Re: Laptop IR

["Quinten Uijldert" <yahoogroups@xxxxxxx>]

> Have I misunderstood the question?
>
> girder is a program that can capture IR signals and trigger a PC to
run
> or control a Windows program.


No, not as such. The reason why I mention Girder is because of the concept
in capturing and relaying a IR signal. Girder works with the UIRT
(Universal
Infrared Receiver Transmitter - a DIY Rx/Tx device), so the concept is
there, just not the actual signal handling of the laptops IRDA port.

> What I thought Andy was looking for was a way to use a laptop's IRDA
> port to control other IR devices.
>
> The answer to _that_ question is broadly "no" - there are
_VERY_ few
> devices in the UK whose IR control mechanism is compatable with IRDA
> transmissions. Likewise there are _VERY_ few laptops whose IR ports
are
> capable of tranmitting anything other than to the IRDA standard.

True, but the port on a laptop can be used to receive/transmit normal IR.
The trick is to disable the mapping of the virtual port in the Windows OS
so
it will then be a 'proper' com-port.

This is from the help file from uICE (www.mediatexx.com):

<quote>
The IrDA port is an infrared transceiver port built into many newer
mainboards. IrDA is a wireless network interface and therefore not intended
for use with normal home remote controls. However, some models seem to work
with uICE to receive infrared signals from remote controls. You may try it,
but there's no guarantee that it will work.

Settings you should try:

Enable infrared support in your computer's BIOS. Do NOT install IrDA
Windows
drivers if Windows detects the device.

If you already have Windows 98/2000 with IrDA device drivers installed, you
will experience problems accessing the IrDA COM port. You have to remove
the
Windows drivers first and reinstall a generic COM port to let uICE access
it. Disabling the device is not enough! Note that you will not have access
to the IrDA functionality any more after making these changes!

Here's how to remove the virtual port and reassign a generic port:

Attention! Changing system configuration files may damage your Windows
installation! This is for advanced users only who know exactly what they
are
doing! Always make backups of the original file! Don't blame me if you blow
up your computer with this.

Make the following changes to the file msports.inf under c:\windows\inf:

[...]

[Std]

%*PNP0400.DeviceDesc% = LptPort, *PNP0400           ; Printer Port
%*PNP0401.DeviceDesc% = EcpPort, *PNP0401           ; ECP Printer Port
%*PNP0500.DeviceDesc% = ComPort, *PNP0500           ; Communications Port
%*PNP0501.DeviceDesc% = ComPort, *PNP0501           ; Communications Port

;Uncomment/add the following lines:

%*PNP0510.DeviceDesc% = ComPort, *PNP0510           ; Generic IR
device/Comm
%*PNP0511.DeviceDesc% = ComPort, *PNP0511           ; Generic IR
device/Comm

;comment/remove the following lines:

; %*PNP0510.DeviceDesc% = InfraredComPort, *PNP0510   ; IR Communications
Port used byr IrDA stack
; %*PNP0511.DeviceDesc% = InfraredComPort, *PNP0511   ; IR Communications
Port used byr IrDA stack.

[...]

[Strings]

*PNP0400.DeviceDesc = "Druckeranschluss"
*PNP0401.DeviceDesc = "ECP-Druckeranschluss"
*PNP0500.DeviceDesc = "COM-Anschluss"
*PNP0501.DeviceDesc = "COM-Anschluss"

;Uncomment/add the following lines:

*PNP0510.DeviceDesc = "Generic Ir Serial Port"
*PNP0511.DeviceDesc = "Generic Ir Serial Port"

Now open the Device Manager and remove any occurences of virtual ports and
infrared network devices (if installed):

- Virtual COM ports
- IrDa Network Adapter
- Infrared devices

Reboot your machine. Windows should now detect a "Generic Ir Serial
Port".
</quote>

As you can see, it can work, but it is probably more trouble than it is
worth. FWIW, I managed to capture IR on an IBM Thinkpad 600X by following
the above procedure, but YMMV.

Q.

--
Very funny Scotty. Now beam down my clothes!