HOWTO: Hauppauge Remote Control in Kubuntu

[jon_benge]

Version 2.2

This guide is depreciated. Configuring Lirc for Hardy Heron is slightly different than before. New guide coming soon for Kubuntu and Ubuntu


Get your Hauppauge remote control working in Ubuntu with Lirc and IRKICK. Based on the Hauppauge Nova-T PCI 909 with the newer remote control. This guide might work with other Hauppauge boards, though this is not confirmed. You may have to find / create different 'hardware.conf' and 'lircd.conf' configuration files.


Okay, let's get to it..


PART 1: Initial Configuration


We need to find out if the standard Kubuntu kernel has detected your remote control. We can check this by typing the following command into a terminal window.

cat /proc/bus/input/devices

A load of text will appear. Look for something similar to what is shown below:

I: Bus=0001 Vendor=0070 Product=9002 Version=0001
N: Name="cx88 IR (Hauppauge Nova-T DVB-T"
P: Phys=pci-0000:01:02.0/ir0
S: Sysfs=/class/input/input3
H: Handlers=kbd event3
B: EV=100003
B: KEY=100fc312 214a802 0 0 0 0 18000 41a8 4801 9e1680 7bb80 0 10000000

There are two important things to look for here. The 'N:Name' proves the remote control has been detected properly and the 'H:Handlers' shows us what 'event number' our remote control is mapped to. As you can see, my Event number is currently '3'.
Unfortunately, these event numbers are dynamically assigned, so your remote control will not always stay at the Event number it's at now. When the event numbers change, the remote control will simply not work, or worse, the mouse and keyboard will lock up. We can solve this problem by manually assigning an Event ID to our remote control, so it never changes.

Enter the command below into a terminal and replace 'eventx' with your Event number.

udevinfo -a -p $(udevinfo -q path -n /dev/input/eventx)

The output of that command should be similar to what you see below.

device '/sys/class/input/input3/event3' has major:minor 13:67
  looking at class device '/sys/class/input/input3/event3':
    KERNEL=="event3"
    SUBSYSTEM=="input"
    SYSFS{dev}=="13:67"

follow the "device"-link to the physical device:
  looking at the device chain at '/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:0e.0/0000:02:09.0':
    BUS=="pci"
    ID=="0000:02:09.0"
    DRIVER=="cx8800"
    SYSFS{class}=="0x040000"
    SYSFS{device}=="0x8800"
    SYSFS{irq}=="209"
    SYSFS{local_cpus}=="1"
    SYSFS{modalias}=="pci:v000014F1d00008800sv00000070sd00009002bc04sc00i00"
    SYSFS{subsystem_device}=="0x9002"
    SYSFS{subsystem_vendor}=="0x0070"
    SYSFS{vendor}=="0x14f1"

  looking at the device chain at '/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:0e.0':
    BUS=="pci"
    ID=="0000:00:0e.0"
    DRIVER=="unknown"
    SYSFS{class}=="0x060400"
    SYSFS{device}=="0x00ed"
    SYSFS{irq}=="0"
    SYSFS{local_cpus}=="1"
    SYSFS{modalias}=="pci:v000010DEd000000EDsv00000000sd00000000bc06sc04i00"
    SYSFS{subsystem_device}=="0x0000"
    SYSFS{subsystem_vendor}=="0x0000"
    SYSFS{vendor}=="0x10de"

  looking at the device chain at '/sys/devices/pci0000:00':
    BUS==""
    ID=="pci0000:00"
    DRIVER=="unknown"

As you can see, I have highlighted the 'Driver' and 'SYSFS(Vender)' entries. The driver entry will reflect the type of card you are using. This will always be the 'cx8800' for the Hauppauge Nova-T cards.
We will use the 'SYSFS{vendor}' entry to uniquely identify the remote control when we assign a static Event number. Make a note of your 'SYSFS(vender)=ID' because we will use it in the next step. For reference, my SYSFS(vender) is "0x14f1", which will probably be the same for all Nova-T cards.

Now we need to create a rule to map SYSFS(vender) to an Event ID. To do this, enter the command below.

sudo nano /etc/udev/rules.d/10-local.rules

Copy and paste the following into the new file.

KERNEL=="event*",SYSFS{vendor}=="0x14f1",SYMLINK="input/irremote"

IMPORTANT: Replace "0x14f1" with your own SYSFS(vender), if different.

Press 'CTRL+X', then 'Y', followed by 'Enter' to save and close the file.

Now we need to restart UDEV with the following command.

sudo /etc/init.d/udev restart

To confirm the configuration is a success, enter the following command.

ls -l /dev/input

If all has gone well, you should see an output similar to what you see below.

total 0
crw-rw---- 1 root root 13,  64 2006-10-02 22:27 event0
crw-rw---- 1 root root 13,  65 2006-10-02 22:27 event1
crw-rw---- 1 root root 13,  66 2006-10-02 22:27 event2
crw-rw---- 1 root root 13,  67 2006-10-02 22:27 event3
crw-rw---- 1 root root 13,  68 2006-10-02 22:27 event4
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root       6 2006-10-02 22:27 irremote -> event3
crw-rw---- 1 root root 13,  63 2006-10-02 22:27 mice
crw-rw---- 1 root root 13,  32 2006-10-02 22:27 mouse0
crw-rw---- 1 root root 13, 128 2006-10-02 22:27 ts0

PART 2: Installing The Lirc Server


We need to install lirc, the Linux Infra-Red Receiver. Lirc will handle all of the communication between your remote control and your computer

sudo aptitude install lirc

Time for another little test! You will need to have two terminals open at the same time to perform this test. In the first terminal, type what you see below

sudo /usr/sbin/lircd -H dev/input -d /dev/input/irremote -n

And in the second terminal, type:

irw

Press some buttons on the remote control and you should see some output in one of the terminals. Once you have done with that, press CTRL+C to finish.



PART 3: Configuration Files


You need to download the zip file attached to this post and extract it to reveal the "lircd.conf" and "hardware.conf" configuration files. You need to move these files to /etc/lirc

sudo chown root:root hardware.conf lircd.conf

sudo mv lircd.conf /etc/lirc

sudo mv hardware.conf /etc/lirc

Finally, activate the Lirc server by typing:

sudo /etc/init.d/lirc start

PART 4: Installing The KDE Lirc Front End, IRKICK


The next thing we need to do is install the KDE front end for lirc, called IRKICK.

sudo aptitude install kdelirc

NOTE: For this very reason, this guide is for Kubuntu users only. I am not aware of a GNOME front end for Lirc. But if you know of one, this is when you should install it.



PART 5: Key Mapping


Go to the K menu, point to Utilities and click on KDE Lirc Server (IRKICK).

If you don't see it there, you may have to wait a couple of seconds, or reboot your computer.

Look over at your taskbar and you will see a little antenna. If your configuration is a success, the antenna will be surrounded by red radiowaves.

This icon will light up whenever a button is pressed on the remote control. Press a few buttons now to test it for yourself!

All that is left to do now is to configure the buttons on the remote control to perform a specific action.
Right click the antenna icon in your taskbar and select configure. Click the add button on the right hand side and a wizard will begin and guide you through the rest!



PART 6: Starting IRKICK Automatically with KDE


This is actually quite simple. Right click the IRKICK icon in the taskbar and choose 'Quit'. A notice pops up asking if you would like IRKICK to start automatically with KDE. Simply click OK.

Enjoy!





***********************************************
Acknowledgements:
Thanks go out to the author of this guide, from which my own guide is based
Thanks to James Muscatt for helping out at Hauppauge forums.

[jon_benge]

FIXED IN VERSION 2.0

NOTE

Kubuntu has a habit of swapping the input event numbers after every restart. Your Hauppauge remote control might be assigned Event3 at first, but the next time you reboot you might find it at Event2.

If this happens, your mouse or keyboard will lock up and you will have to restart the computer. The only fix for this is not to start IRKICK automatically with KDE. First check what Event number your Hauppauge remote is assigned, and if it's the same as before you can safely start IRKICK.

I have not found a proper fix for this yet.

[jon_benge]

Does anyone know if there is an updated Kaffeine & Amarok extension for IRKICK?

I've found that the current extensions are missing quite a few functions from those apps

[hpne]

Thank you for a great howto! I finally got my Hauppauge hvr 1100 remote working with your help However, I have the same problem as you: usually my mouse freezes when I start irkick. Help needed

[jon_benge]

Thank you for a great howto! I finally got my Hauppauge hvr 1100 remote working with your help However, I have the same problem as you: usually my mouse freezes when I start irkick. Help needed

It could be that your Hauppauge Remote Control Event number has changed.

Check it using the command:

cat /proc/bus/input/devices

BTW, have you recently plugged in a new Joypad or other input device? Doing so generally upsets the current event number order. For example, my Hauppauge Remote Control is usually assigned Event3. However, when I plug in my Saitek Joypad, my remote control event number becomes 4 - which causes the mouse lockups etc

As I said, I am still looking for a fix to this

[hpne]

It could be that your Hauppauge Remote Control Event number has changed.

Check it using the command:

cat /proc/bus/input/devices

BTW, have you recently plugged in a new Joypad or other input device? Doing so generally upsets the current event number order. For example, my Hauppauge Remote Control is usually assigned Event3. However, when I plug in my Saitek Joypad, my remote control event number becomes 4 - which causes the mouse lockups etc

As I said, I am still looking for a fix to this

Nope, I don't have any other input devices plugged in. Also the event number of my remote does not change after restart. It seems that the mouse problem has disappeared (don't know how), but I have another issue: after every reboot my remote dies; there is no signal at all. I have to remove lirc and reinstall it; then it works again. It seems that something is not loading when the system restarts...

[jon_benge]

Have you configured IRKICK to start automatically with KDE? Follow Part 6 of my tutorial again.

If that still doesn't help, you can try restarting Lirc manually by typing:

sudo /etc/init.d/lirc start

And you can get Lirc to re-read it's configuration files by typing:

sudo /etc/init.d/lirc reload

Also, if you mouse locks up again in the future, you can stop lirc by typing:

sudo /etc/init.d/lirc stop

[ElrohirMacBeorn]

Kubuntu has a habit of swapping the input event numbers after every restart. Your Hauppauge remote control might be assigned Event3 at first, but the next time you reboot you might find it at Event2.
[...]
I have not found a proper fix for this yet.

First, thanks for the great Howto, finally I got my remote to work. Regarding the swapping of input event numbers, I found a solution which worked for my at once on http://parker1.co.uk/mythtv_tips.php

Elrohir

[jon_benge]

Thanks.

I've added the changes to the guide.

[closet geek]

Just wanted to say thank you, your tutorial helped me get everything up and running smoothly!

cg