Hacking the Driver-free Universal USB IR Remote Controller

[dailyglen]

Hi,

I ordered a remote/IR receiver from http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.14380. The receiver acts as a USB mouse + keyboard but the remote is too cheap and it has too few buttons. What I want to do is send new commands to the receiver and see if the receiver supports more commands.

I recorded the remote IR commands via my sound card port attached to an IR chip and the remote seems to send IR codes that look like the Sony SIRC protocol with a 1 being high for 2t then low for 1t, and a 0 being high for 1t then low for 1t. t is about 600us. Here are the bit sequences I recorded for various buttons/commands:

Code: Select all

          12345678901234567
0:        00011100000000000
1:        00010010000000000
2:        00110010000000000
3:        00001010000000000
4:        00011100000000000
5:        00111100000000000
6:        00000010000000000
7:        00010100000000000
8:        00110100000000000
9:        00001100000000000
backspace:00000110000000000
up:       00110010000000000
down:     00110100000000000
left:     00011100000000000
right:    00000010000000000
enter:    00111100000000000
tab:      00010010000000000
m_up:     00000000100000000
m_right:  00011000100000000
m_down:   00001000100000000
m_left:   00010000100000000
l_btn:    01101000000000000
r_btn:    01111000000000000
power:    01000010000000000
          12345678901234567

It looks like the commands above use bit 3 for buttons (see last 3 lines), bit 9 is 1 for mouse movements, and bits 4 through 8 are for the commands. Has anyone seen a protocol like this? If so by who? I tried to figure this out by using the "Lookup Tool" but got lost because the type of device is more like a keyboard and mouse than something in a home theater.

I don't have a jp1 remote (or cable) but I don't want to buy one until I figure out if the receiver can handle more commands. I opened up the receiver and found it uses a Holtek HT82K95E chip (http://www.holtek.com.tw/english/docum/ ... 82k95x.htm) and an IR module. Quite simple.

If this receiver supports a full keyboard and mouse functionality then it could be a good remote for a HTPC. I'm running MythTV so a remote acting like a keyboard would work great. I just need to figure out if the receiver can take new commands. Hopefully by using a non-JP1 remote with similar commands I can see new ones are recognized.

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks.

[wnewell]

It's a receiver, and should receive anything you throw at it. I assume you're using lirc with mythtv, so use the lirc apps to find out. It says it's an MCE compatible, so it should work with any ir remote. Of course you will need an lircd.conf file for the remote. You can create one with irrecord if you can't find one in the supplied remotes.

[dailyglen]

Hi wnewell,

Yes I'm using MythTV but I don't think I can use Lirc. The receiver is identified by the computer (Linux or Windows) as a usb keyboard + mouse. I don't think you can setup lirc to listen to keyboard presses and have the keyboard driver not pass keypresses to applications. For MCE compatibility I think all that means you can use it just like a regular mouse + keyboard. Compatibility should be no different than a usb keyboard + mouse (except that the remote has a lot fewer buttons than a keyboard).

Thanks.

[mdavej]

It doesn't use any known protocol. Rob made a custom protocol for it a while back. HERE is the JP1 upgrade, and HERE is a thread about it. Be aware that the mouse is actually 8 directions, not 4, so you have some more learning to do.

I'd like to have a full keyboard too, but I've tried every possible code and I can tell you there are no other commands besides what you see on the remote.

Sorry

[dailyglen]

Hi mdavej,

Thanks for the info. Too bad it doesn't support more codes. Is there a cheap USB IR receiver out there that supports a full keyboard?

Thanks.

[mdavej]

Since a full keyboard on a universal remote would be extremely impractical anyway I've never even looked for one (not enough keys, and hard to remember key assignments). I just use a bluetooth keyboard when I want a full keyboard, or an on-screen keyboard with the USB IR mouse. I have a full IR keyboard I used with my PDA, but it's range is very limited.

I also find it more convenient to just use the original remote most of the time since it has an 8-way pad for the mouse, plus I can't remember where I put all the functions on my JP1 remote. So I'll use the JP1 remote in a pinch. BTW, any learning remote will work fine, not just a JP1 remote.

[dailyglen]

Hi,

So you can get lirc to listen to hid devices:

http://blog.viridian-project.de/2008/10 ... -and-lirc/

Then you could map the codes to any command in the application!

[remy]

It's been a little while since dailyglen's question a few posts back. Is there a version of this that is compatible as (or has) a complete USB keyboard?

[dailyglen]

Hi,

For me I moved on and bought a MCE remote...but others may still be interested in this...

Thanks.