I've been using the usb flirc for a long time, but occasionally they stop working and then work sporadically.  I'm using windows, just trying to get numbers into notepad. plug the usb in, it will work for 1 maybe two keystrokes then stop working. Unplug/plug back in a bunch of times then it will work again for a few minutes. Sometimes I'll get it working, then unplug/replug and nothing.  Is there a way to get them to work reliably and from boot?

ok I figured it out, there is an odd glitch here. The flirc will not work if the lights in the room are on while the flirc is first booting. What I needed to do was to shadow the flirc with my hand and then while shadowed from the rest of the room hit a few buttons on the remote, soon as I verify the flirc is working while shadowed from the room it will then continue to work unshadowed. 

It seems to me the flirc is becoming overwhelmed during first boot in a bright environment, as soon as it receives a few ir blasts from a remote it seems to then adjust something that allows it to tone out everything else and follow that one remote fine. 

 

This is consistently the issue now. What I need to do every time the flirc boots is to shadow the receiver, hit a single button on the remote inside the shadow, and then it works fine after.