Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

Ah, yeah, it seems that there's more Astro hardware floating around than I had thought. :) The wiki page for Astro B.yond lists two different boxes built by Pace and one by Samsung, and the Jason Rumney blog was talking about a Phillips-made box. (And now that I look at it, that one might have been for something other than the B.yond service...)

I will go ahead and add the new LIRC file in. :) I'll see if I can come up with any other config files as well...

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

You might already read this, but if not it can't hurt:
Our solution may lay here:

Taken from: http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/vi...asc&highlight=

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

Yeah, actually, that's where I originally got my CanalSat info from. :) I'm following the info provided from that first quoted part. (The second quote comes from where their discussion wandered off to talking about an Altibox VIP1963 set-top box, and ends up on an entirely different protocol...)

I'm still not sure what exactly is causing the current issue with the VIP1853, but I'll push up an update with a modified check bit, which with luck will make things better.

(By the way, can you tell me if the current version of Pierogi is working for you on other devices? I should probably make sure whether this is a problem specifically with the CanalSat protocol, or with Pierogi as a whole...)

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

Pierogi 1.1.28 is now making its way into extras-devel. This one contains the tweak to the CanalSat protocol mentioned above; I'm crossing my fingers that it helps. Also, adds the other Astro B.yond keyset. Please give me a holler if you find any bugs!

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

I'll give you 20 dollars to get Eyetv working.
:-)

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

I could always use a little cash! ;) But honestly, I do plan on finally getting the LIRC server running on a box with an IR receiver pretty soon; once that happens, my Eyetv remote will be the first one I try out...

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

for the new update.. pierogi still not work on my astro decoder.. i dont know what model is for my astro decoder.. but i really appreciate ur effort to make it work.. thanx for that.. i will search which model is my astro decoder soon.. thanx..

i found my decoder model.. it is..

The model number of the new generation of PVR that Astro use is Samsung GX-AS730SF

and here is the link for my astro decoder info..

http://astrobyondinfo.weebly.com/ast...r-and-vod.html

maybe it can help.. or not.. anyway.. thanx so much..

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

Aha! So, you've got the latest and greatest version of the Astro hardware. :) Yeah, since the Samsung box is completely different from their previous devices, it probably does have a completely different remote...

I don't know if I'll be able to find a config file specifically for that box, but I'll try adding some other Samsung keysets; one of them might work for you...

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

My samsung TV is working great from about 6m distance. So it isn't a global Pierogi problem. Unfortunately, with the new version the VIP1853 is still not working.

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

Another idea:

I have an 600D and the pierogi remote works beautiful for single shot photos. Timelapse is nothing else than repeating the same command with a certain interval... Right now timelapse only can be done using a usbcable and shoot tethered with my laptop. Doing this with the N900 would be much more comfortable than carrying around a laptop and a clumsy cable.

So my question would it be easy to implement a timelapse possibility without buying a expensive remote?

Maybe this would be better as a small fork which is only meant for controlling cameras, as i have seen other camera keysets as well.

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

Very cool idea, and actually, easy to implement. :) Let me take a look...

(BTW, I vaguely recall a timelapse app for the N900's own camera; is there one still around?)

Edit: I've gotta say, the N900 makes for a pretty expensive remote itself. :)

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

https://garage.maemo.org/projects/timelapse/
http://maemo.org/packages/view/intervalometer/

2 of them, while the first one is not to be found in the repos

Edit: The N900 is the most valuable/expensive phone... It's a tablet, it's a phone, it's a remote control, it's a mp3-player, it's a torch, it's a good calculator (sympy)

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

A "time lapse" - or, better still, a macro functionality would be useful not just for cameras. I can imagine a lot of uses for sequences of commands at defined intervals and with a loop functionality.

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

Yes, I really do need to get the Pierogi macro system working properly. :( I didn't fully understand just how much effort it would take to get it up and running...

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

Ok, Pierogi 1.1.29 is now heading up to extras-devel; the main new feature this time is an Intervalometer, for use in capturing time-lapse video with any supported camera. It's fairly limited at the moment, providing a counter for the number of exposures (max 999 at the moment), and a value for the delay between shutter commands (maximum 23 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds, although I'm not sure you'd want to leave the N900 sitting around for days doing this...). A shot of what the new panel looks like is appended to this message. (Yeah, I haven't really polished the UI very much.)

I should note that, as I do not have a camera with an infrared control myself, I have not tested this feature! :) Please tell me if you find bugs.

(I should also note that there is a firmware project called Magic Lantern that provides a number of additional features, such as an Intervalometer, to various Canon cameras, including the 600D. Using this has the additional value of being able to control other aspects of the camera, such as exposure time, that are inaccessible from the infrared port. Might be interesting to check out...)

In other news, I've added several more Samsung set-top box keysets. Unfortunately, the more keysets I add, the more certain I become that none of them are going to be a match for the Astro B.yond box; all the Samsung remote controls seem to differ wildly from each other. :(

Also, I managed to dig up a little more info on the VIP1853 remote protocol, but all I got was confirmation that I had originally set the check bit wrong (which was why only even-numbered commands were working at first). I have no clue why you have to be so close to the machine to get it to work. Is it possible that there are some environmental issues at work here? If there's any bright source of light around, it might be swamping the N900's signal...

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

Tested it directly on my 600D and thanks for the hint about Magic Lantern. Be prepared for the wall of text you see below these 2 introducing sentences :D

My test results, first thing that strikes me is the removed delay shutter option. AFAIK for canon this is a separate button on their remotes. The real problem is that there's no delay option anymore. As the intervalometer starts counting AFTER the first shot, maybe you should make a extra timer which delays the first shot with x seconds. Where x can be a same input field as now you have with the interval timer.

Also I managed to make pierogi crazy, regarding the intervalometer. I set up 5 exposures, interval time 5 seconds and pressed start and locked the screen. Somehow pierogi came in a loop and it kept sending shutter release commands at about 0(continues burst like) seconds interval for about let's say 20 exposures then I moved my N900 away from the IR sensor and unlocked the N900 and it continued to sending commands and after about 2 seconds after the unlock it starts counting normally again.

While I am writing this post, let say if I can reproduce:

Set let's say 8 shots, at about 5 seconds interval.
Press start, lock the screen, sometimes the camera starts to continues shoot. As it picks up like the shutter button is hanging on pierogis side) And it recovers with a delay of about 2 seconds after unlocking the N900 again. These "burst" shots while my N900 is locked are not counted in pierogi as actual shots. I think it recovers after the next exposure is meant to be.
So what I think is that as soon you lock, pierogi starts to issue commands to release shutter at almost continues rate, and recovers only at the next interval ( both locked and unlocked - edit: confirmed). These continues shots are not counted in pierogi as actual exposures as seen in the shots left counter after unlocking again.

It happens not always, but at a rate of about 8 out of 10 times.

Regarding the VIP1853, I will test that later but I can't think of environmental issues as the original remote works fine and besides it's sensor is 5cm away from where my TV has it's sensor and that remote is working fine with pierogi from the couch... Hard to imagine these 5 cm would hurt that much, as the original remote has no issues and my other pierogi controlled stuff also hasn't any issues so if it were me to say: It has to be something in the protocol that's still not right... Will report back later what version 1.1.29 has to offer my VIP1853

edit: As for the VIP1853, all commands work however the receiver is still very very picky. But range doesn't matter, I even managed to turn it on from the couch thus 6m. But still required more taps to get in recognized, however better than in previous versions, I think. It was already that sensitive I managed to test all buttons and can confirm they work. But for general use it is not sensitive. I have the feeling I have to point the n900 in almost a straight beam to the irsensor of the box to make work... I beginning to think this box has a very picky sensor. Going to channel 302 is not achievable as you never seem to know when your commands get send or better said, received. Sometimes you end up on channel 32, the other time you stay where you were the other time it gets you to channel 0... Will try to play with the debug settings of duty cycle and frequency.

Edit2: See pictures attached. The light spot on my TV is the IRsensor and the circle on the Motorola-device is I believe the IR sensor. My TV works beautiful with pierogi so you would say the motorola would also do so, but it doesn't...

Also I lost a favorite keyset, the samsung DVB-T receiver keyset. I guess you named it Samsung Set-top Box keyset 1. Can you confirm as that's what some of my friends use but I just want to be sure I have the right keyset available in my favourites when the occasion comes I need it.

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

I use a single Sony remote to control my Sony TV, Sony Audio System and notebook controlled by Eventghost. This setup is quite good, however, I have a lot of buttons I never use, while pressed accidentally they may mess the things up a bit, and also it is sometimes damn hard to find the remote. :D

On the other hand, I have N900 and like Pierogi very much. And it would be great if I could use my phone instead of this remote, to control all the devices at once, while maintaining compatibility with the remote. It is obvious that none of the existing profiles can suit my needs, though.

What I ask is - can I somehow add the layouts to Pierogi's database (at least on my phone) and modify Pierogi's interface to recreate them?

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

Wow, you ain't kidding! ;) But thank you for all the testing!

Ah, I was wondering if that was going to be a problem. :) As that delay option seemed to be a Canon-only feature, and not only that, but just on one type of Canon remote, I wasn't sure anybody was ever using it. I thought it might make the UI simpler if I just took it out. I'll go ahead and put it back in. (But yeah, it isn't something that would make sense to use with the intervalometer...)

Yeah, I noticed that was a feature with some intervalometers, I'll go ahead and add that in. (Assuming I can get the thing working in the first place...)

Yeah, this is pretty much the problem I kept having with the macros as well. Sigh... Pierogi has been designed from the ground up to keep sending a signal so long as the user is pressing a button, and stop sending it when the user lets up on the button. Writing code that simulates a button press internally tends to conflict with that system. I'm beginning to think that the best way to run macro-like commands would be to do it completely outside of the existing UI...

(Does it work normally if you don't lock the screen? I'm not sure why locking the screen should trigger the bad behavior. Hmm.)


Aha! Ok, well, if range doesn't matter, then that is a very different situation. So far as I know, pretty much the only way to get such a balky response and yet work at such a long distance is when the repeat-frame mechanism is not working. And, the CanalSat protocol has a repeat-frame mechanism that is different from anything I've seen before; I might have it wrong.

Let me ask, can you get commands to work when you hold down a button? (In particular, can you get Volume Up and Volume Down to continue going up and down by holding down the button?)

Actually, I have had that problem with my N900 as well; if I'm not directly in front of my TV's sensor, the usable range drops off very quickly. I'm afraid that's due to the N900's IR hardware...

Yes, sorry, my fault. I've been wading through a sea of satellite, cable, and digital-terrestrial Samsung set-top boxes this week, and decided to just name them all as "Set-top Box" rather than try to create a forest of new naming conventions. So yeah, I went ahead and made DVB-T Keyset 1 into Set-top Box Keyset 1. Sorry about that, I'm really not sure theres a good way to give these keysets permanent unique names...

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

Hmm, I am guessing that the problem here is just Pierogi's user interface? (I think Pierogi should already be able to work with most Sony TVs and audio systems, and can emulate several of the remotes listed on the Eventghost website. It should already be able to control all your devices...)

Unfortunately, the guiding principle I've been trying to follow with Pierogi (for better or worse) is to keep the UI, as much as possible, independent from any actual remote control hardware. This serves the purpose of styling Pierogi as a single "universal" remote (where all the buttons are always in the same place no matter what device you are controlling), as well as letting me attempt to optimize button layouts for the N900's screen.

There is, at the moment, no way for an end-user to create a customized layout. I was starting to create a set of user-defined buttons a while back, but those are still stuck with the problems I've been having in creating a macro system...

Would it be possible for you to create some Eventghost scripts tailored to Pierogi instead? You wouldn't even need to use the Sony keysets, it looks like Eventghost can handle almost any keyset. Pick a keyset you like (maybe something like an LG or a Samsung one that has a lot of available controls), make it a favorite keyset (along with favorite keysets that work for your Sony TV and audio system), and you should be able to control all three devices fairly easily from within the Pierogi system...

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

You're welcome but be prepared another small wall coming

Well you can pretty much let that button out if the delay with the intervalometer is implemented. As it has an hardcoded delay of 2 seconds, a delay for the intervalometer for 1 exposure would do the same only much more flexible.

I set 6 exposures, interval time of 2 seconds

and, it went the first 2-3 tries crazy (locked and unlocked) between shot 5 and 4 . The first one goes well. Then 4 to 3 goes well, then 3 to 2 goes crazy again. From odd to even, fails

Now I tried to reproduce it to verify what I wrote above, it just did 6 exposures like it should. Also the quit button doesn't respond when it's bursting shutter commands, you really have to take the N900 away to stop it. Another try, it behaves normally again... Hmmm the first 2-3 tries makes pierogi/my camera go crazy, then it works normally. It just seems not logical to me (random)... Weird



Yes I can and I managed to crash the lirc server thingy. Well I pointed it on my VIP and kept holding it, it went from channel 1 to 29, then I was convinced it work... And now comes the interesting part, I moved the N900 a bit around and it kept jumping channels, and the led on the vip was blinking so it kept going channels up. Which proved that the irsensor wasn't so picky after it "started up", or there was a delay in processing all these commands. Anyway after that, I tried to do the same thing now channel down but it wouldn't respond. Then I picked my samsung TV keyset, wouldn't respond either. Hey, I crashed pierogi??? Let's close it and open it again. Hmmm stil does not respond (VIP and my TV). After one press, pierogi gave an popup with

so I crashed lirc0... Reboot fixed it

Well that could be, but the rest of all my IR controlled system are much easier to be controlled and I don't have to do crazy yoga poses to get it change channel. I think it's a combination of both. I think some manufacturers use powerful remotes and some manufacturers use sensitive sensor.

No worries. But you are now using STB and Set-Top Box terms both, samsung has the term Set-Top Box all other manufacturers have the term STB. Nothing serious but for consistency sake, I would say use one, not both terms.



Well, after I read this I thought maybe it would be an idea to have 1-3 custom panels. Which can have it's own tabs. Your tabbutton already reminds me of the "new tab" button of my browser, why not allow the user to create a panel with tabs to user liking. For example for my Onky receiver (keyset 3 works only half, but that's another problem for later, as I don't change settings a lot on my receiver) but when I do I need mainly the audio panel with all of it's tabs, that's just about right. However sometimes I wish I had the d-pad tab, too bad. That tab isn't included in the audio panel so I have to change the whole panel to universal.

In short:
For consistency sake and keeping pierogi as a single style remote we should keep the tabs in everysituation the same, however the mix of which tabs should be configurable.

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

Ok, version 1.1.30 is now making its way up to extras-devel, with mostly fixes to the intervalometer. I think what may have been happening is that I didn't have enough of a delay between the simulated button press and the simulated button release. (Then again, it could just be that Qt timers just aren't reliable when you lock the screen. I'm probably going to have to do some more homework here.)

Well, I've done both -- I've put the hardcoded delay feature back onto the "Camera" panel, and added a configurable initial pause to the Intervalometer panel. :)

This has happened in the past when Pierogi's control thread gets swamped with command requests, and ends up becoming a zombie process in the background. :( I thought I had all that fixed, but odds are that playing with the intervalometer is causing that to happen again. (It shouldn't be anything to do with the vip1853 keyset...)

Hmm. I've gotta admit, I'm running out of ideas. :) I think I'm now reproducing exactly the same signal that worked for the hifi-remotes guys. I have been finding some other odd results from people trying to control the vip1853/1903 with universal remotes, though...

Ah, you are absolutely right! I've changed everything to STB in the current release. Hopefully everybody will understand what STB stands for. :)

Hmm. That sounds like it'd be easier to do than setting up entire custom layouts of buttons. Let me look into it...

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

I'm using Pierogi for second time now,and figured out how it works, very nice.
But I'm missing some devices.
Could you at;
JVC RX-816R reciever (jvc device in the list is missing some buttons)
Pioneer PD-S601 CD player(tried a couple of other devices from the list,none works)
I know these device are ancient, but they still work great ;)

Thanks!!

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

Copernicus,
Using multiple keysets is exactly the thing I want to avoid, for the obvious reason controlling with n900 should be not harder than via remote. Thanks for the answer, though, and good luck with further development of your great application.

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

Ah, this is going to be tough! I can't seem to find any config files specific to these devices... I will try to beef up the JVC and Pioneer audio keyset lists a bit, hopefully a similar machine will have a keyset that works for you.

You also might try the "Automated Keyset Search" feature; you may be able to find some keysets that work, even if they are labeled for other brands.

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

Hmm -- looking at the picture, I had guessed that you were using that remote's 3-position slide switch. All that switch does is change the internal keyset being used by the remote control. Using the volume-rocker switch on the N900 to change keysets is pretty much the same thing. :)

I guess what I should really be asking, is exactly what are you looking for here: are you looking for a full-featured universal remote control that can work with many devices, or do you want to create a new customized remote control that works with just these three devices?

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

What happened is that every pierogi stalled sending commands, after trying the not on my samsung TV not on my receiver then indeed I tried the camera but not with the intervalometer but just the openshutter command and it gave me that message...

Oh and about the unlocking thing, unlocked/locked doesn't actually matter I think. For now it seems it does what it wants, sometimes shoot like it's a Machine Gun, sometime acting like a sniper as it should... I don't know, I am reading me into MagicLantern to see if I want that on my camera (:

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

That switch changes some of controls, to be exact. And it is the same thing as long as keysets contains not only those buttons that differ but also main ones, which are switch-independent and pointed with red.
To be absolutely honest, I would like to create an universal remote for my particular devices at first, and then, after interface is polished, make it available to work with other devices. The ultimate goal is to create something like a frontend for your great app to control most used features of PC+TV+Audio all-in-one remote, with switching between audio, video, and maybe ir mouse control mode, which I don't use but seems quite reasonable... But I'm not quite sure I'm able to. Just in case I coded in Delphi and ASM ONLY. Still worth a try if you support the idea, though.

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

Yeah, what happened in the past was that a Pierogi run would go bad, and it wouldn't clean up after itself when it exited. Then, when you open a fresh copy of Pierogi, it had to fight with the ghost of the previous one for access to the hardware. :( I thought I had fixed all that long ago; if this update is causing it again, I'll probably have to back out some of the code...

It does look very cool. Also, it seems to run off the removable memory card, without modifying any of the software inside the camera itself; so that provides some level of protection. :)

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

So, the key here is that you'd prefer one bank of buttons that stay constant, along with another bank of buttons that are switchable. Hmm.

I would have guessed that it would be easier to, say, map the arrow keys onto some of the lower buttons on the remote, rather than overload those five buttons near the top. Are you using those five keys for Eventghost because you aren't using them for your other devices?

I thoroughly concur with this sentiment! I've gotta say, though, that this is exactly how Pierogi came into existence. :)

There has been a lot of talk in the past about creating alternative front-ends to Pierogi, and I would certainly like to see that happen, but I've never managed to really clean up the back-end enough yet to make it available as a separate library. Another project I really need to get done someday... :)

Yes, I absolutely support the idea. :) The Pierogi back-end, even if I manage to turn it into a library, might still be a little heavyweight for your immediate needs, though. You might try starting out with a straight-up front end to the LIRC server; several other remote control apps work that way. But yeah, the most popular languages for coding on the N900 appear to be C/C++ and Python, so that's something you might want to check into as well. :)

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

I am overloading 6 VCR buttons (with the switch it is up to 18 effective buttons) because other buttons are used already. It's an audio system remote, remember? :)

However, those audio system control buttons are absolutely useless, at least for me - the only one I use is audio system on/off. Even volume, I control either from notebook section (when listening to music), either from TV section (when HDMI is enabled, notebook volume is set to max automatically).

And the useless buttons kinda annoy me, even though the different layouts for listening to music and for video playback proved to be very comfortable over time.

I think it should be mentioned that I'm not considering wi-fi as an option since my devices are old but slightly better than many new ones on the market and guess I'm not alone in such situation. :)

Also, it's inconvenient and ineffective (eats too much battery) to control pc over wi-fi and other devices over ir when you just want to turn on audio player or watch a movie; IMO it should be all ir or wi-fi, not both, and ir is better if available.

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

So, ok, if you aren't using all those audio system control buttons for anything, why wouldn't you want to repurpose them for use with Eventghost? :)

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

Because audio system does respond to them, obviously. :)

Also, I have another Sony remote which has a lot of vcr-related buttons and just perfect for even advanced pc-controlling... but misses that audio system on-off switch button. =\

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

For sure, everything Qt "hangs" for 2 seconds if *power* button is press (not "slide switch" on the side) - guys from QTLockscreen replacement experienced it. I feel it too, if listening to radio without analog bypass, and I press power button to see time in lockscreen ;)

No idea if it's related to current problem, though.

/Estel

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

Hmm, could be the problem. I wonder if there's a way to detect the change in the UI and work around it...

(BTW, did the QtLockscreen guys find a way around the problem? <Copernicus crosses his fingers>)

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

Thanks for all the hard work (:

Now I want to do something for you. Do you have dutch translation for Pierogi, if not and pierogi supports languages. I am happy to do the translation although I always use english om my device :P

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

I would _love_ to see Pierogi get translated into Dutch! (Or, honestly, any other language.) Qt has significant support for internationalization, which I've pretty much been ignoring, as I'm really not fluent in anything but English.

Let me see what I would need to do to set up Pierogi to manage multiple translations...

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

As far as I'm aware - no :( You may want to poke topic as for "why it happens" in CSSU thread (yea, I know...), as they're ones that update Qt things there.

/Estel

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

hi.. its me again.. astro byond pvr on pierogi still not working.. huhu.. but i found this link.. maybe you need to sign in.. im not really sure it can help not understand the language.. hehe.. but i really hope it can.. here is the link..

http://archivedforum.beoworld.org/forums/t/42670.aspx

thanx again for ur hard work..

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

I took a quick look; I doubt that the list appearing on that page covers the Samsung device, because it's a little too old (the timestamp says it was posted in January 2012, so it pre-dates the release of the Samsung).

But also, I've been trying to avoid getting any codeset data from commercial sources; Pierogi is currently a fully open-source project, including the keysets. :) I suspect that the data they're talking about on that site is from the Bang & Olufsen company itself, so I'd probably want to avoid it...

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 

no no bad idea to dich propetiery for the shake of functionablity :) i respect your thoughts and myself would never give an idea to put non free parts in open projects . insted if fesiable create something like pierogi-restricted-extras which when installed can provide pierogi with the functionablity but do try avoid adding them directly to pierogi itself and sabotaging the open nature of the project'