I installed Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat) 32 bit on my ASRock Core 100HT, which I use as an “HTPC” (Home Theater PC) or “mediacenter”. For now I also use it as a NAS and a few other odd jobs. Everything I’ve tried so far worked out of the box, except infrared. I had to install the infrared driver in an inconvenient way, but it works too. This blog-post will mostly be about the remote.
What I have tested
The HTPC is connected to my TV by HDMI. It automatically chose HDMI output, and the right resolution for my TV (1360×768). I didn’t have any audio, so I clicked my way into audio settings and changed the output to “HDMI Stereo”, and then it worked like I wanted it. I haven’t tried VGA, optical audio out
It’s networked by WIFI (802.11b), no problems there. I haven’t tried 802.11n or wired network.
Reading DVD’s works. I haven’t tried CD or burning anything.
Infrared works with the supplied MCE remote. It probably works with almost any infrared remote, with a bit of work. I haven’t tried that yet.
My Logitech Harmony (programmable universal remote) works fine with the HTPC. I simply autodetected the MCE remote with the Harmony.
I can play 1080p h264 movies.
USB 2 works, haven’t tried USB 3 yet.
Oh, and I can turn the device on with the IR-remote.
Installing the infrared driver
ASRock has two Linux-downloads for the Core 100HT: Infrared driver for Ubuntu 10.4, and infrared driver for Ubuntu 10.10. The latter has a great manual, but there’s a lot of steps. The style in the manual is “click this, click that, type this, type that” etc., which I think is what most people want. I prefer a more terse syntax, with commands I can copy/paste to the terminal. Like this:
sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install lirc lirc-modules-source Remote control configuration: None IR transmitter, if present: None unzip -d /tmp/ "IR(10.10)2.6.35-22.zip" Install one of these, ignore errors: 32 bit: sudo dpkg -i /tmp/Ubuntu\ 10.10/lirc-nct677x-1.1.0-ubuntu10.10-kernel2.6.35.deb 64 bit: sudo dpkg -i /tmp/Ubuntu\ 10.10/lirc-nct677x-x64-1.1.0-ubuntu10.10-kernel2.6.35.deb Again, ignore errors: sudo dpkg -i /tmp/Ubuntu\ 10.10/lirc-nct677x-src-1.1.0-ubuntu10.10.deb cd /usr/src sudo dkms remove -m lirc -v 0.8.7~pre3 --all sudo dkms add -m lirc -v 0.8.7~pre3 sudo dkms build -m lirc -v 0.8.7~pre3 sudo dkms install -m lirc -v 0.8.7~pre3 --force sudo dpkg-reconfigure lirc Remote control configuration: Nuvoton Transceivers/Remotes IR transmitter, if present: None
Test by running the command "irw", and push some buttons on the remote. It should output the name of the buttons you press.
Using the remote
After installing the driver and confirming that it works, the remote still didn’t do anything. I haven’t studied how this is supposed to work, but after playing around a bit I’ve learning that it’s probably something like this: LIRC (Linux Infrared Remote Control) receives the infrared signal, recognizes which remote it is and which button it is, and then tells about it to anyone who wants to listen. In my case, nobody.
I started XBMC and made sure it knows I have a remote that doesn’t send keyboard signals, and then it worked.
For now, I only want one more feature: Starting XBMC with the remote.
Warning: I tried to configure LIRC with an easy GUI. I don’t remember the name, but it didn’t work and it destroyed what already worked. I removed the software and reinstalled the driver. Please comment or email me if you have anything to add here.
I created the file “~/.lircrc” with this content:
begin prog = irexec button = Home config = ps -e | grep xbmc >/dev/null || xbmc& repeat = 0 end
In english, if I understand correct: “If the program irexec wants to know that Home (big green button with the ) is pressed, give it the string from the ‘config’-line.”
irexec then executes the command, which is “if xbmc is not running, run it”.
The final step is to start irexec when the machine is booting, I simply did that with the Ubuntu “Startup Applications” function.
LIRC names of the remote buttons
…as defined by the driver from ASRocks website.
Aspect | Power | |||||
RecTV | Guide | LiveTV | DVD | |||
Record | Stop | |||||
Play | ||||||
Rewind | Forward | |||||
Pause | ||||||
Replay | Skip | |||||
Up | ||||||
Left | OK | Right | ||||
Down | ||||||
VolUp | ChanUp | |||||
VolDown | Home | ChanDown | ||||
Back | Mute | More | ||||
One | Two | Three | ||||
Four | Five | Six | ||||
Seven | Eight | Nine | ||||
Star | Zero | Hash | ||||
Clear | Enter | |||||
Radio | Music | Pictures | Videos | |||
Red | Green | Yellow | Blue | |||
Teletext |
Harmony names of the remote buttons
…in the configution it autodetected. You could make your own configuration with the LIRC-names or whatever you choose. There is a few duplicates and a few buttons not on the original remote.
Aspect | PowerToggle | |||||
RecordedTV | Guide | LiveTV | DVDMenu | |||
Rec/Record | Stop | |||||
Play | ||||||
Rew/Rewind | Fwd/FastForward | |||||
Pause | ||||||
Replay | Skip | |||||
Up | ||||||
Left | OK/ChannelPrev | Right | ||||
Down | ||||||
VolUp | ChannelUp | |||||
VolDown | Media/GreenButton | ChannelDown | ||||
Back | Mute | Info | ||||
1 | 2 | 3 | ||||
4 | 5 | 6 | ||||
7 | 8 | 9 | ||||
* | 0 | # | ||||
Clear | Enter | |||||
MyRadio | MyMusic | MyPictures | MyVideos | |||
Red | Green | Yellow | Blue | |||
Teletext |
Additional commands, not on the original remote:
Harmony | LIRC |
---|---|
Audio | BB3 |
MyTV | TV |
Subtitle | Not detected |
Did you tested in a later stadium the optical audio output?
Unfortunately no, I still don’t have any equipment for that.
Ahh super post. Tak for rigtig god læsning :)
Thanks, I’ve activated lirc succesfully on my htpc (Asus s1-at5nm10e with kernel-pae) with your instructions. Question: Which model of logitech harmony you’ve purachased? Can you suggest me a model safe, I will not buy one that put me in trouble.
Thanks! Sorry for poor english!
I use the Harmony 525, but I’m pretty sure they are all equally compatible. Go for the cheapest one that’s good enough for you.