TV as remote control

[marcelru]

Hi all,

To switch on my Home Theatre, I used to need two remotes: one for the tv, one for the HT. Got bored with that, so I bought a USB IR receiver/transmitter (www.iguanaworks.net) attached it to the Sammy and programmed it to start my HT when the TV gets switched on. Could have bought one of those fancy one-size-fits-all remotes from e.g., Logitech, but this solution seemed to be more fun.

In case anyone's interested, share your thoughts on this forum and I'll try and set up a wiki page and drop all the required code somewhere.

grtz,

marcelr

[erdem_ua]

For me, it looks like generate more head ache than it solves. Does it better than $5 universal TV remotes that supports multiple devices?

[marcelru]

Well, its just a fun thing. Although I haven't come across $5 remotes that do the thing I want (they cost a lot more), surely a multifunction remote can do it with less hassle. Its just that I can now stick to the original one.

grtz,

marcelr

[nbd]

Hello, cool. That's just what I tried 1.5 years ago; http://forum.samygo.tv/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=347

I did some modifications to the iguana driver in order to get it compile, compiled lirc to the tv, also made a simple binaries independent of lirc that could send predefined ir commands.

I did a lot of experiments with it, I got it doing vol up / vol down on my amplifier. But at the time I didn't know how to detect the key up event, so the usability was not that great (I had to press repatedly). But now since some of the samygo gurus has already figured out how to detect, I think it would be usable.

The lirc port allows easy configuration for all kinds of amplifiers or whatnot.

The only restriction of the Iguana device is that it cannot receive IR commands while it's sending IR, but this is not really a problem, since we can intercept IR commands through the TV's IR receiver. Wasn't there a way to do that without injecting code? By directly reading some /dev/nnn. My implementation was done with inject methods, and intercepted vol+ / vol- and called an external script, or was it running direct C code, darn, can't remember anymore.

My goal was to have my amplifier start when I turn on TV, then control the volume with vol+/vol- and finally shutting amplifier when TV is shut.

I kind of lost the interest at some point.

But I think we should wikify our efforts.

Edit: It seems I did also a binary that interacts with the device without the need for the igdaemon: http://iguanaworks.net/projects/IguanaIR/ticket/186

I really should start digging around for the code, I'll send them here as soon as I find them.

Edit2: Some more memories from past: http://forum.samygo.tv/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=399

[majonezz]

Hello guys,
i had same problem, but the solution was even more weird

I've made additional module to react with Sammy's remote and placed it to my HT (Yamaha).
It react for Vol+, Vol- and Power buttons. Some improvements came later, like autoswitch to TV source, when toslink signal is present, etc...
I'm still thinking about using of CEC commands to communicate with my HT. I saw some posts on another forum (arduino?) where someone has developed such a thing.

[marcelru]

Hi nbd, majonezz,

It looks to me that your efforts were much more elaborate than mine. I stopped at switching on the HT, the rest of the control is passed on through the TV, as far as volume up/down is concerned. No capturing of IR signals from /dev/sam/IR-something involved. Should have searched the forum more thoroughly.
Iguanaworks have released newer drivers in the meantime, just a simple patch for the device special file path (hardcoded to /dev/iguanaIR) sufficed to make it work.
I will start a wiki page for this topic, displaying my efforts, you can of course join the fun if you want to.

grtz,

marcelr

[erdem_ua]

If any problem pop up on wiki password reset, please send me a message

[marcelru]

Thanks, Erdem,

My wiki access functions as it should. Will put the page under B-series/hardware.

marcelr