VLC HowTo/Use with lirc
This page describes how to to use VLC media player with an infra red remote control on Linux. | Other "how to" pages |
Note: This article is about advanced lirc usage with VLC. For basic stuff please see ADD A LINK TO DOCUMENTATION HERE.
The aim is to have your remote behave the same way as for a television remote: program +/-, volume +/-, jump to position 3 when button 3 is pressed,...
Build-in lirc commands are only for basic control in the movie-playing mode, but I need to use other commands from rc interface - mainly "goto x" function. So the goal was to be able to use goto function with lirc.
VLC
Use a VLC version with lirc enabled.
Start-Up Script
#start/stop script for lircd+vlc for Kubuntu 6.10 start() { echo "Starting lirc support..." sudo setserial /dev/ttyS0 uart none #serial port down sudo /sbin/modprobe lirc_serial #load module sudo /sbin/modprobe lirc_dev #load module sudo /usr/local/sbin/lircd --driver=default --device=/dev/lirc0 --output=/dev/lircd --pidfile=/var/run/lircd.pid --listen #run lirc daemon sudo chmod 666 /dev/lircd #access sudo irexec -d #daemon to pass ir commands } stop() { echo "Stoping lirc support..." sudo /usr/bin/killall -w lircd #kill lirc daemon sudo /sbin/rmmod lirc_serial #unload module sudo /sbin/rmmod lirc_dev #unload module sudo setserial /dev/ttyS0 uart 16550A #serial port up } restart() { stop sleep 2 start } case "$1" in 'start') start ;; 'stop') stop ;; 'restart') restart ;; *) echo "usage $0 start|stop|restart" esac exit 0
Scripts
It is neccesary to run vlc with rc interface to use all the supported commands (see vlc help). I use this script to run VLC with rc intf. Lircd is loaded and later unloaded. I have a desktop shortcut icon and I had to change properties of the shortcut to run in terminal. The other option is vlc --fake-tty option, but this uses 100 % CPU :-(
#/bin/bash /home/ondra/.vlc/ovladac.sh start vlc -I rc --rc-host localhost:12345 /home/ondra/playlist.m3u /home/ondra/.vlc/ovladac.sh stop
I use irexec to pass commands to VLC rc intf. Commands can be passed with netcat: echo "vlc_rc_command" | netcat localhost 12345 -q 1 (q means quit after 1 s). Commands are written in scripts, which are executed with irexec:
Here is a script, which is executed when remote button 1 is pressed. The others are similar.
cat play1.sh #!/bin/bash echo "goto 0" | netcat localhost 12345 -q 1
.lircrc
The last part of the .lircrc file.
There are defined actions for all requested buttons. irexec executes concerned shell script.
# remote numbers begin prog = irexec button = 1 config = /home/ondra/.vlc/play1.sh &\n end begin prog = irexec button = 2 config = /home/ondra/.vlc/play2.sh &\n end begin prog = irexec button = 3 config = /home/ondra/.vlc/play3.sh &\n end begin prog = irexec button = 4 config = /home/ondra/.vlc/play4.sh &\n end begin prog = irexec button = 5 config = /home/ondra/.vlc/play5.sh &\n end begin prog = irexec button = 6 config = /home/ondra/.vlc/play6.sh &\n end begin prog = irexec button = 7 config = /home/ondra/.vlc/play7.sh &\n end begin prog = irexec button = 8 config = /home/ondra/.vlc/play8.sh &\n end begin prog = irexec button = 9 config = /home/ondra/.vlc/play9.sh &\n end begin prog = irexec button = 0 config = /home/ondra/.vlc/play0.sh &\n end begin prog = irexec button = Menu config = /home/ondra/.vlc/pause.sh &\n end
Version
This has been written by [User:J-b] using Ondřej Kuda's HowTo.