MXIII IR Remote Issue

[heineken016]

Just picked up a 1gb MXIII. I've updated the firmware to 109k4 and it is is ticking along very nicely...

with the exception of the IR remote. It won't work at all.
I've tested it by shooting it into a camera, and you can see that the remote itself is working.
I've pulled the main board out to ensure there was no obstruction to the IR sensor.

Still isn't working.

Are there any ideas people have for getting IR remotes to work with android? Do I need to find special drivers or similar? Is there a setting somewhere I need to enable?

Thanks for your help.

[Ichijoe]

Just picked up a 1gb MXIII. I've updated the firmware to 109k4 and it is is ticking along very nicely...

with the exception of the IR remote. It won't work at all.
I've tested it by shooting it into a camera, and you can see that the remote itself is working.
I've pulled the main board out to ensure there was no obstruction to the IR sensor.

Still isn't working.

Are there any ideas people have for getting IR remotes to work with android? Do I need to find special drivers or similar? Is there a setting somewhere I need to enable?

Thanks for your help.

You might live to regret that... I don't know.. since I was kinda twisted into updating the Firmware on my MXIII (M82 1G/8G) as well. Botched TWRP Install. (For a Nandroid backup that never happened!). But, the general consensus 'round these Parts, would suggest that 108k4 (AP6181), had the better amcodec Pack on it.
At least when it came to stuff outside of XBMC... (e.g. Netflix and Co. + Show Box). I can't attest to the former as I'm not a Netflix Customer. But, Show Box, does have some Problems... Well it had some problems. They seem to have been fixed in the last update (Saturday 6th Dec.), though not entirely. But, at least it plays fine more or less now. So that may not have been purely a amcodec thing.

As to the Remote...
Are you pointing it at the TV, or the "Device"? 'Cause you need to be pointing at the Device, for it to work. Another thing... This may also seem obvious but, how new were those Batteries? Perhaps a new set would work better?

If you still need to actually "see" something... Try this:
Connect a USB Mouse... (From your PC for instance... Assuming you don't have a choice in this matter!)

Log into the Play Store, then look for this: Rooted SSH/SFTP Daemon: https://play.google.com/store/apps/d....sshsftpDaemon - Install and, run it! Click on the Cog (Settings), find the Option to change the Password from 123abc (or whatever!), to your own! then press the huge Button above that to turn it on.

Now take your Mouse back to the PC (Windows I presume?), and download the following:
Putty: http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~s.../download.html and,
WinSCP: http://winscp.net/eng/index.php (You don't really need this just to do what I'm going to explain here in a sec. But, it is a useful Program nonetheless)

So you started the SSH/SFTP Client on the "Device". It should also be spilling an IP Address (The One for the "Device")
So all you need to do is to fire up Putty, and connect it to root@<DEVICE IP> which should then connect and ask you for your password. and leave you at a Command Prompt.

Its at this Prompt that you want to type this Command in:

cat /proc/kmsg | grep -v -e CTS_ -e 'need set max' -e gpufre

It'll spit out a ton of crap... so just press CTRL-C to (Break it), and type in clear then enter. (To clear the Screen).
Then press the Up Arrow Key till you see that first command (As above!) and run it again. It should hopefully have less junk showing up now!

Assuming your Remote is in good shape you can now point it to the Device at which point it should be registering the Scancodes of the Remote. Otherwise it should say something like invalid. Assuming that something in the remote.conf File has changed.

But, a) Are you sure this is about the Stock Remote?, and not some AirMouse? 'Cause again I think you have to teach it the Stock Remote first,. and b) That the Batteries are in fact strong enough?

[heineken016]

...but, a) Are you sure this is about the Stock Remote?, and not some AirMouse? 'Cause again I think you have to teach it the Stock Remote first,. and b) That the Batteries are in fact strong enough?

firstly, Ichijoe, thanks very much for the detailed reply! I appreciate it.

I tried 3 sets of new batteries that all worked in other devices, and used the trick where test an IR remote at a digital camera and a blue light shows up on the IR blaster when you press a button. I also multimeter tested it and voltage increases over the IR blaster when I press buttons!

So, I think the remote works fine. It is definitely the stock on, and not an air mouse.

I also removed the MXIII mainboard from its casing to ensure that there was no obstructions, and using the remote 10cm away from the receiver still did not work.

I will try the SSH trick you mentioned.

But first, you say you 'have to teach it the Stock Remote first'... what does this mean??

thanks!

[Ichijoe]

firstly, Ichijoe, thanks very much for the detailed reply! I appreciate it.

I tried 3 sets of new batteries that all worked in other devices, and used the trick where test an IR remote at a digital camera and a blue light shows up on the IR blaster when you press a button. I also multimeter tested it and voltage increases over the IR blaster when I press buttons!

So, I think the remote works fine. It is definitely the stock on, and not an air mouse.

I also removed the MXIII mainboard from its casing to ensure that there was no obstructions, and using the remote 10cm away from the receiver still did not work.

I will try the SSH trick you mentioned.

But first, you say you 'have to teach it the Stock Remote first'... what does this mean??

thanks!

Its only relevant to Air Mice, and other learning Remotes like Logitech's Harmony range. That do not send the correct NEC Codes.

On that Note... Can you power the "Device" up either from Deep Sleep / Suspend state?
Its worth asking 'cause the Power On Button is hard coded to the "Device" so a duff remote.conf can't kill that. It could however be the root cause of why the Remote is not working though.

Worst case scenario you might have to re-flash a clean Firmware again. Though I'd try resetting the "Device" first. Saving re-flashing as the last resort.

But, thats where the dmseg bit comes in it should atleast acknowledge the Stock Remotes existence, with either a valid, or invalid response. If nothing happens at all then. Try doing a Factory Reset and try it again. Otherwise risk (as such), reflashig the "Device". Or contact the Seller for an RMA (e.g. Returning the "Device" back to the Seller, either for a working One, or a refund). Thats where re-flashing becomes risky. As doing so could kill the Warrenty.

[heineken016]

Its only relevant to Air Mice, and other learning Remotes like Logitech's Harmony range. That do not send the correct NEC Codes.

On that Note... Can you power the "Device" up either from Deep Sleep / Suspend state?
Its worth asking 'cause the Power On Button is hard coded to the "Device" so a duff remote.conf can't kill that. It could however be the root cause of why the Remote is not working though.

Worst case scenario you might have to re-flash a clean Firmware again. Though I'd try resetting the "Device" first. Saving re-flashing as the last resort.

But, thats where the dmseg bit comes in it should atleast acknowledge the Stock Remotes existence, with either a valid, or invalid response. If nothing happens at all then. Try doing a Factory Reset and try it again. Otherwise risk (as such), reflashig the "Device". Or contact the Seller for an RMA (e.g. Returning the "Device" back to the Seller, either for a working One, or a refund). Thats where re-flashing becomes risky. As doing so could kill the Warrenty.

Hi Ichijoe

Finally got around to testing using the SSH method and Putty. Managed to connect thanks to your clear instructions and see responses from remote presses, which shows me that it is working at least.

the typical responses look like this:


<4>[88140.183211@0] Wrong custom code is 0xfd02ff00


Funnily enough, all keys give a similar response (different code though), except the power button that doesn't generate any lines.


Any ideas what this means? I don't mind having to reflash the box as it was pretty straightforward last time.

Cheers

Hi Ichijoe,
Fina

[Ichijoe]

Hi Ichijoe

Finally got around to testing using the SSH method and Putty. Managed to connect thanks to your clear instructions and see responses from remote presses, which shows me that it is working at least.

the typical responses look like this:


<4>[88140.183211@0] Wrong custom code is 0xfd02ff00


Funnily enough, all keys give a similar response (different code though), except the power button that doesn't generate any lines.


Any ideas what this means? I don't mind having to reflash the box as it was pretty straightforward last time.

Cheers

Hi Ichijoe,
Fina

The Code should work something like this: AxAABBCCCC
AxAA = I'm not sure what this part represents
BB = The bit you need for the remote.conf you'll need to write this as 0xBB
CCCC = This is the Device ID. AFAIK these will end in 0001 e.g. CCCC0001

So let's assume that 0xfd02ff00 were to become the Power Off Button. Which would be function 704 IIRC in the remote.conf. The the "Code" should be 0x02. Of course you'll need to change the Device ID i.e. 0xff000001*
To reflect that, or else you'll get the "Wrong custom code" Error.

*I think... But it would mostly be a guess on my part.

The real "Trick" here would be to find a NEC compatible profile like the Pivos One, which should be enough to cover most of the bases, and shape that profile to your will. If on the other hand, your Donar Remote has as many or more clonable Buttons on it then, by all means use that. instead.

I hope that helps you out somemore.

[faddys123]

Just picked up a 1gb MXIII. I've updated the firmware to 109k4 and it is is ticking along very nicely...

with the exception of the IR remote. It won't work at all.
I've tested it by shooting it into a camera, and you can see that the remote itself is working.
I've pulled the main board out to ensure there was no obstruction to the IR sensor.

Still isn't working.

Are there any ideas people have for getting IR remotes to work with android? Do I need to find special drivers or similar? Is there a setting somewhere I need to enable?

Thanks for your help.

Did you sort it out? maybe i can help

[bobb01]

Hi faddys123, and Ichijoe I know this is a bit of an old thread but I am having the exact same issue as heineken016 did.
I have a Netxeon M82 s802/A P6330 2GB box.
I have done as Ichijoe suggested above with ssh/sftp Daemon and am getting "Wrong custom code is... " error whenever I press a button on the remote just like heineken016.

Can either of you please help me?

[Ichijoe]

You're receiving the "Wrong custom Code", because the remote.conf File (../system/etc/<remote.conf>), File is currently setup to in all likelyhood... to use the Stock Remote that came with it![/i]
My personal knowledge in this is Two-Fold....

1) I went over to ask uncle google to tell me how this could be done, and he told me tho go: Here! ... That the Site seems to have died like so many pages before it... You can hit this: up, and hit the pulldown triangle to get the cached Page.


Otherwise below you'll find a cut & paste version of what was on that Page... All credit to Mr. Amain...

; Logitech Harmony Remote / Pivos XIOS DS Media Player remote
; for ENY M8 Android TV Box
;
; Author: Johan van Zoomeren
; Date  : June 28th 2014
;
; Original M8 remote is not available in the Logitech Database. Pivos XIOS DS is
; available in the Logitech database and is sending IR codes using required NEC
; protocol. Though physically this remote does not have a lot buttons, the
; Logitech database provides more. All of which are mapped below.
;
; Factory code XIOS DS Remote: 0xbd020001
; Factory code M8 Remote     : 0xfe010001
;
; Test new remote config:
;
; 1. Setup your Harmony remote using the Logitech software. Add the Pivos XIOS DS Media Player
;    device:
;
;    Vendor: Pivos
;    Model: XIOS DS
;
; 2. cp harmoney-m8.conf to /sdcard/harmoney-m8.conf # on the M8
;
; 3. remotecfg /sdcard/harmoney-m8.conf # changes are active immediately, but lost with a reboot
;
; Install new remote config:
;
; 1. mount -o remount,rw /system
; 2. cp /system/etc/remote.conf /system/etc/remote.conf.org
; 3. cp /sdcard/harmoney-m8.conf /system/etc/remote.conf
; 4. mount -o remount,ro /system
;
; IR-code to Linux-keycode mapping: /system/etc/remote.conf
; Linux-keycode to Android keycode: /system/usr/keylayout/Vendor_0001_Product_0001.kl
; Android keycode to XBMC action  : /storage/emulated/legacy/Android/data/org.xbmc.xbmc/files/.xbmc/userdata/keymaps/ke
;
; Debugging IR-Codes: cat /proc/kmsg | grep -v -e CTS_ -e 'need set max' -e gpufre \
;                                              -e instance -e freq -e policy \
;                                              -e 'default max state' -e state= \
;                                              -e temp=
; Debug XBMC keyboard codes: Enable debugging and watch temp/xbmc.log.
;
; Add the following to Vendor_0001_Product_0001.kl to get the PAGE UP and PAGE
; DOWN to work:
;
; key 177   PAGE_UP
; key 178   PAGE_DOWN
;
;
; To improve XBMC remote control experience add some overrides to keyboard.xml in:
; /storage/emulated/legacy/Android/data/org.xbmc.xbmc/files/.xbmc/userdata/keymaps:
;
; <keymap>
;   <global>
;     <keyboard>
;       <menu>ContextMenu</menu>
;     </keyboard>
;   </global>
;   <FullscreenVideo>
;     <keyboard>
;       <menu>OSD</menu>
;       <one>XBMC.ActivateWindow(subtitlesearch)</one>
;       <two>SubtitleDelayPlus</two>
;       <three>SubtitleDelayMinus</three>
;       <four>SubtitleDelay</four>
;       <up mod="alt">AudioDelayPlus</up>
;       <down mod="alt">AudioDelayMinus</down>
;       <left mod="alt">SubtitleDelayMinus</left>
;       <right mod="alt">SubtitleDelayPlus</right>
;     </keyboard>
;   </FullscreenVideo>
;</keymap>
;
; Buttons one, two, three, four and five are remapped to other actions. On the
; harmoney remote these number buttons could be remapped to left-over physical
; buttons like: blue, yellow, red, green, channel+, channel- and record.
;
;
; Due to Logitech Harmony remote programming limitations, some tricks are needed
; to get the power button to work correctly:
;
; To Power-On the original M8 POWER WAKE code needs to be send because this IR
; code is hard-coded in the M8. The device will wake-up. Once woken up, the
; remotecfg loads /system/etc/remote.conf, with our new config for the XIOS DS.
; This remote.conf configures a different factory code and apparantly will never
; respond to the original M8 POWER WAKE signal. Device won't power-of(sleep).
; Logitech does not allow us to add IR key codes, and does not allow to map
; specific keycodes to the power-on or power-off functionality of the harmoney
; remote. To overcome we can map another (hardly used) button, like CodeInfo*
; to the Android POWER WAKE signal. Effectivly, pressing the "CodecInfo" will
; power-off(sleep) the device. To complete the harmony remote programming, add
; the *CodecInfo as an additional shutdown command to the activity. Pressing
; 'All Off' on the harmoney remote will power-off(sleep) the M8.
;
;
; To make usre that the Harmoney remote is not putting delays between
; keypresses, to remain close to the original M8 remote experience, make sure to:
;
; - Set inter-key delay to                  : 0ms
; - Set key repeat delay to                 : 0
; - Set interdevice delay for each device to: 0ms (only possible from remote)
;
;
; Havily depended on this thread to get this all to work: http://www.freaktab.com/showthread.php?9573-Prometheus-Univer

#*********************************************************************************************************
#this file is configuration for each factory remote device
#       work_mode         0 :software mode  1           ;BACK
#       repeat_enable     0 :disable repeat 1           ;BACK
#
#       factory_code      each device has it's unique factory code.
#                         pattern:custom_code(16bit)+index_code(16bit)
#                         examble: 0xff000001 = 0xff00(custom cod)  0001 (index)
#
#       release_delay     unit:ms.release will report from kernel to user layer after this period of time
#                         from press or repeat triggered.
#
#       debug_enable      0 :debug disable  1           ;BACK
#
# SW MODE:
#       bit_count         how many bits in each frame
#       tw_leader_act     time window for leader active
#       tw_bit0           time window for bit0 time.
#       tw_bit1           time window for bit1 time
#       tw_repeat_leader  time window for repeat leader
# REG
#       reg_base_gen      set value for PREG_IR_DEC_BASE_GEN
#       reg_control       set value for PREG_IR_DEC_CONTROL
#       reg_leader_act    set value for PREG_IR_DEC_LEADER_ACTIVE
#       reg_leader_idle   set value for PREG_IR_DEC_LEADER_IDLE
#       reg_repeat_leader set value for PREG_IR_DEC_REPEAT_IDLE
#       reg_bit0_time     set value for PREG_IR_DEC_BIT0_TIME
#*************************************************************************************************************

factory_code    = 0xbd020001
work_mode               = 0
repeat_enable = 1
repeat_delay = 40
repeat_peroid = 39
release_delay   =       121
debug_enable    = 1


key_begin

; Code    = IR keycode
; Linux   = Linux keycode
; Android = Android keycode
; Button  = Description button on remote
;
; Buttons with a * are not mapped to physical buttons on the harmonay remote.
;
; Code    Linux  Android        Button
; ----    -----  -------------  ------
  0xe3    30     ; A            AudioDelay*
  0xd8    70     ; EXPLORER     Browser*
  0xd9    116    ; POWER WAKE   CodecInfo*
  0x90    14     ; DEL          Delete
  0xd2    108    ; DPAD_DOWN    DirectionDown
  0x99    105    ; DPAD_LEFT    DirectionLeft
  0xc1    106    ; DPAD_RIGHT   DirectionRight
  0xca    103    ; DPAD_UP      DirectionUp
  0x84    33     ; F            FastForward
  0x95    102    ; HOME         Home
  0xc5    23     ; I            Info
  0xd6    125    ; MENU         Menu
  0x80    113    ; VOLUME_MUTE  Mute
  0xe1    38     ; L            NextSubtitle*
  0xc2    52     ; .            NextTrack
  0xce    97     ; DPAD_CENTER  Ok
  0xcd    178    ; PAGE_DOWN    PageDown
  0x9a    177    ; PAGE_UP      PageUp
  0x85    57     ; SPACE        Pause
  0x88    25     ; P            Play
  ;---    ----   ; POWER WAKE   PowerToggle* (mapped to original M8 remote power button)
  0x96    51     ; ,            PreviousTrack
  0xe4    16     ; Q            Queue*
  0xd0    15     ; BACK         Return
  0xc3    19     ; R            Rewind
  0xe0    20     ; T            ShowSubtitle*
  0xe5    40     ; APOSTROPHE   SmallStepBack*
  0x55    45     ; X            Stop
  0xe2    17     ; W            ToggelWatched*
  0x8c    109    ; VOLUME_DOWN  VolumeDown
  0xdd    104    ; VOLUME_UP    VolumeUp
  0x87    11     ; 0            0
  0x92    2      ; 1            1 - becomes: Search Subtitle Window
  0x93    3      ; 2            2 - becomes: SubtitleDelayPlus
  0xcc    4      ; 3            3 - becomes: SubtitleDelayMin
  0x8e    5      ; 4            4 - becomes: SubtitleDelay
  0x8f    133    ; TAB          5 (remapped to TAB = Fullscreen toggle)
  0xc8    7      ; 6            6
  0x8a    8      ; 7            7
  0x8b    9      ; 8            8
  0xc4    10     ; 9            9

key_end


; repeat_key_begin
;
;         0xdd 115                ;VOLUME_UP
;         0x8c 114                ;VOLUME_DOWN
;         0x99 105                ;DPAD_LEFT
;         0xca 103                ;DPAD_UP
;         0xc1 106                ;DPAD_RIGHT
;         0xd2 108                ;DPAD_DOWN
;
; repeat_key_end

Again this is all for replacing the "Stock -- NEC" Remote, with a slightly different NEC Remote from a PIVOS Device, that is otherwise compatible with the MXIII, but unlike the Stock Remote from the MXIII has load of programmable Buttons, in its profile. Basically everything you need, or wanted to know is in the code section above. Read, and understand this bit first then if you have any additional questions, ask.

As for USB Airmice? My personal advice here again would be to go ask Uncle Google. I'm fairly sure someone else has managed to get such a setup working. However I'm NOT that person, so I'm afraid I can't be of much help to you there. My only advice would be to head off to (../system/usr/keylayout/), and scan each and, every *.kl with-in that Folder. This is where the Device Profiles are otherwise located. devices range from the Stock IR Remote to the obscure like the Logitech G25 Racing Wheel... No doubt PS2/3 GT4/5 Players will recognize the Device.. So just maybe there's an Airmouse Profile hidden in there somewhere that you can use to make your own. if you then have to.