Remote Controls Support

Elisa Media Center does support several remote controls out of the box. Additional information and details regarding the supported hardware can be found on this page.

lirc

This assumes you already have a working lirc setup. To get lirc working with elisa, you first need to generate a map file. This isn't a standard lirc_rc file, but the python script setup_lirc.py will generate it for you, it should be located in /usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/elisa/plugins/lirc/ (note path information is correct for Ubuntu ppa packages, locations may vary)

eg:

cd /usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/elisa/plugins/lirc
python setup_lirc.py ~/remotename.map

Which will ask you to press keys on your remote. If you don't have a corresponding button, you can push ok and the application will end. It will then put a config file called remotename.map in your home directory. Copy remotename.map to /usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/elisa/plugins/lirc/map_files/

sudo cp ~/remotename.map /usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/elisa/plugins/lirc/map_files/

Then edit elisa.conf. The relevant sections should already be set up, you should just need to point input_map to the correct filename:

[general]
input_providers = ['lirc.lirc_input:LircInput']

[lirc.lirc_input:LircInput]
# the lirc deamon device
device = '/dev/lircd'
# Path to the file containing the lircmapping
input_map = 'remotename.map'

If you want to follow lirc standards and put your remote map in your home directory, just put the full path in elisa.conf. eg:

# Path to the file containing the lircmapping
input_map = '/home/username/.elisa/remotename.map'

There is a bug that may cause keys to get repeated due to missing repeat and delay settings in elisa.conf. See this post in the forums for an updated version of lirc_input.py to fix the problem. Replace it with the one in /usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/elisa/plugins/lirc/ and update your elisa.conf with the following options:

[lirc.lirc_input:LircInput]
# the lirc deamon device
device = '/dev/lircd'
# Path to the file containing the lircmapping
input_map = 'remotename.map'
# number of input event to ignore after initial event
repeat = 1
# seconds of delay between events
delay = 0.15

If you have this problem, please add a comment on the bug report to get this fixed!

Apple Remote

The Apple Remote control works with Elisa, but it has several known issues. We are working to fix them.

The code in the winremote plugin (apple_input.py) queries the Apple remote through HID reports and sends then the corresponding event to Elisa.

Windows XP

To use the Apple remote control with WinXP in a mac, the boot camp driver has to be replaced with the standard USB HID driver because else it is not possible to receive informations about all the keys on the remote.

To do this you have to go to: Control Panel -> System > Hardware -> Device Manager

Go to USB Devices, double click the Apple IR device (should be the device with vendor id 0x05ac and product id 0x8242) and go to drivers. There choose Update driver and choose the new driver from this location:

C:\windows\system32\DRIVERS\hidusb.sys

To revert back to the Apple one, just go again to the device and choose driver from a list, the available drivers should be the original Apple IR receiver driver and the USB HID driver, choose the Apple one.

Windows Vista

Under Windows Vista, the driver change trick doesn't seem to work. So is not possible to receive informations about all the keys on the remote.The Volume Up, Volume Down and Menu keys can't be mapped to Elisa events.

Pinnacle Remote Kit

The Pinnacle Remote works out of the box.

SnapStream Firefly

The Snapstream Firefly works out of the box if the drivers are properly installed.

The model used in our testing is R1000.

Streamzap

The Streamzap remote works, but it needs the winremote plugin that comes with Elisa and install the drivers.