not exist - using root
warning: group mockbuild does not exist - using root
warning: user mockbuild does not exist - using root
warning: group mockbuild does not exist - using root
warning: user mockbuild does not exist - using root
warning: group mockbuild does not exist - using root
Building target platforms: i686
Building for target i686
Executing(%prep): /bin/sh -e /var/tmp/rpm-tmp.29688

# removed non-relevant output...

+ ./configure --build=i686-redhat-linux-gnu --host=i686-redhat-linux-gnu --target=i686-redhat-linux-gnu --program-prefix= --prefix=/usr --exec-prefix=/usr --bindir=/usr/bin --sbindir=/usr/sbin --sysconfdir=/etc --datadir=/usr/share --includedir=/usr/include --libdir=/usr/lib --libexecdir=/usr/libexec --localstatedir=/var --sharedstatedir=/usr/com --mandir=/usr/share/man --infodir=/usr/share/info --disable-dependency-tracking --enable-debug --enable-sandboxed --with-syslog=LOG_DAEMON --with-kerneldir=/usr/src/kernels/2.6.14-1.1653_FC4-i686 --with-moduledir=/lib/modules/2.6.14-1.1653_FC4/extra/lirc --with-driver=any

# removed non-relevant output...

checking for Linux kernel sources... /usr/src/kernels/2.6.14-1.1653_FC4-i686/

# removed non-relevant output...

creating drivers/Makefile
creating drivers/lirc_atiusb/Makefile
creating drivers/lirc_bt829/Makefile
creating drivers/lirc_cmdir/Makefile
creating drivers/lirc_dev/Makefile
creating drivers/lirc_gpio/Makefile
creating drivers/lirc_i2c/Makefile
creating drivers/lirc_igorplugusb/Makefile
creating drivers/lirc_imon/Makefile
creating drivers/lirc_it87/Makefile
creating drivers/lirc_mceusb/Makefile
creating drivers/lirc_mceusb2/Makefile
creating drivers/lirc_parallel/Makefile
creating drivers/lirc_sasem/Makefile
creating drivers/lirc_serial/Makefile
creating drivers/lirc_sir/Makefile
creating drivers/lirc_streamzap/Makefile
creating daemons/Makefile
creating tools/Makefile
creating doc/Makefile
creating doc/man/Makefile
creating config.h

# removed non-relevant output...

make[2]: Entering directory `/usr/src/kernels/2.6.14-1.1653_FC4-i686'
mkdir -p /usr/src/redhat/BUILD/lirc-0.7.2/drivers/lirc_atiusb/.tmp_versions
make -f scripts/Makefile.build obj=/usr/src/redhat/BUILD/lirc-0.7.2/drivers/lirc_atiusb
gcc -m32 -Wp,-MD,/usr/src/redhat/BUILD/lirc-0.7.2/drivers/lirc_atiusb/.lirc_atiusb.o.d -nostdinc -isystem /usr/lib/gcc/i386-redhat-linux/4.0.2/include -D__KERNEL__ -Iinclude -Wall -Wundef -Wstrict-prototypes -Wno-trigraphs -fno-strict-aliasing -fno-common -ffreestanding -O2 -fomit-frame-pointer -g -pipe -msoft-float -fno-builtin-sprintf -fno-builtin-log2 -fno-builtin-puts -mpreferred-stack-boundary=2 -fno-unit-at-a-time -march=i686 -mtune=pentium4 -mregparm=3 -Iinclude/asm-i386/mach-default -Wdeclaration-after-statement -Wno-pointer-sign -DIRCTL_DEV_MAJOR=61 -DEXPORT_SYMTAB -DHAVE_CONFIG_H -I. -I. -I../.. -I /usr/src/redhat/BUILD/lirc-0.7.2/drivers/lirc_atiusb/../.. -I /usr/src/kernels/2.6.14-1.1653_FC4-i686//include/ -DMODULE -DKBUILD_BASENAME=lirc_atiusb -DKBUILD_MODNAME=lirc_atiusb -c -o /usr/src/redhat/BUILD/lirc-0.7.2/drivers/lirc_atiusb/.tmp_lirc_atiusb.o /usr/src/redhat/BUILD/lirc-0.7.2/drivers/lirc_atiusb/lirc_atiusb.c
/usr/src/redhat/BUILD/lirc-0.7.2/drivers/lirc_atiusb/lirc_atiusb.c: In function 'send_packet':
/usr/src/redhat/BUILD/lirc-0.7.2/drivers/lirc_atiusb/lirc_atiusb.c:276: error: 'URB_ASYNC_UNLINK' undeclared (first use in this function)
/usr/src/redhat/BUILD/lirc-0.7.2/drivers/lirc_atiusb/lirc_atiusb.c:276: error: (Each undeclared identifier is reported only once
/usr/src/redhat/BUILD/lirc-0.7.2/drivers/lirc_atiusb/lirc_atiusb.c:276: error: for each function it appears in.)
/usr/src/redhat/BUILD/lirc-0.7.2/drivers/lirc_atiusb/lirc_atiusb.c: In function 'set_use_dec':
/usr/src/redhat/BUILD/lirc-0.7.2/drivers/lirc_atiusb/lirc_atiusb.c:357: error: 'URB_ASYNC_UNLINK' undeclared (first use in this function)
/usr/src/redhat/BUILD/lirc-0.7.2/drivers/lirc_atiusb/lirc_atiusb.c: In function 'usb_remote_recv':
/usr/src/redhat/BUILD/lirc-0.7.2/drivers/lirc_atiusb/lirc_atiusb.c:612: error: 'URB_ASYNC_UNLINK' undeclared (first use in this function)
/usr/src/redhat/BUILD/lirc-0.7.2/drivers/lirc_atiusb/lirc_atiusb.c: In function 'usb_remote_send':
/usr/src/redhat/BUILD/lirc-0.7.2/drivers/lirc_atiusb/lirc_atiusb.c:675: error: 'URB_ASYNC_UNLINK' undeclared (first use in this function)
/usr/src/redhat/BUILD/lirc-0.7.2/drivers/lirc_atiusb/lirc_atiusb.c: In function 'free_in_endpt':
/usr/src/redhat/BUILD/lirc-0.7.2/drivers/lirc_atiusb/lirc_atiusb.c:723: error: 'URB_ASYNC_UNLINK' undeclared (first use in this function)
/usr/src/redhat/BUILD/lirc-0.7.2/drivers/lirc_atiusb/lirc_atiusb.c: In function 'free_out_endpt':
/usr/src/redhat/BUILD/lirc-0.7.2/drivers/lirc_atiusb/lirc_atiusb.c:817: error: 'URB_ASYNC_UNLINK' undeclared (first use in this function)
make[3]: *** [/usr/src/redhat/BUILD/lirc-0.7.2/drivers/lirc_atiusb/lirc_atiusb.o] Error 1
make[2]: *** [_module_/usr/src/redhat/BUILD/lirc-0.7.2/drivers/lirc_atiusb] Error 2
make[2]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/kernels/2.6.14-1.1653_FC4-i686'
make[1]: *** [lirc_atiusb.o] Error 2
make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/redhat/BUILD/lirc-0.7.2/drivers/lirc_atiusb'
make: *** [all-recursive] Error 1
make: Leaving directory `/usr/src/redhat/BUILD/lirc-0.7.2/drivers'
error: Bad exit status from /var/tmp/rpm-tmp.29688 (%build)


RPM build errors:
user mockbuild does not exist - using root
group mockbuild does not exist - using root
user mockbuild does not exist - using root
group mockbuild does not exist - using root
user mockbuild does not exist - using root
group mockbuild does not exist - using root
user mockbuild does not exist - using root
group mockbuild does not exist - using root
user mockbuild does not exist - using root
group mockbuild does not exist - using root
user mockbuild does not exist - using root
group mockbuild does not exist - using root
user mockbuild does not exist - using root
group mockbuild does not exist - using root
user mockbuild does not exist - using root
group mockbuild does not exist - using root
Bad exit status from /var/tmp/rpm-tmp.29688 (%build)
[root@mythtv mythtv]#

I also tried Axel's latest SRPM for .8.0 pre/cvs:


[root@mythtv Desktop]# rpmbuild --rebuild --with modules --target i686 lirc-0.8.0-52_cvs20051114.rhfc4.at.src.rpm
Installing lirc-0.8.0-52_cvs20051114.rhfc4.at.src.rpm
Building target platforms: i686
Building for target i686
error: line 1: Unknown tag: %kmdl lirc

Any ideas? Thanks for the help!