IR remote broken with latest volumio update

Oootini · March 14, 2021, 11:14am

Volumio Information

Volumio Version: 2.873
Hardware: rPi3
DAC: hifiberry +
ir remote plugin version: 1.4.1

Something got messed up with my justboom IR remote with a recent update. I previously had a justboom IR remote and an IR receiver working on GPIO pin 5 that now no longer works with recent update.

Trying to piece together what i need to fix. here is what I’ve done:

installed IR remote plugin via UI
changed /boot/overlay.txt
```
 added dtoverlay=gpio-ir,gpio_pin=5
```

sudo nano /etc/lirc/hardware.conf added gpio_ir_recv

 # /etc/lirc/hardware.conf
 #
 # Arguments which will be used when launching lircd
 LIRCD_ARGS=""

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

 #Don't start irexec, even if a good config file seems to exist.
 #START_IREXEC=false

 #Try to load appropriate kernel modules
 LOAD_MODULES=true

 # Run "lircd --driver=help" for a list of supported drivers.
 DRIVER="UNCONFIGURED"
 # usually /dev/lirc0 is the correct setting for systems using udev
 DEVICE=""
 MODULES="gpio_ir_recv"

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

added gpio-ir to /etc/modules

 # /etc/modules: kernel modules to load at boot time.
 #
 # This file contains the names of kernel modules that should be loaded
 # at boot time, one per line. Lines beginning with "#" are ignored.


 i2c-dev
 lirc_dev lirc_rpi gpio-ir gpio_in_pin=5

edit /etc/lirc/hardware.conf

 # /etc/lirc/hardware.conf
 #
 # Arguments which will be used when launching lircd
 LIRCD_ARGS=""

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

 #Don't start irexec, even if a good config file seems to exist.
 START_IREXEC=true

 #Try to load appropriate kernel modules
 LOAD_MODULES=true

 # Run "lircd --driver=help" for a list of supported drivers.
 DRIVER="default"
 # usually /dev/lirc0 is the correct setting for systems using udev
 DEVICE=""
 MODULES="lirc_rpi"

 # Default configuration files for your hardware if any
 LIRCD_CONF="\etc\lirc\lircd.conf"
 LIRCMD_CONF=""

reboot

volumio@volumio:~$ sudo journalctl -f --no-tail | grep ir_controller

	Mar 14 09:54:09 volumio volumio[889]: info: Plugin ir_controller is not enabled
	Mar 14 11:12:47 volumio volumio[889]: info: Enabling plugin ir_controller
	Mar 14 11:12:47 volumio volumio[889]: info: Loading plugin "ir_controller"...
	Mar 14 11:12:49 volumio volumio[889]: info: PLUGIN START: ir_controller
	Mar 14 11:12:50 volumio volumio[889]: info: ir_controller: File permissions successfully set on /etc/lirc/*.
	Mar 14 11:12:50 volumio volumio[889]: info: ir_controller: LIRC correctly updated.
	Mar 14 11:12:50 volumio volumio[889]: info: ir_controller: HAT already loaded /proc/device-tree/ir_receiver!
	Mar 14 11:12:51 volumio volumio[889]: info: ir_controller: systemctl stop lirc.service succeeded.
	Mar 14 11:12:53 volumio volumio[889]: info: CALLMETHOD: accessory ir_controller saveIROptions [object Object]
	Mar 14 11:12:53 volumio volumio[889]: info: CoreCommandRouter::executeOnPlugin: ir_controller , saveIROptions
	Mar 14 11:12:53 volumio volumio[889]: info: ir_controller: systemctl start lirc.service succeeded.

I get no output from

mode2 -d /dev/lirc0

or

irw

any ideas?

balbuze · March 14, 2021, 11:23am

I don’t for this specific IR, but why do you need to do all that mod with the plugin?

gvolt · March 14, 2021, 11:47am

Yes, I second @balbuze. Try without all that manual modifications but use the config page of the IR Controller plugin to set the GPIO pin to 5. Before doing so make sure the files you have modified manually are back to their default content.

Oootini · March 14, 2021, 2:36pm

Thanks both! I wasn’t aware there was a config page. You mean in the UI somewhere?

gvolt · March 14, 2021, 2:50pm

Yes, but the option for configuring the GPIO pin is only visible if the “gpio-ir” overlay has not been loaded already.

With the plugin disabled please post the output of

cat /boot/config.txt

cat /boot/userconfig.txt

and

dtoverlay -l

P.S. Did you revert all changes you did to the files you mentioned in the first post?

Oootini · March 14, 2021, 4:05pm

I’ve just done a factory reset.

cat /boot/config.txt

initramfs volumio.initrd
gpu_mem=32
max_usb_current=1
dtparam=audio=on
audio_pwm_mode=2
dtparam=i2c_arm=on
disable_splash=1
hdmi_force_hotplug=1

include userconfig.txt

volumio@volumio:~$ cat /boot/userconfig.txt

# Add your custom config.txt options to this file, which will be preserved during updates
# Add your custom config.txt options to this file, which will be preserved during updates

dtoverlay -l

volumio@volumio:~$ dtoverlay -l
No overlays loaded

gvolt · March 14, 2021, 4:15pm

That looks OK.

If you now enable the plugin do you see the option to configure the GPIO pin on the config page of the plugin? If that should not be the case please post the result of

sudo journalctl -f --no-tail | grep ir_controller

again.

Oootini · March 14, 2021, 4:21pm

huh. no i do not see the gpio config option in the gui:

||volumio@volumio:~$ sudo journalctl -f --no-tail | grep ir_controller|
|---|---|
||Mar 14 16:13:32 volumio volumio[876]: info: Downloading plugin at http://plugins.volumio.org/plugins/volumio/armhf/accessory/ir_controller/ir_controller.zip|
||Mar 14 16:13:37 volumio volumio[876]: info: END DOWNLOAD: http://plugins.volumio.org/plugins/volumio/armhf/accessory/ir_controller/ir_controller.zip|
||Mar 14 16:13:39 volumio sudo[6699]: volumio : TTY=unknown ; PWD=/ ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/bin/sh /data/plugins/accessory/ir_controller/install.sh|
||Mar 14 16:17:35 volumio volumio[876]: info: Enabling plugin ir_controller|
||Mar 14 16:17:35 volumio volumio[876]: info: Loading plugin "ir_controller"...|
||Mar 14 16:17:44 volumio volumio[876]: info: PLUGIN START: ir_controller|
||Mar 14 16:17:45 volumio volumio[876]: info: ir_controller: File permissions successfully set on /etc/lirc/*.|
||Mar 14 16:17:46 volumio volumio[876]: info: ir_controller: LIRC correctly updated.|
||Mar 14 16:17:46 volumio volumio[876]: info: ir_controller: HAT already loaded /proc/device-tree/ir_receiver!|
||Mar 14 16:17:49 volumio volumio[876]: info: ir_controller: systemctl stop lirc.service succeeded.|
||Mar 14 16:17:54 volumio volumio[876]: info: ir_controller: systemctl start lirc.service succeeded.|
||Mar 14 16:18:15 volumio volumio[876]: info: Enabling plugin ir_controller|
||Mar 14 16:18:15 volumio volumio[876]: info: Loading plugin "ir_controller"...|
||Mar 14 16:18:15 volumio volumio[876]: info: Applying required configuration parameters for plugin ir_controller|
||Mar 14 16:18:15 volumio volumio[876]: info: PLUGIN START: ir_controller|
||Mar 14 16:18:16 volumio volumio[876]: info: ir_controller: File permissions successfully set on /etc/lirc/*.|
||Mar 14 16:18:16 volumio volumio[876]: info: ir_controller: LIRC correctly updated.|
||Mar 14 16:18:16 volumio volumio[876]: info: ir_controller: HAT already loaded /proc/device-tree/ir_receiver!|
||Mar 14 16:18:17 volumio volumio[876]: info: ir_controller: systemctl stop lirc.service succeeded.|
||Mar 14 16:18:19 volumio volumio[876]: info: ir_controller: systemctl start lirc.service succeeded.|
||Mar 14 16:20:04 volumio volumio[876]: info: CALLMETHOD: accessory ir_controller saveIROptions [object Object]|
||Mar 14 16:20:04 volumio volumio[876]: info: CoreCommandRouter::executeOnPlugin: ir_controller , saveIROptions|

gvolt · March 14, 2021, 4:25pm

What IR receiver do you use?

Oootini · March 14, 2021, 4:26pm

it’s a TSOP2256 ir receiver + justboom ir remote.

gvolt · March 14, 2021, 4:45pm

IMHO there must either be other hardware connected that occupies the gpio-ir module during boot or there is still some modification in the play that leads to the same effect. Make sure your “/etc/modules” is back to its default content. I’m not sure if a factory reset does that for.

If nothing helps you may consider starting with a fresh Volumio installation. Could be faster in the end

Oootini · March 14, 2021, 4:49pm

# /etc/modules: kernel modules to load at boot time.
#
# This file contains the names of kernel modules that should be loaded
# at boot time, one per line. Lines beginning with "#" are ignored.


i2c-dev

is a single i2c-dev entry the default for etc/modules?

Oootini · March 14, 2021, 5:09pm

OK! back in action. Just had to reset /boot/config.txt

Thanks so much for your help!!!

So to summarize: I had previously followed some old instructions on the forums to enable the IR remote. This messed with the automatic configuration of the plugin. resetting all my edits allowed the plugin to do it’s job from the GUI.

gvolt · March 14, 2021, 8:10pm

Just for others following this thread: The “/boot/config.txt” from post #6 does not show any content that would have to be reset to get the plugin working.

But anyhow, good it’s solved!

Oootini · March 14, 2021, 8:59pm

ack - i didn’t copy the entire file. i had an extra dtoverlay for the gpio pin under the following which shouldn’t have been there:

dtoverlay=hifiberry-dac