NaderGator - PROJECTS :

Home Theater PC (HTPC) with IR reciever & remote

Date of this project: 10/17/2010
Do this project at your own risk. As with every electronic project, you may risk damaging your motherboard or
controller. I will not be responsible for it.
Yet anoher project based on my custom server box. This may be the final one for this case as a
home theater box (DVD player, Movie player, MP3 .. etc) with custom remote control.

there are a few software options available for this porject. Since I have low specs on this box ,
I decided to go with view movies & play audio CD's / DVD's only on this one. I do not need the
option to record movies like a "Tivo" box.

MYTHTV ..is a great linux option if you need to record tv shows .. used along with a TV
tuner/capture card like a Hauppauge or ATI all in wonder cards. GEEXBOX is the one I have
picked to be used with this project. It's a complete bootable Linux OS optimized to run fast
and supports the LIRC project to add remote control input.

My LCD TV has a RGB input for a standard VGA, so no problem there, I had to reflash the
BIOS of my MSI motherboard to ignore the keyboard since we will not be using it. instead I
programmed a FISHER vcr remote control to communicate with the IR receiver I have built
(serial port) see circuit below :
This is a very common serial port IR circuit. Basically, this circuit is a generic infra red receiver
that accepts most remote control signals in the 38K freq, to see supported remotes visit the
LIRC project page, chance are any remote you may have could be supported .. if not .. make your
own, like I did. I was able to fit this tiny circuit into a standard RS232 plug housing, see below :

I could not find a smaller voltage regulator from RadioShack, so I used the standard LM7805
(slightly bigger) , but you can also use the LM 78L05 with a smaller pakcage, pay attention to
the pinouts since they are slightly different... you can use any common 5V regulator .. for the IR
if have extracted an old one from a broken VCR and it worked great.

Next, after installing "GeeXboX" to the unit (pretty straightforeward) I had enabled FTP
access and assigned IP to the unit to be accessed remotely (to upload movies to the HDD) and
program the remote (LIRC config files) .. LIRC needs 3 config files to function properly.
Initialy, you want to tell lirc to use "logitech" remote for example, and "homemade" reciever ..
we will alter these settings later ...

files needed are :

1- lircd_logitech (remote config file for LIRC)

2- lircd_homemade (IR reciever driver - serial driver)
3- lircrc_logitech.conf (remote codes mapping to mplayer)

they are located in "/etc/lirc" and are already there .. I have used "logitech" as an example, but
will later modify it using "WinLirc" to read / learn remote codes... you do not need to do
anything with lircd_homemade driver .. I just mentioned it for clarity ..

Programming the remote (using WinLirc) :

connect the IR dungle you made, start WinLirc, on your windows PC, and chose raw codes to
read from the remote control, try pressing buttons on the remote, you should see codes as you
press, if you do, the circuit you built is working good : (use com1 or com2 depending on your
computer)
the rest is pretty much self explanatory, you need to click "learn" , follow the screen prompts
and eventually save you new config file somewhere, then click "Analyze" to convert raw codes
into something useful for LIRC.
your config file should look something like this :
#
# this config file was automatically generated
# using WinLIRC 0.6.5 (LIRC 0.6.1pre3) on Wed Oct 13 22:33:18 2010
#
# contributed by Nader
#
# brand: fisher
# model:
# supported devices:
#

begin remote

name fisher
bits 11
flags SPACE_ENC
eps 25
aeps 100

header 2423 554

one 1143 554
zero 669 554
ptrail 669
post_data_bits 8
post_data 0xC9
gap 13122
toggle_bit 0

begin codes
UP 0x00000000000004F5
DOWN 0x00000000000002F5
OK 0x0000000000000685
 end codes

end remote
once that is done, replace the contents of "lircd_logitech.conf" with this file, then edit
"lircrc_logitech" and replace the menu key assignments to your liking.. (names should match
extacly the way you have it in your .conf file (ex. UP, DOWN, OK .. etc)
begin
prog = mplayer
button = TV
config = run /usr/bin/tvswitch
end
begin
prog = mplayer
button = 5
config = pause
end
begin
prog = mplayer
button = 8
repeat = 1
config = seek -120
end
begin
prog = mplayer
button = 2
repeat = 1
config = seek 120
end
begin
prog = mplayer
button = 4
repeat = 1
config = seek -10
end
begin
prog = mplayer
button = 6
repeat = 1
config = seek 10
end
begin
prog = mplayer
button = 1
repeat = 1
config = volume 1
end
begin
prog = mplayer
button = 7
repeat = 1
config = volume -1
end
begin
prog = mplayer
button = FULL_SCREEN
config = osd
end
begin
prog = mplayer
button = MINIMIZE
config = menu toggle
end
begin
prog = mplayer
button = SOURCE
config = set_menu open_file
end
begin
prog = mplayer
button = OK
config = menu ok
end
begin
prog = mplayer
button = VOL-
config = menu cancel
end
begin
prog = mplayer
button = UP
repeat = 2
config = menu up
end
begin
prog = mplayer
button = DOWN
repeat = 2
config = menu down
end
begin
prog = mplayer
button = 3
config = audio_delay 0.1
end
begin
prog = mplayer
button = 9
config = audio_delay -0.1
end
we are done here, ftp those 2 files back to your linux box and restart it .. you should now be
able to use your remote control with GeexBox ... don't forget to plug in the IR receiver to the
COM port before you boot ..
 one nice thing about GeexBox is you can put your AVI
movies (or other formats) on a USB stick and plug it
into the box and open the files from the USB stick
and watch the movie .. no need to even copy it into the
hard drive .. it's plug & play !

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