Niklas Hofer

hofer[AT]informatik.hu-berlin.de

v0.09, 25 Jun 2003 This is a more or less detailed guide to configuration of the Music Player Daemon (MPD) written by Warren Dukes and LIRC (Linux Infrared Remote Control) by Christoph Bartelmus to work together in a home environment, for example as a music jukebox. The Author is not a native English speaker so please be indulgent. If you find errors or you want to add something, please send him a diff to hofer[AT]informatik.hu-berlin.de . You want to use MPD and LIRC together for (at least) one of following reasons: You have got a hole bunch of music you want to listen to in a way that doesn't lack neiter comfort nor functionality. You have got an old (or even new) PC you don't need anymore but your superduper hifi rack is unusable because you spent all your CDs to the local orphanage while just keeping the mp3 backups ... You may check out http://www.informatik.hu-berlin.de/~hofer for the most recent version of this HOWTO. If you find errors or you miss a theme, please add it and send the diff to the author. This section is written by Niklas Hofer (hofer[at]informatik.hu-berlin.de) (The latest version of this document is at "http://musicpd.sourceforge.net" . You may want to check there for changes). Mirror sites are at - "http://www.informatik.hu-berlin.de/~hofer" . There are only some small Precautions: save your old config files prepare your neighbors for some future sleepless nights ask your mum/girlfriend/wife for sanction and wishes! Create yourself an infrared receiver (hardware) and don't forget to connect it (happened to me) Find a unused remote control. Download, configure and install LIRC Download, install and configure MPD Edit the LIRC config files as you need (this is the thing this Howto is all about) Startup LIRC and MPD and have fun using the remote control If you can do all that by yourself, you don't need this Howto. See details of above steps in the following sections.... Please visit http://www.lirc.org/receivers.html and http://www.manoweb.com/alesan/lirc/cocoon/ for a detailed descripton for building an infrared receiver device. In Germany, you can get all the parts needed by CONRAD, a market dedicated to elektronic wares. The part IDs will be contained in the next revision of this HOWTO, if I find them. Find an old VRC remote control (grab the one from your parents, they don't need it anyway). A TV remote works, too, but we want to use the Play, Stop, Pause keys for playback control. Buying a universal remote control that combines multiple commom remotes is possibility, too. Have a look at eBay. LIRC consists of two parts: a kernel module that has to match your running kernel a userspace deamon called lircd that decodes infrared signals and provides them on a Unix domain socket Please look at the LIRC homepage or in the documentation delivered by the source package for a more detailed description. First, go to http://www.lirc.org and download the recent version of lirc. Alternatively you can install the lirc package provided by your distribution. I suggest to do it manually, because on my system the compilation of the kernel module with the destribution given packages didn't work (maybe my fault). Unpack the archive and follow its INSTALL instructions. $ tar xvfz lirc-version.tar.gz $ cd lirc-version $ less INSTALL If you get problems, please read all the output the install script produces, it may contain information to help solving them. Notice to set the correct options for the hardware you built (serial ports, adresses etc). You will need the sources of your currently running kernel (or the kernel you want to use with lirc) in /usr/src/linux or it must be a symbolic link to the regarding directory. I suggest you download the current kernel source from http://www.kernel.org and read the Kernel-HOWTO by Al Dev if you never built a kernel by yourself. Finished with that you should have installed a kernel module (ie. lirc-serial) , the LIRC deamon (often in /usr/sbin/lircd) and the lirc configuration (/etc/lirc). The directories may vary, but the install script is very verbose and should have told you all the relevant information. Use your favourite editor the edit the files in /etc/lirc /etc/lirc/hardware.conf should look this way (depending on your hardware setup. This is for a receiver connected to the serial port. LIRCD_ARGS="" START_LIRCMD=false #Try to load appropriate kernel modules LOAD_MODULES=true DRIVER="default" DEVICE="/dev/lirc" MODULES="lirc_serial" The file /etc/lirc/lirc-modules-source.conf was created by the lirc configuration script and should match the values you entered. Again, here is an example for a serial connected device. So only the SERIAL section contains useful data. # Coma separated list of lirc kernel drivers to build LIRC_MODULES="serial" # Serial module configuration (these may vary!) LIRC_SERIAL_PORT="0x3f8" LIRC_SERIAL_IRQ="4" LIRC_SERIAL_CFLAGS=" -DLIRC_SERIAL_SOFTCARRIER" # Sir module configuration LIRC_SIR_PORT="UNCONFIGURED" LIRC_SIR_IRQ="UNCONFIGURED" LIRC_SIR_CFLAGS="UNCONFIGURED" # Parallel module configuration LIRC_PARALLEL_PORT="UNCONFIGURED" LIRC_PARALLEL_IRQ="UNCONFIGURED" LIRC_PARALLEL_TIMER="UNCONFIGURED" Plug in your receiver, run lircd by typing (as root) # /etc/init.d/lirc start ,run mode2 delivered by the lirc package (don't confuse with mode3), grab your remote control and start typing satanic patterns on your remote while pointing it to the receiver. LIRC must not run! You should see output like this: pulse 93 space 4965 pulse 108 space 4969 pulse 93 space 7496 pulse 93 space 7489 pulse 93 space 47915 pulse 138 space 7475 pulse 93 space 7494 pulse 93 If not, please read http://www.lirc.org/html/install.html . If yes, then be happy and continue with the next paragraph. Here comes the first tricky part. If you got a common remote control (not universal) the go to http://lirc.sourceforge.net/remotes/ and get the config file for your remote. If your device is not listed there, you have to create a file for yourself. Don't worry, its very easy. Maybe more easy than seeking for the correct file in the archive. Please read the irrecord manpage. If you have got a well documented universal remote control you can switch it exactly to a remote control you can find in the above archive. In the case you ain't got a good documentation ("Press 123 for getting THE Phillips remote") you have to try a bit. Or simply select your favourite manufacturer at the remote and create a config file yourself. Note: All the keys to get use of the best way this is, young jedi! After all, you should have a config file for your remote. It is yours. Your own. Your precioussss. Hide it in the mountains and keep it at a safe place. Copy it to /etc/lirc/lircd.conf. A broad outline: # this config file was automatically generated # using lirc-0.6.4-CVS(hauppauge) on Sat May 26 21:15:45 2001 # # contributed by G.P.M. van Dijnsen # # brand: Philips # model: RC 5260 # supported devices: Unknown TV set and unknown VCR ( suspected pre 1987 ) # begin remote name Philips_5260 bits 6 flags RC5|CONST_LENGTH eps 30 aeps 100 one 889 889 zero 889 889 plead 889 pre_data_bits 7 pre_data 0x40 gap 113792 toggle_bit 2 begin codes 1 0x0000000000000001 2 0x0000000000000002 3 0x0000000000000003 4 0x0000000000000004 5 0x0000000000000005 6 0x0000000000000006 7 0x0000000000000007 8 0x0000000000000008 9 0x0000000000000009 0 0x0000000000000000 1- 0x000000000000000A 2- 0x000000000000000B brightness_down 0x0000000000000013 brightness_up 0x0000000000000012 contrast_down 0x0000000000000015 contrast_up 0x0000000000000014 volume_down 0x0000000000000011 volume_up 0x0000000000000010 trebble_down 0x0000000000000019 trebble_up 0x0000000000000018 bass_down 0x0000000000000017 bass_up 0x0000000000000016 show_settings 0x000000000000000F green 0x000000000000000E mute 0x000000000000000D skip_forward 0x0000000000000022 power 0x000000000000000C txt_off 0x000000000000003F txt_on 0x000000000000003C txt_clock 0x000000000000002A txt_half 0x000000000000002E txt_question 0x000000000000002C txt_cross 0x000000000000002D txt_hold 0x0000000000000029 txt_enlarg 0x000000000000002B bell_on 0x000000000000003B bell_off 0x000000000000002F record 0x0000000000000037 back 0x0000000000000032 pause 0x0000000000000036 play 0x0000000000000035 forward 0x0000000000000034 arrows 0x0000000000000033 xmark 0x0000000000000031 end codes end remote For testing you now should restart LIRC, run irw and type satanic pattrerns, again. The output should look like this: 0000000000001010 00 volume_up Philips_5260 0000000000001011 00 volume_down Philips_5260 000000000000100d 00 mute Philips_5260 000000000000103f 01 txt_off Philips_5260 000000000000100d 00 mute Philips_5260 You see a code (like morse, but ir) you may ignor, the key name and the remote's name. This is a good way to procure the key mapping of your configuration. Please download the package from http://musicpd.sourceforge.net or checkout the cvs like described there. Consult the INSTALL file to find alle the neccassary information to build and install your very own MPD. You know should have a running lirc that listens to your remote control and an MPD accessible by telnet or by the webinterface phpMp. Now we have to let both interact with each other. Since the remote control has an one-way interface we only have to associate the keypresses on the remote to MPD functions. It's as easy as clever: in the lirc package there is an executable named irexec, which executes prearranged executables when hitting keys. And this is exactly the feature we want. But which executable do we want to launch? Simply passing the command to telnet would be a way. I wrote a small perl script (mpc for MP client), which does exactly this and can be modified in a very simple way (for everyone having basic perl knowledge). Here it is: #!/usr/bin/perl # mpc # by Niklas Hofer , alzhaimer at gmx.net # connects to mpd and sends given command # can't get feedback yet - please contact me if you know a solution # Settings | please modify $host='127.0.0.1'; $port='2323'; # you don't have to set this if telnet is in PATH $mytelnet='/usr/bin/telnet'; ## the fun begins here # using telnet is faster than using Net::Socket # not using strict for faster execution chomp ($telnet=`which telnet`); $telnet=$telnet ? $telnet : $mytelnet; $msg=join(' ', @ARGV ); if ($msg) { open TN,"|$telnet $host $port" || die qq~can't pipe to $telnet: $!~; print TN $msg."\n"; close TN; } And I wrote another scipt - named mpc_playlist - that loads all playlists beginning with a specified number, letter or string. So you can press ie. the '1' key on your remote to add rock songs to the playlist, if you named the rock lists 1_metallica or 1_sepultura and so on, accoordingly to other numbers. #!/usr/bin/perl # mpc_playlist # by Niklas Hofer , alzhaimer at gmx.net # uses mpc to add playlists beginning with special char # Settings | please modify $playlistdir ='/data/playlists/' # has to end with slash (lazyness, speed) ## the fun begins here $first=shift || die "you must specify some of the first chars of a playlist\n"; @files=sort <$playlistsdir/*.m3u>; foreach (@files) { chomp; s/^.+\///; if (/^$first/) { s/\.m3u$//; system("mpc load $_"); } } Don't forget to place mpc and mpc_playlist in your path - copy them to /usr/bin/ or /usr/local/bin. The config file of irexec is /etc/lirc/lirc.lircrc . Here is an example: # using aumix to control volume begin remote = Philips_5260 # replace this by the name of your remote control button = volume_up # this is the name of the key (get it by irw) prog = irexec # irexec execs any desired executable, # specified by config (see below) repeat = 1 # is this key repeatable (bad for mpc commands) config = aumix -w +3 -v +3;aumix -S # and here is the exec to run # if you want multiple commands run in a row, join them # with semicola # if you want several alternating commands # simply add a new config line (and set repeat=0) end begin remote = Philips_5260 button = volume_down prog = irexec repeat = 1 config = aumix -w -4 -v -4;aumix -S end # mute (sound on/off) begin remote = Philips_5260 button = mute prog = irexec repeat = 0 config = aumix -S;aumix -w 0 -v 0 config = aumix -L end # open/close CDROM begin remote = Philips_5260 button = txt_cross prog = irexec repeat = 0 config = eject /cdrom config = eject -t /cdrom end ######################################## # mpd control ######################################## begin remote = Philips_5260 button = txt_hold prog = irexec repeat = 0 config = mpc stop end begin remote = Philips_5260 button = txt_clock prog = irexec repeat = 0 config = mpc next end begin remote = Philips_5260 button = txt_half prog = irexec repeat = 0 config = mpc previous end begin remote = Philips_5260 button = txt_enlarg prog = irexec repeat = 0 config = mpc play 0 end begin remote = Philips_5260 button = green prog = irexec repeat = 0 config = mpc pause end begin remote = Philips_5260 button = txt_question prog = irexec repeat = 0 config = mpc shuffle end ######################################## # playlist loading ######################################## begin remote = Philips_5260 button = 1 prog = irexec repeat = 0 config = mpc_playlist 1 end begin remote = Philips_5260 button = 2 prog = irexec repeat = 0 config = mpc_playlist 2 end begin remote = Philips_5260 button = 3 prog = irexec repeat = 0 config = mpc_playlist 3 end # .... begin remote = Philips_5260 button = show_settings prog = irexec repeat = 0 config = mpc clear end /etc/init.d/lircd start mpd /your/config/file From now on you can use the web interface and your remote to control your music.