Airboard + PVR250 = IR Remote lockup

[Buster Groove]

Airboard + PVR250 = IR Remote lockup
Was wondering if anyone else had/solved this problem.

On my new WinXP Pro HTPC with SabeTV 1.3.8, I have a Liteon Airboard (wireless IR keyboard and IR receiver) and a Hauppauge WinTV PVR250 (TV tuner/MPEG capture card, IR remote and receiver).

The remote will stop working after 2 to 10 clicks. Pressing any key on the keyboard will restore remote functionality. Then, the problem will start over again after more clicking.

Covering the Airboard IR receiver will stop the problem. Conclusion is that the Hauppauge remote signals are picked up by the Airboard receiver and cause confusion until a "real" keyboard signal is received.

Uninstalling the Airboard hot-key driver didn't help.

Any ideas?

[RedCoat999]

I have the same keyboard and am using the Hauppage black remote until i get Girder working (long shot!) with another remote with more buttons on it! It is working for me ok most of the time. Trouble occurs when Sage appears to lose focus to another program running in the background or something like that for some reason. Then clicking the mouse on the Sage menu will restore it to focus and the remote works again.

[Buster Groove]

Thanks, I'll check that out.

[eruji]

I have almost the same problem, mine locks up randomly, more like 2 times a day. Ive tried covering the airboard reciever and that seems to stop sagetv from locking up.

Trouble occurs when Sage appears to lose focus to another program running in the background or something like that for some reason.

ive had it happen when sage has been in focus the entire time.

[Buster Groove]

Yep, I checked it out. It has nothing to do with loosing focus. The remote locks almost every time I press the left arrow followed by either the up arrow or the down arrow. Doesn't lock when I press other arrow key combinations.

[sudipto]

I am using the same setup (LiteOn Airboard + Hauppauge Silver Remote) and I see the exact same lock-up problem after a few clicks of the remote. It mostly happens when I am in the menu screens of SageTV, but it has also happened a couple times in other Sage screens (guide, playback window etc.).

Just like Buster Groove said, pressing any key on the LiteOn Airboard keyboard (or clicking the mouse) will restore control for the Hauppauge remote, but it again locks up after sometime.

Anyone found a solution for this yet ?

[Buster Groove]

My solution was to dump the LiteOn Airboard and get a RF (radio frequency) controlled keyboard.

I bought the iFree keyboard and it works great. The best part about it is that it is compact and has a built in trackball. I've always prefered trackballs over touchpads, touchsticks and certainly over the lame toggle stick on the Airboard.

While none of the compact, remote keyboards has an ideal layout, the iFree has two essential features. 1.) The lower left three keys are the standard "Ctrl", "Windows", and "Alt" combination. There is no stupid "Function" key thrown in to confuse your fingers when trying to type hotkey combinations. 2.) The PageUp and PageDown keys are conviently located one-above-the-other on the right edge. Unfortunately Home and End keys require the simultaneous press of a Function key, however I only use them when I am editing text -- which is not that often on the HTPC.

It is not perfect. It is not as stylish as the Airboard. The trackball action is not as good as the old Dell laptop trackballs I'm used to. Also, the idiot designers put the mouse buttons on the left side, while the trackball is on the right. I've gotten used to it, but this prevents one-handed operation! I am forced to put my drink down to change programs. :-(

I ordered the optional reciever antenna with mine -- The range is about 12 to 15 feet depending on battery strength. If I tilt the keyboard up off my lap, I get better range.

The dedicated multimedia controll keys are very handy. I don't use the other dedicated hotkeys (I just remember the standard keyboard shortcuts). Eight of the special keys are used only for RF channel configuration -- what a waste of buttons-- mine works fine on the defualt channel and I've never had to change it. The software for customization of the hotkeys installed and worked once, but on reboot, my PC choked and went into an endless reboot loop. Luckily I was able to use Windows XP "System Restore" to roll back the system state.

See picture (http://www.newegg.com/app/Showimage....127-001-04.JPG). Review at (http://www.overclockersclub.com/revi...sskeyboard.php). Note that they review the PS2-connector model, while I bought the USB model.

I bought mine from PC Direct Source (http://www.pcdirectsource.com/Item.cfm?ID=1117). Quick, great service -- They called to verify my business shipping address.

[sudipto]

Thanks Buster ! This was my solution too. I dumped the IR based LiteOn Airboard and went with an RF version of the Airboard. This one has a trackball too, which I like better.

Now I almost don't see the remote lockup problem ... it has happened at least once since the upgrade though.

[Buster Groove]

Do you have any links for the RF Airboard that you bought? What is the actual range that you experience?

[valnar]

Or you can just use the Airboard IR receiver alone without the Hauppauge remote.

Every piece of TV related hardware you are going to buy from today until the end of time is going to come with its own remote. If I got used to the PVR-250 remote, I'd have to change again in a year when something better came along. I'm tired of that!

I picked up a Home Theater Master MX-700 remote and program it with the Windows software to use Airboard keyboard shortcut commands. It does everything I need it to do.

-Robert

[Buster Groove]

Valnar,

I'm glad your approach works for you.

In general, however, I think IR keyboards suck. I was forever losing keystrokes whenever I crossed my legs, turned sidways too much, or leaned back on the couch with my knees in the air. With my RF keyboard, I can leave it on the coffee table pointing the wrong way and still have the keys work when I press them.

I really like the Hauppauge silver IR remote. It is small, fits the hands nicely and almost has enough buttons to get the SageTV viewing job done.

[sudipto]

Originally posted by Buster Groove
Do you have any links for the RF Airboard that you bought? What is the actual range that you experience?

Buster - I got this keyboard for $34 shipped from Cable Mart Computers.

It is just like the Airboard, but is actually an RF version (even though the item description says IR).

I haven't done any real testing of the maximum range, but I have used the keyboard from a distance of about 15 ft without any problem at all. It probably could go farther, but like I said, I haven't really tried it.

Valnar - I already expressed my views about using "universal" remotes in the thread "What's the BEST remote for use with SageTV ?", so I won't repeat all of that here ... but in short, I personally find it hard to remember which key does what in different applications unless the keys are labeled properly. I have tried various remotes and finally settled on the Hauppauge one since that seems to work best for me along with SageTV.

I didn't have any problem with the IR version of the Airboard, but after using the RF version, I don't think I will ever want to go back to the IR.

[jamie kelly]

I bought the same keyboard from Cable Mart and it is a great form factor and a great price. I have only one problem with it though. For some reason when I am watching SageTV it changes channel on me up or down. Or if watching a dvd, it speeds up 1.5x. I think I have isolated it to the mouse input of the RF keyboard because I can unplug that port of the receiver connection and the problems dissappear. And I can't ever reproduce the behavior manually using the mouse and mouse buttons. Anyone else have problems like these?

[sudipto]

I have not seen this issue, but I have noticed something similar.

After a period of keyboard inactivity, if I move the keyboard, it sunddenly sends a "right mouse button click" signal, and the context menu on the desktop comes up. However, this only happens if the keyboard is moved. Are you seeing this problem even when the keyboard is not moved (even unintentionally) ?

My guess is that when the mouse is moved after a period of inactivity, it sends a "wake up" signal, and this is somehow detected by the drivers as something else ... in my case "right click", in your case it is sending the "page up/page down" signal

[jamie kelly]

I think I've seen that behavior too. I've never seen anything happen but in SageTV or PowerDVD but I doubt its related to those apps. I do see this prob even when the keyboard is laying still even after long periods of time. Its almost a cerainty that if I get up and leave the room and come back a 1/2 hour later, the channel is changed. Maybe I'll check for newer drivers but this keyboard is so vanilla I doubt there are any to be found. Thanks though, sudipto.