Search the Community

I just got in a Flirc from Amazon, and I'm trying to set it up to use my FiOS remote. Everything was working perfectly for about 5 minutes, until I made the dumb mistake of updating the firmware. Now, the unit will not program any buttons correctly. It seems to be clearing the configuration correctly, because the command line says 0 buttons programmed. However, when trying to record buttons using the GUI, it doesn't work. It will record the first button correctly (up), but when moving onto the next (left), it says "Button already exists". No matter how many times I clear the configuration, it still says the same thing. I can manually erase the buttons, but even when doing that, the buttons all seem to have the same action. If I program up first, everything goes up. It seems like the firmware update messed up the Flirc, because I can't think of anything else that I did between it working and it not working. Please help.

It is an extremely configurable remote (high-end dealer programmable type model, similar to Control4, Crestron, etc. type genre) Here are 3 configuration options for the IR codes it has - any clue on if I might try changing some of these? I can also dump the actual IR codes it is sending for one key if that would help... Minimum Repeats (set to 1 by default) The number of times that the repeating part of the IR code is sent. Some infrared receivers need a command to be repeated a certain number of times to work properly, and some may not work properly if the command is repeated at all. Frequency (38.0 Khz by default) The carrier frequency of the IR code. You should not need to change this value unless directed to do so by Technical Support. Sustain (Checked by default) Cause the IR code to repeat for as long as the button is held down. Most infrared codes will transmit continuously as long as the button is held down, but some infrared receivers may not work properly if the command is repeated at all. If the Sustain button is checked, the code will be transmitted for as long as the button is held down, or the Minimum Repeats times, whichever is greater. If the Sustain button is not checked, the code will be transmitted only the Minimum Repeats number of times regardless of how long the button is held down.

I am curious about getting an "exact" list of how you set this up. If I set it up in Harmony as FLIRC/XBMC, I do not get enough buttons (no home, menu, not sure what else). So, I thought, this thing is programmable, and Microsoft/Media Center PC will have all the buttons, so I programmed the Harmony as WMC PC. Sure enough, I have all the buttons and they all work except for the issue described above - pushing the up or down key registers as a double-press. Oh, this is on version 3.4 RC2 EDIT: Got it working! I went back to FLIRC/XBMC in Harmony, then renamed this device Amazon Fire TV. Then, for the screen buttons I assigned Red to Home, and Green to Menu. Then I assigned the Harmony's Exit and Menu button to Red, and the Guide buttons to Green. (is this confusing yet?) Now, all the buttons work like I want, the buttons assigned on the screen are labeled for WAF (wife acceptance factor), and the Guide, Exit, and Menu buttons all make sense to me. Of course you can assign them any way you want, but this worked for me. Also, I customized the activity to send a "Home" (Red with my mapping) command to the AFTV at the tail of the macro, so that it would power up and be at the home screen.

That's the latest RPM I could find too. It's old and I got the same errors you did. Here's what I did to create a working (and current) version: Download the latest DEB file that matches your architecture here: http://apt.flirc.tv/arch. For example, for 64 bit at this time that's http://apt.flirc.tv/arch/x64/binary/flirc_1.3.2-1_amd64.deb. Convert it to an RPM with alien: sudo alien -r flirc_1.3.2-1_amd64.deb Remove the unnecessary and conflicting entries: rpmrebuild -p --change-spec-files="grep -i flirc" flirc-1.3.2-2.x86_64.rpm That command will create a new rpm that should install cleanly and seems to work fine for me. I'm on Fedora 21 64-bit.

As an experiment program two keys on your remote to execute "return". On the Sony VL Series remotes that I use the component light comes on for a different amount of time for each button. I can also hear a series of clicks indicating that the return command is being sent repeatedly when a button is pushed just once. The number of clicks is greater for the button that keeps the light on longer. So, as Jason said, it's an artifact of the remote itself. But it is strange that it happens with only the return command. Perhaps there's something else going on that needs to be understood.

Oh I got it!!! I used an old xtreamer remote. Teached the Flirc the FF IR Code and bind it to key 'F' at the keyboard profile. Then the same for Rewind. All I have to do is teach the Logitech harmony remote flirc profile the xtreamer remote IR codes (as new commands) and that's it. WORKS LIKE A A CHARM!!! The potential of this small thing is amazing! I can write a powershell script and run it with IR command!!!

I guess this may not be an issue that FLIRC can help with...seems I need to add a custom Command to the FLIRC device in my Harmony One setup. I have an older remote. It does seem that the newer software might provide a way to add custom Commands, but I'm not seeing it in the software I have. Maybe I can upgrade the software. If I'm on the right track, please let me know....but it does seem that this would be solved if a Home or Main Menu command pre-existed with the FLIRC (XMBC) profile. Thanks.

I'm trying to install my new Flirc on a Zotac AD03 running Mythbuntu 12.04. I got the sources list modified and the apt-get-update and apt-get install flirc work fine and the program shows up in Applications -> Accessoreis -> Flirc. When I click on it it does not launch. The wait icon is present for a few seconds before the normal mouse pointer returns. Just on a chance I installed ia32-libs, nothing. I found a command line approach but I can't find a firmware version that doesn't return a 404 when I attempt a wget http://downloads.flirc.tv/fw/fw_x.x.bin. How do I get firmware into the device? mike

irw is a Linux command line function which directs input from the USB port to the terminal screen. I happen to be using RC-6 and hopefully won't need to change. If I am reading you correctly, I need to make sure that each button has all its signals set to the same key combination and I should be ok, correct? Also, once I do that I can save it to file and program other Flircs to be identical simply by loading that configuration, correct? mike

I also have the Flirc/harmony/ouya and this exact problem has happened to me.....all the sudden the flirc has become unresponsive. I had been using the flirc just fine for the past while on firmware 2.4 and only recently upgraded to the latest (3.3) to see if I figure out how to wake my ouya from sleep. Big mistake. I wish I had of just left it alone. My pc is able to recognize the flirc ...I'm able to record buttons through the GUI but it refuses to command them upon press. I've tried the flirc using different remotes on my ps3, pc, and my ouya each time producing with the same result...unresponsive. I left it for about an hour and suddenly it worked for bout 5 minute then shit the bed again. Is there a way to downgrade my firmware back to v2.4.?

I have not been able to configure this with the Flirc yet. I can only confirm that "browser_back" is the correct key. I've been trying to get the Flirc command line utility under Ubuntu to work, but it doesn't seem to be working. That is, I can't seem to get the command line utility to work with any key, not just "browser_back". As far as I can see, the command line utility is required for learning browser_back. I will try this again under Windows. I just haven't had the chance yet, as things have been a little busy lately. If it works, I will report back here.

Not sure if this is what you're asking but flirc_util stuff can be found here: https://flirc.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/203688495-Using-Command-Line-with-Flirc

You don't load the config into GUI. It is loaded directly into Flirc. So you just need to connect next Flirc and select Load configuration from menu or use flirc_util loadconfig command and that's all. You don't need to do anything else.

And here is the Command line documentation in the knowledge base (freshly added :) ): https://flirc.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/203688495

:( :( :( P.S. Jason, I recall reading you had deliberatly left command line ...err... commands out of the GUI. I didn't catch why, but maybe if you put them under and "ADVANCED" tab?

The USB connector on mine is also slightly bent so don't worry. Also the status command shows this exact message for me too - I think only Jason knows why :). I'm just helping on the forum so I don't know what return path/method you should take. I think you could try writing to Jason directly (via PM or E-mail - address is on his profile page) or wait until he responds here.

Hi, EDIT: I did some additional research and it seems that MR400Q is distributed with LG Google TV models - not the classic Smart TV ones. If you have a Google TV model then it probably won't work the way I've described. I don't know anything about LG Google TV models so I don't even know if LG implemented the universal remote function in it or not. I have MR400 model, but I think that besides full keyboard on the back of MR400Q model both models work in the same way. The LG Magic remotes work by connecting to TV using Bluetooth. All commands except power button (which is sent using IR diode in the remote) are sent over Bluetooth. Flirc can only receive IR signals. Fortunately LG has added an ability to their TVs that allows to control other devices using Magic remotes (and only Magic, standard remotes don't have this ability). The way LG implemented this function is really smart. The remote itself doesn't know anything about other devices. It is all implemented in the TV's firmware. When you are in the universal remote mode and press some button the command is still sent using Bluetooth to the TV. The TV knows that it is in universal remote mode and knows what device is selected and what IR code should be sent. It sends this info back into the Magic remote using Bluetooth and the remote blasts the IR signal using its own IR diode. You need to set it up using TV input source menu. I have all the menus in my language so I don't know how exactly those menus are called in English so you need to try and guess what I mean if it's not exact name of the menu or function. 1. Go into Input source selection menu. 2. Press yellow button: "Universal remote setup". 3. Press "Start" on the screen and you should be presented with device type selection (there may be other screens between, just skip them). (below points are based on my research - I've spent hours finding a device which would allow me to use as much buttons as the remote allows - this is based on the MR400 model which doesn't have many buttons to begin with - you can use this config if you don't have home cinema or soundbar or some other device from LG besides TV) 4. Select Home Cinema. 5. Select Input on which you have your computer with Flirc connected (like HDMI1 etc). 6. Select LG. 7. Select Remote model 1. 8. Finish the setup. If you have some other LG hardware (like soundbar or some other speaker system or home cinema) then you probably need to select other device type or manufacturer. I didn't have much success with other device types than Home cinema so my best bet is to still use Home cinema and just select different manufacturer or remote model. I actually have LG Soundbar but fortunately the keys I have on the Magic remote didn't interfere with Soundbar much. The Magic remote will automatically switch modes depending on which input is your TV. When it's on inputs other than the one you have your computer on it will act like a normal TV remote. But when you switch to the input you configured the universal remote on then it will start sending IR signals for some keys (depending on device selected during setup). In addition to physical buttons on the remote you also have an on screen remote where you can press additional buttons not available on the remote itself. Because the way this whole function works (I've described it in the beginning of this post) by pressing the button on on screen remote the remote still sends proper IR signal. Now there are some restrictions with this mode: - For universal remote mode to be active the TV must be turned on and correct input must be selected. - Physical power button on the remote always sends the power on/off command to the TV itself - if you want to send a power on/off command to the Flirc then you need to use on screen remote when in universal remote mode. The TV also gives you the ability to send Power On command when you switch to the input you have your remote configured on and there is no signal. The dialog will pop up with Power On button on it. When you press it, the remote will send proper IR power on signal. - Some keys are always mapped to the TV itself and you can't use them with other devices. On my MR400 those are buttons are: Smart, 3D, [1][2][3]/Q.MENU (this button activates on screen remote), Mute and Volume buttons. Those are always invoking actions directly on the TV. Of course MR400Q has more buttons so I can't tell you how it will behave. - The scroll doesn't work in universal remote mode - at least I couldn't find a device which maps it somehow. - The gesture control does nothing for the universal remote. When you activate gesture control the cursor on the TV appears and you are back in TV remote mode - it goes back to universal remote mode when the cursor disappears. I don't know how will the keyboard part of the remote behave but I suspect that it won't work in universal remote mode or it will invoke functions directly in the TV. If you have some additional questions then don't hesitate to ask. I'll try to answer then the best I can.

In the flirc gui, go to 'controllers' menu and choose 'full keyboard'. You can add any key from there, for example, you would just click on F4 and then press the button on the remote that you want to send the F4 command.

If I could get to the GUI I would do as you suggest. When I said the program does not launch I meant the GUI. I click on Flirc in Accessories and nothing happens. I don't mind using command line if I knew how to find the firmware version. fw_1.0.bin is no longer available (404 error). mike

hi, i've got a harmony 700. i'm seeing repeated keypresses being emitted at the slightest touch of (especially) the red/green/yellow/blue buttons. i've programmed these particular keys to be alt+z, alt+x, alt+c, alt+v. even after setting repeats to zero (in harmony), setting inter-key delay to 1000ms on the harmony, and setting inter-key delay to 7 on the flirc, i am still having this issue. what is very odd to me is that holding a key will emit about 10 repeats a second. if i understand what inter-key delay is supposed to do, a setting of 1000ms should only emit 1 keypress a second at a maximum. but i'm still seeing about 10/s emitted. so it seems like this setting is being ignored. does that sound right? strangely, although regular keys also repeat quickly, as if they ignore inter-key delay, they don't emit multiple keypress events at the slightest touch like the ones configured with record_api do. another thing i've noticed is that since recording them with flirc_util record_api, i can't delete them (they don't appear in the output of 'settings'), and i can't re-record them using the standard 'record' command (it says key already in use). so i'm unable to test if the hair-trigger nature of the red/green/yellow/red keys is a result of using record_api, or there is something else going on (at least without formatting and losing *all* of my settings). in conclusion, either i'm misunderstanding inter-key delay in thinking that it will rate-limit key repeats proportional to the specified delay, or inter-key delay is horribly broken somewhere. and, i am unable to re-record keys as non-modifier keys that were previously recorded with record_api, nor am i able to delete them using flirc_util. p.s. this is on firmware 3.0 / flirc_util 1.2.7

yes, I need to update my command utility so you can delete them by index, they don't show up, however, you can do flirc_util delete, and then hit the button on your remote, that should do it. Yes, sounds like harmony is ignoring it. It wouldn't be the first time. On my harmony, If I press the button twice in 20ms, it will insert a delay of 1s in between them, always. So if I hit the key 10 times, it takes ten f&*$@#'n seconds to get to my tv.

yeah still working on it, but just open up a command prompt, and type: sudo Flirc It runs as super user, I just can't figure out why it wont run without elevated privileges

Hi, thanks for the info. OK, when I save it using the command line, it automatically saves it with the correct extension ie if I type in flirc_util saveconfig ~/Desktop/my_flirc_config it saves the config file as "my_flirc_config.fcfg" The good news is that this file is now automatically listed by the GUI, & by manually renaming the other backup configs that I've done, they now show up too. I haven't actually loaded one of the files though, as my flirc is doing nearly everything that I need it to currently.

Hey guys, finally got time to test RC2 myself. My findings, all on Windows: 1.) Installed Gui 1.3, started Gui, plugged in Flirc, gets recognised as FW 3.1, Guis asks to upgrade to 3.3, Gui upgrades, recognises Flirc as FW 3.3, down in the middel of the GUI it says "Unsupported firmware, try upgrading". Tried closing Gui, unpluggins Flirc and redo the process multiple times. Asks me for the eighth time now after reopeneing the Gui to upgrade firmware. Flirc_Util says on status: Last upgrade attempt: Error Ignoring the upgrade message and just clear config and go ahead learning some keys works flawless for me. Some more testing needed though. 2.) Forcing FW upgrade through the menus says "Your firmware version is: 3,3 The latest firmware version is: 3.2" Sound like a typo. After doing the force upgrade, flirc_util still says error on last upgrade attempt. GUI says "Firmware successfully upgraded". 3.) While trying to use the 334kb sized flirc_util.exe from the extracted zip (release/windows), it cries about missing libusb-1.0.dll. Using flirc_util.exe (505kb) that gets installed by the installer works fine. Still, typing flirc_util without its .exe extension in a command prompt just does not work, you HAVE to write "flirc_util.exe". Not an expetected behavior. So yeah, learning keys obviously works, but some messages are very confusing. That's all for now. Cheers guys and thanks to Jason for fighting bugs for us. :-D

Just to followup and confirm. I just tried the media play/pause/FF/RW buttons on my flirc using this chart and the record_api command to set the keys. Rewind puts the Nexus player to sleep Fast forward did nothing Play toggled play and pause Pause did nothing Stop did nothing I tried all the keys while playing back media just to verify. I'm going to update my post in the other thread just so no one gets confused.