Flirc

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Flirc

Flirc.jpg

Flirc is a small usb device that plugs into your computer and pairs with your same television remote. There is a setup process to do the pairing and the software runs on Apple, Windows, and Linux.

The benefit with flirc is that you don't need an extra remote for your living room.

The device works by pairing remote buttons with keyboard keys. Given that all media center apps, including mythtv, use keyboard keys, there are no special steps needed to have your remote control the application. It will just work.

You can do advanced things like pairing a remote button with something like the following: shift+ctrl+F1. You can set up your OS to do something with this keyboard sequence, like restart mythtv, re-scan a directory, put your computer to sleep, etc.

People coming to Flirc for the first time may struggle with questions like - where does the configuration file go? Which user should you run the configuration as? Do I have to worry about device permissions? The important thing to know here is that the configuration is stored within the device. One uses the graphical application to associate keys on the remote with letters/numbers/symbols that could be obtained by pressing keyboard keys. The results of this process are stored within the device. Once that is done, having the Flirc plugged in is like having an extra keyboard plugged in - it works the same no matter which user is logged in to the console. You can even open a terminal window and press your remote keys to see what the Flirc is typing. You may, if you wish, save the configuration to an external file, which can be handy if you want to use different remotes with your Flirc.

One other thing to know about Flirc is it has some preconfigured profiles in it. If your device matches one of those exactly, you may be ok to select that profile. But for many mythtv users, with some generic TV remote, the 'Full Keyboard' option is the best bet; draw up a table of your remote keys and consult the Keybindings#Default_Keyboard_commands wiki page to figure out what keyboard keys to associate with each.


The Flirc Home Page

FLIRC in the UK/EU

For all UK/EU residents, FLIRC is now available via CPC