Help me with a Smart Home Interview – US Participants Needed

[parkerc]

Hi all

Possibly a long shot - but does anyone know of a way, (maybe you have some code or know of an app) that can help you discover the IR codes of a device when you’ve lost the remote?

Looking online there seems to be a growing number of IR banks, yet I can’t find anything on the market that could cycle through a huge set of different codes (e.g just the power on/off) to let me know which ones are compatible ?

When you consider so many things these days are made in the same place, and often thing can just be re/badges versions of other items - it’s likely that a sets of codes for one branded product will work in the most part with another ..

[a-lurker]

Lost remote? It's probably down the back of the couch.

While not exactly what you want but have looked at Remote Central or possibly buy a new one on ebay?

[parkerc]

@a-lurker said in Discover IR codes for lost remote:

Lost remote? It's probably down the back of the couch.

Sadly not, I picked these items up 2nd hand, so they didn’t come with the original remotes.

@a-lurker said in Discover IR codes for lost remote:

While not exactly what you want but have looked at Remote Central or possibly buy a new one on ebay

Yep, tried that already, along with http://irdb.tk/codes/ too - but neither of the manufacturers/ models I’m looking for are listed..

Hence I was thinking there must be a high chance something in those code banks will work, at the very least to power on/off..

Any ideas ?

[therealdb]

I'm not aware of anything like you requested. There are things that could learn codes, but they require a handheld. Have you tried calling the manufacturer? Maybe they will give you instructions about this issue.

[parkerc]

@therealdb said in Discover IR codes for lost remote:

Have you tried calling the manufacturer?

Yep, tried that I think I’ve tried everything, even have a saved search on eBay. Also as one of them had a RS232 connection, I explored that too, (via the Vera forum) but had to give up in the end as it wouldn’t work .

So far one manufacturer has stated that the unit in question was discontinued and the other has yet to respond after multiple attempts. Rather that wait any long, seeing as I have a number of IR sender options, KIra, Harmony and BroadLink it made made me wonder if there was a way to retrieve codes, create a list and cycle through them.

I mainly use @a-lurker Broadlink, and looking at the IR ‘ProntoCode’ command option, it feels possible (with help?)

luup.call_action('urn:a-lurker-com:serviceId:IrTransmitter1', 'SendProntoCode', {ProntoCode = '0000 006C 0022 0002 015B 00AD 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0016 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0041 0016 05F7 015B 0057 0016 0E6C'},49)

it’s just the code bank connection to reduce the manual effort, and some way of recording/reporting which code was sent and if it worked or not. (Ideally all automated)

[parkerc]

There is a great community/code bank on GitHub.

GitHub - probonopd/irdb: One of the largest crowd-sourced, manufacturer-independent databases of infrared remote control codes on the web, and aspiring to become the most comprehensive and most...

One of the largest crowd-sourced, manufacturer-independent databases of infrared remote control codes on the web, and aspiring to become the most comprehensive and most accurate one - probonopd/irdb

Index of codes is here - https://github.com/probonopd/irdb/blob/master/index

With their API - http://irdb.tk/api

And you can retrieve a .csv set for anyone via https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/probonopd/irdb@master/codes/Samsung/TV/7,7.csv

[parkerc]

I’ve just got an update from the guy behind the irdb - https://github.com/probonopd/irdb/issues/37

He mentioned..

Assuming you have the irdb tree locally on $IRDB_BASE, this pseudo code should do it

for file in $IRDB_BASE/codes/*/*.csv:
    for line in $file:
        (cmd_name,protocol,D,S,F) = split $line ','
         if match('power', $cmd_name):
               echo "Trying signal $protocol $D $S $F" 
               pronto = $(irptransmogrifier render -n D=$D,S=$D,F=$F $protocol)
               sendIr $pronto
               sleep $a_while
       endif
   endfor
endfor

Please could someone help me to translate this into Lua and then to work with the Broadlink plug-in ?

[parkerc]

I’d also appreciate any help/advice on how to maybe adjust @rigpapa’s GitHub Lua/plug-in to potentially pull into the irdb database (or would that simply be too much for Vera to take?)

GitHub - toggledbits/GitUpdater: A service utility to update Vera plugins from GitHub releases

A service utility to update Vera plugins from GitHub releases - toggledbits/GitUpdater

[parkerc]

@a-lurker - is there scope here for a possible add-on/enhancement to the Broadlink plug-in

[therealdb]

well, it's possible in LUA as well. I'm not that expert in the file system libs, but Google is your friend

How to get list of directories in Lua

I need a list of directory in LUA Suppose I have a directory path as "C:\Program Files" I need a list of all the folders in that particular path and how to search any particular folder i...

Just use io to open files, but I think that so many commands will probably crash your luup engine. We're potentially speaking of thousands of calls to try.

[akbooer]

@parkerc said in Discover IR codes for lost remote:

Please could someone help me to translate this into Lua

for file in $IRDB_BASE/codes/*/*.csv:
    for line in $file:
        (cmd_name,protocol,D,S,F) = split $line ','
         if match('power', $cmd_name):
               echo "Trying signal $protocol $D $S $F" 
               pronto = $(irptransmogrifier render -n D=$D,S=$D,F=$F $protocol)
               sendIr $pronto
               sleep $a_while
       endif
   endfor
endfor

becomes, in Lua:

local lfs = require "lfs"
local dir = "codes/"   -- make this your path to the files
local split = "[^,]+,[^,]+,[^,]+,[^,]+,[^,]+"  -- (cmd_name,protocol,D,S,F)

for file in lfs.dir(dir) do
    if file: match "%.csv$" then
      for line in io.lines(dir .. filename)do
        local cmd_name,protocol,D,S,F = list: match (split)
        if 'power' == cmd_name then
          print ("$protocol $D $S $F",  protocol,D,S,F)
        end
      end
   end
end

I've just replaced the IR send with a print statement for now.

[parkerc]

Thanks @akbooer

Some quick questions .

1. Where would be the best place to store/sync the .csv files ?
2. FYI to help test, here is an example/extract of the Samsung TV .csv

[functionname,protocol,device,subdevice,function
INPUT SOURCE,NECx2,7,7,1
POWER,NECx2,7,7,2
1,NECx2,7,7,4
2,NECx2,7,7,5
3,NECx2,7,7,6
VOLUME +,NECx2,7,7,7
4,NECx2,7,7,8
5,NECx2,7,7,9
6,NECx2,7,7,10
VOLUME -,NECx2,7,7,11
7,NECx2,7,7,12
8,NECx2,7,7,13
9,NECx2,7,7,14
MUTE,NECx2,7,7,15
CHANNEL -,NECx2,7,7,16
0,NECx2,7,7,17
CHANNEL +,NECx2,7,7,18

By the looks of it to get the pronto version of the code, you would have to used the IrpTransmogrifier tool - https://github.com/bengtmartensson/IrpTransmogrifier

Where would be the best place to install that - is Vera a safe place or should I look elsewhere e.g a Pi ?

[akbooer]

What were you thinking of using to send the codes?

I note that luup has an ir table with a single function in it. Also, thanks to @a-lurker it's implemented in openLuup. IT mentions GC100 in the comments:

-- IR module
-- thanks to @a-lurker for this.
-- see: http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,37268.0.html

local ir = {
  pronto_to_gc100 = function (pronto)
    -- replace the pronto code preamble with the GC100 preamble

...but I have absolutely no idea about its functionality, not ever having used an IR devices at this level. I would have thought that these codes ARE the pronto codes?? (...or are they IRP notation protocols?)

[parkerc]

@akbooer said in Discover IR codes for lost remote:

What were you thinking of using to send the codes?

I was ideally looking to use my Broadlink RM-Pro device and @a-lurker ‘s Vera plugin

@akbooer said in Discover IR codes for lost remote:

I have absolutely no idea about its functionality, not ever having used an IR devices at this level. I would have thought that these codes ARE the pronto codes?? (...or are they IRP notation protocols?)

I’m getting a bit out of my depth here now too,..

which is so often the case when I embark on these kind of HA adventures .

My interpretation is that when using irdb, you have to convert the code for them them to be Pronto codes. - http://irdb.tk/convert/

If I use my Samsung TV as an example, that seems to use the necx2:7.7 protocol - which I’ve also seen written as NECx2, device 7.7. Either way that seems to be a very common TV code set for Samsung, Akai and some other brands.

So, looking at their api, I assumed I could at least try to call a specific code.

http://irdb.tk/api/code/?brand=Samsung&devicetype=TV

And then..

http://irdb.tk/api/code/?brand=Samsung&devicetype=TV&protocol=NECx2&device=7&subdevice=7&functionname=POWER

but alas no ir code was returned only this json, which perhaps is not surprise...

{
  "meta": {
    "model": "code", 
    "next": "", 
    "page": 1, 
    "previous": ""
  }, 
  "objects": [
    {
      "function": "2", 
      "protocol": "NECx2", 
      "subdevice": "7", 
      "devicetype": "TV", 
      "device": "7", 
      "functionname": "POWER"
    }
  ]
}

Any ideas on their api - http://irdb.tk/api ?

[a-lurker]

parkec

You haven't told us what hardware or software (MiOS/openLuup) you are using. If you read AK's code above you would just have to point to where the files are. Presumably the file(s) could be on a USB stick. You want to get AK's coe running first, on just one file first - one step at a time.

Later you need this bit:

bengtmartensson commented 16 hours ago •

Just install IrpTransmogrifier as shell command and call it (as shell program) using (I think) os.execute or io.popen in Lua. No need to call java from lua
pronto = $(irptransmogrifier render -n D=$D,S=$D,F=$F $protocol)

The database looks like it could be huge and would take a while (who knows - a day?) to cycle around all the IR codes. Are you going to sit there and watch your device all day to catch when it turns on? AK's code needs to get the pronto code and then send it. Something like this (but totally untested):

-- Send an IR code every two seconds
-- Function needs to be global as it's a delay timeout target
function sendProntoCodeToBroadLinkDevice(prontoCode)
   local BROADLINK_DEVICE_ID = 49
   luup.call_action('urn:a-lurker-com:serviceId:IrTransmitter1', 'SendProntoCode', {ProntoCode = prontoCode}, BROADLINK_DEVICE_ID)
end

function scanIndexFiles ()
    local lfs = require "lfs"
    local dir = "codes/"   -- make this your path to the files
    local split = "[^,]+,[^,]+,[^,]+,[^,]+,[^,]+"  -- (cmd_name,protocol,D,S,F)
    
    local prontoCode = ''

    for file in lfs.dir(dir) do
        if file: match "%.csv$" then
          for line in io.lines(dir .. filename) do
            local cmd_name,protocol,D,S,F = list: match (split)
            if 'power' == cmd_name then
              print ("$protocol $D $S $F",  protocol,D,S,F)

              local irptransmogrifierPath = "insert path here"

              -- this may all need work depending on whatever "irptransmogrifier" does
              local command = string.format("%sirptransmogrifier render -n D=%s,S=%s,F=%s protocol",irptransmogrifierPath,D,S,F,protocol)
              local handle = assert(io.popen(command))
              local prontoCode = handle:read("*a")
              handle:close()

              local INTERVAL_SECS = 2
              luup.call_delay('sendProntoCodeToBroadLinkDevice', INTERVAL_SECS, prontoCode)

            end
          end
       end
    end
end

scanIndexFiles()

Note: luup.call_delay only works in the openLuup window test window - I'm still not clear why. But the Vera and AltUI test windows won't run it correctly. You need the delay so the BroadLink device has time to send the code. (the function sleep() is not suitable)

[parkerc]

@a-lurker said in Discover IR codes for lost remote:

You haven't told us what hardware or software (MiOS/openLuup) you are using.

Sorry,, I’m looking first to Vera/MIOS , with the Broadlink RM Pro4, and your plug-in.

@a-lurker said in Discover IR codes for lost remote:

The database looks like it could be huge and would take a while (who knows - a day?) to cycle around all the IR codes. Are you going to sit there and watch your device all day to catch when it turns on? AK's code needs to get the pronto code and then send it. Something like this (but totally untested):

To avoid sitting around as the devices in question register for an IP, which I can fix, I was thinking I can watch for that variable to be updated .e.g via ping test or another option could be to place a light sensor right in front of the power LED to react when the light comes on..

@a-lurker said in Discover IR codes for lost remote:

You want to get AK's coe running first, on just one file first - one step at a time.

Agreed, and here’s an example .csv of the Samsung TV code/set they store. /codes/

functionname,protocol,device,subdevice,function
INPUT SOURCE,NECx2,7,7,1
POWER,NECx2,7,7,2
1,NECx2,7,7,4
2,NECx2,7,7,5
3,NECx2,7,7,6
VOLUME +,NECx2,7,7,7
4,NECx2,7,7,8
5,NECx2,7,7,9
6,NECx2,7,7,10
VOLUME -,NECx2,7,7,11
7,NECx2,7,7,12
8,NECx2,7,7,13
9,NECx2,7,7,14
MUTE,NECx2,7,7,15
CHANNEL -,NECx2,7,7,16
0,NECx2,7,7,17
CHANNEL +,NECx2,7,7,18
LAST,NECx2,7,7,19
MENU,NECx2,7,7,26
INFO,NECx2,7,7,31
AD/SUBT,NECx2,7,7,37
EXIT,NECx2,7,7,45
E-MANUAL,NECx2,7,7,63
TOOLS,NECx2,7,7,75
GUIDE,NECx2,7,7,79
RETURN,NECx2,7,7,88
CUSOR UP,NECx2,7,7,96
CURSOR DOWN,NECx2,7,7,97
CURSOR RIGHT,NECx2,7,7,98
CURSOR LEFT,NECx2,7,7,101
ENTER,NECx2,7,7,104
CH LIST,NECx2,7,7,107
SMART HUB,NECx2,7,7,121
3D,NECx2,7,7,159

And overall size wise, I assume - as they are not storing every individual code and Ir format/type, instead it’s just the protocol and some other identifier - the whole irdb/code folder seems reasonably small.

[therealdb]

Are you sure you can’t open those devices and look at the electronics? It seems to be simpler than this, to me

Maybe, also, some repair shop could help you. They usually deal with these kind of things and maybe they have something smarter to identify them. May be worth a try.

[parkerc]

@therealdb said in Discover IR codes for lost remote:

Are you sure you can’t open those devices and look at the electronics? It seems to be simpler than this, to me

These items are racked up so it;s not quite as easy as I’d like that option to be - but I am weighing up the hassle of doing that vs doing this

The benefit of making this code/process work is that a) i will have learnt something new - b) This could then be something g that helps others and c) it would give the Broadlink plug-in access to a huge ir bank of codes for people to use.

[parkerc]

Hi,

I’ve been working with the code that was shared (thanks so much), and have trimming it down a bit to work it through in sections, but - here’s my current issue - any ideas ?

(I) if I put the .csv file in the main search folder it does not return any errors, but it also does not print anything out.

/mnt/nas/vera/ircodes/7,7.csv

LuaTest 1.7

Lua file: /etc/cmh-ludl/luatest.lua

Results
No errors
Runtime: 51.4 ms
Code returned: nil

Print output
(none)

Code
   1    
   2       local lfs = require "lfs" 
   3       local dir = "mnt/nas/vera/ircodes/"   -- make this your path to the files 
   4       local split = "[^,]+,[^,]+,[^,]+,[^,]+,[^,]+"  -- (cmd_name,protocol,D,S,F) 
   5        
   6       local prontoCode = '' 
   7    
   8       for file in lfs.dir(dir) do 
   9           if file: match "%.csv$" then 
  10             for line in io.lines(dir .. filename) do 
  11               local cmd_name,protocol,D,S,F = list: match (split) 
  12               if 'power' == cmd_name then 
  13                 print ("$protocol $D $S $F",  protocol,D,S,F) 
  14               end 
  15             end 
  16          end 
  17      end

• When I run it again, I get this, should filename be local or specified ?

LuaTest 1.7

Lua file: /etc/cmh-ludl/luatest.lua

Results
Runtime error: Line 9: attempt to concatenate global 'filename' (a nil value)

Locals
[main]
lfs={ _VERSION="LuaFileSystem 1.6.2", symlinkattributes=function, lock_dir=function, dir=function, _DESCRIPTION="LuaFileSystem is a Lua library developed to complement the set of functions related to file systems offered by the standard Lua distribution", setmode=function, unlock=function, _COPYRIGHT="Copyright (C) 2003-2012 Kepler Project", currentdir=function, touch=function, mkdir=function, lock=function, link=function, attributes=function, chdir=function, rmdir=function }
dir="mnt/nas/vera/ircodes/"
split="[^,]+,[^,]+,[^,]+,[^,]+,[^,]+"
prontoCode=""

Print output
(none)

Code
   1       local lfs = require "lfs" 
   2       local dir = "mnt/nas/vera/ircodes/"   -- make this your path to the files 
   3       local split = "[^,]+,[^,]+,[^,]+,[^,]+,[^,]+"  -- (cmd_name,protocol,D,S,F) 
   4        
   5       local prontoCode = '' 
   6    
   7       for file in lfs.dir(dir) do 
   8           if file: match "%.csv$" then 
   9             for line in io.lines(dir .. filename) do 
  10               local cmd_name,protocol,D,S,F = list: match (split) 
  11               if 'POWER' == cmd_name then 
  12                 print ("$protocol $D $S $F",  protocol,D,S,F) 
  13               end 
  14             end 
  15          end 
  16      end

II) I know we are doing this in sections, but as there are many layers of manufacturer folders and device type sub folders, will the eventual end code systematically search for all *.csv files within all the levels below? E.g.

/mnt/nas/vera/ircodes/Samsung/TV/7,7.csv
/mnt/nas/vera/ircodes/Panasonic/TV/128,0.csv
/mnt/nas/vera/ircodes/Panasonic/TV/128,1.csv
/mnt/nas/vera/ircodes/Panasonic/TV/128,4.csv
/mnt/nas/vera/ircodes/Panasonic/TV/128,9.csv
/mnt/nas/vera/ircodes/Panasonic/DVD Player/128,0.csv /mnt/nas/vera/ircodes/Panasonic/DVD Player/160,0.csv /mnt/nas/vera/ircodes/Panasonic/DVD Player/160,16.csv
/mnt/nas/vera/ircodes/Panasonic/DVD Player/160,18.csv
/mnt/nas/vera/ircodes/Panasonic/DVD Player/160,28.csv
/mnt/nas/vera/ircodes/Panasonic/DVD Player/160,34.csv
/mnt/nas/vera/ircodes/Panasonic/DVD Player/160,4.csv
/mnt/nas/vera/ircodes/Panasonic/Unknown_EUR7617010/170,3csv

I found this online, is that the sort of thing we will need to factor i later on..

Alex  /  Jan 12, 2012

Lua function to traverse all files in a folder recursively

Here is a little function that uses Lua File System (lfs module) in order to traverse all the files in a folder and its sub folders (and their sub folders) recursively. DIR_SEP=”\” &#82…

If I remove the ‘filename’ variable call, and specify a file, it then does this.

LuaTest 1.7

Lua file: /etc/cmh-ludl/luatest.lua

Results
Runtime error: Line 10: attempt to index global 'list' (a nil value)

Locals
[main]
lfs={ _VERSION="LuaFileSystem 1.6.2", symlinkattributes=function, lock_dir=function, dir=function, _DESCRIPTION="LuaFileSystem is a Lua library developed to complement the set of functions related to file systems offered by the standard Lua distribution", setmode=function, unlock=function, _COPYRIGHT="Copyright (C) 2003-2012 Kepler Project", currentdir=function, touch=function, mkdir=function, lock=function, link=function, attributes=function, chdir=function, rmdir=function }
dir="mnt/nas/vera/ircodes/"
split="[^,]+,[^,]+,[^,]+,[^,]+,[^,]+"
prontoCode=""

Print output
(none)

Code
   1   local lfs = require "lfs" 
   2       local dir = "mnt/nas/vera/ircodes/"   -- make this your path to the files 
   3       local split = "[^,]+,[^,]+,[^,]+,[^,]+,[^,]+"  -- (cmd_name,protocol,D,S,F) 
   4        
   5       local prontoCode = '' 
   6    
   7       for file in lfs.dir(dir) do 
   8           if file: match "%.csv$" then 
   9             for line in io.lines(dir .. '7,7.csv') do 
  10               local cmd_name,protocol,D,S,F = list: match (split) 
  11               if 'POWER' == cmd_name then 
  12                 print ("$protocol $D $S $F",  protocol,D,S,F) 
  13               end 
  14             end 
  15          end 
  16      end

[a-lurker]

"list" should be "line"

And /mnt/nas/vera/ircodes/Panasonic/Unknown_EUR7617010/170,3csv files are expected to end in ".csv"

And "file" should probably be changed to "filename"

Refer: https://keplerproject.github.io/luafilesystem/manual.html

Also I see you changed "power" to "POWER", which is correct but it's safer to do this: 'POWER' == cmd_name:upper() to guarantee you get uppercase. You are also using commas in your filenames. While this is allowed in Linux, I'm not so sure it should be encouraged. If that's how they come, so be it.