you want it to be /dev/lirc , instead of /dev/lirc0

thats what the default lircd looks for, but i dont know why you have /dev/lirc/0 .

my install shows /dev/lirc0 by default then i link it to /dev/lirc

then everything seems to work.

im lost at this point.

Hmmm...if irexec works (starts up xine) but not xine, I think the problem is with your xine build. Do you have another application on the same partition you can test lirc with?

Another thought: stop lircd, and start it manually in a terminal (not as a daemon). See if there's any output after trying the remote with xine.

I don't know either. Would you please post the commands you run when booting?

I was thinking about trying that. There is mplayer. I don't think I have any lircrc entries for mplayer. I'll have to find a config file.

Something that has always bothered me is I never see any device listed in /proc/bus/input/devices. Perhaps that is because the device is USB, perhaps not. The device is listed in lsusb, lspci, lshal, and the lirc_mceusb kernel module loads automatically.

My microsoft USB transceiver registers in /dev/lirc/0 as well. Don't worry about it: either fix it in /etc/lircd.conf or create a link to /dev/lircd from it. Also, if your IR blaster works well enough to receive even one command and starts up xine, your hardware's probably fine. I think the slackbuild mplayer has lirc support, so hopefully you can test with it. There's examples of mplayer lircrc files all over the web: just change your remote to mceusb and your button to whatever it says in your lircd.conf file and you should be fine.

well just so i know what i have done to my system, i did a complete reinstall of slackware.

Same issue, xine-ui packaged with slackware-13.0 doesnt work for me
with the default lircd.conf and a custom made lircd.conf.

I once again removed xine-ui and compiled the exact same way i posted in the #2 post of this thread.

And both the default lircd.conf and the custom one i had made both work
after restarting lircd.

So once again i would have to assume its xine-ui not built with lirc enabled.

and i had changed the .lircrc file twice while changing between my lircd.conf to match the default and custom config.

I agree. This is starting to take shape much like the audio over HDMI problem I had. The basics work but not the specifics. I had help to get that other problem out of the way and much the same is happening here.

I created an mplayer section in /etc/lircrc. I restarted lircd and irexec (-d /etc/lircrc). Mplayer also does not respond to the remote.

I believe what you report on your box. Right now all I know here is I recompiled xine with the --enable-lirc option and mplayer also does not work. Perhaps a day or two away from the problem might help.

Edit: A thought. I checked the lircd log. Whenever I run the irw command, the log reports 'accepted new client on /var/run/lirc/lircd'. With version 0.8.6pre2, that is the location of the lircd socket. When I run xine or mplayer and test the remote control I see no messages in the log. Perhaps neither app is finding the socket? In previous versions the socket was located at /dev/lircd.

Update: Some good news in a oddball sense. I successfully built xbmc 9.04.1 using a great build script from larryhaja. Absolutely stunning to see. The first thing I did after xbmc started was to grab the remote control but nothing happened. Thus I have confirmed three apps that do not respond to the remote control: xine, mplayer, and now xbmc. As the remote control and receiver works with the irw command, I have to suspect something fundamental for why no apps can see the device.

Update: I created a sym link to the new socket location created by 0.8.6pre2:

ln -s /var/run/lirc/lircd /dev/lircd

I now can use xbmc with the remote control!

XBMC must somehow access the lircd socket directly. I really don't know.

Xine and mplayer still do not respond. I'd like to get that remedied, but now that I have XBMC as a front-end for viewing, I would much rather use that interface. XBMC is very nice. I'm much impressed!

Well Woodsman i followed your example and enabled lirc in the xine-ui.Slackbuild and it works fine this way. I didnt know the sources had build scripts like that.

Learn something new everyday.

Also got Mplayer working this way also.

Just to narrow down the issue, have you tried running xine or mplayer without irexec running? I'm wondering if maybe that is interfering. Also, use the lircrc I posted previously (with just the xine entries in it) and put that in ~/.lircrc. If you have an lircrc in /etc, rename it temporarily. Also, kill lircd and restart it. Make sure only one is running. Then pop in a dvd, and start xine from the command line like this:
see if you get any output from xine about lirc not working
if you get an error like unable to open xine, try running xine without the -V xv option.

Okay, I tried that. Still no response with xine but XBMC responds perfectly.

Tried that too. Xine did not respond. I could not test mplayer because the ~/.lircrc file contains only those few xine commands. XBMC still worked.

Okay, I tried that too. I had been using AVI and ISO files to test. So I figured trying a physical DVD might be different. No difference. I saw messages about libdvdread and libdvdcss.

Next I temporarily renamed the ~/.xine directory. No change, no lirc messages. Xine does respond to the mouse pointer, which is why I considered a fresh xine configuration might help.

Although I am discovering that XBMC is a true treat, I'm still pursuing a solution for xine. I plan to buy a wireless mouse for the system but using a remote control for quick video viewing with xine would be nice too.

I don't know how XBMC intercepts the lirc functions but I suspect the developers do something directly with lirc rather than indirectly through irexec like most apps.

After running Xine with a DVD, did you see any video output? If not, do you have libdvdcss installed?

Oh yes, sorry about that. I have the libdvdcss package installed. The DVD played fine and I could use the mouse to select subtitles, etc. Just no response to the remote control.

I'm going to reboot into 12.2 and repeat the process there. I'm beginning to think there is some kind of bug with how lirc 0.8.6pre2 works. I know so little about lirc that I don't know whether this is a PEBKAC problem or a bug with prelease software. I do know that XBMC 9.04.1 works fine (and what a pleasure the program is!) as does the irw command. For whatever reason the codes are not being passed to external apps.

Edit: Okay, same results in 12.2. Messages about using libdvdcss and libdvdread getting keys and then the video plays as expected. No response to the remote control. The irw command works fine too. I later loaded irexec again as a daemon with /etc/lircrc with the same non-results. I don't have xbmc installed there.

No messages in either system about lirc. In 12.2 I'm using the stock xine package. In 13.0 I'm using a rebuilt package adding the --enable-lirc option in the build script.

When you enabled lirc in the xine-ui slackbuild , did you add it in this section ?


And this is where i enabled lirc in Mplayer

As vic has said , if irexec works then it still maybe not enabled
in both xine and mplayer. Its the only thing that makes sense right now.

Yes, my build script looks exactly the same.

I have not tried rebuilding mplayer. That would be a good step. I'm building now and will report later.

Makes sense to me too.

I'm curious how XBMC works with lirc without any lircrc entries.

while running Xine from the command line, do you see any output when you press Play or Pause on the remote?