Step by step guide for the IR-receiver setup

To get in the mood you can find here all, concerning the right choice of the remote control. The complete printed manual is delivered together with the IR-receiver.

Content:

1. Choose your Remote Control
2. Which PC fits?
3. Installation of WinLIRC
4. Configuration of WinLIRC
5. General notes for Clients
6. Installation of IRAssistant
7. Configuration of IRAssistant
8. Troubleshooting

Notes: These instructions refer to the Windows Operating System.

Links to downloads are underlined. References to passages in this document are italic underlined.

1. Choose your Remote Control

It's worth to think about it - it's the base of most steps following and your content with the results. Often it's fine to use an available Remote Control (RC) instead of buying a new one.

These checks should help to find out:

• Are apart from the PC any else gadgets operated by the RC?

• If so: Are these appliances also near and easy to use if needed?

Many RCs don't react on button pushes of their original appliance if it's switched off: so you could use all buttons but the on-switch. A second approach is to place the sensor far enough from these appliances so you can choose by pointing aimed. Even if this is hard to reach you can point away from the appliances: The sensitivity of the sensor is usually distinctly higher.

• Has the RC enough Buttons for the intended needs?

It's useful to have a clear idea what programs and functions you want to control with the RC. If you intend to use a Universal Remote Control (URC) it's a good start to check if actually all Buttons work. To do so look at: Determine available buttons (bottom page 2) and Assigning the RC buttons to the applications (bottom page 3).

It also may help to take a look at the available Client configuration files - of course most, if it is for the intended program to be controlled.

If you decide to buy a new RC it will be a (preprogrammed) URC. Above checks are suitable for that case too. Some VCR remotes are able to operate further appliances and could be suitable for our purpose. When the RC is chosen it's time to prove it's fitness. Though most RCs work perfect a few some do not. URCs are due to their flexibility always suitable.  back to top

2. Which PC fits?

Some of us may posses a PC a bit out of date. Then you might consider to use it for the sole purpose of a (MP3) Music-box and archive. More about it on the website: "Which PC is suitable" .

The succeeding passages of the detailed instructions with many further hints comes with the shipment of the IR-receiver.