GeoffT Posted January 17 Report Share Posted January 17 I've had a couple of the old style FLIRCs for ages that I haven't used for a while, but having just got a Channels DVR system I was pleased to discover there is a specific controller available for it. So I have updated my FLIRC software and then the firmware on my devices. 2 questions as a result. It looks like the Channels specific commands (Guide/DVR/Live/CC etc) don't work on my old Flircs, do I need the newer version to get these to function? Could a Stop button be added to the Channels Controller layout? I know there is a Channels API command for stop because that's what I'm currently using. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoffT Posted January 18 Author Report Share Posted January 18 Can someone from Flirc reply to the first question please? I've just bought a Gen 2 Flirc in case that was the issue and that doesn't work with the Channels specific commands either. Is the Channels section of the software actually supposed to be working? I've updated the new Flirc to the latest firmware and as I've bought it specifically for this use it is very disappointing that it doesn't work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoffT Posted January 18 Author Report Share Posted January 18 (edited) I've just spotted that under the Advanced tab that most other Device specific profiles (Nvidia Shield, Fire TV, Kodi etc) have a tick box, but there isn't a tick box at all for Channels. So, I ask again, is the Channels controller part of the Software actually meant to be working? Edited January 18 by GeoffT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason Posted January 18 Report Share Posted January 18 I'm sorry for my delay. TLDR, it's supported. For an explanation, see below. The BuiltIn Profiles are custom Flirc Codes that will not conflict with anything else. Those codes are built in harmony's database, and the skipapp. Harmony died before we had a chance to get more profiles in their software. I have not created a profile for channels yet. But all that means is that it's not pre-pared if you use a Skip1s or Harmony remote. You can use the GUI to dynamically map those keys to your remote just fine. Let me know if that makes sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoffT Posted January 18 Author Report Share Posted January 18 (edited) 27 minutes ago, jason said: I'm sorry for my delay. TLDR, it's supported. For an explanation, see below. The BuiltIn Profiles are custom Flirc Codes that will not conflict with anything else. Those codes are built in harmony's database, and the skipapp. Harmony died before we had a chance to get more profiles in their software. I have not created a profile for channels yet. But all that means is that it's not pre-pared if you use a Skip1s or Harmony remote. You can use the GUI to dynamically map those keys to your remote just fine. Let me know if that makes sense. Thanks for the reply, but so far I cannot get it to work on all buttons. Specifically the Guide,DVR,Record,CC buttons. I presume the commands they send are specific to the Channels app rather than just generic Adb commands like most of the others? But having tried several times programming via the GUI both V1 and V2 Flircs and even using different remotes, the key presses for Guide etc are recorded OK but don't do anything when connected to the Nvidia Shield that runs Channels. Edited January 18 by GeoffT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason Posted January 18 Report Share Posted January 18 What device are you using channels on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoffT Posted January 18 Author Report Share Posted January 18 5 minutes ago, jason said: What device are you using channels on? Nvidia Shield. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason Posted January 18 Report Share Posted January 18 Let me look into this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoffT Posted January 18 Author Report Share Posted January 18 OK. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason Posted January 23 Report Share Posted January 23 I see the issue, and am working on some updates Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoffT Posted January 24 Author Report Share Posted January 24 Good to know. When its fixed, should this feature work with both v1 and v2 Flircs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoffT Posted February 2 Author Report Share Posted February 2 On 1/23/2024 at 10:50 PM, jason said: I see the issue, and am working on some updates Any news on the updates? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 I should be finished midweek. I’m almost there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoffT Posted February 5 Author Report Share Posted February 5 Excellent. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoffT Posted February 5 Author Report Share Posted February 5 While you are working on that area, would it be possible to add a Stop button to the Channels Controller? I have been mapping the stop command to the media stop button which works fine, but it would nice to have all Channels commands that need mapping on the one controller page. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoffT Posted February 13 Author Report Share Posted February 13 On 2/4/2024 at 8:57 PM, jason said: I should be finished midweek. I’m almost there. Any news? Have you hit some problems? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason Posted February 13 Report Share Posted February 13 Yes, I'm really sorry. I found a bug in the remote that can cause battery drain and I'm going to push an update shortly. Give me a couple more days. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason Posted February 19 Report Share Posted February 19 Almost done. Finishing and testing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason Posted February 20 Report Share Posted February 20 On 2/18/2024 at 10:58 PM, jason said: Almost done. Finishing and testing. I've pushed an update to the Flirc GUI which includes new firmware. You can also load this into the skip, and it should work without any pairing once you add this profile to the skip. I don't see a stop button: https://getchannels.com/docs/apps/remote-control/keyboard/ What is there, should be sufficient. Flirc-Channels.json Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoffT Posted February 20 Author Report Share Posted February 20 1 hour ago, jason said: I've pushed an update to the Flirc GUI which includes new firmware Excellent. Thanks very much. The only problem now is that I primarily use Flirc on a Linux Mint Desktop and had all sorts of problems installing Flirc in the first place - see this thread https://forum.flirc.tv/index.php?/topic/6356-i-cannot-get-flirc-installed-on-my-linux-machine/page/2/ And when I open the Flirc GUI and do check update it says unsupported for Linux. I remember it was a complete pain to install the existing version so wondered if the issues in the thread above have been fixed? I do still have access to a Windows machine with Flirc on it so I will test the update on there, but it would be great if the Linux install/update process could be fixed. BTW Should this update work with both V1 and V2 Flircs? I have both and to be honest I find the V1s much better. They seem much quicker to react to remote button presses and the V2 (set up with the same remote and commands) often sends the button press twice or misses them completely. I even sent one V2 back to Amazon because I presumed if was faulty, and although the next one I got from another supplier is better it still doesn't seem as good as the V1s to me. In fact, if you have a stash of tatty old V1s anywhere I'd happily give them a good home! Thanks again Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoffT Posted February 20 Author Report Share Posted February 20 3 hours ago, jason said: I've pushed an update to the Flirc GUI which includes new firmware. Update I updated the Flirc GUI Firmware on my Windows machine and reprogrammed my Flirc using the Channels Controller. Mostly it seems to work, but I think I found a bug and the TV, Guide, DVR buttons didn't work quite as I expected. The bug is that the "2" digit when programmed using the Channels Controller seems to send a down command as well as the "2". All the other digits in the Channels Controller work fine and if I select the "2" from the keyboard layout, instead of the Channels Controller "2" and program that to my remote "2" button, that works fine. With regard to the TV, Guide and DVR buttons I thought they would go directly to the Live TV, Guide and DVR pages. But it looks like they are actually sending F1(Blue),F2(Red),F3(Green),F4(Yellow) commands which you can then set within the Channels app to do different things. So depending how you have Channels set up, the Guide command from Flirc could actually go to Live TV,Recordings etc etc not the Guide. I already use the F1/F2 etc functionality so was hoping the TV,Guide,DVR buttons in Flirc would be mapped directly to those commands and free up the F1/F2 options within channels for other stuff. Maybe this is not technically possible? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason Posted February 20 Report Share Posted February 20 Make sure you format the Flirc USB. The commands are built in. If you use the FLIRC USB software to pair buttons, you’ll overwrite the built in mapping. By default, they are F1-F4. Yes, they can be mapped in channels. Version 2 should work with the skip flawlessly, if you have a button with multiple presses, please let me know so I can look into it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoffT Posted February 20 Author Report Share Posted February 20 16 minutes ago, jason said: Make sure you format the Flirc USB. The commands are built in. If you use the FLIRC USB software to pair buttons, you’ll overwrite the built in mapping. By default, they are F1-F4. Yes, they can be mapped in channels. Version 2 should work with the skip flawlessly, if you have a button with multiple presses, please let me know so I can look into it Sorry, there seems to be some confusion - I am not using the Skip remote and I don't know what you mean by "format the Flirc USB". I am using the Flirc GUI to program my Flircs with IR commands from my Inteset 422 (using a Humax profile that doesn't conflict with any of my other gear) to the Channels Controller commands. Then plugging the Flirc into my Nvidia Shield that runs Channels. This is what I have always done and it basically works it was just the Channels Controller commands that weren't working, but are now (given the above caveat about the 2 digit) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason Posted February 20 Report Share Posted February 20 4 hours ago, GeoffT said: Sorry, there seems to be some confusion - I am not using the Skip remote and I don't know what you mean by "format the Flirc USB". I am using the Flirc GUI to program my Flircs with IR commands from my Inteset 422 (using a Humax profile that doesn't conflict with any of my other gear) to the Channels Controller commands. Then plugging the Flirc into my Nvidia Shield that runs Channels. This is what I have always done and it basically works it was just the Channels Controller commands that weren't working, but are now (given the above caveat about the 2 digit) My misunderstanding, I thought the entire time you were using a Skip remote. Yes, all those special buttons are F1-F4 and can be remapped. Although, mine were not correct in the app. The ones in the Interface were chosen by the creator of Channels, I can always reach out to see about updating/adding more. But for now, just use the full keyboard for anything missing. I don't see any issues with the 2 digit. Can you open up Flirc USB. Go to File->Advanced. Enable IR Debugging. Press and hold that key for me. Copy and paste that here. Also send me your saved configuration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoffT Posted February 21 Author Report Share Posted February 21 (edited) 12 hours ago, jason said: Can you open up Flirc USB. Go to File->Advanced. Enable IR Debugging I don't have IR Debugging as an option there on my system. This is using my V1 Flircs (latest firmware). I will try later with my V2 in case it is only available on those. EDIT (I did find it in the end it's under File->Device Log-> Enable IR Debugging) but I don't believe the issue is anything to do with the IR side. It is what the "2" digit in the Channels Controller is mapped to send over the USB interface that is the problem. I have tried mapping different buttons and even used an entirely different remote, no matter what remote button I map to the Channels Controller "2" button, when connected to the Shield and the button is pressed it sends a "down" command as well as the "2" command. It does this whether I am in the Channels app or on the general Shield menu. All other digits in the Channels Controller work correctly. I have attached a config file. This one has both the keyboard "2" mapped to my Humax profile IR 2 (which works correctly) and the Channels Controller 2 mapped to a random LG remote 2 which sends "down" and "2" Did you see my post earlier about Flirc on Linux btw? I have to say, I absolutely love Flircs and my AV system couldn't run without their functionality, but I do find it very frustrating to setup and use the programming GUI. 1) On Linux it was a days worth of Googling to even get it installed with a ridiculously complex set of commands. It still throws up errors when it runs. I haven't a clue how I would now go about an update to the latest firmware. 2) On Windows the GUI crashes whenever I plug in a V1 Flirc. I have to close the GUI, plug the Flirc in and restart the GUI. Even then sometimes it still crashes. 3) You cannot successfully restore a configuration file from a V1 Flirc to a V2. It gives no error message when you do it but nothing is actually copied across. So I end up having to go through the setup all over again on the V2 and then duplicate any adjustments I make to both V1 and V2 files. 4) At some point in the past when connected to the GUI, you could press a button on the remote and the button it was programmed to would flash on the GUI screen. This was really useful to check you had programmed every button as you wanted but this functionality seems to have gone. It certainly doesn't work with the Channels Controller. Flirc seems to be a very small company so I don't want to be too harsh, and once set up the devices themselves are totally brilliant, but really I wish the GUI program was easier to install on Linux and more reliable on all platforms. fordebuggingthe2issue.fcfg Edited February 21 by GeoffT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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