XBOX DVD IR Receiver

The Xbox DVD IR receiver (both Microsoft original and generic) can be used as an USB IR receiver with LIRC and MythTV. LIRC support is included in the lirc_atiusb module.

Hardware Modifications

The IR Receiver obviously does not plug directly into a standard USB port without some modifications being made. Fortunately, the ports on an Xbox are only modified usb ports, so all Xbox hardware is basically USB compatible hardware.

There are several guides online that discuss how to physically modify the receiver so that it can be plugged into a standard USB port. [1] [2]

You can also buy an extension cable on ebay that plugs into the controller ports on the front of the Xbox and has a socket for the receiver to plug into on the other end. By cutting the male end of the cord off and connecting the loose wires to a cable with a male USB plug at the end, you have a nice long USB to Xbox input extension cable. For people that decide to go this route, the pictures below may be helpful since the Xbox extension cables don't seem to use standard USB colored wiring.

Fedora 8 Setup

Since I have only used this remote with Fedora, that is all that I can provide detailed help with. Other packages should use a similar procedure.

Blacklist the xpad Module

Xpad is a driver included in Linux that allows the use of Xbox gamepads. For LIRC to work correctly with the Xbox IR receiver, this driver cannot be loaded. In order to prevent this from happening, add the following line to /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist:

blacklist xpad