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StreamZap IR receiver + bring your own remote?
http://forum.linhes.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=13452
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Author:  Martian [ Thu Jan 11, 2007 10:00 pm ]
Post subject:  StreamZap IR receiver + bring your own remote?

I'm presently using a Homebrew serial port IR receiver with the remote from my Onkyo receiver for my Myth box which works very well. The Onkyo remote can also control basic functions on my TV so I can control my entire home theater with one small easy to use (wife can do it) remote.

I just recently purchased an LCD HDTV and am planning to upgrade my Myth box to something able to support recording and playback of HD. Many of the motherboards I'm looking at do not have a serial port which renders my homebrew serial port IR receiver useless. I do have a couple PCI based serial port cards but I'm not about to use up a valuable PCI slot for a serial port.

I've read pretty much nothing but good things about the StreamZap remote so obviously it's receiver works well and has good Myth support. So here is my question. Can I use my Onkyo remote (or any other remote that uses standard frequencies) with the StreamZap receiver or do I have to use the StreamZap remote? I read that several people are using Logitech Harmony remotes with the StreamZap receiver but they are also programming the Harmony to use StreamZap codes so that doesn't fully answer my question.

I'm assuming I could just plug in the StreamZap receiver and load the StreamZap IR module for lirc and use my custom lircd.conf for my Onkyo remote that I created with irrecord but I would like a little confirmation before I bust out the credit card.

Can someone confirm (or deny) that I will be able to use my own remote with the StreamZap IR receiver in lirc? It seems like a little bit much to pay for an IR receiver (plus a remote that will collect dust) but I'm willing to pay it for something that works well. Besides a backup remote is never a bad thing.

Also if someone knows of any other USB IR receivers that work well with Mytth / lirc please let me know.

Thanks,

Martian

Author:  Martian [ Fri Jan 19, 2007 12:31 pm ]
Post subject: 

Ok, I hate to double post (it has been a week) but the motherboard I'm presently looking to buy does NOT have a serial port so I really do need to find a USB receiver that will work with my remote.

Would it be possible for someone with a Streamzap to fire up irrecord and/or irw / mode2 and try pointing a couple other remotes at the Streamzap receiver to see if it picks up anything?

I would really appreciate it.

Martian

Author:  thornsoft [ Fri Jan 19, 2007 12:46 pm ]
Post subject: 

I'm not able to do it right now, but the streamzap definitely DOES blink when any other remote is used, so I expect it sees all.

But won't your Onkyo remote learn the Streamzap codes anyway? That may be easier than fiddling with LIRC.

Author:  Martian [ Fri Jan 19, 2007 9:57 pm ]
Post subject: 

Yes the Onkyo remote could learn the Streamzap codes but not every button is programmable for every input. I gain a fair amount of additional flexibility by having lirc (irrecord) learn from the Onkyo remote instead of the other way around.

For example the number keys aren't learning however I can put my remote in VCR mode (I don't own a VCR) and use the number keys as extra myth controls.

I just found out (on these forums) that many motherboards, while not having serial ports, still have internal serial headers on board. I think I might actually end up wiring up an internal serial IR receiver using the headers and a homebrew serial receiver. Perhaps I'll replace on of the case LEDs with the IR lens.

I am still interested in knowing if the Streamzap will work though. In case I need a plan B. Sounds like it will. Thanks for the help Thornsoft!

Martian

Author:  Martian [ Wed Feb 07, 2007 10:12 pm ]
Post subject: 

Well my Streamzap remote arrived today. Plugged it in and rebooted and I'm up and running. Never even bothered to put batteries in the remote that came with it. It works great with my Onkyo remote that I've been using.

While I would have preferred a little bit cheaper solution I've very happy with the Streamzap IR receiver. It looks much better than my homebrew serial port receiver and it has great support in Myth / lirc.

If you need a good USB IR receiver but want to use a more "full featured" remote I wouldn't hesitate to go with the Streamzap.

Martian

Author:  marc.aronson [ Mon Sep 10, 2007 8:42 am ]
Post subject: 

I am looking at either getting the streamzap, which runs $29 at Amazon, or a serial home-brew receiver which runs $23 after shipping. My inclination is to spend the extra $6.00 to get the USB-based receiver. I am currently using the IR receiver connected to a Hauppauge PVR-250 which I need to replace. Questions:

1. Does anyone know if the streamzap receiver will respond to the IR codes sent by the Hauppauge PVR-250 remote? I ask because I have already configured my .lircrc file to deal with this transmitter, so migrations would be easiest if the answer were "yes".

2. What other configuration changes, if any, are requrired to get this to work? I'm on R5F27.

Thanks.

Marc

Author:  Martian [ Mon Sep 10, 2007 10:15 am ]
Post subject: 

Marc,

I can't speak specifically for the PVR-250 remote but the StreamZap has responded to every remote I have pointed at it so far.

Getting it to work with my Onkyo remote was pretty much as easy as plugging it in. Knoppmyth easily recognizes the StreamZap IR receiver. I'm guessing there is already a config file for the PVR-250 remote since it is quite common.

I highly recommend spending the extra $6 for the StreamZap as your next Myth box probably won't have a serial port but it almost certainly will have a USB port. To make matters worse it appears the latest version of Knoppmyth doesn't have the serial IR receiver module compiled in and at least one poster has said that the kernel headers aren't set up so that he can compile from source.

I'm pretty sure the easiest path is the StreamZap. Good luck to you.

Martian

Author:  jbm2131 [ Sun Nov 25, 2007 11:43 am ]
Post subject: 

marc.aronson wrote:
Does anyone know if the streamzap receiver will respond to the IR codes sent by the Hauppauge PVR-250 remote?


I know it has been a little while and you might not be be interested anymore, but I thought I would post my experience with the Streamzap receiver. I have a PVR-150 remote (the A415-HPG) and just bought the Streamzap with the idea of upgrading my remote in the future. At first it looked like the Streamzap receiver would not recognize the PVR-150 remote even though I was including the standard hauppauge sections in my lircd.conf. After playing around with it, I got it to work by tweaking some of the timing parameters (setting "one" and "zero" both to "928 928" in the Hauppauge_350 section). I guess this receiver will probably respond to any remote, just don't assume that the config file you have right now will work without a little tweaking.

Author:  steeve [ Sun Jan 18, 2009 11:03 pm ]
Post subject: 

jbm2131 wrote:
marc.aronson wrote:
Does anyone know if the streamzap receiver will respond to the IR codes sent by the Hauppauge PVR-250 remote?


I know it has been a little while and you might not be be interested anymore, but I thought I would post my experience with the Streamzap receiver. I have a PVR-150 remote (the A415-HPG) and just bought the Streamzap with the idea of upgrading my remote in the future. At first it looked like the Streamzap receiver would not recognize the PVR-150 remote even though I was including the standard hauppauge sections in my lircd.conf. After playing around with it, I got it to work by tweaking some of the timing parameters (setting "one" and "zero" both to "928 928" in the Hauppauge_350 section). I guess this receiver will probably respond to any remote, just don't assume that the config file you have right now will work without a little tweaking.


I can add my experience: I was using a URC-8910 remote with the IR receiver from http://www.irblaster.info/receiver.html. I used the JP-1 interface on the remote to program it for MythTV on a remote Frontend.

The serial IR receiver worked wonderfully with every version of KnoppMyth prior to R5.5. Absolutely no problems.

When I upgraded to R5.5, I began to see "lirc_serial: ignoring spike" in syslog. At the same time, LIRC would go deaf.

I thought that maybe placement of the IR receiver would improve performance.

No Dice. Didn't matter where I put the receiver, it would work for a short period of time, then go deaf.

The only cure was to restart Mythfrontend (or reboot). Restarting LIRC DID NOT restore functionality. Damn.

I tried all of the tricks suggested on various forums, including mysettopbox.tv, but to no avail.

So, I bought a Streamzap with the intention of only using the receiver. Plugged it in, ran "lirc-reconfig.sh" and chose "Streamzap" as my remote. Shutdown my Frontend, removed the serial IR receiver. Rebooted, restored my lircd.conf and lircrc files (specific for my URC-8910).

No Dice. No remote commands would get a response. However, I noticed that the Streamzap receiver LED was showing a great deal of IR reception. I wasn't pressing any remote keys. Turns out my Samsung plasma TV emits a buttload of IR. I found a place to put the Streamzap receiver where the IR from the TV is blocked, and suddenly it started working.

It has so far been working perfectly the last two hours. I'll continue to monitor its performance over the next few days, but my initial impression is very positive. Yay! :lol:

The best explanation I can offer is that either
1) my IR receiver had a problem or
2) my serial port had a problem or
3) LIRC had a problem or
4) all or any combination of the above or
5) there is no right answer

In any event, my remote works with the Streamzap receiver.

Hope this helps.

-sTv

Author:  MrFahrenheit [ Tue Feb 09, 2010 9:32 pm ]
Post subject: 

I know this is an old thread, but I just wanted to say thank you jbm2131, this allowed me to use my pvr 350 remote with the streamzap receiver.

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