Remote as mouse? More control with the IR remote...

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jimls
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Remote as mouse? More control with the IR remote...

Post by jimls »

I use my main combined front end/backend mostly for MythTV but sometimes view things with the browser. Use of the browser involves a bit of mouse/keyboard activity but usually looking at the same sites so not much keyboard. For the backend I have a wireless keyboard that includes a mouse pad which works well except for having to grab an extra device occasionally.

Wanting to set up another front end and looking at options for control. The IR remote works well for most things but again I want some mouse capability. There is a mouse emulator that is part of LIRC but looks a bit more complex than LIRC itself. There are programs that run on an Arduino Pro Micro board (and probably others) that allow the remote to function both as a keyboard (for MythTV control) and as a mouse (for other system/browser control).
https://learn.adafruit.com/create-an-in ... o/overview

Anyone have any experience with this? It doesn't require any special drivers since it looks like a keyboard/mouse to the PC. Seriously considering giving it a try. The Arduino micro clone boards are cheap.

Something like this
https://www.amazon.com/Wireless-Mini-Ke ... B01M2YSQ4Z
Is a low cost option but I think it would have low SAF - different than existing MCE remote and looks to be not as simple for MythTV control.
MikeB2013
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Re: Remote as mouse? More control with the IR remote...

Post by MikeB2013 »

You might find this one slightly better, the 4 colored buttons at the bottom can be IR programmed to control say power on for your tv.
https://www.amazon.com/Keyboard-STRQUA- ... =air+mouse

You don't need to use LIRC, you will probably need to adjust mouse acceleration and sensitivity. I have something similar here in the UK.
You can adjust mythfrontend (Setup>Edit Keys) to respond to the various keys as you wish

Another option is a mini wireless keyboard with integrated mouse, this works out of the box with mythfrontend default key settings, again no need for LIRC, I have several of these.

https://www.amazon.com/Rii-Wireless-Tou ... h+keyboard
jimls
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Re: Remote as mouse? More control with the IR remote...

Post by jimls »

In case this was unclear, I have no problem with LIRC. That's what I am currently using with a MCE remote and it works great. But when I started looking into the mouse extensions (not sure if that is exactly the right word) I didn't get far. The font end is a Raspberry Pi so that may be making it a bit more difficult.

For the air remotes how do you switch between controlling the TV and MythTV? On the MCE remote I have multiple device buttons that switch the codes sent by the remote.
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diyhouse
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Re: Remote as mouse? More control with the IR remote...

Post by diyhouse »

As a passing comment,.. I recently purchased one of the Rii wireless keyboards/touchpads.
I have to say its real value for money,. OK so its not built to Logitech standards,.. but for £10,.. who cares. Ordered 10am,.. and arrived 7pm the same day. Just plugged it in to USB port and away it went.
Note,.. there is a Blu-tooth version,.. and a wireless version,.. they are different,.. I would recomend the Wirless version.
Fits in the palm of your hand,.. battery charge lasts over a week,.. and after a week or so of use even the wife says,.. 'she likes it',.. So I love-it ;)
wesnewell
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Re: Remote as mouse? More control with the IR remote...

Post by wesnewell »

After using lric for over 10 years with mythtv, the last upgrade to ubuntu 18.04 with lric 10.x had problems with it not starting correctly and dying after exitng the frontend. Documented here:
viewtopic.php?f=29&t=2643
Since then I bought an air mouse like above and it works perfect, although it lacks function keys which is a small drawback and the air mouse is sensitive and takes getting used to and only has 5 learning buttons on it for the tv or whatever.
Now I've also dumped lirc on my main machine and have been experimenting with the kernel built in ir-keytable support. It also works good with limited keys it supports with any ir remote. Main drawback to it is it doesn't support things like Alt/Ctrl+another key. And you will likely have to create your own keymap for your remote. But then it works just like keyboard input in any app/terminal.without lirc.
BE/FE-Asrock AB350 Pro Ryzen 3 3200G, 6 atsc tuners. FE's-GF8200's Athlon II, Ryzen 3 2200G. Mythtv user since 2005.
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heyted
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Re: Remote as mouse? More control with the IR remote...

Post by heyted »

I also stopped using LIRC with my IR remote. Whichever solution you end up using, consider determining if the sites you use most often have a 10-ft user interface option like the one listed here for YouTube.
Ted | My blog
GregTippitt
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Re: Remote as mouse? More control with the IR remote...

Post by GregTippitt »

I second MikeB2013's suggestion about using a mini-keyboard for your remote control. When I put together my first MythTV system many years ago, I setup everything for using an IR remote with LIRC. I used it a short while at first but soon found I wanted a full keyboard occasionally. I had a Logitech K440 wireless keyboard with touchpad, but it is an almost full sized keyboard and was too big to keep handy on the end table by the sofa. I have since tried several different mini-keyboards with touch pads, and the layout of the Rii mentioned by MikeB is my favorite. Once I got one of these mini-keyboards, I quit using the LIRC remote control. They are easy to hold and the layout of the touchpad, mouse buttons, and cursor keys, volume control, etc are easy to use.

I really like the one at the link below which has a back light so you can see the keys in the dark. For my TV in the bedroom, the back lighted keys are really nice, since I normally turn off my lights in the bedroom when watching TV before going to sleep.

https://www.amazon.com/Wireless-Recharg ... rd+backlit

The one nuisance was that I couldn't turn off the TV without it's IR remote. I put the command below in a script with an icon on the desktop, which solved the problem for me. It acts as the same as the Ubuntu screensaver turning off my display after being idle, and when I press the "any" key, the TV turns back on.

xset -display :0.0 dpms force off
wesnewell
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Re: Remote as mouse? More control with the IR remote...

Post by wesnewell »

OK, I dumped lircd in favor of built in kernel ir support. And while my receiver didn't support the GI cable protocol of the default cable code which has all buttons on the remote active, it does support several others, and since my wife needs something real simple to use, I went ahead and created my nec1 mythtv codes for my remote and loaded them into the remote using it's JP1 interface. Now with discrete codes for all 54 buttons on the remote it's good to go. Now she can shut down everything including the tv off with 1 button press again and get to the recordings with one button from anywhere in mythtv. All she does with the computer is use it to watch recorded shows. I did buy a couple more wireless mini keyboards that also work great, but not for her.:-)
BE/FE-Asrock AB350 Pro Ryzen 3 3200G, 6 atsc tuners. FE's-GF8200's Athlon II, Ryzen 3 2200G. Mythtv user since 2005.
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