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I just received my FLIRC!!!! Very cool! I am running Win 8 with XBMC Frodo. I can configure FLIRC to work with minimalist setting but when I try XBMC, the go command is not responding and nothing records as a key map? Does anyone have suggestions?

Hi Samuk In answer to your questions: This should help: As you've found the XBMC controller preset in the Flirc GUI contains a few errors, some lesser used functions are not present (to simplify it for the user). Using the Keyboard preset in Flirc gui you can match up the command you want from the xbmc keyboard wiki (http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Keyboard) with the button on your remote. For example Exit button on your remote - map to "Esc" Back button on your remote - map to "backspace" using the xbmc keyboard wiki shoudl help with this. We (Jason) will be addressing the erronous commands in the next revision of Flirc GUI - sorry about that. To close xbmc map a keyboard button to ALT+f4 (like you would close any other app on windows). Or try this way: To start XBMC: Try doing the above stuff first, see if that helps your set-up. Let us know and ask more questions if you think of any :) Remember you should be able to do anything you can do on a keyboard with Flirc. Happy flirc-ing :)

I figured out a hacky solution for the volume controls on my DirecTV remote. Basically, vsu is correct that the volume buttons send two commands in sequence so you have to get the Flirc program to record only as the second command is being sent. Whereas most buttons only light up the top-left light on my remote, the volume controls light up the top-left then the top-right immediately after and that seems to indicate when each command is being sent. My solution is to: 1) Hover the mouse cursor over the desired key to record in the Flirc program 2) Press the desired volume button on the remote 3) Wait as the first light blinks and then click the mouse as the second light turns on so that only the second command is recorded. You may have to try a few times to get the timing right, but I now have volume up, volume down, and mute all working with the DirecTV remote through Flirc. If you click too late, just click again to cancel the recording and try again. Strangely the XBMC "mute" button preset didn't work so I had to manually set it to F8 in the keyboard controller.

Backstory: So 24 hours in and I have my Flirc doing everything I want (Ill make the appropriate thank you in another post). I wish I could say the experience of setting it up didn't come with a few speed bumps. I ended up running into an issue where the Flirc would program on my Windows 7 box but when I'd get it on my XBMCbuntu system it wouldn't respond. I tried all the USB ports (some are on different hubs) but alas it would not work. I tried rebooting several times, I tried re-flashing / wiping then re-importing / upgrading-fw / downgrading-fw, nothing helped ... finally I tired a very simple setup (arrows only) and it seemed to be fine. So, I decided to watch the raw input and noticed that the device would initialize in linux but the first time I sent an IR command the driver would crash and the input would disconnect with my full config. At this point I had to simply go through and re-map all my keys and custom buttons from my Harmony One Suggestions: Basically all this is why I think some sort of configuration validator would have fixed this, obviously there was something in the config that was not correct. The reason for XML would be: 1) XML would make it easy for an advanced end-user to look through config, manually edit and fix issues. 2) XML validation could pick up on 99% config errors. 3) XML would make it easy to share configuration (mappings) with other users via the forum. Thanks, Clad

I figured out everything but I have some more suggestions because of the 45 minute battle going from my Win7 box to my XBMCubuntu host. Some sort of configuration validation is needed and the fact the config is not written on XML is mind blowing. Basically the USB keyboard driver would crash as soon as the remote sent its first command. I had to catch the input buffer to see it happen. So after flushing the config and re-setting up all the hard buttons and the 15 custom maps I got it working. It seems solid now, I still also stand behind my recommendation/suggestion for playback in the GUI so a user doesn't need a notepad document open to diagnose button mapping.

I am of course a Newb only having a single programming under my belt of a 3 hour old Flirc but I found something horribly annoying (mostly cause of Harmony) but I can see it could help lots of folks. Giving us the ability while not erasing or learning a command the to playback the mapped IR functions of a remote. What I mean is: After I have programmed a map from lets say the "Play" button on my Harmony to the spacebar on a keyboard layout. If I was to press "Play" button on the remote the GUI would identify that the spacebar is the appropriate mapped keystroke by highlighting the spacebar oh, lets say .. red. I think it would help troubleshooting complex setups.

Just reread your two posts on this topic.... You don't have a Flirc do you? The Harmony is the remote that sends an IR signal, The Flirc is the device that receives an IR signal on your PC and converts it to a keyboard command. Without actually buying a Flirc the Flirc software is useless to you. Without an IR receiver of some type the Harmony is useless at controlling your PC.

The only things on are the HTPC, AV receiver, TV. It does seem to change depending on whether the room lights are on. I've just recorded all my commands at sensitivity levels of 1,2,3 all in my Devonshire Fudge Tin. Now trying it in different USB ports in the PC, also seems to be worst when I plug it into the front port. Out of interest Chris, what are your Harmony settings. At the moment mine are all 200ms and the responding too much to commands one is set at 0. And could the interkey delay be of any use? Currently set at 6 but have tried it at 2, can't quite remember the difference if any. Also am I correct in assuming that the sensitivity level of 3 is the least sensitive, only assume this because when I tried 0 each command could be recorded several times each with a different code from the same key, leading me to believe that the Flirc was picking up a lot of noise. Can upload my fcfg files if that helps at all. I'm using the Samsung TV profile recommended, tried the Panasonic one but as I have a Panasonic TV that didn't work so well, also tried the Sky HD PVR one that someone else recommended but it was very sluggish indeed. I can't really think of anything else to try now, and I can't quite get my head around why the Flirc just keeps repeating the same command over and over until I either remove it or use another button. It's like it gets stuck in an endless loop. I had problems with Phantom commands before but managed to sort that one out with the Fudge tin.

Well i have finally got my Flirc today. Might is say first off, Jason & Chris have been excellent and helped me out a lot with obtaining one! Anyway, onto the issue! Basically i have a Harmony One PLus remote to control everything I have the Flirc added as the recommended Panasonic TV profile and this work, BUT only when i go into Devices and then the correct profile on the Harmony remote. If i just go from the 'Current Activity' menu it sends the command to my Main TV which causes it to bring up errors. Is there a way to prioritise which device a command goes to? For example in this one i want every command to go to Flirc and the only ones not to is the volume. Another issue (Which i may just have to deal with) But i will only ever be using Flirc to control XBMC and as you can imagine when i want to use the remote, i have to first select XBMC as the program on my Mac, only then will the buttons work. Is there a way to force it to send the commands to XBMC even if it isn't the App that you are presently controlling? I probably haven't made sense in this but if you can help in anyway i would very much appreciate it! Thanks, Steven

@ ariflirc Thank you for your post - I almost started panicking when I switched from xbmcbuntu with older kernel to minimal 12.10. I had a bit different experience with my system which is based on Zotac H55 board. Using flirc on win7, openelec and xbmcbuntu I never had need to upgrade from v1 fw. When I switched to minimal 12.10 all of the sudden wake did not work. After finding your post I made new udev rule and it all seemed to work, but.. If I used any other fw accept v1 my flirc would wake system on any remote activity in living room and it would not be present in my system until I would plug it into diferent usb. It would be ok if i wake my system with "wake command" but that was impossible ​to achieve. If i used fw 1 with your udev rule i could wake system with any key on remote (like on other systems I used before) but flirc was again not present on my system after resume. Resolution was to use v1 fw, so my system would not wake on any remote activity and to make a resume script that will reset USB port with flirc after resume. sudo nano /etc/pm/sleep.d/20_flirc_resume case "${1}" in hibernate|suspend) # Switch USB buses off echo -n "0000:00:1d.7" | tee /sys/bus/pci/drivers/ehci_hcd/unbind ;; resume|thaw) # Switch USB buses on echo -n "0000:00:1d.7" | tee /sys/bus/pci/drivers/ehci_hcd/bind ;; esac Note: this is copy of my script it will need to be changed to work on different system. If anyone needs more info pls just ask :) Regards burke

You don't need to run the flirc.exe to use your flirc usb stick with a remote. The GUI exe is just used for the configuration. Once configured, the stick "knows" by itself what to do when receiving a command from your remote (remote command/button press > IR signal to Flirc stick > stick translates IR command to a keystroke).

I'm having the same problem with an RC65X remote, but I think this pertains to all DirecTV remotes. I think the problem with the volume up/down, mute, and TV input buttons is that for these buttons the remote sends a DirecTV receiver IR command prior to sending the IR command for the button itself. When you press those buttons you will see the LED on the remote flash indicating transmission of the DirecTV receiver command flash right before it flashes again indicating transmission of the TV command. I believe the flirc only records the first command for the receiver rather than the whole sequence. Since this first command is probably the same, the flirc interprets all four buttons as being the same. I'm guessing there is a timeout in the firmware to catch the end of the IR signal, but is it possible to make this longer so that it sees both IR commands?

Yes!! I did some digging and read a few topic about interference and I finally got it working. My setup: - Mac mini (with built in infrared switched off) - Harmony one + (choose Samsung LN46C650L1F with interkey delay set to 0) - I did a setup with Flirc software on a Windows 7 machine in a different room then my Mac Mini is (to avoid interference) - I used full keyboard layout Now it is working! Also installed Alauncher en configured command+F1 as shortcut key through the Flirc software. This is really cool. I've been struggling for so long with my Harmony remote and Plex. Now I finally found a solution that works. Thanks!!

Hi guys, I know there are opened topics on similar problems but somehow i feel mine is a bit different. My understanding of technical stuff and English is limited to basics so if i miss understand something please just point me to solution. Forgive me if this is a bit long to read but I feel that explaining in more details is crucial for finding good solution. I got my flirc almost a year ago, bought it to control my XBMC machine. I used fw 1. My Hw ( which can be relevant) is Zotac H55 ie + i3 500. Remote is Oneforall ES4 First I used it with Win7 - no problems sleep/wake worked 10+ (any button would wake system). I suffered problems with win drivers and hw acceleration so i moved from Win7. Then i used it on Openelec system (beta 2) no problems there either 10+ (any button would wake system). Openelec has some problems with addons i use so i had to move once again... XBMCbuntu 11.0 - no problems 10+ (any button would wake system). XBMCbuntu has no ability to change speed of keyboard and using remote was a problem (vol + / - , sub delay and different functions are to hard to control ) it just does not feel right. Then I stumbled on this on XBMC forum "HOW-TO: Automated efficient (dedicated) XBMC installation on Ubuntu minimal 12.10". This was great in terms of boot time, remote feel and whole XBMC experience. But this was the firs time a had problems with wake. I quickly found this topic on flirc forum: After reading i checked my setting and just made new udev rule. Flashed my fw to ver 6 and tried it out - worked like a charm but.... If i use ver 6 my flirc will wake my machine on any remote signal - from tv, sat or amp remote :( Even bigger problem was that when woken from other signals, aside from "wake command" flirc is not present on system until it is plugged to a different port. After that I reverted back to fw ver1, with udev rule still in place I am able to wake my system using remote, but after that flirc is not present in system (until it is plugged to a different port). I found a program to reset usb but it does not work cause system does not see a device present to reset. I did ask abut this in thread on xbmc forum and opened a topic on ask ubuntu forum but I got no answer to this day :( I can't imagine this to be a flirc problem - cause it worked just fine on older versions of linux, but i am unable to solve this one on my own. Hopefully someone here can help me out. If you need more info just tell my what you need, i do not know almost anything abut linux so do not know where to start. Thank you. Burke

Hi; Thanks for the great help around here. I have tried to setup Flirc and my Harmony One without success. I have read many installation procedures and I am confused. I have programmed FLIRC with keyboard layout but keys needed to be pressed twice to work, and even though the delay to execution was huge (so I canned that one). Next, I programmed MCE Keyboard and MCPC in the remote and linked them with an action to launch XBMC automatically using WIN-7 command and then use the keyboard layout i programmed. That did not work either... WISH LIST: Have XBMC as a command in remote When pressed a) I need TV on and HDMI 3 selected B) XBMC launched on the PC then control from there with a keyboard layout. ASSUMPTION: A second TV profile would not work since I need my TV to switch to HDMI 3 and so on... is this correct? I realize that this list might be a bit pretentious but I would like the convenience this offers. QUESTIONS Is this possible to do If yes, what is the best way to program it Thanks in advance

Hi! I am thinking to purchase the flirc remote but before i do this i have a few questions. I will use flirc with XBMC build around minumal ubuntu (no GUI fo OS). 1. So what i am interested in is if flirc can execute the script .sh if XBMC freezes. So something like 'irexec' which is a seperate deamon in lunux which listens for command. So basically even if XBMC freezes you can still execute f.e. reboot.sh command to restart the HTPC not dependent on XBMC. 2. Can flirc be programmed on windows and then be used on linux? tnx

@Vega: so sorry. I thought I'd sent a message to Jason but I hadn't (I just double checked). Sorry for leaving you hanging. I've highlighted your original thread I'll find the thread detailing command line prompts for sensitivity a little later. :)

Seems there could be two factors: Are both rf receivers programmed to the same remote? Also flircs are more sensitive that the average receiver (I find), you may need to cover it a lot more. Or you can reduce the sensitivity of flirc via command line.

That happened to me on the first Flirc I used, but programming it from the command line on a Linux system seemed to help (although in the end it did turn out that my first Flirc was faulty). I don't know if you've got a Linux box to test from or woud like to try testing from Windows command prompt, but it may help isolate the problem.

Ok guys, thanks received the usb receiver. I have set it up using the minimalist setting, just confirming that the receiver works with the remote. I think my requested setup is reasonably common. I want to be able to: Use XBMC and Eyetv extended menus. Be able switch between them. Be able to spare a key somewhere to set it up to for example a screen shot (shift command 3) or something.. Should I reconfigure this as a full keyboard to start with. Thanks for your help!

Never used the R50 but I second everything Chris! said. I have a URC RF20 and it does a great job with flirc on my XBMCbuntu box. If you're at all used to a command line and interacting with XBMCbuntu over ssh, I actually prefer to program my flirc from the CLI, but using the GUI on another system is a nice alternative as well. If you run into any trouble just post about it here and I'm sure we'll be able to get you sorted.

Hi Jason Thanks for the reply, if this info is of any us: It's just the back button that seems to be getting pressed over and over... worked fine for weeks. So a film would be playing and it jumps back to a menu in xbmc, and then back to the main menu etc, weird Also, to test what I did was I removed the battery from my logitech remote and left the flirc in the usb port. it still happens. So it's not the remote itself sending the command. When I remove flirc from my usb the problem no longer happens. I'll re-record all the commands again and wipe my flirc and let you know.

I tried what Jason mentioned and change the sens without closing the GUI but it returns this error: C:\Program Files (x86)\flirc\cli>flirc.exe sensitivity 1 Warning: cannot open USB devicedevice disconnected, can't run command With the GUI closed, it provides this output: sensitivy set: 1 You must re-learn your remote buttons with every different sensitivity C:\Program Files (x86)\flirc\cli> Jason - how do I post my configuration after each sens setting? What file should I attach here?

I have a nasty habit of responding at work and not clicking send. Anyway, what I tried to answer you yesterday was that I don't think that's the issue. I'm pretty sure Macs understand the Printscreen key when you attach a keyboard that has one. I'll confirm this when I get home and can take the flirc off my linux box and attach it to my Mac. The problem is that the flirc GUI doesn't have a way to record the Printscreen key on Mac, ostensibly because Mac keyboards don't come with one, and I don't know how to program flirc from the CLI on Macs. Then again, I also don't know if greenep48 is using a Mac to begin with. The commands I listed above will work on Windows and Linux, but if he is on a Mac, I don't know what to tell him unless Jason can tell us how to run the equivalent command from a Mac terminal. I'm sure it's possible, but it's not in a default path for commands on my system, nor is it in the Flirc.app folder.

I know this has been discussed in the forums before (see XBMC setup), but I though maybe I could add some new information to everyone's understanding of why this is so difficult. The ASCII beyboard has been around a very long time, and each technology "revolution" has modified special keys and how they operate. For example, the keyboard on an original Teletype machine has a "BREAK" key that literally broke the circuit connection as a special control command. The advent of the video display was another one of these revolutions. One problem with implementing a screen capture key is that you don't want the operting system to recognize it as a normal keypress - it is really a direct command to the video processor to capture the display memory. Therefore, the Print Screen key has no character code as it doesn't produce any character. It has a virtual key code, VK_SNAPSHOT or $2C. As it produces no character no Keypressed event is triggered. If you don't believe this, go see what Showkey reports when you hit PrintScrn - nothin'. That said, it is a very important key when using XBMC since the support staff almost won't respond to a problem unless you provide a screenshot (and rightly so in most cases!). No reply is necessary, guys. Just ramblings from an old nerd who grew up with this stuff.