Suggestion for linking IR codes

[aclarke]

Hi. I've just spent about 2 hours linking IR codes for two remotes. The one I initially wanted to use was my Hauppauge 45-button remote, and when that didn't work in a fully satisfactory manner in the end I decided to try my Sony TV remote, which in the end didn't work in a fully satisfactory manner either. Here's are the problems:

1. It seems that one button on a remote can put out 1, 2, 10 or more codes. EACH one of these codes has to be mapped to the correct function, otherwise sometimes when you press that button nothing will happen. Those of you who have done this in SageTV know what I'm talking about.

2. When you are mapping some buttons, like the power button, not only does SageTV map the button's code to the command, but then it shuts off SageTV. Then you have to power SageTV back on, go back into the Link Commands menu, possibly scroll to the command, and do it again. If the button in question has 20 codes, you have to do this 20 times.

3. Because the codes don't necessarily come out of your remote in a predefined order, you're never REALLY sure if you've given Sage all the codes for any button. Therefore after a while when SageTV just WILL NOT turn on, for instance, when you press the green button, you're not sure if the problem "oops I must have missed another power button code" or something more mysterious. Assuming you DID just miss a code, the likelihood of getting that elusive code when you go back in to program it is pretty low.

In my opinion, there needs to be a better solution to this. I propose two changes:

1. When I go to link a code to a command, allow me to press the button as many times as I want. Record EACH CODE without making me go back in and highlight the command for each code. That way I can just press the button 85 times and (hopefully) get all the codes or just press and hold it and watch the codes flow.

2. NEVER EVER EVER pass the command back to SageTV once the button has been pressed. I don't know what's happening here, but I THINK sometimes when I hit a button, say, the power button, it sends more than one code in a row. So if this happens, SageTV will record code 1 and save it as a power code. Then immediately my remote sends another power code, which SageTV interprets as me trying to switch off SageTV when actually it's just my remote sending two codes because I happened to hold the button for a millisecond too long or whatever. If you fixed #1 above, then #2 might even take care of itself. The reason I suspect it's doing this is because with my Sony TV remote, when I go to turn SageTV on, often it will turn on then right back off again. Or vice versa.

So that's my latest frustration with SageTV. I like the program a lot, but changing how the "link codes" feature works would be a huge boon to those of us who use it.

Thanks,
- Andrew Clarke.

[GKusnick]

Originally Posted by aclarke

1. It seems that one button on a remote can put out 1, 2, 10 or more codes. EACH one of these codes has to be mapped to the correct function, otherwise sometimes when you press that button nothing will happen. Those of you who have done this in SageTV know what I'm talking about.

I have set up remotes in Sage and I don't know what you're talking about. The remote I use has just one code per button, and it took me maybe 10 minutes to link them all.

Some universal AV remotes have different codes depending on which device you're trying to control, i.e. when the remote is in TV mode it sends different codes than when it's in DVD mode. But if you're using one of those remotes, you shouldn't need to link all the different codes. Just do the linking with the remote in TV mode, and make sure it's in TV mode whenever you want to control Sage with it.

But the problem you're describing doesn't sound like that. What it sounds like is that your remote and/or IR receiver are just malfunctioning and garbling the codes so they come out different every time. That's not a normal state of affairs, and you should probably troubleshoot that issue before trying to link up commands in Sage.

And by the way, there's a predefined configuration for the Hauppauge 45-button remote on the Remote Control Configuration screen. Just choose that and you shouldn't need to program buttons individually.

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by GKusnick

I have set up remotes in Sage and I don't know what you're talking about. The remote I use has just one code per button, and it took me maybe 10 minutes to link them all.

The Hauppauge remotes use a toggle code, so they emit 2 different codes when pressed repeatedly. I don't know anything about remotes emitting more than 2 codes for the same button... while I can't say it doesn't exist, it does sound like something might have gone wrong in the code learning process.

And by the way, there's a predefined configuration for the Hauppauge 45-button remote on the Remote Control Configuration screen. Just choose that and you shouldn't need to program buttons individually.

This would only be when using that remote wth a Hauppauge receiver & the Hauppuage IR software. When used with a USB-UIRT, you'll have to assign the codes yourself -- and it will be 2 codes per button.

- Andy

[aclarke]

Originally Posted by Opus4

The Hauppauge remotes use a toggle code, so they emit 2 different codes when pressed repeatedly. I don't know anything about remotes emitting more than 2 codes for the same button... while I can't say it doesn't exist, it does sound like something might have gone wrong in the code learning process.

Thanks for the responses.

Maybe my USB-UIRT is reading the codes incorrectly or something. I'm not at home right now but some of my buttons have emitted so many codes that the code list on the right side of the screen is full up and I don't even know how many there are. Still, after all that, my buttons only work erratically. For instance with power I tried hitting the button maybe 10x and the power didn't come on. Finally I held it for maybe 5-10 seconds and the power finally came on. The light on the USB-UIRT comes on though showing that it's receiving a code.

Maybe there are two separate issues, but some of my Hauppauge and Sony remote buttons emit WAY more than 2 codes (according to the USB-UIRT and SageTV) and also even after entering in all the codes I can, both remotes still work erratically.

Thanks again. I really appreciate your feedback.
- Andrew.

[blade]

The remote for my Mitsubishi TV sends more than 2 codes for each key. I don't know how many, but every time I press it I get a different code. I've used 5 different remotes with my USB-UIRT and it's the only one that does it so I wrote it off as incompatible for some reason. Typically a remote isn't going to send more than 1 or 2 codes for each key and shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes to link commands. Sounds to me like you just need to use a different remote.

[Opus4]

If more than 2 codes are being received for each button on teh Hauppauge remote, something isn't right. Perhaps check with the USB-UIRT forum or support to see about using their utility to see if the codes are being received properly. I don't know if you mentioned this one, but also check the Hauppauge batteries.

- Andy

[aclarke]

Originally Posted by Opus4

If more than 2 codes are being received for each button on teh Hauppauge remote, something isn't right. Perhaps check with the USB-UIRT forum or support to see about using their utility to see if the codes are being received properly. I don't know if you mentioned this one, but also check the Hauppauge batteries.

- Andy

Hi. I checked the USB-UIRT forums and found a utility that lets you check the remote codes without going through SageTV. It's called lrnhelper.exe. I tried that and got the crazy huge numbers of codes with my remotes. I then took your other suggestion and changed the batteries in my Hauppauge remote and now the codes are 98% of the time just two per button. So I'm pretty sure that was the problem, thank you!

Now, I'm on to a new problem. I've seen other people post about this but I don't think I've seen a solution. The remote will work great when I first turn the SageTV client on. However, when I come back after a bit of time, the remote won't wake SageTV up or really work at all. Maybe 1 button push in 20 works. If I close the SageTV frontent and reopen it (leaving the service running) it works fine again. The USB-UIRT does still continue working for changing channels though.

I've posted this on the USB-UIRT forums too to see if anyone has any suggestions there.

Thanks again for your ideas. Changing the batteries helped, as did checking the USB-UIRT forum.

- Andrew.

[lovingHDTV]

I to find it frustrating when teaching Sage the direction buttons that it feels it need to move up, down, or left after learning the command. Never really understood why it does this, but is kind of a one-of issue as I don't setup up IR codes continually.

[aclarke]

OK, a couple updates.

1. I'm 90% sure my problem with the remote not working when I come back after a while is when SageTV has gone into sleep mode. If I test this by putting SageTV to sleep from the menu, everything's fine. If I wait for the screensaver to come on, when I come back things don't work until I restart SageTV. I've gotten around this for now by setting the time before it sleeps to something like 26 days. I've only been testing this today but so far, so good.

2. My USB-UIRT troubles seem far from over. As I mentioned above, I put new batteries in my Hauppauge remote, and it now works really well ... as long as I'm less than 2 metres from the USB-UIRT. At more than that, accuracy drops off very quickly. At 3 metres, it's basically unusable as the USB-UIRT starts receiving random codes again. Who knows, maybe the Hauppauge remote just can't put out enough power even with full batteries. It worked fine with the Hauppauge IR receiver though. Maybe I should just move my couch to right in front of the TV

I've replaced the batteries in my other Sony remote too so if I get a chance later this evening I'll see if that remote has the same 2 metre limit.

- Andrew.

[blade]

If your remote is powerful enough you shouldn't have any problems. I use an MCE remote with a USB-UIRT and I have no problems from 30 feet away. I don't sit that far away, but just tested it out of curiosity. It would easily work farther away, but I'm limited by room size.

You might try repositioning the USB-UIRT to make sure the signal is getting to it and that there isn't any interference.

[aclarke]

Originally Posted by blade

If your remote is powerful enough you shouldn't have any problems. I use an MCE remote with a USB-UIRT and I have no problems from 30 feet away. I don't sit that far away, but just tested it out of curiosity. It would easily work farther away, but I'm limited by room size.

You might try repositioning the USB-UIRT to make sure the signal is getting to it and that there isn't any interference.

Thanks for posting. Using the USB-UIRT's lrnhelper.exe, I tried my Sony remote with new batteries, and my satellite receiver's remote with 2 month old basically unused batteries. I got the same results, albeit to a lesser extent, with both of these remotes. None of them are accurate from my couch, which is tops 5 metres (15 feet) from the TV.

My USB-UIRT is by necessity positioned in front of my satellite receiver, but still I've been doing my testing with a clear visual line to the box. I even opened the frosted glass front of the cabinet.

- Andrew.

[jsonnabend]

I have two USB-UIRT's. I just hooked up the second yesterday. The first works great, the second seems to be behaving the way you describe yours. I wonder if some of them are defective.

- Jeff

[Polypro]

I too have seen remotes emit more than 2 codes...the speed of the press mattered too

I used one that I would have to teach Sage with:

"Wicked Fast"-"Fast"-"Normal"-"Slow"-"Agonizingly Slow"...presses.

P