hauppauge hdpvr IR transmitter

mstrimel · 01-10-2021, 05:58 PM

I have an Hauppauge hdpvr 1212. It is a USB device that is automatically detected in dmesg. The trouble is with the remote control functionality, specifically, the IR blaster. I need the Hauppauge to send the channel change codes to my cable set-top box.

From everything I've read, the way to do this is through lirc. One it's correctly set up, one should be able to use the "irsend" command to manually test the ability of the blaster to send commands. However, I get the error "hardware unable to send commands" and "input/output error". I've checked that the relevant devices are writeable.
Here is some relevant output from my dmesg:

Code:

[   18.396141] rc rc0: lirc_dev: driver ir_kbd_i2c registered at minor = 0, scancode receiver, no transmitter
[   18.621860] rc rc1: lirc_dev: driver ir_kbd_i2c registered at minor = 1, scancode receiver, raw IR transmitter
[63174.884213] rc rc1: lirc_dev: driver ir_kbd_i2c registered at minor = 1, scancode receiver, raw IR transmitter

I think the first entry is an Hauppauge tv card I have that does not have a blaster. Thus, when I load lircd, I point it toward /dev/lirc1 rather than /dev/lirc0. I am able to receive IR pulses on the device using /dev/input/event13.

I think maybe I need to compile a module and/or a lirc driver for this device. Where would I find info about this? I feel like I have combed the internet and I can't seem to find documentation regarding support for this device in lirc.

If it helps, here is my lsmod parts that seem relevant to me:

Code:

mary@mythbox:/lib/modules/5.4.0-60-generic/kernel/drivers/staging$ lsmod | grep haup
rc_hauppauge           16384  0
rc_core                53248  5 ir_kbd_i2c,bttv,rc_hauppauge

Help?

uteck · 01-10-2021, 10:10 PM

I had a device like this, but I used the firewire output to link to the cable box, then I used a C program I found somewhere to send the change channel commands over the firewire to the tuner.
Not sure if that helps you. It has been awhile since I stopped using MythTV as I stream everything now.

mstrimel · 01-11-2021, 09:17 AM

Thanks. My set-top box does not have a firewire port, which leaves me with IR blasting.

Various logs report that my IR device is using driver ir_kbd_i2c

Linux seems so well documented. Where would I find info re: whether ir_kbd_i2c supports blasting on my HDPVR? Also, is there a list of the options that you can use with a module? Maybe seeing the options associated with ir_kbd_i2c would tell me something.

Hours of googling and I just find little scraps of info, mostly outdated, none blessed by the authors of this driver/module. I would be surprised if I couldn't at least find a list of the options for it.

Thanks for any hints!

uteck · 01-11-2021, 09:32 AM

Have you taken a look at these steps? Looks like there a separate firmware for the IR blaster. https://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Hauppaug...mitter_Support

mstrimel · 01-11-2021, 11:14 AM

Thank you - yes, I have saved the firmware as that wiki suggests. The wiki seems out of date though:

1. LIRC no longer has a hardware.conf file (from what I've read, and my system doesn't have one)
2. The zilog driver is no longer the operative driver. From what I've read, it's been replaced by ir-kbd-i2c

So it seems there should be an easy way to determine if ir-kbd-i2c has the support, but I'm stuck.

mstrimel · 01-13-2021, 11:54 AM

Well, I would have liked to know the answer but it's now moot. dmesg advised me that IR transmitting is "known to cause problems" with recording on the hdpvr driver, and sure enough, when I tested it the recordings would drop after two or three minutes. Disabling IR support resolved those problems. So I guess I will need to throw a little money at the problem and buy a separate IR blaster rather than use the native Hauppauge one. Oh well.