Lirc with OS X - how??

[jiggy]

i discribed my situation before (http://forum.boxee.tv/showthread.php?t=2186)
now i'm using boxee on osx 10.5.5 with MCE IR-Receiver + Apple Remote
but apple remote is too small for me i really want to use microsoft remote or something else thru Lirc.

0.8.3 installed from darwinports (http://lirc.darwinports.com/) (on strange path: /opt/local/bin/)
mira disabled
i see runnig lircd process in System Monitor

host35:~ boxeepc$ cd /opt/local/bin
host35:bin boxeepc$ ls
daemondo irpty irw mode2 portindex
ircat irrecord irxevent port portmirror
irexec irsend lircrcd portf xmode2

host35:bin boxeepc$ sudo ./irrecord temp
Password:

irrecord - application for recording IR-codes for usage with lirc

Copyright (C) 1998,1999 Christoph Bartelmus(lirc@bartelmus.de)

./irrecord: Initializing UDP: 8765
./irrecord: Listening on port 8765/udp
This program will record the signals from your remote control
and create a config file for lircd.

A proper config file for lircd is maybe the most vital part of this
package, so you should invest some time to create a working config......
...blah blah, couple times press RETURN).......
.......
Now start pressing buttons on your remote control.

It is very important that you press many different buttons and hold them
down for approximately one second. Each button should generate at least one
dot but in no case more than ten dots of output.
Don't stop pressing buttons until two lines of dots (2x80) have been
generated.

Press RETURN now to start recording.
./irrecord: no data for 10 secs, aborting
./irrecord: gap not found, can't continue


^^^
this error i have right after pressing last RETURN
gap - what is it?
./irw also not show any reaction
redlight on ir-receiver blinking when button pressed
seems like lirc not recognized my receiver device

im dumb in linux what should i try, any suggestions? :confused:
how to run lirc on mac??

[jdarnold]

I don't think irw will work until you have a config file. I've attached the lircd config file for the Apple remote. Download this and copy it to /etc/lircd.conf (or wherever Mac OSX lircd is looking for it) and call it 'lircd.conf' :

cp lircd.macremote.txt /etc/lircd.conf

But you will also have to edit the Lircmap.xml file to match up the commands in the lircd.conf file with the Boxee commands. Again, I'm not sure where user config files go on Mac OSX, but on Linux that the Lircmap.xml file is in ~/.boxee/UserData.

[jiggy]

nothing in /etc/, but found lircd.conf.sample in /opt/local/etc (btw seems like all darwinports lirc files installed in /opt/local/) and put your config to this folder:

host35:~ boxeepc$ cd /opt/local/etc
host35:etc boxeepc$ ls
LaunchDaemons lircd.conf.sample lircrc.sample
lircd.conf lircmd.conf.sample macports

rebooted, still same error and no reaction with irrecord and irw (or what should i run to see signals comes?)
rebooted lircd process from /opt/local/sbin/ with config path:
"sudo ./lircd /opt/local/etc/lircd.conf" - still nothing. maybe i dont need irw and irrecord but how can i check connection?

Lircmap.xml file is in ~/.boxee/UserData <- cant find this? :( but i think this is a second step, first i should make lirc to work...

[jdarnold]

Again, I don't know what I'm doing on Mac OSX, but reading the darwinports link you gave, I see this note:

NOTE: This port does not support any IR devices directly. You must connect to a remote lircd (--connect=example.org:8765) or listen for UDP packets (--driver=udp --device=) for lirc to be of any use locally.


To be honest, I have *no idea* what that means, but I'll bet that's your problem?

Same with the Lircmap.xml file - Mac OSX must store user config files somewhere else other than where Linux does. Anyone have any help here?

[jiggy]

yeah, i see, also cant imagine what should i do with it
but when run irrecond there are two strings about it appearing:

./irrecord: Initializing UDP: 8765
./irrecord: Listening on port 8765/udp


couple times while im played with lirc rebooting there was:

./irrecord: Initializing UDP: 8765
./irrecord: can't bind socket to port 8765: Address already in use
./irrecord: could not init hardware (lircd running ? --> close it, check permissions)
(next immediately exit from irrecord without any other text)


maybe anybody help how i can find device file for usb-reciver on mac like /dev/lirc on linux? (i cant find anything in /dev/ on mac os x)

about Lircmap.xml - maybe its available for linux only? :((
really, looking for it on ~/Library/Application Data/BOXEE/UserData - but here are only Keymap.xml

[jdarnold]

That almost certainly means you have to start lirc using the '--driver=udp' stuff, as ./irrecord is trying to listen on that port and lircd hasn't opened it yet. Sorry, but you've gone beyond my Mac OSX skillz, such as they are.

[agentlame]

i looked into lirc on os x a while back... everything i read seemed to imply that it just doesn't work on 10.5.x.

have you read any confirmed working installs?

[jiggy]

found this (http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/Myth_on_Mac_OS_X):
........
OSX 10.4 (Tiger)
........
P.S. this script also supports LIRC, so you can compile lirc in slave mode on your mac (use no driver option) and connect to your backend server (set to listen mode). The backend should have, for instance, a RF remote. I'm having great succes with an ATI remote wonder.

server side (backend.mydomain.com): run lirc with: 'lircd --listen'

client side (mac): run lirc with: 'lircd --connect=backend.mydomain.com --permission=666'
.....
-------------------
have no ideas how can i make it locally... maybe use Parallels or something like VMWare (virtual pc) to run small linux distrib with installed lirc same time with os x?

all other i found about lirc on mac was about bad luck. (i'm not interested in constructing soundcard input-ir device - there are some solutions about it)

damn, mira works great with Apple Remote + MCE receiver, but why no universal solutions for other remotes :(

[agentlame]

what about remote buddy:
http://www.iospirit.com/index.php?mode=view&obj_type=infogroup&obj_id=24&sid=8491535G3780ae665a978b9a

they have a 30-day demo... so you can make sure it works well with boxee.

[ecronin]

(guy who wrote the MacPorts lirc port here)

The short and quick answer is that right now, lirc on OS X requires another device (either a linux box with an IR receiver or something like a HD HomeRun which has an IR receiver) connected over the network in order to be of any use.

Even USB devices using libusb do not work, although they are the most likely to be supported at some future point. USB devices that use a kernel driver on linux are very unlikely to get lirc support because of the architecture.

Unless you have another server (e.g. I have both a linux MythTV backend and a HDHR which can act as the IR receiver), the best mac solution is to use RemoteBuddy or something similar with a supported USB receiver and map things to keyboard events instead of going through Lircmap.xml

Also, depending on how many more buttons you need there is support for the Wiimote as a bluetooth remote...

[beekerstudios]

I know this is old, and also slightly not related to Boxee, but I will ask anyways.

What about using LIRC to transmit signals, like say control a blu-ray player, or an HD STB.

Trying to push all of my "boxes" to another room, so I can use one set of devices for the entire house, also possibly just have them all in a closet, hidden.