[mythtv-users] New version of irwatch available

Ronald Frazier ron at ronfrazier.net
Sat Jan 2 21:34:26 UTC 2010


Quite a while ago, I released my initial version of irwatch, and I
know at least a handful of users here are using it. I just wanted to
say that I've released a new version. It's much easier to configure
and is more extensible for adding additional functionality.

So what is irwatch? Simply put, it watches the lirc output until it
sees certain events (like a sequence of button presses, or a button
held for a specific period of time) and then takes actions depending
on the action. You can use this to things like reboot the system when
a specific 5 button sequence is entered. The script ties into myth via
both the perl bindings and the network control port. It contains logic
that makes it really easy for you to do things like giving a remote
button special functionality on certain screens. So you can configure
it so that a button is "bound" to one action on the watch recording
screen, a different button when watching livetv, and a 3rd different
button when watching a DVD. Or you can make it so that a button has
dual functionality....initiates 1 action when you press it, and then a
second action when you hold it down for full second. That lets you
pack in more functionality into a limited number of buttons.

As I mentioned, you can add on functionality through plugins. One
example of this that I've done for myself is to add a plugin that can
be used to control an Aquos TV with a serial port. That way I can
control the volume/power/muting, and then assign specific key
sequences to switch directly to the various inputs.

The script and additional info can be found on my website:
http://www.ronfrazier.net/mythtv/0.22/index.html#IRWatch


-- 
Ron


More information about the mythtv-users mailing list