Category Archives: Irdroid USB

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Irdroid- HTPC – Control your Kodi Media Center from your TV Remote

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The Irdroid-HTPC Universal USB Infrared Remote Control Receiver for Kodi / HTPC media centers

The Irdroid-HTPC Universal USB Infrared Remote Control Receiver for Kodi / HTPC media centers

 

Recently I have installed the Kodi media center on an old thin client HP t620 computer. All was working very well except that I needed to use my TV remote with the the newly installed Kodi Media center and be able to control both the TV set and the media center from the same remote control.

I have tried using an HDMI CEC adapter, but with no success as HDMI CEC isnt’ properly supported in all manufacturers in my case I was experiencing significant issues with HDMI CEC remote control on Samsung with Anynet+ , so I have decided to check the possibilities with infrared remote control and decided to design one of my own – the Irdroid-HTPC USB Infrared Remote Control Receiver, that can be used to pair your existing TV remote , or any other TV Remote in order to control both your TV and Kodi media center at the same time.

The unit is equipped with long enought USB cable, directly attached to it and in my case it eased my installation. The unit has also Velcro dots with stiker-like pads which allow for easy fixing to any surface.

The Irdroid-HTPC enumerates via USB as a standard USB Keyboard, and pairing my TV Remote control with it was easy, by simply clicking the pair / program button and assigning my remote keys one after the other. I have also tested the Irdroid-HTPC on my Macbook PRO and on another laptop with MS Windows, both worked properly.

 

Below is a screenshot showing “dmesg” and device enumeration after insertion:

Irdroid-HTPC-USB-Remote-control-receiver-enumeration-linux

Irdroid-HTPC-USB-Remote-control-receiver-enumeration-linux

As you can see it does enumerate as a Standard HID device. The cool thing about this unit is that you don’t even need any software to pair your existing remote control with the receiver. It has a programming button on it which allows you to record the keys that you need from your remote control and map them automatically to specified keystrokes. They have the following keystrokes in firmware by default:

  • Up
  • Down
  • Left
  • Right
  • Enter
  • Back
  • Prev (*Shortcut to Favourites in Kodi)
  • Next (*Shortcut to Weather in Kodi)
  • Play/Pause

* The shortcuts can be assigned using the Kodi addon, designed for the Irdroid-HTPC

Kodi addon for applying shortcut mappings

Kodi addon for applying shortcut mappings

The unit stored my remote control buttons in its non-volatile eeprom memory and the procedure is carried just once, then it is ready for use. The infrared receiver is very sensitive ( with ir lens ) that provide great operation range and angle e.g you dont need to point the remote control toward the unit in order to be able to control your HTPC which is absolutely great!

In Kodi I have programmed the following keys from my remote control: up, down, left, right, enter, back, prev, next, play/pause. This was enought to take full control of kodi using my TV remote, and at the same time be able to control my tv with its remote control.

In addition to the above the Irdroid-HTPC is both open source software and open source hardware with their documentation and code published in GitHub. It will allow you to completely change the software / firmware of the unit by simply opening its Arduino Sketch in the Arduino IDE, changing the code as per your needs and reflashing it via USB (It is shipped with a version of the micronucleous bootloader, that is compatible with the Arduino IDE).

Another cool thing about this unit is that it is open hardware and the schematics and design files are available in Irdroid’s GitHub repository .

Supported Operating Systems

  • GNU Linux
  • Mac OS X
  • MS Windows
  • Android

Resources:

The Irdroid-HTPC Universal USB Infrared Remote Control Receiver for Kodi / HTPC media centers

The Irdroid-HTPC Universal USB Infrared Remote Control Receiver for Kodi / HTPC media centers

 

Irdroid HTPC USB Infrared Remote Control Receiver, assembled and tested

In Stock: $26

 

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Irdroid irDA NEW Product range

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We have developed four NEW irDA SIR modules that cover irDA SIR Specification 1.3 and it allows communication with irDA compliant devices with baud rates from 9600 – 115200 .

Four new modules were developed:

You can read more in this BLOG post or you can purchase samples from HERE.

 

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New Firmware for the Irdroid USB Infrared Transceiver v2.5

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Today (12.06.2018) we have released a NEW firmware version 2.5 for the Irdroid USB Infrared Transceiver module. The new firmware introduces two new modes – separate transmit mode and separate receive mode. The Idea is that the sampling mode was sometimes causing problems on Android (USB Stalls/ USB Replug needed in some cases) and therefore we had to think about a solution backward compatible with the software for the other Operating Systems and at the same time stable on Android (the sampling mode remains unchanged/ the one initiated with the text command ‘S’ ).

To enter transmit mode the Irdroid USB App issues the text command “n” over serial and the module enters transmit mode. To enter receive mode the command used is ‘m’ and the module enters in receive mode. The other mode – sampling mode remains unchanged , initiated by the ‘S’ text command.

Downloads:

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New Product in stock – USB Infrared Adapter for Android

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The latest arrival in our online store – https://www.irdroid.eu is the USB OTG Infrared Adapter for Android. It allows you to control all your home appliances, that are controlled via Infrared Remotes. It has a Infrared Transmitter and infrared receiver and it has infrared “learning” functionality. The unit is compatible with ZaZa Remote App.

You can read more about the product by following the link below:

https://irdroid.eu/product/usb-infrared-adapter-android/

 

 

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Windows Server 2012 drivers workaround for irdroid usb ir transceiver

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Irdroid USB IR Transceiver v1.0

We got a nice email from a customer from the Irdroid community saying that the Irdroid USB Infrared Transceiver works without any drivers on Windows 10. He tested Also with Windows Server 2012 and there was a driver issue , using the drivers we provide from the download section. The Issue with Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 is that signed USB ACM drivers are needed. Windows Server 2012 requires that all drivers need to be signed, The USB Infrared Transceiver can work with Windows 8 but the workaround is that you need to turn off the signed driver requirement.

You can deactivate the forcing of signed drivers by using following Settings. Open a Command Prompt (cmd) as Administrator and type in following two commands. bcdedit -set loadoptions DISABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS bcdedit -set TESTSIGNING ON With bcdedit you´re configurating the bootmenu of windows, so be careful. If something goes wrong you´ll need a windows dvd to repair the bootmanager. After a restart you can install the driver normally. You just have to confirm to install the unsigned driver, just like in older versions of Windows.

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USB Infrared Transceiver workaround for : Failed to set rts/cts in recent Linux Kernels

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Irdroid USB IR Transceiver v1.0

We have received reports from customers , that is some recent GNU Linux Kernel versions the serial USB ACM Class Driver is causing issues with the Irdroid USB Infrared Transceiver module / Linux kernel versions (above 3.18). Below is a workaround for the affected systems:

In GNU Linux kernel (3.18+), the CDC ACM Class Driver was updated and new features were introduced. These new features are not interoperable with old serial ACM hardware and demand from the USB Manufacturers to introduce additional features in their firmware in order to gain compatibility with the changes in the CDC-ACM driver.

The new driver requires devices to reply whether they support “RTS/CTS” feature. If this call is not implemented in the serial ACM hardware (in the firmware of the serial USB ACM devices), it causes device lock up’s, and fails to enumerate after several seconds of operation. The above affects also the Irdroid USB Infrared Transceiver module and causes inconvenience for the customers.

We have tested various workarounds for the above and came up with a fix, which for now requires the user to recompile the kernel with the USB ACM Driver below:

The Procedure is as follows:

  • Depending on your distribution, you will have to download the Linux kernel source code, unzip, and configure for your system
  • Copy and replace the above files in /drivers/usb/class/….
  • Compile and install your new kernel.

Once you complete the above procedure you will have more stability for your serial ACM devices / hardware.

Update!!!

As of October 2017 All new Irdroid USB Infrared Transceiver modules ship with an updated firmware that provide support for the new USB  ACM Class Driver in Gnu Linux Kernel 3.18 + . For existing customers a firmware update procedure needs to be performed with the firmwarebelow:

 

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Irdroid Eye Control

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Irdroid Eye Control

Irdroid Eye Control

The Irdroid Eye Control application allows the user to control Infrared controlled appliances such as TVs, STBs and Music Appliances by using the Eye Control technology (*requires pre-installed Eye Control Hardware and Software) or via voice control commands in Windows. The application implements a Lirc/WinLirc client, optimized for the Eye Control. Irdroid Eye Control is free and open source software application. Sources and Binaries can be downloaded from https://github.com/Irdroid/Eye-Control

Application features:

  • Support for all major TV, STB, Video Manufacturers
  • Works with WinLirc and Lirc
  • Compatible with Irdroid USB Infrared transceiver.
  • Java Application
  • Compatible with Windows voice control

Requirements:

  • PC with Java installed.
  • Working WinLirc/Lirc
  • Pre-installed Eye Control Hardware and Software.

Example Application:

  • Allow people with disabilities to control TVs, STBs and more only by focusing their eyes at the Irdroid Accessibility remote control buttons by using their Eye Control Software and Hardware.
  • Allow people with disabilities to control TVs, STBs and more using their voice in Windows.

Add IR Eye Control for you Desktop / Laptop computer

Get Module Kit:

  • Infrared Eye Control Kit that includes the USB Infrared Transceiver, extension cable and Manual can be purchased from http://www.irdroid.eu

Contribution:

Want to contribute and help further developing Irdroid Accessibility? Pull requests are welcome via the project GitHub repository.

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[ SOLVED ] Irdroid USB Infrared Transceiver and the Raspberry Pi3

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Irdroid USB IR Transceiver and the Raspberry Pi3

Irdroid USB IR Transceiver and the Raspberry Pi3

User’s reported a bug in Lircd (v0.9.4 and below) that renders the DP Irtoy and the Irdroid USB Infrared transceiver modules unusable . When the lircd is started and and after sending a number of IR commands (sometimes it crashes after sending just one ir command ) to the Irdroid USB Infrared transceiver, the module gets de-enumerated and the only way to recover is to unplug and plug again the module in the USB port.

Last few months I am trying to fix this issue with no success then a few days ago I have received an email from a previous customer (Thomas Orgis l  Tnak you very much Thomas! ) who managed to find the bug in Lircd. Thomas has used the GDB in order to debug the issue and he found out that all happens in the “setPin” function in irtoy.c file. He contacted me to provide a patch see below:

— lirc-0.9.4d/plugins/irtoy.c.orig    2017-01-23 10:23:38.000000000 +0100
+++ lirc-0.9.4d/plugins/irtoy.c 2017-02-05 16:42:19.203099837 +0100
@@ -171,13 +171,16 @@
static int setPin(unsigned int pin, int state)
{
unsigned int mask = 1 << pin;
–
+#if 0
IOdirections &= ~mask;
if (state)
IOdata |= mask;
else
IOdata &= ~mask;
return setIOData();
+#else
+       return 0;
+#endif
}

I have tried to open a ticket in sourceforge providing the bugfix to the community , but they replied that this should be now fixed in lircd 0.9.4d (which is not the case). So I am providing here the lircd 0.9.4d with the above mentioned patch already applied so that the users can directly download , compile and install lircd and continue using their Irdroid USB Infrared Transceivers. I have tested the above lircd version with the patch on Raspberry Pi3 with raspbian installed , but it should also work on other GNU Linux Systems.

Downloads:

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Irdroid USB IR Transceiver compatible with Mac OS X

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USB IR Tranceiver compatible with Mac OS X

USB IR Tranceiver compatible with Mac OS X

The Irdroid USB Infrared Transceiver is compatible with Mac OS X and it is working without installing any drivers on the host system. The above is possible due to the fact that the Irdroid USB IR Transceiver enumerates as a serial ACM device. The drivers for these types of devices are built in all Mac OS X versions. When you plug the USB IR Transceiver in a free USB port on your Mac , the device shows up as /dev/cu.usbmodem00000001 .

To use it on your Mac, you will also need the LIRC application software( Linux Infrared Remote control) for Mac OS X , available for Download from our github repository (see the links at the end of this article) . The LIRC software will allow you to use the Transmit and Receive feature of the Irdroid USB IR Transceiver. By using the software you can use your Mac to control almost any appliance that accept Infrared Commands, you can also record / scan existing remote control by using the infrared receive feature built in the Irdroid USB IR Transceiver.

More Info:

Purchase a module:

Downloads:

 

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Infrared Task Automation with Irdroid on Mac OS X

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Irdroid USB Infrared Transceiver support Mac OS X

Irdroid USB Infrared Transceiver support Mac OS X

Last year I had the chance to play with an old MacBook ( Late 2006 model ), running Mac OS X Mountain Lion and OS X Mavericks as a second OS installed on the hard drive. Originally I purchased the MacBook online from a second-hand store, and I intended to use it for the development of a  iOS proprietary Application for one of our clients. Now that the project is finished I decided to use the MacBook to play with LIRC and the USB Infrared transceiver, allowing the machine to transmit and receive Infrared signals.  In the past we have received questions from Irdroid user’s regarding the possibility of using the Irdroid USB Infrared Transceiver on Mac OS X. The above was not possible until now, because Lirc couldn’t compile on Mac OS X without doing changes to the original LIRC source code.

The Irdroid USB Infrared Transceiver module enumerates in the host system as a serial ACM device. In OS X the serial USB ACM driver is shipped and supported natively, which means that you don’t have to install any additional drivers and the module should enumerate “out-of-the-box” once plugged in a free USB port.

Considering the above and in order to have a fully functional Infrared Transmit and Receive environment in Mac OS X the only remaining thing that we need is a port of LIRC for Mac OS X, because LIRC manages the infrared transactions and provide utilities for transmitting and receiving infrared signals. LIRC is based on Linux and it can be easily ported to Mac OS X because Mac OS X is a POSIX operating system.

Used Tools:

  • Mac OS X Mountain Lion

  • Homebrew / brew v.1.1.7 (for installing GCC and dialog*required by the LIRC setup scripts)

  • GCC 4.9.3 (installed and compiled using Homebreq/brew)

  • Xcode 5.1.1

  • Xcode 5.1.1 command line utilities (installed via Xcode)

To make a port of LIRC one needs to replace the #include <linux/types.h>  (Because we are no longer using Linux) with a custom include file defining the relevant types for Mac OS X.For the above I have created a custom include file that replaces the <linux/types.h> and named it <my_custom_types.h> . Next I replace <linux/types.h> with #include “my_custom_types.h” in all source files that contained <linux/types.h> . I also had to install the “dialog” using brew as the LIRC version I used uses “dialog” for the setup and configuration process.

After that in order to make the configuration for my system I runned the ./configure.sh configuration script which generated a Makefile and configuration for my particular system (Mac OS X Mountain Lion) . After that make && make install compiled successfully and I was surprised to see a fully functional LIRC daemon working  with my old Mac.

I had to create a “rc.local” file in /etc/ so that lircd is called on boot and also LIRC needs the directory /var/run/lirc created on boot ,which is a separate lin in /etc/rc.local file.

The contents of rc.local are as follows:

mkdir /var/run/lirc

lircd –device=/dev/cu.usbmodem00000001 –listen=8765

the above commands create the required directories on boot and also start the lirc daemon. As you can see on Mac OS X the serial ACM devices are enumerated as /dev/cu.usbmodemxxxxxxxx (that is Apple’s way of naming these) . In my case the Irdroid USB Infrared transceiver enumerated as /dev/cu.usbmodem00000001 .

The other thing that you need to do is to get a sample lircd.conf file and copy it into /etc/lirc/lircd.conf  (this is the default location for lircd configuration files)

Depending on your configuration you may have to open port 8765 in Mac OS X firewall settings in order to be able to access the running LIRC daemon from another system on your local network, or using a LIRC client running on your Android Smartphone.

Transmitting Infrared signals:

If you will use LIRC locally only, then you can use the “irsend” utility for transmitting infrared commands.

example:

# irsend SEND_ONCE Samsung_TV Power

Next you can do some useful infrared task automation, with irsend and Cron , scheduling infrared commands etc.

Receiving and decoding Infrared Signals:

There are two utilities which you can use for reading infrared signals with Lirc – irrecord and irw .

The “irw” utility will allow you to “watch” the received pulse – space IR sequencies directly in the console.

The “irrecord” utility will allow you to scan and record your existing remote controls and storing the recorded commands into a lirc configuration file.

You can record your remote by issuing :

# irrecord –device=/dev/cu.usbmodem00000001 mylirc.conf

Used Tools (Software and Hardware):

Downloads: