Command-Line Utilities for CommandIR - Windows and Linux

Record and send IR commands without LIRC

Many CommandIR users just need to control external devices with CommandIR and don't need to use a remote, or already have a working remote.  For those users, we've put together these simple utilities to record and send IR codes right from the command line - without requiring LIRC.  Perfect for scripting and automating.

Download the latest here or see installation instructions below:

 commandir_record button_name1 [button_name2] ...

 commandir_send [-e emitter_number] [-b emitter_bitmask] button_name1 [button_name2] ...

So, you'll need to record:

• Onkyo: Power, Vol+,Vol-
• LG: Power
• Scientific Atlanta: Digits 0-9, enter
  

The easiest way is to record them all at once. 

Recording

Since each button will be stored in a seperate file, keep yourself sane by using the device name and button name each time:

 $ cd ~/ir_codes/ 

 $ commandir_record onkyo_power onkyo_vol+ onkyo_vol- lg_power sa_0 sa_1 sa_2 sa_3 sa_4 sa_5 sa_6 sa_7 \

 sa_8 sa_9 sa_enter

Running this command will prompt you to press each remote button, and press keyboard 'enter' to accept a recorded IR code for each.

Now you'll have a directory full of these IR codes:

 $ ls 

 lg_power     onkyo_vol-  sa_0  sa_2  sa_4  sa_6  sa_8  sa_enter

 onkyo_power  onkyo_vol+  sa_1  sa_3  sa_5  sa_7  sa_9

There are no daemons to reload or restart if you add new or re-record any devices/buttons, changes take effect immediately. 

Transmitting / Sending

You can test any of them using the commandir_send command, for example to toggle the power on the LG and Onkyo devices:

 $ commandir_send lg_power onkyo_power

To change the channel to 123 on the first Scientific Atlanta box using CommandIR Emitter #1:

 $ commandir_send -e1 sa_1 sa_2 sa_3 sa_enter 

To change the channel to 543 on the second Scientific Atlanta box on Emitter #2:

 $ commandir_send -e2 sa_1 sa_2 sa_3 sa_enter 

The commandir_send commands can be put in more advanced bash scripts or called directly. Here's a sample bash script (change the ir_codes directory as appropriaate for your system):

 #!/bin/bash

 commandir_send -e3 ~/ir_codes/lg_power

 commandir_send -e4 ~/ir_codes/onkyo_power 

Channel Change Script

MythTV only provides the satellite box channel number to change to, so there is a new channel changing script that converts the MythTV '123' format to commandir_send's sa_1 sa_2 sa_3, and sets the correct emitter.

Example:

 $ commandir-chchange.sh 3 /home/mythtv/ir_codes/sa 123 .1 

Installation - Linux

For the ready to run Windows build, see the CommandIR Utilities on Windows Installation page.

$ tar -xjvf commandir_utils_0.1.tbz

$ cd commandir_utils_0.1

$ sudo apt-get install libusb-dev libusb-0.1-4  (may not be required if already installed)

$ make

$ sudo make install 

FAQ