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IR blaster and a Bell 4700
http://forum.linhes.org/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=10645		 Page 1 of 2
Author:  hawkbox [ Tue Jun 27, 2006 9:16 pm ]
Post subject:  IR blaster and a Bell 4700
Greetings all, I apologize if this is a stupid question but I have been scouring the internet trying to find information on setting this up. I have mythtv up and working superbly except for channel changing. Im on dial up so it took a bit but I got mythfill working properly as well.

However, I just recieved the IR blaster in the mail, I am trying to find any solid information on how to configure it to work with a Bell 4700 series reciever. I have read in some places that it can handle it on its own but I am getting hung up creating a channel Change script after the fact. I would really rather not reinstall after all the hassle I went through to get everything else working.

I do not want to sound pathetic about this but I am still relatively new to linux and and basic information on how to get this working would be truely appreciated.

Thanks.

Jason.
Author:  Greg Frost [ Tue Jun 27, 2006 9:47 pm ]
Post subject: 
What version of knoppmyth are you using? With R5C7 your blaster should pretty much work out of the box (after installing the appropriate lircd config file for your device to /etc/irblaster/irbalsterd.conf). If you are not using knoppmyth, then the information in this thread should help:http://mysettopbox.tv/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=9352&highlight=irblaster+contribute
Author:  hawkbox [ Wed Jun 28, 2006 8:36 am ]
Post subject: 
I am using R5C7. The problem thats screwing me up is I am adding the blaster 3 weeks after I got the box up and running. I have not been able to find an lirc config file for a 4700. though it may have a different name that I do not know. Also, I popped into /etc/irblaster and irblasterd.conf is not present. So do I need to make a file and configure it or should there have been one in the by default?
Author:  Greg Frost [ Wed Jun 28, 2006 6:23 pm ]
Post subject: 
You should be able to run irblaster.sh and it will prompt you with all the options again.
Author:  syracuse [ Wed Jun 28, 2006 6:32 pm ]
Post subject: 
Check out this thread, http://mysettopbox.tv/phpBB2/viewtopic. ... 1176#61176.

Note Greg's comment that the channel_change.sh has an extra space that needs to be removed. Try using the DISH 311 config, it works for my DISH 6000 and Bell recievers are basically the same.

If you copy/paste the config on a windows system into notepad and transfer it to you mythbox, use dos2unix command on file. Name it and place it in: /etc/irblaster/irblasterd.conf and reboot.
Author:  hawkbox [ Thu Jun 29, 2006 8:03 am ]
Post subject: 
Sweet, I will give this a go here now. It's kind of sad really. Im a bloody Server admin and I know jack about linux. Though we only have 2 boxes running it and they are both contracted out.

Thanks for the help, I'll report back on my results.
Author:  hawkbox [ Thu Jun 29, 2006 8:14 am ]
Post subject: 
Hmm I'm getting somewhere but I am getting the following now.


root@mythtv:/etc/irblaster# ./channel_change.sh 10
changing to 10
/usr/bin/irsend: could not connect to socket
/usr/bin/irsend: No such file or directory
/usr/bin/irsend: could not connect to socket
/usr/bin/irsend: No such file or directory
root@mythtv:/etc/irblaster#


It looks like its not connecting to the correct com port. I am supposed to specify in hardware.conf the com port? I have been noticing posts saying it figures it out on its own. but I have a serial modem in com 2 so I wonder if that is a problem.


Edit: Ok thats solved, it seems to do the channel change thinger majigger but I am not getting output from the IR blaster. I got one of the ones from that guy who makes them that everyone likes and normally my digital camera picks up IR outputs but I did not see anything come out of the blaster. Do I need to do something special to make the blaster transmit?
Author:  syracuse [ Thu Jun 29, 2006 11:11 am ]
Post subject: 
Did you reboot after changing the com port? Check to see if there's a device file: /dev/irblasterd also. The ir xmitter may have a weak signal and require to be right on the ir receiver....hope this helps.
Author:  hawkbox [ Thu Jun 29, 2006 1:05 pm ]
Post subject: 
I'll Check that out. I havent tried it on the reciever yet but I normally use my digital camera to check for transmits and its not seeing anything. The mce remote I use shows up clearly.

There is an irblasterd file in /dev/ as well
Author:  syracuse [ Thu Jun 29, 2006 3:01 pm ]
Post subject: 
Also you may want to try to rename /dev/irblasterd (i.e. mv irblasterd irbasterdx), I believe a reboot will re-create it by reading the hardware file in /etc/irblaster (can't remember the filename, one you define the com port being used).
Author:  hawkbox [ Thu Jun 29, 2006 3:05 pm ]
Post subject: 
Interesting, that might be worth a try. Attempting now.

Oddly enough I'm back to

root@mythtv:/etc/irblaster# ./channel_change.sh 215
changing to 215
/usr/bin/irsend: could not connect to socket
/usr/bin/irsend: Connection refused
/usr/bin/irsend: could not connect to socket
/usr/bin/irsend: Connection refused
/usr/bin/irsend: could not connect to socket
/usr/bin/irsend: Connection refused

Edit: nuts

After renaming irblasterd I now get the following.

root@mythtv:/etc/irblaster# ./channel_change.sh 215
changing to 215
/usr/bin/irsend: could not connect to socket
/usr/bin/irsend: No such file or directory
/usr/bin/irsend: could not connect to socket
/usr/bin/irsend: No such file or directory
/usr/bin/irsend: could not connect to socket
/usr/bin/irsend: No such file or directory

Ok, that does not appear to have created a new one. I have irblaster in yellow and irblasterold(what I named it) in purple.

Whew, I got rid of the errors but Im not apperently any closer to makeing the blaster transmit. Is there any way to tell that its transmitting without needing a reciever? I am stuck on dial up at home.
Author:  syracuse [ Thu Jun 29, 2006 3:46 pm ]
Post subject: 
Did you mean irblasterd, not irblaster?

Make sure you defined the com port in the hardware file in /etc/irblaster, or try running the irblaster.sh again, then reboot... if all fails, rename the /etc/tirblasterdold back to /etc/irblasterd
Author:  hawkbox [ Thu Jun 29, 2006 4:20 pm ]
Post subject: 
Yes, I renamed irblasterd like you suggested and it did not seem to create a new one. But I seem to have cleared the error messages and I pulled the casing off of the irblaster and i can confirm it is not transmitting anything. I will try irblaster.sh again

Edit: I tried irblaster.sh again and everything seems to indicate it is working. However I get nothing from the irblaster. Im starting to get concerned it is dead. Is there any way to make it pulse regardless of what it is sending?
Author:  syracuse [ Thu Jun 29, 2006 5:01 pm ]
Post subject: 
You could try the irsend command instead of using the sh script.

If you have a VOM, check to see if the serial port is sending the command by probing the DTR (pin 4) when sending a channel change. It should be toggling to prove that the device file is setup properly and the port is working.

If you opened up the connector, you could probe for voltages also. Not sure what design he used (a simple or an amplified one, here's an example: http://www.lirc.org/transmitters.html), you might ask the creator (mike? http://www.irblaster.info/). Here's info on serial ports and pin outs: http://www.arcelect.com/rs232.htm
Author:  syracuse [ Thu Jun 29, 2006 5:24 pm ]
Post subject: 
Also you can write a script to continually send out a signal, i.e.:

while [ 1 ]
do
/usr/bin/irsend --device=/dev/irblasterd SEND_ONCE 311 2
sleep 1
done

Where 311 is what is defined in your irblasterd.conf. Save the file to, say test.sh, change permissions: chmod 777 test.sh

To run: ./test.sh
To stop: Ctl-C
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