VRC-1100 Ortek Technology MCE Clone Remote
The VRC-1100 Ortek Vista MCE Remote is an inexpensive media center remote control that is bought at various retailers online. This remote includes a built in mouse. Out of the box everything seems to functions except programming the buttons can be kind of a pain, as it is detected as a wireless keyboard and mouse and is not detected by lircd, if you want to get this remote detected in lircd then read on.
The pages that helped me get this remote working were from [1], [2], and [3]
I wrote this as the information to get this working was a little scattered and outdated, if you follow these instructions your ortek remote will be recognized by lircd and MythTv however a few buttons still dont work. See the issues at the bottom of this page.
Getting Lircd to see it
1. First we need a different version of lircd.conf so backup your original
sudo cp /etc/lirc/lircd.conf /etc/lirc/lircd.conf.backup
then download this version that has been made to work with devinput
wget http://lirc.sourceforge.net/remotes/devinput/lircd.conf.devinput
then copy this over the old version (make sure you back it up incase you need it latter on
sudo cp lircd.conf.devinput /etc/lirc/lircd.conf
2.
Now your going to need to know what devices your remote uses, there should be two
so in a console type
cat /proc/bus/input/devices
the output will be something like
I: Bus=0003 Vendor=05a4 Product=9881 Version=0110 N: Name="HID 05a4:9881" P: Phys=usb-0000:00:04.0-1/input0 S: Sysfs=/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:04.0/usb3/3-1/3-1:1.0/input/input3 U: Uniq= H: Handlers=sysrq kbd event3 B: PROP=0 B: EV=120013 B: KEY=e080ffdf 1cfffff ffffffff fffffffe B: MSC=10 B: LED=7 I: Bus=0003 Vendor=05a4 Product=9881 Version=0110 N: Name="HID 05a4:9881" P: Phys=usb-0000:00:04.0-1/input1 S: Sysfs=/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:04.0/usb3/3-1/3-1:1.1/input/input4 U: Uniq= H: Handlers=kbd mouse0 event4 B: PROP=0 B: EV=17 B: KEY=1f0000 0 2020000 3878 d801d001 1e0000 0 0 0 B: REL=103 B: MSC=10
you need to scroll the list looking for your remote this is identified by the ''N: Name="HID 05a4:9881"'' line.
If you cant find "05a4:9881" then type in a console
lsusb
and find your ortek remote mine is shown below
Bus 003 Device 002: ID 05a4:9881 Ortek Technology, Inc.
once your have the identifier number redo the ''cat /proc/bus/input/devices'' like above
3.
Ok so once you have identified your devices from ''cat /proc/bus/input/devices''
you need to find the ''P: Phys='' line. From my example above the lines im looking for is
Phys=usb-0000:00:04.0-1/input0 Phys=usb-0000:00:04.0-1/input1
4. now we have are device phsical addess, now its time to configure our hardware.conf. If you are running ubuntu and installed lircd with apt-get then your hardware.conf will be located at '/etc/lirc/hardware.conf'
sudo nano /etc/lirc/hardware.conf
now you will need to make you hardware.conf look like the following but be sure to change the ''REMOTE_DEVICE='' line to reflect what you got from above
# /etc/lirc/hardware.conf # #Chosen Remote Control REMOTE="None" REMOTE_MODULES="" REMOTE_DRIVER="devinput" REMOTE_DEVICE="phys="usb-0000:00:04.0-1/input0"" REMOTE_SOCKET="/dev/lircd" REMOTE_LIRCD_CONF="/etc/lirc/lircd.conf" REMOTE_LIRCD_ARGS="" #Chosen IR Transmitter TRANSMITTER="None" TRANSMITTER_MODULES="" TRANSMITTER_DRIVER="devinput" TRANSMITTER_DEVICE="phys="usb-0000:00:04.0-1/input1"" TRANSMITTER_SOCKET="/dev/lircd" TRANSMITTER_LIRCD_CONF="/etc/lirc/lircd.conf" TRANSMITTER_LIRCD_ARGS="" #Enable lircd START_LIRCD="true" #Don't start lircmd even if there seems to be a good config file #START_LIRCMD="false" #Try to load appropriate kernel modules LOAD_MODULES="true" # Default configuration files for your hardware if any LIRCMD_CONF="" #Forcing noninteractive reconfiguration #If lirc is to be reconfigured by an external application #that doesn't have a debconf frontend available, the noninteractive #frontend can be invoked and set to parse REMOTE and TRANSMITTER #It will then populate all other variables without any user input #If you would like to configure lirc via standard methods, be sure #to leave this set to "false" FORCE_NONINTERACTIVE_RECONFIGURATION="false" START_LIRCMD=""
now restart lircd
sudo /etc/init.d/lirc restart
now type irw in a console, on some systems you might need to specify the socket ''/dev/lircd'' this will be in hardware.conf under the ''REMOTE_SOCKET= line
irw
or
irw /dev/lircd
Press some buttons on your remote and you should see some output
if not then something else is wrong with your setup, go back and make sure you have followed the instructions
5.
So now if lirc has succefully recognized your remote (verified by using irw) all that is left to do is generate key mapping for mythtv
you could do this by running, but read below.
mythbuntu-lirc-generator
but it has some bugs (you should try mine below), it miss's some keys and makes duplicates
I tried this but then I ended up editing the completed file almost entirely, this is what I ended up with.
My lircrc file
This file needs to be placed in the file ''/.lirc/mythtv'' located in the home directory of the user that mythtv runs under. Just look around for a folder named ''.lirc'' (the period means its a hidden folder) that contains some files named mythtv, mplayer, xine, vlc, and so on, if you dont have a ''.lirc'' folder anywhere then create it. Then create the mythtv file inside of it(you can place application specific files within this folder) and paste in the contents below. If you had to create the file then you will need to link it by creating a file in your ''home dir/.mythtv'' folder called .lircrc inside this file put just enter one line ''include ~/.lirc/mythtv''
Feel free to edit this file how ever you want it pretty simple, the remote = line is the driver listed in irw, the last part when you press a button button = is what key was pressed on the remote config = is what key to send to mythtc this can also contain combos like CTRL+R and ALT+Esc, besure to capitalize the CTRL and ALT parts
This file isnt 100% Please read the issues at the end, if you know how to fix any of these problem the please edit this wiki.
# LIRCRC Auto Generated by Mythbuntu Lirc Generator # Author(s): Mario Limonciello, Nick Fox, John Baab # Created for use with Mythbuntu begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_KP0 config = 0 repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_KP1 config = 1 repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_KP2 config = 2 repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_KP3 config = 3 repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_KP4 config = 4 repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_KP5 config = 5 repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_KP6 config = 6 repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_KP7 config = 7 repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_KP8 config = 8 repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_KP9 config = 9 repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_BACKSPACE config = Backspace repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_F4 config = Escape repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_PAGEDOWN config = Down repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_PAGEUP config = Up repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_DOWN config = Down repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_ENTER config = Return repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_ESC config = Escape repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_F config = > repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_NEXTSONG config = N repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_HOMEPAGE config = M repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_LEFT config = Left repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_META config = M repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_MUTE config = | repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_PLAYPAUSE config = P repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_R config = R repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_B config = < repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_RIGHT config = Right repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_STOPCD config = S repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_UP config = Up repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_VOLUMEDOWN config = [ repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_VOLUMEUP config = ] repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_PREVIOUSSONG config = B repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_O config = Q repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_T config = Z repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_M config = F repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_I config = Y repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_E config = T repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_SLEEP config = U repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_KPASTERISK config = O repeat = 0 delay = 0 end begin remote = devinput prog = mythtv button = KEY_G config = S repeat = 0 delay = 0 end
Issues
A couple problems I'm still having with this remote is some of the buttons still don't work, although it is better than what it was before.
- Info button is not detected at all
- Some button cannot be assigned in mythtv because they send multiple keypress' to mythtv, button they have this problem are
- Start button
- Pound button
- Blue, Red, and Green
Example of issue When start button is pushed
000000008001007d 00 KEY_LEFTMETA devinput 0000000080010038 00 KEY_LEFTALT devinput 000000008001001c 00 KEY_ENTER devinput
each of these buttons are sent to lircd as if they where pushed individually
If you know how to fix any of these then please edit this page
I do not take credit for this im just simply putting it somewhere that is easy to find, as it took me awhile to find this info, also this is my first wiki entry ever so please forgive any errors