Debugging information for remote controls with WinLIRC and IREx with GBPVR

[sh00tr]

I had a tough time debugging my chain of remote > WinLIRC > IREx > GBPVR until I ran across a way to debug what whas going on.

It may be a bit remote specific but the debugging concepts will be helpful to many:

Situation:
WinLIRC reads the remote control (green light flashes in concert with button pushes).
No signal is going to IREx (IREx tray icon does NOT flash in concert with WinLIRC and button pushes)

Resolution Concept:
IREx connects to WinLIRC on TCP port 8765, listens to what it hears there and pushes Windows messages into the message queue for the Windows application with focus. Telneting to this port will allow you another debug point if you are in this situation. A key concept is outlined in http://winlirc.sourceforge.net/developer.html

Resolution Steps:
1) Telnet to the PC running WinLIRC: Start > Run > cmd.exe[ENTER]

Code:

telnet 127.0.0.1 8765

or

Code:

telnet 10.10.10.10 8765

2) Press buttons on the remote control. Observe the codes pressed (as an example see below):

Code:

00000000007f480b 00 [B]hd-ok [/B]RCA
                             000000000076189e 00 [B]hd-who [/B]RCA

000000000076189e 01 [B]hd-who [/B]RCA
                             00000000007058fa 00 [B]hd-antenna [/B]RCA

4. Ensure that your irexe.cfg contains the correct codes (highlighted above in bold) and the correct remote name ("RCA" shown above).

The hex data, symbolic button name, and remote name are observed in the telnet session. The hex data is mapped to the symbolic button name and remote name in WinLIRC's configuration file.

It may not be something you expect, ESPECIALLY if you did not train or configure WinLIRC to with a config file for your exact remote control.

Hope it helps guys

[-Oz-]

this is quite useful.