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PostPosted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 3:59 pm 
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Posts: 72
Since installing LinHES 8.2, I bought a StreamZap remote since it seems to be the most recommended remote for MythTv. As such, I was not expecting to have any issues with it. The receiver and remote worked just fine initially once I plugged them in and configured Myth to use them (in LinHES Settings - Remote). The USB connected receiver has problems, however. Whenever any IR remote is used in the room, the StreamZap receiver blinks, apparently registering that it received an IR transmission. Well, after a few minutes of using the remote, especially when clicking many times on the buttons, the receiver light goes almost solid red, and becomes unresponsive to further button presses from the remote control. It almost seems as if the receiver gets overloaded somehow? Very strange and not at all what you would expect from a mature and well-reviewed product like this. The hung condition will sometimes clear itself after several minutes, but usually it stays hung... A restart will clear it, as will grabbing the keyboard and using it to perform the action you want to do. This is very annoying.

I read some old posts (very old) on the MythTV forum (I think) about the StreamZap receiver behaving like this for a few others. They said that you have to place the receiver where no other IR devices can reach it. I have it placed on a shelf in my entertainment center all by itself - away from any other devices. I do not know how much more isolated it can be placed than this, and still the problem persists. I am wondering if anyone else also had this problem and was able to fix it somehow? Is the problem software related, or is this merely a defective receiver (hardware)?

Many thanks!
Trevor


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 10:43 pm 
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Location: Orlando FL
I've had my streamzap for many years and haven't noticed anything like that. My daughter did have a toy that used IR and would cause the light to come on. I'm assuming that you have tried blocking the transmitter and the light stays on. Have you tried it on another computer? While the light is red does it register any button pushes?
I think the red LED is just a dumb repeater. I've noticed that it will blink sometimes when I turn on the lights in the room.

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PostPosted: Tue Feb 17, 2015 8:52 am 
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Good idea... Actually, when the receiver gets hung and the light is constant red, I can hold my hand in front of it, and the light will dim back to off. While I have my hand close, I am able to use the remote and get a response. However, if I remove my hand, then the red light comes right back to full on. This would imply that something in the room is triggering the receiver and overwhelming it - light of some kind, perhaps. You said that the overhead light would trigger yours? If so, this receiver is way too promiscuous.

I bad thing about the LinHES setting up the remote automatically is that I have no idea how to diagnose the problem. I read somewhere that LIRC is not used anymore to drive the receiver, but now it is considered a HID device? You mentioned checking if the receiver was registering any button presses while it was hung red - can you tell me how I can I check that with a 8.2 install?

Thanks,
Trevor


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PostPosted: Tue Feb 17, 2015 10:04 am 
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When I have doubts about my remote I use
Code:
irw
to see it's it really broken. In Linux there are changes to the Kernel moving forward. Some remotes may need to be reworked. The developers are working on it,,,,

.


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PostPosted: Tue Feb 17, 2015 2:44 pm 
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I have several of these remotes and never experienced that before. Try another USB port? I am unaware of any changes to the kernel that will affect this remote. It is supported by lirc just fine.

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PostPosted: Wed Feb 18, 2015 6:51 am 
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Thanks for the tips, guys. I will try a different USB port, and post back. If I am the only one with this problem, then another possibility is that the unit is defective.


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PostPosted: Thu Feb 19, 2015 8:41 pm 
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Location: Orlando FL
It's my Compact Florescent lights when they first click on they would sometimes make the red led blink. If one were going bad it might be sending out garbage Infra red light?
Since you say it stops when you block front of the receiver It really makes me think there is something in the room.
what do you have in the room that is an IR Emitter?
Do you have any IR repeaters?
Does it only happen at night or at a certain time of day like sunset?
A lot of cheap remote control helicopters use IR instead of RF.
a Wii-bar transmits IR

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PostPosted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 6:41 am 
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@mattbatt, thanks! We have been swamped with refinancing and other urgent business lately, so I have not had time to play with the remote much, but the problem is still occurring. I had also thought that lights in the room might be the culprit, but I tried using the remote yesterday during the day without any lights on in the room, and still the receiver started blinking red continuously and became unresponsive. The only light was coming through the windows (sunlight), but it does not directly shine on the mythbox or the receiver. The problem also happens at night when there is no sunlight. So I am not sure what lighting could be emitting the stray IR...


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PostPosted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 7:56 am 
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While mine didn't lock up, I noticed a bunch of activity on my receiver when I would walk in front of my tv (dark room, TV on and playing), turns out something was bouncing off of me and reflecting into the receiver. An easy test is when you see it happening, block the receiver, if it goes idle, then it would appear to be reflected IR, you could change the orientation of the receiver to try and track down where the signal is coming from, to verify that it is it, block that surface. If on the other hand once you block the receiver, if you still see activity, it would appear that something is feeding back via the USB connector.

HTH
Bruce.


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PostPosted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 11:20 pm 
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Location: Orlando FL
I'm not sure if this can help you but... digital cameras can pick up IR light. If you point a remote at a camera it will show up as a blinking blue light. maybe you can use a camera to look around the room, I don't know I'm just spit balling here.
Good luck with the refinance. Only thing worse than a realtor is a banker and a lawyer and guess what you have the evil triad if you are refinancing.

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PostPosted: Sat Feb 28, 2015 8:02 pm 
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I tried a different USB port for the receiver, but the problem persists. Since I know that blocking the receiver causes the light to go out, the cause appears to be IR from some other source, as Bruce mentioned. So, I started trying to find the source of the unwanted IR by using the remote to navigate around the Myth menus until it becomes unresponsive, then turning off devices in the room one by one to see if the light on the receiver goes out (i.e. that the IR light source was silenced).

The good news is that I am pretty sure that I have found at least one source of unwanted IR. The bad news is that it is my Panasonic LCD TV set. :x Not much I can do to get rid of the TV - I have to use the TV to watch things...

I have tried placing the receiver in all kinds of different places but cannot find anywhere that it will remain working. It still gets hosed up eventually. I am going to try going into the TV settings menu to see if it has a repeater mode or something similar that I can disable.


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PostPosted: Sat Feb 28, 2015 10:29 pm 
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you aren't the only one apparently. http://www.avsforum.com/forum/166-lcd-f ... e-fix.html

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PostPosted: Sat Feb 28, 2015 10:30 pm 
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How about this: start vnc on the box so you can observe the GUI remotely. Now switch off the TV. Does the remote work now? Here you have removed the TV as a source completely. If indeed it is the case, can you build a box around the receiver to block emissions from the TV?

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PostPosted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 12:52 am 
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I'm wondering if a focusing lens in front of the beam might help. Like take the lens off of a flashlight like this and mount it to the receiver that.

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