Hauppauge Remote

[falchulk]

I doubt they exist in any official for distribution form. I dont think they intend for regular users to mess around with that file.

[ripple]

All this thread activity made me try a quick test last night, but my results were not good. I was sending button codes 20-29 (currently unused) and the debug.txt file showed nothing. Predefined keys worked as expected, but nothing from the non-standard ones. The odd thing was that I accidentally left the window open while shutting down my home theater and the debug.txt window showed some codes received! It's actually more confusing than helpful because I have to sort out which device/command combination was being sent at the time...

Originally posted by Opus4
(Note that you may have to restart the IR software if, like me, you hard code the current mode setting in the ini file whe SageTV is run.)

How did you hard code the mode? I usually just open the debug.txt file and it starts accepting commands there. Maybe if I fix the mode I might get different results?

Originally posted by Opus4
But, button 0 always said CODE0, not 0 like the silver remote does. After some testing, I found that I had to set a new system code in the [SystemCode] section, so there was a line as:

20=HCWL

So, whatever device I selected in my universal remote was system 20 to the IR program. I also created a [HCWL] section & placed the correct button names there. At that point, button 0 would then indicate 0 in notepad.

Interesting results Andy...I didn't realize this, but now that I look, my JP1 configuration for Hauppauge uses RC5 protocol, device code 31 - which matches the HCWPVR line in [SystemCode]. That *does* seem to imply setting other codes may open up more button combinations... Ah, more things to try...

And yes, after all is said and done I may end up with a USBUIRT solution, but I guess I just can't stand not knowing

Kevin

[Opus4]

Originally posted by ripple
I was sending button codes 20-29 (currently unused) and the debug.txt file showed nothing. Predefined keys worked as expected, but nothing from the non-standard ones.

In the [HCWPVR] section, try defining key names for those unused keys & don't forget to add those names to the [Debug.txt] section. Who knows... perhaps once a section is defined for a system code, it will only recognize those that are defined?

How did you hard code the mode? I usually just open the debug.txt file and it starts accepting commands there. Maybe if I fix the mode I might get different results?

{mode(SageTV)}, for example, forces a mode switch to the [SageTV] section. BUT, if you are getting some output to the debug window, you probably haven't forced a mode switch. Restarting IR clears the forced mode.

I'm curious -- those other codes you were trying... are the RC5 codes actually in some numerical order? For example: the code for position 9 is for the 9 button, while position 11 is for the red button, but there is no button listing for position 10. Is the RC5 IR code for position 10 simply a value directly between the ones for 9 & 11? (I hope that wording makes sense...)

- Andy

[Opus4]

Originally posted by Opus4
In the [HCWPVR] section, try defining key names for those unused keys & don't forget to add those names to the [Debug.txt] section. Who knows... perhaps once a section is defined for a system code, it will only recognize those that are defined?

I didn't really want to reply to myself (talk to myself?), but my daughter finally got off the family PC long enough for me to test this. In that new section I added for system code 20, I commented out the definition for button 0... sure enough, it stopped responding to that button instead of recognizing it as CODE0 as a default.

Kevin: You definitely need to add those new codes for 20-29 to your [HCWPVR] section before it can recognize them.

- Andy

[ripple]

Originally posted by Opus4
I didn't really want to reply to myself (talk to myself?), but my daughter finally got off the family PC long enough for me to test this. In that new section I added for system code 20, I commented out the definition for button 0... sure enough, it stopped responding to that button instead of recognizing it as CODE0 as a default.

Kevin: You definitely need to add those new codes for 20-29 to your [HCWPVR] section before it can recognize them.

Gotcha. I'll try that. I had been thinking that since they were defined in the [debug.txt] section that would be enough but I see what you're saying now. Unfortunately my wife is in the hospital tonight and more info will have to wait until that is resolved...

As for button codes, yes there is a bit of mathematical magic that the JP1 tools perform to translate button codes (OBC) into EFC bytes (these are the values actually sent over the IR diode). You are essentially correct in that the button codes run from 0-63 for this protocol (apparently you can go higher, but it gets into another level of complexity I'm not ready for). Using the known formula the JP1 tools can tell you that button code 010 for RC5 protocol/device code 31 results in an EFC value of 108; OBC 009 sends EFC code 204; etc.

Kevin

[Opus4]

Here's an update on getting other remotes and/or new codes to work with the Hauppauge IR receiver & software:

Thanks to what we were talking about above, Kevin has managed to create an upgrade for his OneForAll remote to enable it to send a complete set of codes to the Hauppauge IR receiver, extending the number of buttons that are usable beyond what the silver remote has. The RC5 codes previously mentioned work perfectly, enabling the creation of either additional system 31 codes to keep it compatible with the silver remote, or the creation of a new system number to simply start fresh. There are 64 button codes per system number, so you are essentially limited only by the number of buttons an upgradable remote has. Or, as Kevin is thinking of doing, a system number could be added for DVD control in SageTV -- press the DVD device button & switch to full DVD controls instead of TV control.

So far, this sort of upgrade requires a JP1 compatible remote, usually from Radio Shack or OneForAll, though there are some others out there made by the same company that makes those. With JP1, it is _easy_ to upgrade one of these remotes to use the new codes. These remotes are fairly cheap -- you can order them with a JP1 cable prebuilt from various vendors, or you can buy one at Wal-Mart & build your own cable. Eventually, the JP1 upgrade file will be available.

I don't know if the MX-500 has a way to create new codes w/o learning them from another remote, so for now I've got 2 remotes on order from BlueDo -- one that is JP1 compatible & an MX-500 with IRClone, for ease of configuring it on a PC. The JP1 remotes allows me to create new codes that I can then teach to the MX-500. If anyone knows how to create new codes for the MX-500 w/o this 2-step process, please let me know. You don't _need_ the MX-500, but I want to be able to label those extra buttons when I replace all my remotes with just one, so I can remember what everything is for. Once my MX-500 is working, I can make the IRClone file for that available.

In addition to upgrading/configuring the remote, irremote.ini will need to be modified to use the new codes. Again, that is very easy & instructions will be made available for those interested. This Hauppauge IR software can be used to control much more than just SageTV, though it certainly isn't nearly as capable as something like Girder. However, this solution requires no extra IR receiver and no other control software.

What if you don't have a JP1 capable remote or you don't want to mess with JP1? (It is cheap & easy, so if you have the remote, _use_ it.) There are device codes for the OFA remotes that will send IR codes compatible with the Hauppauge receiver --- VCR 0081 is one of them. However, this still requires modifying irremote.ini to recognize the new codes & you don't gain any new buttons. VCR 0081 only makes use of 34 buttons, as far as I can tell, so it doesn't solve the problem of desiring more buttons than the silver remote has. There are other codes, so they could be assigned to another of the remote's device keys & use that to control other aspects of SageTV, as mentioned in the 2nd paragraph above, essentially increasing the number fo usable buttons. I haven't looked into complete information regarding how many device configuration codes are available for this; I just know they are there.

For non-OFA remotes, you may be stuck just trying out device codes & seeing if anything shows up in debug.txt, as described in previous posts.

Now I can't wait for my MX-500 to arrive... I think it has at least 53 keys usable for each device? It may not be a full 64, but it certainly offers more control than the regular remote does.

- Andy

edit - I posted a follow-up thread on how to do this with the MX-700:How to use another remote with the Hauppauge IR receiver

edit 2 - Another thread about modifying irremote.ini: Instructions for extending irremote.ini