Ubuntu Manpage: ir-ctl - a swiss-knife tool to handle raw IR and to set lirc options

Provided by: v4l-utils_1.18.0-2build1_amd64

NAME

       ir-ctl - a swiss-knife tool to handle raw IR and to set lirc options

SYNOPSIS

       ir-ctl [OPTION]...
       ir-ctl [OPTION]... --features
       ir-ctl [OPTION]... --send [file to send]
       ir-ctl [OPTION]... --scancode [protocol and scancode to send]
       ir-ctl [OPTION]... --keycode [keycode to send]
       ir-ctl [OPTION]... --receive [save to file]

DESCRIPTION

       ir-ctl  is a tool that allows one to list the features of a lirc device, set its options, receive raw IR,
       and send IR.

       IR can be sent as the keycode of a keymap, or using a scancode, or using raw IR.

       Note: You need to have read or write permissions on the /dev/lirc device for options to work.

OPTIONS

-d, --device=DEV
lirc device to control, /dev/lirc0 by default

-f, --features
List the features of the lirc device.

-r, --receive[=FILE]
Receive IR and print to standard output if no file is specified, else save to the filename.

-s, --send=FILE
Send IR in text file. It must be in the format described below. If this option is specified
multiple times, send all files in-order with a 125ms gap between them. The gap length can be
modified with --gap.

-S, --scancode=PROTOCOL:SCANCODE
Send the IR scancode in the protocol specified. The protocol must one of the protocols listed
below, followed by a colon and the scancode number. If this option is specified multiple times,
send all scancodes in-order with a 125ms gap between them. The gap length can be modified with
--gap.

-K, --keycode=KEYCODE
Send the KEYCODE from the keymap which must be specified with --keymap. If this option is
specified multiple times, send all keycodes in-order with a 125ms gap between them. The gap length
can be modified with --gap.

-k, --keymap=KEYMAP
The rc keymap file in toml format. The format is described in the rc_keymap(5) man page. This file
is used to select the KEYCODE from.

-1, --oneshot
When receiving, stop receiving after the first message, i.e. after a space or timeout of more than
19ms is received.

--mode2
When receiving, output IR in mode2 format. One line per space or pulse.

-w, --wideband
Use the wideband receiver if available on the hardware. This is also known as learning mode. The
measurements should be more precise and any carrier frequency should be accepted.

-n, --narrowband
Switches back to the normal, narrowband receiver if the wideband receiver was enabled.

-R, --carrier-range=RANGE
Set the accepted carrier range for the narrowband receiver. It should be specified in the form
30000-50000.

-m, --measure-carrier
If the hardware supports it, report what the carrier frequency is on receiving. You will get the
keyword carrier followed by the frequency. This might use the wideband receiver although this is
hardware specific.

-M, --no-measure-carrier
Disable reporting of the carrier frequency. This should make it possible to use the narrowband
receiver. This is the default.

-t, --timeout=TIMEOUT
Set the length of a space at which the receiver goes idle, specified in microseconds.

-c, --carrier=CARRIER
Sets the send carrier frequency.

-D, --duty-cycle=DUTY
Set the duty cycle for sending in percent if the hardware support it.

-e, --emitters=EMITTERS
Comma separated list of emitters to use for sending. The first emitter is number 1. Some devices
only support enabling one emitter (the winbond-cir driver).

-g, --gap=GAP
Set the gap between scancodes or the gap between files when multiple files are specified on the
command line. The default is 125000 microseconds.

-?, --help
Prints the help message

--usage
Give a short usage message

-v, --verbose
Verbose output; this prints the IR before sending.

-V, --version
print the v4l2-utils version

Format of file
When sending or receiving raw IR, two formats can be used. The first is a list of integers representing
pulse and space values. A pulse value can be prefixed with + and a space with -, but this is optional.
The rc-5 scancode 0x1e01 is encoded so:

+889 -889 +1778 -1778 +889 -889 +889 -889 +889 -889 +1778 -889 +889 -889 +889 -889 +889 -889 +889 -889
+889 -1778 +889

The other format mimics the mode2 tool. This produces one line per space or pulse. For receiving it can
selected by specifying --mode2. Here is the same message as above, now encoded in mode2:

carrier 36000
pulse 940
space 860
pulse 1790
space 1750
pulse 880
space 880
pulse 900
space 890
pulse 870
space 900
pulse 1750
space 900
pulse 890
space 910
pulse 840
space 920
pulse 870
space 920
pulse 840
space 920
pulse 870
space 1810
pulse 840

Note that in this format, the carrier can also be specified. This can only by done with a separate
--carrier=38000 command line option with the first format.

Rather than specifying just the raw IR, in this format you can also specify the scancode and protocol you
want to send. This will also automatically set the correct carrier. The above can be written as:

scancode rc5:0x1e01

If multiple scancodes are specified in a file, a gap is inserted between scancodes if there is no space
between them (see --gap). One file can only have one carrier frequency, so this might cause problems if
different protocols are specified in one file if they use different carrier frequencies.

Note that there are device-specific limits of how much IR can be sent at a time. This can be both the
length of the IR and the number of different lengths of space and pulse.

Supported Protocols
A scancode with protocol can be specified on the command line or in the pulse and space file. The
following protocols are supported: rc5, rc5x_20, rc5_sz, jvc, sony12, sony15, sony20, nec, necx, nec32,
sanyo, rc6_0, rc6_6a_20, rc6_6a_24, rc6_6a_32, rc6_mce, sharp, imon, rc_mm_12, rc_mm_24, rc_mm_32. If
the scancode starts with 0x it will be interpreted as a hexadecimal number, and if it starts with 0 it
will be interpreted as an octal number.

Wideband and narrowband receiver
Most IR receivers have a narrowband and wideband receiver. The narrowband receiver can receive over
longer distances (usually around 10 metres without interference) and is limited to certain carrier
frequencies.

The wideband receiver is for higher precision measurements and when the carrier frequency is unknown;
however it only works over very short distances (about 5 centimetres). This is also known as learning
mode.

For most drivers, enabling carrier reports using -m also enables the wideband receiver.

Global state
All the options which can be set for lirc devices are maintained until the device is powered down or a
new option is set.

EXIT STATUS

       On success, it returns 0. Otherwise, it will return the error code.

EXAMPLES

       To list all capabilities of /dev/lirc2:
            ir-ctl -f -d /dev/lirc2

       To show the IR of the first button press on a remote in learning mode:
            ir-ctl -r -m -w

       Note that ir-ctl -rmw would receive to a file called mw.

       To restore the normal (longer distance) receiver:
            ir-ctl -n -M

       To send the pulse and space file play on emitter 3:
            ir-ctl -e 3 --send=play

       To send the rc-5 hauppauge '1' scancode:
            ir-ctl -S rc5:0x1e01

       To send the rc-5 hauppauage '1' key from the hauppauge keymap:
            ir-ctl -k hauppauge.toml -K KEY_NUMERIC_1

BUGS

       Report bugs to Linux Media Mailing List <linux-media@vger.kernel.org>

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (c) 2016 by Sean Young.

       License GPLv2: GNU GPL version 2 <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
       This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.  There is NO WARRANTY, to  the  extent
       permitted by law.