How to setup a USB-UIRT in unRAID/Docker

[wayner]

(Note - if anyone has any corrections then please let me know. I put this together because I couldn't find clear directions on how to do this in any one spot. I have somewhat slimmed down the lircd.conf file and the hardware.conf file may be able to be slimmed down as well since I think half of the file is for acting as an IR receiver which we usually don't need for a server)

One thing to note - currently there is no way to use the multi-zone feature with a USB-UIRT in Linux so you are stuck with being able to only change one box.

Overview
The USB-UIRT is not directly supported in Linux the way that it is in Windows. It uses a generic IR driver on Linux called lirc and lirc gets the commands from a script called gentuner that is called directly by SageTV. So in order to get everything working you may need to configure gentuner and two config files for lirc - hardware.conf and lirc.conf.

Prerequisites
In the Docker settings you must Enable LIRC Daemon with Configuration from SageTV lirc.d Directory. This is done by clicking on the Show Advanced Settings and setting Variable 8 to Y.

Create a new folder called lirc.d under /appdata/sagetv/server. In that file you will put the lircd.conf and hardware.conf file from this thread. Whenever the SageTV docker restarts it will copy these two files to the spot where they are used. Copy the gentuner file to /appdata/sagetv/server.

hardware.conf file
This file contains the hardware mapping information for your USB-UIRT and it should be pretty much the same for most users, regardless of the STB that you are using. You can find my copy of this file at the bottom of this post.

lircd.conf file
The file contains more of the information this is specific to the IR frequencies that are sent when each specific key on the remote is pressed. I have slimmed this down to contain just the numeric keys, the volume keys and the power key. You can change the name to whatever you want - but this will be what you select in SageTV. The file posted here is for a Scientific Atlanta 4250HD box. This file should work for all Scientific Atlanta/Cisco boxes. But if you have other boxes, such as Motorola, then you will have to look here: http://lirc.sourceforge.net/remotes/.

Once you have made any required changes to the lircd.conf and hardware.conf file put them in the /appdata/sagetv/serer/lirc.d folder.

You can't change the tuning method in SageTV so you will have to delete your source, if you have already set it up, and then re-add it. For tuning option choose Use external cable or satellite. Then select Generic Tuner and set up your guide.

Restart the SageTV docker. Give it a couple of minutes and then go back to the Source Setup. Click on the source for which you want to use the USB-UIRT. Then click on Tuner Control and then Change Tuning Device. If things went properly then you should see the name that you entered in the lircd.conf file - click on this and then try watching live TV and see if the channel changes.

Troubleshooting
To troubleshoot go to a bash prompt in your docker. Type in irsend LIST "" "". If things go well you should see irsend: SCI_ATL (or whatever name you gave your system).

You can also try running gentuner from a command prompt. Try gentuner REMOTES to get a list of the remotes on the system. The way that gentuner works is that it sends each key press individually.

More Resources
There is more info on gentuner here https://github.com/stuckless/GenericTunerPlugin
The MythTV wiki is also a good source of info for getting IR working in Linux.
The lirc page can also be useful http://www.lirc.org/

hardware.conf

#This file taken from SageTV forums
#Last Changed Feb 3, 2017 at 6:54pm
#Chosen Remote Control - do we need this
REMOTE="USB-UIRT-REMOTE"
REMOTE_MODULES=""
REMOTE_DRIVER="usb_uirt_raw"
REMOTE_DEVICE="/dev/ttyUSB0"
REMOTE_SOCKET=""
# Perhaps the following setting could move the lircd.conf file to the sagetv/server/lirc/ directory - I have not tested.
REMOTE_LIRCD_CONF="lircd.conf"  
REMOTE_LIRCD_ARGS="-d /dev/ttyUSB0"

#Chosen IR Transmitter
TRANSMITTER="USB-UIRT-TRANSMITTER"
TRANSMITTER_MODULES=""
TRANSMITTER_DRIVER="usb_uirt_raw"
TRANSMITTER_DEVICE="/dev/ttyUSB0"
TRANSMITTER_SOCKET=""
TRANSMITTER_LIRCD_CONF="lircd.conf"
#This was important to get it to work with gentuner or you could edit the script to include the socket to use, but it fails without mention of the device to irsend.
TRANSMITTER_LIRCD_ARGS="-d /var/run/lirc/lircd1"

#Disable kernel support.
#Typically, lirc will disable in-kernel support for ir devices in order to
#handle them internally.  Set to false to prevent lirc from disabling this
#in-kernel support. 
#DISABLE_KERNEL_SUPPORT="true"

#Enable lircd
START_LIRCD="true"
#LIRCD_ARGS="-d /var/run/lirc/lircd1"

#Don't start lircmd even if there seems to be a good config file
#START_LIRCMD="false"

#Try to load appropriate kernel modules
LOAD_MODULES="false"

# Default configuration files for your hardware if any
LIRCMD_CONF=""

#Forcing noninteractive reconfiguration
#If lirc is to be reconfigured by an external application
#that doesn't have a debconf frontend available, the noninteractive
#frontend can be invoked and set to parse REMOTE and TRANSMITTER
#It will then populate all other variables without any user input
#If you would like to configure lirc via standard methods, be sure
#to leave this set to "false"
FORCE_NONINTERACTIVE_RECONFIGURATION="false"
START_LIRCMD=""

lircd.conf

#
# this config file was automatically generated
# using lirc-0.6.6(sir) on Wed Mar 24 22:28:59 2004
#
# Modified by Stephane Lavergne <stephane|iMars.com>:
#    Base frequency is 56kHz, irrecord was otherwise right on.
#
# contributed by 
#
# brand:                       Scientific Atlanta
# model no. of remote control: AT8400
# devices being controlled by this remote: Explorer 8000
#

begin remote

  name  SCI_ATL
  bits           22
  flags SPACE_ENC|CONST_LENGTH
  eps            30
  aeps          100

  header       3397  3372
  one           827  2557
  zero          827   855
  ptrail        827
  gap          101386
  toggle_bit      0

  frequency 56000

      begin codes
          power                    0x000000000037C107
          vol+                     0x000000000036093E
          vol-                     0x000000000037091E
          1                        0x000000000036113D
          2                        0x000000000037111D
          3                        0x000000000036912D
          4                        0x000000000037910D
          5                        0x0000000000365135
          6                        0x0000000000375115
          7                        0x000000000036D125
          8                        0x000000000037D105
          9                        0x0000000000363139
          0                        0x0000000000373119
      end codes

end remote

gentuner

#!/bin/bash
#
# gentuner.LIRC
# GenericTunerPlugin to LIRC Connector
#
# See gentuner.README for details on gentuner
#
# This script proxies commands from the Generic Tuner Plugin
# to LIRC. If the remote name defined in the lircd.conf file
# ends in "-N" (where N is 1, 2, 3 or 4), it will also 
# use SET_TRANSMITTERS to restrict which emitters LIRC uses.
# Your LIRC hardware must support this feature.
#

CMD=$1
REMOTE=$2
KEY=$3
CHANNEL=$3
DELAY=.1
LOCKFILE=/tmp/lirclock

if [ "$CMD" = "REMOTES" ]; then
    /usr/bin/irsend LIST "" "" 2>&1 | cut -d" " -f2
elif [ "$CMD" = "KEYS" ]; then
    /usr/bin/irsend LIST "$REMOTE" "" 2>&1 | cut -d" " -f3
elif [ "$CMD" = "SEND" ]; then
    while [ -f $LOCKFILE ]
    do
        #echo "Waiting for lock"
        sleep $DELAY
    done

    touch $LOCKFILE

    POST=${REMOTE:(-2)}
    TRANSMITTER_NUM=${REMOTE:(-1)}

    /usr/bin/irsend SEND_ONCE $REMOTE $KEY
    sleep $DELAY
    rm $LOCKFILE

elif [ "$CMD" = "TUNE" ]; then
    echo "NO"
elif [ "$CMD" = "CAN_TUNE" ]; then
    echo "NO"
else
    exit 1
fi

[Tomahawk51]

I'm excited to catch up and read this. So - it's time for me to buy a UIRT (it's all working and stable)?

I may see if this info helps at all with the HD PVR blaster first, as I'm shocked at how well that is working for me now on a Windows 10 VM...

[Tomahawk51]

I'm new to using a USB UIRT, and I'll keep chipping away at troubleshooting (as it's not yet working for me), but I wanted to ask this basic question:

Do I need to use an additional 1/8" IR transmitter (which I didn't buy), or can I just point the USB UIRT at the cable box?

If so, sigh, I'll just get that part. If not, at least I'll know I can keep looking into this.

[wayner]

No, you don't need an emitter, by default the USB-UIRT just blasts out of the front of the unit. It is pretty powerful and you generally don't have to be too careful about where you point it. The port from the back gives you two additional zones, one from each channel of the stereo plug, to give you three zones in total - the default zone out the front, plus two zones out the back. This would allow you to control three STBs that use the same IR codes with one USB-UIRT.

BUT...
The Linux drivers do not currently support these multiple zones - that only works on Windows, at least for now.

If you want more info on the multiple zone then search for zones and usb-uirt on these forums and you will find lots of info.

[Tomahawk51]

update - this hasn't been working, and I fell back to a Win10 VM (which just broke) so I'm re-investigating setting this up.

Thank you, I report a success. This was my final hurdle to use Docker. I tried Firewire unsuccessfully, but I think I'll be happy with the UIRT approach from what I'm seeing. I did find that it was helpful to restart Docker a few times in the steps you mentinod (e.g. it took a small bit of time to change the tuner, and then to see that the keys showed up).

Figuring out the Cable Box file was a lengthy process. For anyone with an older Comcast Motorola box, I found the following worked for me (modified):

#
# this config file was automatically generated
# using lirc-0.6.6(serial) on Fri Mar 28 22:46:44 2003
#
# contributed by shane bradley
#
#
#
# brand:                       Motorola
# model no. of remote control: DCT2000
# devices being controlled by this remote:
#
                                                                                   
begin remote
 name  DCT2000
  bits           16
  flags SPACE_ENC|CONST_LENGTH
  eps            30
  aeps          100

  header       9036  4424
  one           556  2185
  zero          556  4424
  ptrail        556
  gap          100025
  toggle_bit      0
  min_repeat 1


      begin codes
	  OK                   0x00000000000077F8
          1                    0x0000000000007FF0
          2                    0x000000000000BFF8
          3                    0x0000000000003FF4
          4                    0x000000000000DFFC
          5                    0x0000000000005FF2
          6                    0x0000000000009FFA
          7                    0x0000000000001FF6
          8                    0x000000000000EFFE
          9                    0x0000000000006FF1
          0                    0x000000000000FFFF
      end codes

end remote

[rxnelson]

What's the thoughts on getting multizone support in the docker? Is this something we need to beg the developer for or is it impossible for some technical reason?

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by rxnelson

What's the thoughts on getting multizone support in the docker? Is this something we need to beg the developer for or is it impossible for some technical reason?

Mr. Rhees had mentioned possibly looking into it, but no commitment. It needs new drivers, I believe.

[rxnelson]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

Mr. Rhees had mentioned possibly looking into it, but no commitment. It needs new drivers, I believe.

I just wrote support today to ask if they had any plans to support multizone in Linux/unRAID. Anyone have any insider info?

[btrcp2000]

I can do just about anything in windows, but the simplest things in unraid are a mystery. how can i add folders inside of appdata? do i need a file manager from CA?

[wayner]

Originally Posted by btrcp2000

I can do just about anything in windows, but the simplest things in unraid are a mystery. how can i add folders inside of appdata? do i need a file manager from CA?

Pretty much the same commands as Windows - change to the appdata (which for me is /mnt/cache/appdata) folder and then make the directory:

cd /mnt/cache/appdata
mkdir newdir

But the cheating way to do it is to map a drive in Windows to appdata and then you can just use the Windows explorer as it will look just like a Windows drive - assuming that the permissions are set to allow this.

[btrcp2000]

I attempted that but the only folders I see inside the Tower are flash, media, and sagemedia. Logged into windows from another pc, (I don't have the hardware for vm yet), does the windows user account have to somehow match one on the unraid box? Seems like this is a permissions thing. I do have hidden files enabled

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by btrcp2000

I attempted that but the only folders I see inside the Tower are flash, media, and sagemedia. Logged into windows from another pc, (I don't have the hardware for vm yet), does the windows user account have to somehow match one on the unraid box? Seems like this is a permissions thing. I do have hidden files enabled

Check the settings on the appdata share itself. On unRAID's web UI, go to the shares tab, and click on the appdata share. The bottom 'SMB Security Settings' is the settings for the network share that you are using to connect to it from windows.

[btrcp2000]

It's set to public?

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by btrcp2000

It's set to public?

And is export set to yes?

[btrcp2000]

It is now. Thanks, enjoy your beer!

[wayner]

One other suggestion if you are running Windows 10 64 bit is to install the Bash prompt for Windows 10(google how to do this). This gives you what is pretty much an Ubuntu Linux environment within Windows and is a good way to learn how to use Linux. And if you need to do anything on your unRAID box you can easily ssh into it with the command "ssh root@tower" and you don't need to use anything like Putty.

[graywolf]

But I like putty with superputty. At least at work. Love it when have to do same commands/scripts on 30-50 servers.

[rickgillyon]

Anyone able to help with this? Set up as described, correct config (VIRGINTIVO) is showing and selected in Sage, no errors, but the USB-UIRT doesn't flash at all.

gentuner REMOTES -> VIRGINTIVO
irsend list "" "" -> irsend: VIRGINTIVO

Section in the gentuner.log is:

2017-11-02 23:00 DEBUG: CreateRemote: Remote: VIRGINTIVO
2017-11-02 23:00 DEBUG: LoadRemoteKeys: Using command: /opt/sagetv/server/gentuner KEYS VIRGINTIVO
2017-11-02 23:00 DEBUG: LoadRemotes: Returning Remote: VIRGINTIVO
2017-11-02 23:00 DEBUG: InitDevice
2017-11-02 23:00 DEBUG: CanMacroTune: Using command: /opt/sagetv/server/gentuner CAN_TUNE VIRGINTIVO
2017-11-02 23:00 DEBUG: CanMacroTune: CAN_TUNE is not OK: NO
2017-11-02 23:00 DEBUG: PlayCommand: Using command: /opt/sagetv/server/gentuner SEND VIRGINTIVO 1
2017-11-02 23:00 INFO: PlayCommand: Remote: VIRGINTIVO, Key: 1
2017-11-02 23:00 DEBUG: PlayCommand: Executed SEND command without error: /opt/sagetv/server/gentuner SEND VIRGINTIVO 1

Any ideas where I'm going wrong? I assume "CanMacroTune: CAN_TUNE is not OK: NO" is not good. Do I need to do something to pass the USB through to the docker?

My gentuner and hardware files are the same as the ones in the OP, lirc.conf was lifted from the lirc website and unchanged, below:

#
# this config file was automatically generated
# using lirc-0.9.0(emulation) on Tue Jan  6 16:44:51 2015
#
# contributed by: RMerlo
#
# brand: Virgin Media
# model no. of remote control: TiVo Remote
# devices being controlled by this remote:  All current Virgin TiVo Set-Top-Boxes, 
#                                           both Cisco & Samsung.
#
# Kernel revision: 3.13.0-24-generic
# Driver/device option: --driver default --device /dev/lirc0
# Capture device: RedRat3
# Type of device controlled: TV
#
# Note: The text button (KEY_TEXT) as far as I know does nothing.
#       This does not cover codes generated by programming your remote
#       to control the TV (volume -/+ and long hold on power key)
#
#Remote layout:
#
# +-------------------------------+
# |                               |
# |             HOME              |
# |                               |
# |      POWER          TV        |
# |              UP               |
# |    EPG                INFO    |
# |                               |
# |  ZOOM  LEFT  OK  RIGHT  TEXT  |
# |                               |
# |    MUTE               SUBT    |
# |             DOWN              |
# |                               |
# |  VOLUMEUP         CHANNELUP   |
# |                               |
# |            MYSHOWS            |
# |                               |
# | VOLUMEDOWN       CHANNELDOWN  |
# |                               |
# |            RECORD             |
# |                               |
# |  THUMBSDOWN       THUMBSUP    |
# |                               |
# |             PLAY              |
# |                               |
# |  REWIND    PAUSE  FAST_FORWARD|
# |                               |
# |             STOP              |
# |                               |
# |    BACK            FORWARD    |
# |                               |
# |             SLOW              |
# |                               |
# |   RED  GREEN  YELLOW  BLUE    |
# |                               |
# |     (1)      (2)      (3)     |
# |                               |
# |     (4)      (5)      (6)     |
# |                               |
# |     (7)      (8)      (9)     |
# |                               |
# |   CLEAR      (0)      LAST    |
# |                               |
# |                               |
# +-------------------------------+


begin remote

  name  VIRGINTIVO
  bits           13
  flags RC5
  eps             0
  aeps          100

  one           881   878
  zero          881   878
  plead         880
  gap          181811
  toggle_bit_mask 0x800
  frequency    35874

      begin codes
          KEY_0                    0x1280
          KEY_1                    0x1281
          KEY_2                    0x1282
          KEY_3                    0x1283
          KEY_4                    0x1284
          KEY_5                    0x1285
          KEY_6                    0x1286
          KEY_7                    0x1287
          KEY_8                    0x1288
          KEY_9                    0x1289
          KEY_BLUE                 0x02AE
          KEY_CHANNELDOWN          0x12A1
          KEY_CHANNELUP            0x12A0
          KEY_CLEAR                0x1299
          KEY_DOWN                 0x0A91
          KEY_FASTFORWARD          0x12B4
          KEY_GREEN                0x0AAC
          KEY_EPG                  0x0A92
          KEY_HOME                 0x0A8F
          KEY_INFO                 0x1AAF
          KEY_LAST                 0x1A94
          KEY_LEFT                 0x0A95
          MYSHOWS                  0x1A95
          KEY_OK                   0x0A97
          KEY_PAUSE                0x1A93
          KEY_PLAY                 0x1AB0
          KEY_POWER                0x1A8C
          KEY_RECORD               0x1AB7
          KEY_RED                  0x0AAB
          KEY_REWIND               0x1AB2
          KEY_RIGHT                0x0A96
          KEY_BACK                 0x1AAA
          KEY_FORWARD              0x1AAB
          KEY_SLOW                 0x1A98
          KEY_STOP                 0x1AB6
          KEY_SUBTITLE             0x1A9A
          KEY_TEXT                 0x0AAA
          THUMBSDOWN               0x1A96
          THUMBSUP                 0x1A97
          KEY_TV                   0x0A93
          KEY_UP                   0x0A90
          KEY_YELLOW               0x0AAD
          KEY_ZOOM                 0x1AA2
      end codes

end remote

[stuckless]

The CAN TUNE message is normal for that script. It's a check to see if the srcript support MACRO TUNING vs Single Key, and this script doesn't. (Macro Tune, simply means that the script could accept 654 and would turn to channel 654, vs, needing to be passed 6, then 5, then 4)

elif [ "$CMD" = "CAN_TUNE" ]; then
    echo "NO"

I think we'll need to see your docker container log , which shows it setting permissions for the device (or an error, is not exists). You might want to post that.

[rickgillyon]

Hmm, some errors here:

SageTV unRAID/Docker (Container Version: 1.0.2) is running

If this is your first time, install the Windows/Mac/Linux Placeshifter or the Android MiniClient and complete the configuration
Setting up tuners, scheduling recordings, installing plugins, etc, requires using the Placeshifter or MiniClient
To gain browser access, install the Jetty WebServer Plugin
- The SageTV Team -
*** Running /etc/rc.local...
*** Booting runit daemon...
*** Runit started as PID 111
Starting server mode
Nov 3 12:08:55 unRAIDpvr syslog-ng[118]: syslog-ng starting up; version='3.5.6'

Main is starting
Nov 3 12:10:53 unRAIDpvr lircd-0.9.0[80]: accepted new client on /run/lirc/lircd
Nov 3 12:10:54 unRAIDpvr lircd-0.9.0[80]: uirt2_raw: checksum error

Nov 3 12:10:54 unRAIDpvr lircd-0.9.0[80]: uirt2_raw: UIRT version 0905 ok

Nov 3 12:10:54 unRAIDpvr lircd-0.9.0[80]: removed client
Nov 3 12:10:54 unRAIDpvr lircd-0.9.0[80]: accepted new client on /run/lirc/lircd
Nov 3 12:10:54 unRAIDpvr lircd-0.9.0[80]: uirt2_raw: checksum error

Nov 3 12:10:54 unRAIDpvr lircd-0.9.0[80]: uirt2_raw: UIRT version 0905 ok

Nov 3 12:10:54 unRAIDpvr lircd-0.9.0[80]: removed client
Nov 3 12:10:54 unRAIDpvr lircd-0.9.0[80]: accepted new client on /run/lirc/lircd
Nov 3 12:10:55 unRAIDpvr lircd-0.9.0[80]: uirt2_raw: checksum error

Nov 3 12:10:55 unRAIDpvr lircd-0.9.0[80]: uirt2_raw: UIRT version 0905 ok

Nov 3 12:10:55 unRAIDpvr lircd-0.9.0[80]: error processing command: SEND_ONCE VIRGINTIVO 1

Nov 3 12:10:55 unRAIDpvr lircd-0.9.0[80]: unknown command: "1"
Nov 3 12:10:55 unRAIDpvr lircd-0.9.0[80]: removed client
Nov 3 12:10:56 unRAIDpvr lircd-0.9.0[80]: accepted new client on /run/lirc/lircd
Nov 3 12:10:57 unRAIDpvr lircd-0.9.0[80]: uirt2_raw: checksum error

Nov 3 12:10:58 unRAIDpvr lircd-0.9.0[80]: uirt2_raw: UIRT version 0905 ok

Nov 3 12:10:58 unRAIDpvr lircd-0.9.0[80]: error processing command: SEND_ONCE VIRGINTIVO 1

Nov 3 12:10:58 unRAIDpvr lircd-0.9.0[80]: unknown command: "1"
Nov 3 12:10:58 unRAIDpvr lircd-0.9.0[80]: removed client
Nov 3 12:10:58 unRAIDpvr lircd-0.9.0[80]: accepted new client on /run/lirc/lircd
Nov 3 12:10:59 unRAIDpvr lircd-0.9.0[80]: uirt2_raw: checksum error

Nov 3 12:10:59 unRAIDpvr lircd-0.9.0[80]: uirt2_raw: UIRT version 0905 ok

Nov 3 12:10:59 unRAIDpvr lircd-0.9.0[80]: error processing command: SEND_ONCE VIRGINTIVO 0

Nov 3 12:10:59 unRAIDpvr lircd-0.9.0[80]: unknown command: "0"
Nov 3 12:10:59 unRAIDpvr lircd-0.9.0[80]: removed client