Archive:MS-Tech MC-1200 Remote

This page is all about getting the remote from the MS-Tech MC-1200 case to work completely with XBMC for Linux.

UDev rule

First you have to create an own udev rule to ensure, that your device nodes are always the same.

We get the physical address from /proc/bus/input/devices:

cat /proc/bus/input/devices > devices.txt
nano devices.txt

the output is something like this:

...

I: Bus=0003 Vendor=04b4 Product=0101 Version=0100
N: Name="Cypress Cypress USB Keyboard / PS2 Mouse"
P: Phys=usb-0000:00:06.0-3/input0
S: Sysfs=/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:06.0/usb4/4-3/4-3:1.0/input/input4
U: Uniq=
H: Handlers=kbd event4 
B: EV=120013
B: KEY=800000 0 e0b0ffdf 1cfffff ffffffff fffffffe
B: MSC=10
B: LED=1f

I: Bus=0003 Vendor=04b4 Product=0101 Version=0100
N: Name="Cypress Cypress USB Keyboard / PS2 Mouse"
P: Phys=usb-0000:00:06.0-3/input1
S: Sysfs=/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:06.0/usb4/4-3/4-3:1.1/input/input5
U: Uniq=
H: Handlers=kbd mouse1 event5 
B: EV=17
B: KEY=70000 0 2010000 3978 d840d000 1e0000 0 0 0
B: REL=103
B: MSC=10  

...

What we need are the values behind Phys=. In my case usb-0000:00:06.0-3/input0 and usb-0000:00:06.0-3/input1.

Now we write a new rules file for udev:

sudo nano /etc/udev/rules.d/10-irremote.rules

and put the following content in:

SUBSYSTEM=="input",ATTRS{phys}=="usb-0000:00:06.0-3/input0",SYMLINK="input/irremote0"
SUBSYSTEM=="input",ATTRS{phys}=="usb-0000:00:06.0-3/input1",SYMLINK="input/irremote1"

Now restart udev and trigger a new discovery:

sudo restart udev
sudo udevadm trigger

Under /dev/input should now be two more symlinks: irremote0 and irremote1:

ls /dev/input

Inputlirc installation

First you have to install inputlirc:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install inputlirc

Then you need to configure it properly:

sudo nano /etc/default/inputlirc

and put the following content in:

EVENTS="/dev/input/irremote0 /dev/input/irremote1"
OPTIONS="-g -m0 -c -d /var/run/lirc/lircd"

The entries unter EVENTS are the devices we created via udev. The OPTION entries mean the following:

-g	Grabs the input from the devices, specified under EVENTS, so that no other application interferes with it.
-m 0	By default, all keycodes below 88 are filtered out. This setting ensures, that all keycodes are captured
-c	Because some of the keys on the remote are mapped to keys with modifiers, this option maps this codes to single events.

Now restart inputlirc

sudo /etc/init.d/inputlirc restart

You can now test the remote via 'irw':

irw

This is some sample output from irw when pressing buttons:

14 0 CTRL_SHIFT_KEY_P irremote0
a4 0 KEY_LEFT irremote0
a4 0 KEY_UP irremote0
a6 0 KEY_VOLUMEUP irremote1

Configuration XBMC

The last thing you need to do is let XBMC know to what buttons to respond. This is done via the Lircmap.xml:

sudo nano ~/.xbmc/userdata/Lircmap.xml

and put the following content in:

  <lircmap>
      <remote device="irremote0">
  	  <play>CTRL_SHIFT_KEY_P</play>
          <pause>CTRL_KEY_P</pause>     
          <stop>CTRL_SHIFT_KEY_S</stop> 
          <forward>CTRL_SHIFT_KEY_F</forward>
          <reverse>CTRL_SHIFT_KEY_B</reverse>
          <skipplus>CTRL_KEY_F</skipplus>
          <skipminus>CTRL_KEY_B</skipminus>
          <left>KEY_LEFT</left>
          <right>KEY_RIGHT</right>
          <up>KEY_UP</up>
          <down>KEY_DOWN</down>
          <select>KEY_ENTER</select>
          <pageplus>KEY_PAGEUP</pageplus>
          <pageminus>KEY_PAGEDOWN</pageminus>
          <one>KEY_1</one>
          <two>KEY_2</two>
          <three>KEY_3</three>
          <four>KEY_4</four>
          <five>KEY_5</five>
          <six>KEY_6</six>
          <seven>KEY_7</seven>
          <eight>KEY_8</eight>
          <nine>KEY_9</nine>
          <zero>KEY_0</zero>
          <hash>SHIFT_KEY_3</hash>
          <star>KEY_KPASTERISK</star>
          <clear>KEY_DELETE</clear>
          <record>CTRL_KEY_R</record>
          <menu>ALT_KEY_ENTER</menu>
          <info>CTRL_KEY_G</info>
          <title>KEY_COMPOSE</title>
          <back>KEY_BACKSPACE</back>
          <display>ALT_META_KEY_ENTER</display>
          <start></start>
          <mytv>CTRL_SHIFT_KEY_T</mytv>
          <mymusic>CTRL_KEY_M</mymusic>
          <mypictures>CTRL_KEY_I</mypictures>
          <myvideo>CTRL_KEY_E</myvideo>
      </remote>
      <remote device="irremote1">
          <power>KEY_POWER</power>
          <volumeplus>KEY_VOLUMEUP</volumeplus>
          <volumeminus>KEY_VOLUMEDOWN</volumeminus>
          <mute>KEY_MIN_INTERESTING</mute>
      </remote>
</lircmap>

Mapping

I mapped most buttons correctly however the following is different:

Display = Start
Title = Mouse icon (top right from navigation)
Menu = Zoom
Info = Guide