[mythtv-users] Re: Kernel src, ati_remote, 2.6.12 kernel

[Mercury Morris]

On 7/30/05, Michael T. Dean <mtdean at thirdcontact.com> wrote:
> Mercury Morris wrote:
> 
> >On 7/30/05, Michael T. Dean <mtdean at thirdcontact.com> wrote:
> >
> >
> >>The ATI Remote Wonder is just an X10 USB remote (NVIDIA also has a
> >>flavor of the same remote hardware).
> >>
> >>With the ATI Remote Wonder, you have to choose between the kernel driver
> >>... or LIRC ... and create a
> >>LIRC config that's appropriate for all your applications ...
> >>(You may have noticed my bias toward using LIRC.)
> >>
> >I have an ATI Remote Wonder, and I use it as a radio frequency
> >device.  Your post, as well as quite a few others I've read in the
> >last month or so, seem to indicate that it can be used as an IR
> >device.  At least that's how I interpret the references to LIRC.
> >
> >Maybe I'm completely confused, but if you wouldn't mind,
> >could you point me in the direction of learning how to use
> >the ATI Remote Wonder as an IR (InfraRed) device ?
> >
> >
> Actually, the RW only does RF.  The "I" (for Infrared) in LIRC is an
> unfortunate remnant of the projects original/main purpose--to make IR
> remotes work with Linux.  However, LIRC has been extended to include
> modules for other types of remotes--including the X10 USB remotes which
> use RF signals.  (Maybe we should call it the Linux Incredible Remote
> Control package, instead. ;)
> 
> Some of the other flavors of X10 remotes (i.e. the X10 Lola Multimedia
> Remote) also include an IR transmitter (in the remote, not the
> receiver), which allows you to program the remote to send commands to
> your TV, A/V receiver, etc.  So, basically, you're transmitting RF
> signals to your computer, then you press the "TV" button on the remote
> to switch to IR mode with the TV commands and turn on the TV, then you
> press "Computer" to switch to RF mode to tell Myth to play a recording,
> then you press "Aux" (or whatever) to switch to IR mode with the A/V
> receiver commands to adjust the volume, then you press "Computer" to
> switch to RF mode to tell Myth to adjust timestretch...  Wow.  That's
> way too much work!!!
> 
> As long as you can talk to your Myth box, it's easy to set it up to pass
> along commands to other devices.  I'm using my ATI RW to send signals to
> the Myth box and it sends signals--via a homebrew IR blaster--to my
> other devices as required (i.e. for changing the volume on my A/V
> receiver, powering on my TV or A/V receiver, etc.).  This allows me to
> move the entertainment center to another room and have the cleanest of
> all possible home-theater setups--just a screen and speakers in the
> viewing room while still being able to control it from any room in the
> house.  (Beats a "looks-good-in-an-entertainment-center" PC case any
> day...  IMHO, the ugliness isn't the case in the entertainment center,
> it's the entertainment center itself.)  (OK, as you may have guess by
> the fact that my screen is in a different room from my Myth box, I
> actually push the power button on the TV myself...  I only have one
> serial port, and am afraid of over-driving it by hooking in both an IR
> blaster for the components and a simple IR transmitter for powering
> on/off the TV.)

Mike, 
Thank you SO much for the explanation.

All this time I kept thinking, "How can these idiots keep
referring to the ATI Remote Wonder as an IR device?",
because I have one and it emits NO IR whatsoever.

Now I see that it should be possible for me to abandon
the kernel module, ati_remote, in favor of LIRC support.
I much prefer LIRC support, which I use in another MythTV
box, because I can execute whole commands and scripts 
with it.  With ati_remote kernel module, all I can do is send
keystrokes, which makes it very hard to execute scripts.

Your entertainment setup sounds extremely nice, quite
clearly the "cleanest of all possible home-theater setups".
Congratulations on building what sounds like an amazing
system.

Thanks again for clearing up my confusion.

-- 
MM