Question about 3rd party remotes

I have a working CE on Tanix TX3 S905X3 and thought I’d try using a 3rd party remote with it. I read the dcumentation on the wiki but can’t for the life of me figure out how to determine whether the default setup is using AMremote or MesonIR so I can proceed.

What did I miss in the docs?

Thanks

Ping @Betatester.
Default setup is about rc_maps or MesonIR. It actually boils down to this. If you only wanna use one remote that will be snappy use amremote. It is documented how to do it. If you want to use several remotes or be flexible use MesonIR aka rc_maps. Either way is ok.Correct me if I am wrong Betatester.

1 Like

CoreELEC uses Meson-IR by default and comes with a small selection of IR configurations built-in, hence, the remote might work out of the box.

Whether users wish to use amlogic or meson as a permanent method to control one or more Infra-Red remotes on a single device, entirely depends on their requirements, preferences and comfort levels in carrying out the steps required to write the configuration files.

By definition, there is no “better” or “worse” method. Simply put: AmRemote is a method developped by Amlogic, while Meson-IR is the brainchild of the Linux for Amlogic Project. Both methods rely on IR Remote Control Key Value Configuration File(s), which are small pieces of specific formatted text, used to assign events to IR remote controller key button signals.

While Amlogic has a bit of a steeper learning curve, it may pay off to master this method, because it also allows for setting key press intervals, delays and other factors, whereas Meson IR provides a more basic level of functionality.

How to write configuration files for either method is fully documented in the Remotes Wiki

A word of caution: while each method is capable of controlling multiple remotes, the use of both protocols simultaneously causes unpredictable issues.

So I’m trying to get the supplied remote working on a Vontar X4 box that I just received and have up and running on CE 19.5rc2 generic. At the outset, I see

CoreELEC (official): 19.5-Matrix_rc2 (Amlogic-ng.arm)
CoreELEC3:~ # ir-keytable
Found /sys/class/rc/rc0/ with:
Driver: meson-ir
Default keymap: rc-empty
Input device: /dev/input/event7
LIRC device: /dev/lirc0
Attached BPF protocols: Operation not supported
Supported kernel protocols: unknown other lirc rc-5 rc-5-sz jvc sony nec sanyo mce_kbd rc-6 sharp xmp cec irmp
Enabled kernel protocols: lirc nec rc-6
Name: meson-ir
bus: 25, vendor/product: 0000:0000, version: 0x0000
Repeat delay = 500 ms, repeat period = 125 ms

In the Remotes Repository, I see that the HK1 X3 remote looks just like the one included with the Vontar X4 so I copy the rc_maps.cfg to .storage and the table file to .storage/rc_keymaps. For good measure, I also copy HK1X3 to HK1X3.toml in the same folder and reboot.

Not only does the remote not work (which could have a myriad causes though it works in Android) but the output of ir-keytable hasn’t changed either, leading me to believe it hasn’t picked up the new table.

I don’t think there are any other remote related files

I even did the touch of remote.force_meson_ir in the two locations

http://ix.io/4dO3

Read here How to configure IR remote control

Don’t use .toml extension because you don’t have config file in this format.
And you have error in rc_maps.cfg file where only filename must be present without full path.

Made the changes but remote still doesn’t work

http://ix.io/4dOr

Post also journal

journalctl -l --no-pager | paste

http://ix.io/4dOt

Also, I checked all the keys in the table against the responses to key presses and they match

It should just work :frowning:

You can check that file /storage/.config/rc_keymaps/HK1X3 is UNIX formatted and not DOS.

Awesome catch!

It was indeed CRLF formatted because I used a cut-and-paste from the remote repository web pages into Windows. I really need to learn how to download files in RAW format.

Thanks a bunch.

1 Like

Better don´t use Windows to edit files.
Use vim or nano - You will never get CRLF trouble

Users are more comfortable with it and it is just fine editing files on Windows. Just correct editor is needed like metapad.

I use Notepad++ on Windows which has Windows and Unix mode; I just didn’t think about checking which one was being used

1 Like

This topic was automatically closed 14 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.