[tlug] Using LIRC

[Dave M G <martin@example.com>]

TLUG,

I don't know if LIRC (Linux Infrared Remote Control) is a common enough 
application to be able to expect much help. But here goes anyway:

I have in my computer a Hauppage PVR-150 TV tuner card. I have 
successfully set it up so that I can see TV signals in Xawtv. I had to 
install a more recent version of Xawtv than what was in the 
repositories, because apparently only the new version handles IVTV 
correctly. Xawtv seems to be, at the moment, the only option for TV 
signals for my hardware and OS set up.

I have succeeded in mapping all the Japanese broadcast channels as well.

The next step is to set up LIRC to be able to use the remote that comes 
with the Hauppauge card. This is where I have hit a wall.

I have been able to get the latest version of LIRC installed and running.

At the command prompt, when I run "irw" and press buttons on my remote, 
I get the following output:
0000000000001781 00 1 Hauppauge_350
0000000000001782 00 2 Hauppauge_350
0000000000001783 00 3 Hauppauge_350
0000000000001784 00 4 Hauppauge_350
0000000000001785 00 5 Hauppauge_350
00000000000017a5 00 OK Hauppauge_350

As you can see, it is correctly identifying the buttons, although 
mis-identifying the card as a PVR-350. So the remote works.

But how to configure the remote to do the following has proven beyond 
me, despite reading the instructions on the LIRC web site:

1. Correctly identify the remote control as a Hauppauge_150 (This may 
not be critical, as the buttons reported from "irw" do match the buttons 
pressed on the remote),

2. Be able to change channels in Xawtv. I have not been able to find 
instructions on the web which clearly specify how to do this. By 
searching the web I have discovered that there is a program called 
xawtv-remote, but running it simultaneously with xawtv has produced no 
results, I suspect because I have not properly configured the remote for 
use with the program.

3. Have LIRC, running at boot time so that pressing some button on the 
remote can do specific tasks, such as start and stop programs like xawtv.

I have come across a command called "irrecord". This should 
theoretically allow me to configure my remote so that I can specify what 
buttons do what commands.

But when I try to run it, I get errors:
dave@example.com:~$ irrecord hauppauge_150
irrecord -  application for recording IR-codes for usage with lirc
Copyright (C) 1998,1999 Christoph Bartelmus(lirc@example.com)
irrecord: could not open /dev/lirc
irrecord: default_init(): Permission denied
irrecord: could not init hardware (lircd running ? --> close it, check 
permissions)

If "lircd" is already running, what is it doing?

Any advice is much appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

--
Dave M G