Gigaware IR Remote for PS3

In addition to the Sony BD Remote, the PlayStation 3 has a number of third party infrared USB remotes for use with it, including this one by Gigaware. Unlike other remotes, though, these (or at least the Gigaware remote) are recognized as game controllers when plugged into a computer, so they can be used without LIRC, making setup a little easier for newcomers.

Getting the Remote Working

Since the IR remote should be recognized by Linux as a game controller, setting up it up will be very much akin to setting up a joystick for use with MythTV (Joystick Control).

Once you know the remote is properly recognized, you will have to map keyboard commands to the buttons. For this, I used a program called QJoyPad ([1]).

After installing QJoyPad, you need to actually assign each button on the remote to a hotkey. Here is what the configuration file for a remote may look like:

# QJoyPad 3.4 Layout File

Joystick 1 {
   Axis 6: +key 114, -key 113
   Axis 7: +key 116, -key 111
   Button 1: key 9
   Button 2: key 36
   Button 3: key 22
   Button 4: key 58
   Button 5: key 111
   Button 6: key 116
   Button 7: key 113
   Button 8: key 114
   Button 9: key 31
   Button 10: key 33
   Button 11: key 95
   Button 12: key 76
}