Configure LIRC v0.9.1a on CentOS v7.1 for MythTV v27.5 with a Microsoft MCE remote control

Old notes from Jun 2015.

Steps:

Install LIRC
Verify Linux device
Disable keyboard input device in X11
Install LIRC configuration
Install MythTV configuration

Install

Add Linux device input support

# yum install v4l-utils lirc lirc-remotes iguanaIR libcec

Note: 'iguanaIR' is an unexpressed library dependency.

/bin/cp /usr/share/lirc-remotes/devinput/lircd.conf.devinput /etc/lirc/lircd.conf
systemctl enable lircd
systemctl start lircd

Linux driver support

Verify that the remote control device driver is loaded. Verify that the ir-keytable is loaded for the device. The 'v4l-utils' package should have provided the keymaps in the directory '/usr/lib/udev/rc_keymaps/rc6_mce'. The configuration file '/etc/rc_maps.cfg' provides the linking between the kernel mode driver and the keymap file. Use ir-keytable to verify the keymap is loaded.

LIRC

Configuration file

Install the latest lircd.conf.devinput file from sourceforge. Initially the disbution devinput file ('/usr/share/lirc-remotes/devinput/lircd.conf.devinput' was used but a warning message indicated the newer version was required).

$ wget http://lirc.sourceforge.net/remotes/devinput/lircd.conf.devinput
# mv lircd.conf.devinput /etc/lirc/lircd.conf

Service configuration

Change the systemd service configuration file to support configuring the driver and the device. Edit '/usr/lib/systemd/system/lircd.service' with default values and a configuration file:

[Unit]
Description=LIRC Infrared Signal Decoder
After=network.target

[Service]
Environment=LIRC_DRIVER=devinput
Environment=LIRC_DEVICE=/dev/input/input0
EnvironmentFile=-/etc/sysconfig/lircd
Type=simple
ExecStart=/usr/sbin/lircd --nodaemon --driver=${LIRC_DRIVER} --device=${LIRC_DEVICE} /etc/lirc/lircd.conf

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Add a configuration file to configure the lircd service '/etc/sysconfig/lircd':

LIRC_DRIVER=devinput
LIRC_DEVICE=/dev/input/by-id/usb-Philips_eHome_Infrared_Transceiver_PH00PEzs-event-if00

Reload the configuration, and start the lircd service:

# systemctl daemon-reload
# systemctl enable lircd
# systemctl start lircd

Verify

Use irw to check that lircd is getting the remote control keypress events:

$ irw
0000000080010067 00 KEY_UP devinput
00000000800100cf 00 KEY_PLAY devinput
0000000080010077 00 KEY_PAUSE devinput
0000000080010077 00 KEY_PAUSE devinput
0000000080010080 00 KEY_STOP devinput

X11

The Linux input device allows a single application/process to listen for events. Add the following rule to the X11 configuration as '/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/90-IgnoreIrRemote.conf' to get X11 to ignore the remote control keyboard devices:

#
#  Ignore remote controls that are handled by LIRC
#
Section "InputClass"
  Identifier "Ignore IR remote as Keyboard input"
  MatchProduct "Media Center Ed. eHome Infrared Remote Transceiver (147a:e017)|
    Media Center Ed. eHome Infrared Remote Transceiver (0471:0815)|
    TopSeed Tech Corp. USB IR Combo Device"
  MatchIsKeyboard "true"
  Option "Ignore" "true"
EndSection

Note: The 'MatchProduct' string should be changed to match the name presented by the driver (see '/sys/class/input/input*/name' below).

irexec

Automatically start irexec as the mythtv user. Create the service file as '~mythtv/.config/autostart/irexec.desktop':

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Name=Irexec daemon
Comment=Handle IR command server
Name[se]=Hantera IR-kommandon
Exec=run-irexec
Icon=applications-system
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=AudioVideo;Application;X-Fedora-Extra

MythTV Frontend

Add a lircrc configuration to the frontend user (mythttv) as '~/.lircrc'. Customise this as required. e.g.

# Channel Up
begin
prog = mythtv
button = KEY_UP
repeat = 3
config = Up
end

# Channel Down
begin
prog = mythtv
button = KEY_DOWN
repeat = 3
config = Down
end

# OK/Select
begin
prog = mythtv
button = KEY_OK
config = Space
end

Appendices

ir-keytable

$ ir-keytable
Found /sys/class/rc/rc0/ (/dev/input/event8) with:
        Driver mceusb, table rc-rc6-mce
        Supported protocols: NEC RC-5 RC-6 JVC SONY SANYO LIRC other
        Enabled protocols: NEC RC-5 RC-6 JVC SONY SANYO LIRC other
        Extra capabilities: <access denied>

rc protocols

"If more than one item is enclosed in square brackets, then something other than LIRC is getting those signals."

# cat  /sys/class/rc/rc0/protocols
rc-5 nec rc-6 jvc sony sanyo mce_kbd [lirc]

Input Device Names

Get a fancy list of names with:

for i in /sys/class/input/input* ; do echo -n "$(basename "$i"): "; cat "$i/name"; done

Or just grep the names:

# grep . /sys/class/input/input*/name
/sys/class/input/input0/name:Power Button
/sys/class/input/input10/name:HDA NVidia HDMI/DP,pcm=3
/sys/class/input/input11/name:HDA NVidia HDMI/DP,pcm=7
/sys/class/input/input1/name:Power Button
/sys/class/input/input2/name:USB USB Keykoard
/sys/class/input/input3/name:USB USB Keykoard
/sys/class/input/input4/name:PC Speaker
/sys/class/input/input5/name:Microsoft Microsoft Wheel Mouse Optical®
/sys/class/input/input6/name:TopSeed Tech Corp. USB IR Combo Device
/sys/class/input/input7/name:TopSeed Tech Corp. USB IR Combo Device
/sys/class/input/input8/name:Media Center Ed. eHome Infrared Remote Transceiver (0471:0815)
/sys/class/input/input9/name:MCE IR Keyboard/Mouse (mceusb)

xinput list

# xinput list
⎡ Virtual core pointer                          id=2    [master pointer  (3)]
⎜   ↳ Virtual core XTEST pointer                id=4    [slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜   ↳ TopSeed Tech Corp. USB IR Combo Device    id=10   [slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜   ↳ MCE IR Keyboard/Mouse (mceusb)            id=14   [slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜   ↳ USB USB Keykoard                          id=12   [slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜   ↳ Microsoft Microsoft Wheel Mouse Optical®  id=13   [slave  pointer  (2)]
⎣ Virtual core keyboard                         id=3    [master keyboard (2)]
    ↳ Virtual core XTEST keyboard               id=5    [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Power Button                              id=6    [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Power Button                              id=7    [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ TopSeed Tech Corp. USB IR Combo Device    id=9    [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Media Center Ed. eHome Infrared Remote Transceiver (0471:0815)    id=11   [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ USB USB Keykoard                          id=8    [slave  keyboard (3)]

/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/90-IgnoreIrRemote.conf

#
#  Ignore remote controls that are handled by LIRC
#
Section "InputClass"
  Identifier "Ignore IR remote as Keyboard input"
  MatchProduct "Media Center Ed. eHome Infrared Remote Transceiver (147a:e017)|
     Media Center Ed. eHome Infrared Remote Transceiver (0471:0815)|
     TopSeed Tech Corp. USB IR Combo Device"
  MatchIsKeyboard "true"
  Option "Ignore" "true"
EndSection

Note: the MatchProduct line is word wrapped for ease of reading.

Modules

$ lsmod | egrep "lirc|mce|ir_|rc_core"
ir_lirc_codec          13021  0
lirc_dev               19980  1 ir_lirc_codec
ir_mce_kbd_decoder     13214  0
ir_sanyo_decoder       12839  0
ir_sony_decoder        12713  0
ir_jvc_decoder         12751  0
ir_rc6_decoder         12874  0
ir_rc5_decoder         12710  0
ir_nec_decoder         12915  0
rc_rc6_mce             12502  0
mceusb                 21980  0
rc_core                27767  11 ir_lirc_codec,ir_rc5_decoder,ir_nec_decoder,ir_sony_decoder,mceusb,
     ir_mce_kbd_decoder,ir_jvc_decoder,ir_rc6_decoder,ir_sanyo_decoder,rc_rc6_mce

lirc service

# systemctl status lircd
lircd.service - LIRC Infrared Signal Decoder
   Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/lircd.service; enabled)
   Active: active (running) since Fri 2015-07-03 12:31:33 NZST; 3s ago
 Main PID: 22133 (lircd)
   CGroup: /system.slice/lircd.service
           └─22133 /usr/sbin/lircd --nodaemon --driver=devinput --device=/dev/input/by-id/usb-Philips_eHome_Infrared_Transceiver_PH00PEzs-event-if00 /etc/lirc/lircd.conf

Jul 03 12:31:33 cobalt.lucidsolutions.co.nz systemd[1]: Started LIRC Infrared Signal Decoder.
Jul 03 12:31:33 cobalt.lucidsolutions.co.nz lircd[22133]: lircd-0.9.1a[22133]: lircd(devinput) ready, using /var/run/lirc/lircd
Jul 03 12:31:33 cobalt.lucidsolutions.co.nz lircd-0.9.1a[22133]: lircd(devinput) ready, using /var/run/lirc/lircd
Jul 03 12:31:33 cobalt.lucidsolutions.co.nz lircd[22133]: lircd-0.9.1a[22133]: accepted new client on /var/run/lirc/lircd
Jul 03 12:31:33 cobalt.lucidsolutions.co.nz lircd[22133]: lircd-0.9.1a[22133]: initializing '/dev/input/by-id/usb-Philips_eHome_Infrared_Transceiver_PH00PEzs-event-if00'
Jul 03 12:31:33 cobalt.lucidsolutions.co.nz lircd-0.9.1a[22133]: accepted new client on /var/run/lirc/lircd
Jul 03 12:31:33 cobalt.lucidsolutions.co.nz lircd-0.9.1a[22133]: initializing '/dev/input/by-id/usb-Philips_eHome_Infrared_Transceiver_PH00PEzs-event-if00'

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