remote control

I just got a remote control for my computer, and it is so sweet. I don't have to get up to adjust the volume between each podcast, and I have it all hooked up to MPlayer, amixer and Enlightenment.

I decided to get the Microsoft Media Center Remote, it hooks up via USB to your computer, and is well supported under Linux. It has a very nice ergonomic button layout and feel in your hand, which is the most important thing.

Under Fedora 8, you first need to get the atrpms yum repository installed. To do this, you first import the atrpms keys:

rpm --import http://ATrpms.net/RPM-GPG-KEY.atrpms

and then put the following lines in /etc/yum.conf:

[atrpms]
name=Fedora Core $releasever - $basearch - ATrpms
baseurl=http://dl.atrpms.net/f$releasever-$basearch/atrpms/stable
gpgkey=http://ATrpms.net/RPM-GPG-KEY.atrpms
gpgcheck=1

Then, you install lirc with yum:

yum install lirc lirc-lib lirc-lib-devel

and install the module into your kernel:

modprobe lirc_mceusb2

Then, get this file and copy it to /etc/lircd.conf:

http://lirc.sourceforge.net/remotes/mceusb/lircd.conf.mceusb

After this, you start lircd:

/etc/rc.d/init.d/lircd start

To have it automated at startup,

1. Add the below to /etc/modprobe.conf

alias char-major-61 lirc_mceusb2

2. Set the service to start on boot:

/sbin/chkconfig lircd on

To check to see if your remote control is working, and what buttons correspond to which symbols, type:

irw

When you press buttons on your remote control, you'll see something like:

siddhidatri 144 [~] % irw
000000037ff07bed 00 ChanUp mceusb
000000037ff07bec 00 ChanDown mceusb
000000037ff07bec 01 ChanDown mceusb
000000037ff07bec 02 ChanDown mceusb
000000037ff07bf1 00 Mute mceusb
000000037ff07bf1 01 Mute mceusb
000000037ff07be9 00 Play mceusb
000000037ff07be9 01 Play mceusb
000000037ff07be9 02 Play mceusb
000000037ff07bf1 00 Mute mceusb
000000037ff07bf1 01 Mute mceusb
000000037ff07bfe 00 One mceusb
000000037ff07bfe 01 One mceusb
000000037ff07bfd 00 Two mceusb
000000037ff07bfd 01 Two mceusb
000000037ff07bfd 02 Two mceusb
000000037ff07bfc 00 Three mceusb
000000037ff07bfc 01 Three mceusb

To get MPlayer to listen to your remote control, enable LIRC support when you build it:

cd MPlayer-1.0rc1/
./configure --prefix=/usr/sness/mplayer --enable-lirc
make
make install

To get other programs, like eesh from Enlightenment to listen to your remote control, use irexec. You configure irexec by adding definitions to this file.

My current ~/.lircrc looks like:

begin
   button = VolUp
   prog   = irexec
   repeat = 1
   config = amixer -c 0 -- sset Master playback 1+
end
begin
   button = VolDown
   prog   = irexec
   repeat = 1
   config = amixer -c 0 -- sset Master playback 1-
end
begin
   button = ChanUp
   prog   = mplayer
   repeat = 1
   config = volume 1
end
begin
   button = ChanDown
   prog   = mplayer
   repeat = 1
   config = volume -1
end
begin
   button = Mute
   prog   = mplayer
   repeat = 0
   config = mute
end
begin
   button = Pause
   prog   = mplayer
   repeat = 0
   config = pause
end
begin
   button = Home
   prog   = mplayer
   repeat = 0
   config = pause
end
begin
   button = Skip
   prog   = mplayer
   repeat = 0
   config = seek 1000
end
begin
   button = Replay
   prog   = mplayer
   repeat = 0
   config = seek -1000
end
begin
   button = More
   prog   = mplayer
   repeat = 0
   config = osd
end
begin
   button = Rewind
   prog   = mplayer
   repeat = 1
   config = seek -10
end
begin
   button = Forward
   prog   = mplayer
   repeat = 1
   config = seek +10
end
begin
   button = Play
   prog   = mplayer
   repeat = 1
   config = play
end
begin
   button = Stop
   prog   = mplayer
   repeat = 1
   config = quit
end
begin
   button = Enter
   prog   = irexec
   repeat = 0
   config = /bin/zsh -c 'xscreensaver & ; xscreensaver-command -activate'
end
begin
   button = Clear
   prog   = irexec
   repeat = 0
   config = xscreensaver-command -exit
end
begin
   button = Guide
   prog   = irexec
   repeat = 0
   config = /bin/zsh -c 'eesh -e "goto_desktop 1" && eesh -e "goto_area 0 0"'
end
begin
   button = RecTV
   prog   = irexec
   repeat = 0
   config = /bin/zsh -c 'eesh -e "goto_desktop 3" && eesh -e "goto_area 0 1"'
end
begin
   button = LiveTV
   prog   = irexec
   repeat = 0
   config = /bin/zsh -c 'eesh -e "goto_desktop 3" && eesh -e "goto_area 0 0"'
end
begin
   button = DVD
   prog   = irexec
   repeat = 0
   config = /bin/zsh -c 'eesh -e "goto_desktop 0" && eesh -e "goto_area 1 1"'
end