USB-UIRT, WinXP and WinLIRC

[edwaugh]

Hi,

I'd like to use USB-UIRT to interface my hifi remote to my pc just for simple tasks like playing and skipping music tracks. I'd also like to do it as cheap as possible. I bought a USB-IrDA adaptor but the manufacturer don't make a driver that allows you to see the data as a com port so I can't interface it to something like WinLIRC although the hardware spec. should support a tv remote. Does anyone know a way of making this work without device specific support from something like Girder?

Anyway, I'd like to use USB-UIRT with WinLIRC or something similar (free), is this possible? Does the USB-UIRT driver let you see the incoming data on a com port?

thanks very much

ed

[ahamilto]

[quote="edwaugh"]Hi,

I'd like to use USB-UIRT to interface my hifi remote to my pc just for simple tasks like playing and skipping music tracks. I'd also like to do it as cheap as possible. I bought a USB-IrDA adaptor but the manufacturer don't make a driver that allows you to see the data as a com port so I can't interface it to something like WinLIRC although the hardware spec. should support a tv remote. Does anyone know a way of making this work without device specific support from something like Girder?

Anyway, I'd like to use USB-UIRT with WinLIRC or something similar (free), is this possible? Does the USB-UIRT driver let you see the incoming data on a com port?

thanks very much

ed[/quote]

Ed,

I would say you probably want to use either USB-UIRT OR WinLIRC, but probably not both.

For WinLIRC you will want to build your reciever/transmitter or buy from either http://www.irblaster.info/ or http://iguanaworks.net/ir/

You probably will not be able to get WinLIRC software to drive USB-UIRT hardware.

My experience with WinLIRC was the only way to easily get codes from WinLIRC into a program is IREX. It sends the received command to the Window that has focus. The other way to get WinLIRC to communicate with a program is via TCP/IP. That is not very well documented anywhere that I could find, although many people have written Java and Python and other programs that are able to capitalize on it. Getting things out of a program into WinLIRC is difficult because the program that is bundled with WinLIRC (transmit.exe) only allows a single character to be sent at a time. Maybe those Java and Python programs would work for that, I don't know because I am mostly fed up with installing program after program to get some little function to work. So I never try any of them anymore. Also, transmit.exe was not included with the most recent WinLIRC zip file, you have to download and unzip the previous version. See http://homepage.ntlworld.com/markbb1/Winlirc.rtf for more details.

Having said all that, if you have/get some LIRC hardware and a USB-UIRT unit, you can probably use WinLIRC to get IR commands from your COM port into your program and USB-UIRT to get commands from your program out to your set top box. Or you can use USB-UIRT to get IR commands from your remote into your program and WinLIRC to get commands from your program out to your set top box. Your call, but you should be able to get either program to do what you want, shouldn't need both WinLIRC and USB-UIRT.

I have not messed with USB-UIRT hardware or software, but if I found that Girder was the only way to use USB-UIRT hardware with my setup, I wouldn't bother. The learning curve for Girder was too steep for me. But it might not be that difficult to you.

A.

[edwaugh]

hi ahamilto,

Thanks for the comprehensive response that's great. I think I've decided I might try and make my own. I might start out following one of the LIRC circuits and if I get really enthusiastic I might even make a USB version that should work with LIRC. I thinking of just using a PIC (www.microchip.com) to receive the IR signal and then to relay this on over USB using a FTDI232 chip (www.ftdi.com). This appears as a com port in windows and should make it easy to decode with something like LIRC. Does anyone think that people might be interested in a solution like that?

cheers

ed

[ahamilto]

[quote="edwaugh"]hi ahamilto,

Thanks for the comprehensive response that's great. I think I've decided I might try and make my own. I might start out following one of the LIRC circuits and if I get really enthusiastic I might even make a USB version that should work with LIRC. I thinking of just using a PIC (www.microchip.com) to receive the IR signal and then to relay this on over USB using a FTDI232 chip (www.ftdi.com). This appears as a com port in windows and should make it easy to decode with something like LIRC. Does anyone think that people might be interested in a solution like that?

cheers

ed[/quote]

Ed,

I seem to recall something being mentioned (might have been one of the WinLIRC pages on sourceforge) that WinLIRC won't work with USB devices that implement serial ports. But maybe your idea is a little different.

I am not sure that LIRC hardware is that popular these days, since the software requires realtime processing and only works well with lightly loaded CPUs. Since video processing is often CPU intensive, that does not make WinLIRC an optimum IR solution for TV applications.

Although I have used WinLIRC successfully with my setup, I might have just been lucky. I plan to try USB-UIRT software on my next generation TVPC.

If you can get your idea to work, post your results.

A.

[edwaugh]

hmmm, thats interesting. I think the usual LIRC IR serial adaptors won't work with a USB to serial adaptor because they toggle the DCD line rather than sending a byte of data. The PIC would translate the signal from the RF receiver into a byte which would then be transmitted on and appear to the PC like an 'A' character (for example) coming in over a serial port.

I'm a bit confused tho, are you saying that the software supplied with USB-UIRT allows me to do what I want? I.E. detect signals from my remote and act on to play songs etc... If so I would just order one today!

cheers

ed

[ahamilto]

[quote="edwaugh"]hmmm, thats interesting. I think the usual LIRC IR serial adaptors won't work with a USB to serial adaptor because they toggle the DCD line rather than sending a byte of data. The PIC would translate the signal from the RF receiver into a byte which would then be transmitted on and appear to the PC like an 'A' character (for example) coming in over a serial port.

I'm a bit confused tho, are you saying that the software supplied with USB-UIRT allows me to do what I want? I.E. detect signals from my remote and act on to play songs etc... If so I would just order one today!

cheers

ed[/quote]

Ed,

I believe that USB-UIRT support is included with some programs (like Got All Media, www.gallm.com). If you want to use one with other programs, you might need something like Girder to interface between the USB-UIRT and the other program, not sure myself as I don't own a USB-UIRT.

But basically WinLIRC (and LIRC receivers and transmitters) and USB-UIRTs fill the same need - getting infrared signals in and out of your PC so you can control your PC and your PC can control set top boxes.

That's about the extent of my knowledge of USB-UIRTs, although I am contemplating using one in my next generation TVPC instead of WinLIRC.

A.

[Bitmonster]

The USB-UIRT comes only with the needed driver. To make it actually useful you need a third-party application. There are many, as you can see on the About USB-UIRT web page. Some are commercial and some are free. EventGhost for example is free and is meant to control everything you want with an USB-UIRT (and other receivers/transmitters also).