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Sapphire remote-control driver for Mythtv: v3.0 released

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mythtv at rtr

Apr 11, 2012, 2:45 PM

Post #1 of 12 (496 views)
Permalink

Sapphire remote-control driver for Mythtv: v3.0 released

I've updated the Sapphire Remote Control kernel (hid) driver for Linux again today.
The new version 3.0 sports a couple of nifty new features:

--->>> Macro capability: have a single button press send up to 8 keys.

I use this first feature here to quickly access/set a desired AudioSync
value that about half of my videos require. The CLEAR key on the remote
now defaults to sending KEY_F15, KEY_DOWN, KEY_LEFT, which on my system
adds 90 milliseconds to the AudioSync value.

If you don't like my appropriating the CLEAR key by default, :)
then the second feature may be of interest:

--->>> External keymaps, and a way to load them at start-up.

The driver still has a fully defined built-in keymap for simplicity,
but I'm willing to bet that at least some of you may want different
mappings for some buttons than what I've put there as the defaults.

So now you can maintain an external keymap file, and use an included
script to load it at run time. Details are in a README.txt file
included with the driver.

Source available freely as always: http://rtr.ca/sapphire_remote/

Cheers
-ml
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mythtv at rtr

Apr 11, 2012, 2:50 PM

Post #2 of 12 (467 views)
Permalink

Re: Sapphire remote-control driver for Mythtv: v3.0 released [In reply to]

On 12-04-11 05:45 PM, Mark Lord wrote:
> I've updated the Sapphire Remote Control kernel (hid) driver for Linux again today.
> The new version 3.0 sports a couple of nifty new features:
>
> --->>> Macro capability: have a single button press send up to 8 keys.
>
> I use this first feature here to quickly access/set a desired AudioSync
> value that about half of my videos require. The CLEAR key on the remote
> now defaults to sending KEY_F15, KEY_DOWN, KEY_LEFT, which on my system
> adds 90 milliseconds to the AudioSync value.
>
> If you don't like my appropriating the CLEAR key by default, :)
> then the second feature may be of interest:
>
> --->>> External keymaps, and a way to load them at start-up.
>
> The driver still has a fully defined built-in keymap for simplicity,
> but I'm willing to bet that at least some of you may want different
> mappings for some buttons than what I've put there as the defaults.
>
> So now you can maintain an external keymap file, and use an included
> script to load it at run time. Details are in a README.txt file
> included with the driver.
>
> Source available freely as always: http://rtr.ca/sapphire_remote/

Oh, missed a feature:

--->>> Buttons can now be defined with a RAMP_REPEAT option,
whereby the auto-repeat kicks in slowly at first, and gradually
speeds up as the button is held for a few seconds.

This is set up by default for the Up/Down keys, so that menu
navigation doesn't happen too quickly, but scrolling among large
lists of videos/recordings is still quick.

In conjuction with this, the "repeats=nn" module parameter has
been completely removed, and the FAST_REPEAT option has been
set to a higher speed than before. FAST_REPEAT is the default
for the Volume up/down buttons, and one should notice those being
more responsive now than before.

Cheers
_______________________________________________
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jaglover at gmail

Apr 11, 2012, 3:42 PM

Post #3 of 12 (469 views)
Permalink

Re: Sapphire remote-control driver for Mythtv: v3.0 released [In reply to]

On Wed, 11 Apr 2012 17:50:05 -0400
Mark Lord <mythtv [at] rtr> wrote:

> On 12-04-11 05:45 PM, Mark Lord wrote:
> > I've updated the Sapphire Remote Control kernel (hid) driver for
> > Linux again today. The new version 3.0 sports a couple of nifty new
> > features:

Thank you, Mark!

I had two little wishes and it seems you just fixed it. I wanted your
download url to be in the README and I wanted my customization to
survive the upgrade. Thanks again, your work is appreciated here!

--
Cheers, Saul
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chrislewis915 at gmail

Apr 11, 2012, 3:48 PM

Post #4 of 12 (468 views)
Permalink

Re: Sapphire remote-control driver for Mythtv: v3.0 released [In reply to]

This all sounds too good to be true, where can I get this remote!

Chris
On 11 Apr 2012 22:50, "Mark Lord" <mythtv [at] rtr> wrote:

> On 12-04-11 05:45 PM, Mark Lord wrote:
> > I've updated the Sapphire Remote Control kernel (hid) driver for Linux
> again today.
> > The new version 3.0 sports a couple of nifty new features:
> >
> > --->>> Macro capability: have a single button press send up to 8 keys.
> >
> > I use this first feature here to quickly access/set a desired AudioSync
> > value that about half of my videos require. The CLEAR key on the remote
> > now defaults to sending KEY_F15, KEY_DOWN, KEY_LEFT, which on my system
> > adds 90 milliseconds to the AudioSync value.
> >
> > If you don't like my appropriating the CLEAR key by default, :)
> > then the second feature may be of interest:
> >
> > --->>> External keymaps, and a way to load them at start-up.
> >
> > The driver still has a fully defined built-in keymap for simplicity,
> > but I'm willing to bet that at least some of you may want different
> > mappings for some buttons than what I've put there as the defaults.
> >
> > So now you can maintain an external keymap file, and use an included
> > script to load it at run time. Details are in a README.txt file
> > included with the driver.
> >
> > Source available freely as always: http://rtr.ca/sapphire_remote/
>
> Oh, missed a feature:
>
> --->>> Buttons can now be defined with a RAMP_REPEAT option,
> whereby the auto-repeat kicks in slowly at first, and gradually
> speeds up as the button is held for a few seconds.
>
> This is set up by default for the Up/Down keys, so that menu
> navigation doesn't happen too quickly, but scrolling among large
> lists of videos/recordings is still quick.
>
> In conjuction with this, the "repeats=nn" module parameter has
> been completely removed, and the FAST_REPEAT option has been
> set to a higher speed than before. FAST_REPEAT is the default
> for the Volume up/down buttons, and one should notice those being
> more responsive now than before.
>
> Cheers
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users [at] mythtv
> http://www.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>

mythtv at rtr

Apr 11, 2012, 3:50 PM

Post #5 of 12 (470 views)
Permalink

Re: Sapphire remote-control driver for Mythtv: v3.0 released [In reply to]

On 12-04-11 06:42 PM, Saul A. Peebsen wrote:
> On Wed, 11 Apr 2012 17:50:05 -0400
> Mark Lord <mythtv [at] rtr> wrote:
>
>> On 12-04-11 05:45 PM, Mark Lord wrote:
>>> I've updated the Sapphire Remote Control kernel (hid) driver for
>>> Linux again today. The new version 3.0 sports a couple of nifty new
>>> features:
>
> Thank you, Mark!
>
> I had two little wishes and it seems you just fixed it. I wanted your
> download url to be in the README and I wanted my customization to
> survive the upgrade. Thanks again, your work is appreciated here!

Peachy. Note that I quickly followed up with a 3.01 release (not announced),
which fixes a minor nit in the sapphire_keymap.sh script.

Also, that script requires that you keep the source code for the driver available,
because it needs to parse the sapphire.c file to translate button names
into hex values. It looks in /usr/src/sapphire*/sapphire.c
as well as in $HOME/sapphire*/sapphire.c for it, which is usually good enough.

Cheers

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mythtv at rtr

Apr 11, 2012, 3:51 PM

Post #6 of 12 (481 views)
Permalink

Re: Sapphire remote-control driver for Mythtv: v3.0 released [In reply to]

On 12-04-11 06:48 PM, Chris Lewis wrote:
> This all sounds too good to be true, where can I get this remote!
>
> Chris
>
> On 11 Apr 2012 22:50, "Mark Lord" <mythtv [at] rtr <mailto:mythtv [at] rtr>> wrote:
>
> On 12-04-11 05:45 PM, Mark Lord wrote:
> > I've updated the Sapphire Remote Control kernel (hid) driver for Linux again today.
> > The new version 3.0 sports a couple of nifty new features:
..
> > Source available freely as always: http://rtr.ca/sapphire_remote/
..

There's a link to a source for the remotes on the page referenced above.

Cheers
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ajmccauley at gmail

Apr 11, 2012, 3:53 PM

Post #7 of 12 (470 views)
Permalink

Re: Sapphire remote-control driver for Mythtv: v3.0 released [In reply to]

On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 4:45 PM, Mark Lord <mythtv [at] rtr> wrote:
>
> I've updated the Sapphire Remote Control kernel (hid) driver for Linux again today.
> The new version 3.0 sports a couple of nifty new features:
>
> --->>> Macro capability: �have a single button press send up to 8 keys.
>
> I use this first feature here to quickly access/set a desired AudioSync
> value that about half of my videos require. �The CLEAR key on the remote
> now defaults to sending KEY_F15, KEY_DOWN, KEY_LEFT, which on my system
> adds 90 milliseconds to the AudioSync value.
>
> If you don't like my appropriating the CLEAR key by default, �:)
> then the second feature may be of interest:
>
> --->>> External keymaps, and a way to load them at start-up.
>
> The driver still has a fully defined built-in keymap for simplicity,
> but I'm willing to bet that at least some of you may want different
> mappings for some buttons than what I've put there as the defaults.
>
> So now you can maintain an external keymap file, and use an included
> script to load it at run time. �Details are in a README.txt file
> included with the driver.
>
> Source available freely as always: �http://rtr.ca/sapphire_remote/

I have been using the sapphire remote for several months now and am
quite happy with it. In fact I am about to buy a second one for my
second FE that I recently built. Thank you to Mark Lord for doing
this.

This may seem trivial to some, but how do I go about upgrading my
driver?� Currently I am using the stock configuration on Mythbuntu. I
installed it using:

tar xzf sapphire-xxx.tar.gz
cd sapphire-3.01
sudo make install

Can I install 3.01 over the existing driver or do I need to uninstall?

Thanks for being gentle with re this newbish question...

Regards,
Andrew
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mythtv at rtr

Apr 11, 2012, 3:56 PM

Post #8 of 12 (471 views)
Permalink

Re: Sapphire remote-control driver for Mythtv: v3.0 released [In reply to]

On 12-04-11 06:53 PM, Andrew McCauley wrote:
..
> This may seem trivial to some, but how do I go about upgrading my
> driver? Currently I am using the stock configuration on Mythbuntu. I
> installed it using:
>
> tar xzf sapphire-xxx.tar.gz
> cd sapphire-3.01
> sudo make install
>
> Can I install 3.01 over the existing driver or do I need to uninstall?

I just do "make clean install" here when updating to a new version.
Works fine for me.

Cheers
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jaglover at gmail

Apr 11, 2012, 4:34 PM

Post #9 of 12 (472 views)
Permalink

Re: Sapphire remote-control driver for Mythtv: v3.0 released [In reply to]

On Wed, 11 Apr 2012 18:56:40 -0400
Mark Lord <mythtv [at] rtr> wrote:

> On 12-04-11 06:53 PM, Andrew McCauley wrote:
> ..
> > This may seem trivial to some, but how do I go about upgrading my
> > driver? Currently I am using the stock configuration on Mythbuntu.
> > I installed it using:
> >
> > tar xzf sapphire-xxx.tar.gz
> > cd sapphire-3.01
> > sudo make install
> >
> > Can I install 3.01 over the existing driver or do I need to
> > uninstall?
>
> I just do "make clean install" here when updating to a new version.
> Works fine for me.

After that you need to unload and load the module unless you want to
reboot (I don't).

--
Cheers, Saul
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mythtv at rtr

Apr 11, 2012, 6:07 PM

Post #10 of 12 (456 views)
Permalink

Re: Sapphire remote-control driver for Mythtv: v3.0 released [In reply to]

On 12-04-11 07:34 PM, Saul A. Peebsen wrote:
> On Wed, 11 Apr 2012 18:56:40 -0400
> Mark Lord <mythtv [at] rtr> wrote:
>
>> On 12-04-11 06:53 PM, Andrew McCauley wrote:
>> ..
>>> This may seem trivial to some, but how do I go about upgrading my
>>> driver? Currently I am using the stock configuration on Mythbuntu.
>>> I installed it using:
>>>
>>> tar xzf sapphire-xxx.tar.gz
>>> cd sapphire-3.01
>>> sudo make install
>>>
>>> Can I install 3.01 over the existing driver or do I need to
>>> uninstall?
>>
>> I just do "make clean install" here when updating to a new version.
>> Works fine for me.
>
> After that you need to unload and load the module unless you want to
> reboot (I don't).

"make install" is supposed to do that already. :)

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mythtv at rtr

Apr 22, 2012, 6:26 AM

Post #11 of 12 (371 views)
Permalink

Re: Sapphire remote-control driver for Mythtv: v3.0 released [In reply to]

On 12-04-11 05:50 PM, Mark Lord wrote:
..
>>
>> Source available freely as always: http://rtr.ca/sapphire_remote/

I will be making more updates to the driver for this remote in the future,
but those updates will not be announced by me on this mailing list.

So if you want to keep up with developments, just check the web site
once every couple of weeks to see what's new with the driver and remote control.

Right now, this is probably the most feature-full remote control for Mythtv
when used with this driver.

It can send *any* key sequence in response to a single button press,
including ALT/SHIFT/CTRL/META modifiers, macros, etc..

It has variable repeat rates per-button, with a smooth ramping repeat
available for things like the up/down buttons.

The driver can send different key sequences depending upon whether a button
is pressed/released or held down for more than a second -- I use this to
have the POWER button on the remote do two different things, for example.

The driver comes with a full internal keymap that matches Mythtv's default
key bindings as much as possible -- Mythtv doesn't have default mappings
for some functions though, so a bit of work in "Edit Keys" is still needed.

The user can optionally maintain an external keymap file that gets loaded
once per boot-up, to hold their own customizations outside of the driver's defaults.

I am considering providing a script to automatically interrogate the database
and configure key bindings and key mappings to just make it all work fully
automatically, but I don't know when that might occur.

So, pretty good feature set, and a decent and cheap (cost) remote control for Mythtv.

Enjoy, but do check the website for updates from now on.

Cheers
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bc-mythtv at comcast

Apr 22, 2012, 7:07 AM

Post #12 of 12 (382 views)
Permalink

Re: Sapphire remote-control driver for Mythtv: v3.0 released [In reply to]

On 04/22/2012 09:26 AM, Mark Lord wrote:
> On 12-04-11 05:50 PM, Mark Lord wrote:
> ..
>>>
>>> Source available freely as always: http://rtr.ca/sapphire_remote/
>
> I will be making more updates to the driver for this remote in the future,
> but those updates will not be announced by me on this mailing list.
>
> So if you want to keep up with developments, just check the web site
> once every couple of weeks to see what's new with the driver and remote control.
>
> Right now, this is probably the most feature-full remote control for Mythtv
> when used with this driver.

Is the receiver that comes with this remote a universal receiver i.e.
can it work with any remote regardless of protocol (like some of the
original MCE receivers)?

Thanks

Bolek
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