[ubuntu-mythtv] Mythbuntu - Lirc Ideas

[Michael Haas]

Hi Guys,
>>  Instantly, all remotes that are supported by LIRC publicly are
>> supported in mythbuntu.  I've got backend code to sort out using the
>> correct lircd.conf as well as choosing the right drivers to be loaded.
>>
>>     

That sounds great. Does it really cover all hardware supported by LIRC
including all their pre-made lircd.conf files?

>> This leaves two outstanding issues:
>>
>> 1) Anything that needs a kernel module.
>> Kernel modules need to be recompiled after each kernel release.  We
>> can't just tell people to keep using the same one over and over.  We
>> need some possible solutions here how to avoid such a problem.  I Tried
>> to mail the UMC guys to ask on their progress getting it into the
>> kernel, but given the no response in the last two days, its probably
>> better at this point to carry on with alternate solutions.  So bring
>> them on in.
>>     
> The new way the GUI works, is by parsing this file for that information.
>
> Considering a kernel upgrade is normally followed by a reboot, an if
> statement comparing the kernel from the previous boot (uname -r > file)
> to current `uname -r`.  If they differ then the module can be rebuilt
> fairly easily.  This could be added to upstart very easily.
>
> I agree it's not the cleanest solution, but it's practical, and easily
> implementable and short work until better kernel support is available.
>
>   

I'm a little bit disappointed that I couldn't find a "hook" that'll let
you execute arbitrary commands after installing a new kernel (granted, I
didn't spend a lot of time looking). However, i found a "Post-Invoke"
option in apt.conf that might be useful. See
</usr/share/doc/apt/examples/configure-index.gz> line 265. It could be
used to check for a new kernel version every time after running dpkg and
calling m-a appropriately (with --kvers-list probably).
>   
>> 2) Lircrc config files.
>> The official lirc website doesn't ship these, but expects the end user
>> to sort it out instead.  Generating one for each lircd.conf would be
>> an
>> utter nightmare.  So any ideas how we can do such things on the fly?
>> It's not exactly a solution to just ship a few of them either.  It's
>> gotta be all or nothing.
>>     
>
> Lircrc config file should be no problem, and would certainly aid
> development if standardised to a single Lircrc.
>
>   
We could make a GUI where the user is presented with the most important
keys. For each key, they can press a button on their remote which would
be assigned to said key. I have a very ugly shell script that'll ask me
to enter a key and press a button on my remote. It's really easy to
create a lircrc that way.
A list of important keys can be obtained from keys.txt near the end of
the file. Of course, it should be possible for the user to enter
additional keys or have a two sets of keys: very important ones and less
important ones.

Another approach: just assign random keys to the lircd.conf entries and
leave it to the user to assign keys in mythcontrols.

There was a patch <http://svn.mythtv.org/trac/ticket/757> that made
MythTV use lirc buttons directly, bypassing .lircrc. It's oudated, but I
really like that approach.


>   
>> Lastly, see attached files.  This is how the gui is looking for lirc
>> in
>> the installer.
>>     
>
> Looks really good; I'll have to delve into the src to see how it
> works :) 
>
>
>   

Looks great! I can't wait to see it in action :)

Regards,

Michael