[mythtv-users] Mythtv on Xbox

[chris at cpr.homelinux.net]

On Mon, Oct 31, 2005 at 07:32:56AM -0800, Ben Dash wrote:
> I'm just finishing off a gentoo mythfrontend xBox and
> am running into problems with lirc for the DVD remote.

I'm starting to wonder if maybe there isn't different versions of the
dongle floating around.  I bought just the dongle (loose) at a
used-hardware store and programmed my everything-but-the-kitchen-sink
remote to send RCA codes.  I am able to move the mouse around on the
screen and left-click using the navigation buttons, but the action
buttons for play/stop/FF/REW didn't do anything.  I use a USB keyboard
with my XBox 99% of the time so I didn't bother chasing down the
problem.  Last night I decided I would see how the XBox plays DVDs
natively.  As with MythTV, I could navigate the DVD menu to select the
subtitles, etc. and start the movie.  And just like MythTV, the pause
button didn't do what I expected.  I found that *every* button on the
remote (other than the navigation buttons) would cause the DVD to go
back to the root menu.  I don't think it was a case of having the wrong
RCA emulation in the remote because (1) there's only one RCA code and
(2) if it was sending the wrong codes the XBox should ignore it the same
way any other IR-receiver ignores codes it doesn't understand.  If I was
a conspiracy theorist, I'd suggest that Microsoft has "embraced and
extended" the IR receiver so that it's only compatible with their
transmitter.

I guess the next step is to use the lirc snoop to see what codes the
dongle is actually reporting.  I could change the lircd mappings but
that won't solve the native DVD player problem.

BTW, it's really quite easy to make your own XBox<>USB converter cable.

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