Looking for small or low profile USB to IR adapters

[Rajahal]

Hi all.  I'm looking for small/low profile USB to IR adapters.  Here's a few I've found after a quick search:

 

Raygo R12-40895 IrDA Wireless Adapter

 

Mini PC USB To IrDA Infrared IR Wireless Dongle Adapter

 

The purpose of the device is to add IR receiving capabilities to a Zotac Zbox and configure a Logitech learning remote to control it.  I prefer these kind to the ones with long cables.  Anyone have success with anything like this?

[generalz]

If your looking for remote control stuff I recommend http://www.usbuirt.com/overview.htm if your using windows

 

IRDA is not going to do what you want, that is for data (serial) communication.

 

 

are you needing something for linux?

[Karmak]

If you are looking to use it with an HTPC, you might also look at Flirc.  I have used it with a Harmony on a Zotac ND-22 running Openelec.

 

It costs a little more than an inexpensive IrDA.  Also, the Harmony and Flirc overlap somewhat in purpose.  The Harmonys allow you to emulate many different remotes and chain commands together for commonly used tasks.  Flirc allow you to use many different remotes, including the Harmony, to control your media center software by translating them into keyboard signals as if you pressed a key on a keyboard.  Also, a portion of every sale go to cancer research.

 

The website is http://www.flirc.tv/.

[Rajahal]

Thanks for the recommendations!

 

generalz: This is for Linux.  OpenElec is a version of XBMC Live (which is already tied to a Linux install) tailored to particular hardware configurations, such as the Zotac Zbox's Atom CPU and ION GPU.  While the usbuirt will likely work for my purposes, I'm hoping to find something that looks more attractive and doesn't have a long USB cable.

 

Karmak: Flirc looks great!  I might have to give that a try.  Unfortunately I think it will look a bit ugly sticking out of the front of a Zbox.  Are you able to use yours if you connect it to the rear of the Zbox?  Not sure if the signal will be obscured or not...  Still, this is the best one I've found so far, so thanks again!

 

If I do end up having to use one with a long USB cable, then I'll probably just buy a cheap MCE remote (like this), throw out the remote (or keep it as a backup), and use the IR adapter.

[NAS]

Rajahal a word of warning.

 

Just cause something says its an MCE does not mean its a MCE. 50% are rubbish clones and another 25% are fake MCEs that pretend to be mouse + KB.

 

OS like OpenELEC try to handle this but nothing beats a true MCE..... Except with a MCE IR receiver you can use a XBOX 360 remote with OpenELEC. Very slick

[adammerkley]

I do end up having to use one with a long USB cable, then I'll probably just buy a cheap MCE remote (like this), throw out the remote (or keep it as a backup), and use the IR adapter.

 

That's exactly what I did.  Works great connected to the rear of my Zotac, with the receiver sitting neatly net to my AppleTV.

[ccruzen]

If I do end up having to use one with a long USB cable, then I'll probably just buy a cheap MCE remote (like this), throw out the remote (or keep it as a backup), and use the IR adapter.

 

If you do end up going that route, I'd recommend the HP IR receivers.  They're really cheap and work perfectly out of the box.  I've got three of them, and have had 0 problems.  Use them with my Harmony remotes and under OpenELEC, Windows 7, and XBMC Live.  Got mine from Ebay, here's an example of one.  Just a suggestion but after having problems with a couple other receivers I tried, these have been great.

 

Edit:  Not to mention the cord is really long so they can be placed pretty much wherever you want.  I've got one velcroed (sp?) to the underside of my entertainment center a few feet from my Revo.  You can't even tell it's there unless you notice the light when it receives a signal.

[Karmak]

 

Karmak: Flirc looks great!  I might have to give that a try.  Unfortunately I think it will look a bit ugly sticking out of the front of a Zbox.  Are you able to use yours if you connect it to the rear of the Zbox?  Not sure if the signal will be obscured or not...  Still, this is the best one I've found so far, so thanks again!

 

If I do end up having to use one with a long USB cable, then I'll probably just buy a cheap MCE remote (like this), throw out the remote (or keep it as a backup), and use the IR adapter.

 

My Zotac is hidden behind the TV with a USB extension (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812119004) bringing the Flirc to the front.  The Flirc is attached to the TV with a little double sided tape and fairly undetectable.  While the IrDA sensor is a wide angle sensor and I have used it at 90 degree angle in a laptop, I would think that unless you had something fairly reflective behind the Zotac it would be sub-optimal.

[Rajahal]

Thanks for the tips everyone.  I ordered a Flirc a few days ago, and I'm going to start playing with it today and later this weekend.  I do have plenty of USB extension cables if it comes to that.

 

Since the Zbox is clearly intended to be used as an HTPC, it is somewhat surprising that they don't include a built-in IR receiver!  A few dollars more in manufacture, and the result would be much cleaner.  Ah well!

[daldridge]

I took apart my HP MCE USB IR adaptor and shoved it inside of my XBMC box.  There was some soldering required, but I'm happy with the results.  I ended up building a header and attached it directly to the motherboard.  I've attached a picture, the white speck on the left is the "eye" of the receiver.  It works great.

[gfjardim]

Keep in mind that some receivers doesn't wake the HTPC from S3 sleep state, so it's a deal breaker for me. The HP MCE receiver work out of the box for me.

[Rajahal]

The FLIRC just converts IR signals to keyboard presses, so any motherboard/HTPC that is able to wake from a USB event should work with FLIRC.  That said, I'm still experimenting, it wasn't exactly a 'worked right out of the box' experience for me.  I've had no problems programming standard remotes with FLIRC, but I've had far less luck with the Logitech Harmony Remote.

[Karmak]

Hey Rajahal.  What kind of problems are you having with the FLIRC and Harmony?  Have you seen this thread on the FLIRC forums?

 

http://forum.flirc.tv/index.php?/topic/54-how-to-prepare-your-harmony-remote-before-mapping-it-with-flirc/

 

There is a PDF attachment that shows how to configure the Harmony/FLIRC/XBMC(OpenElec) combo.

 

There is also a new FLIRC Utilities program that might be helpful to FLIRC users with access to a Windows computer.  One of it's features allows you to easily see what keystroke is bound to each button on the Harmony.  If you are using it on an OpenElec HTPC, then you could just install the utility on a Windows computer and plug the FLIRC into it for troubleshooting. 

 

http://forum.flirc.tv/index.php?/topic/107-introducing-flirc-utilities/