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martinjh99 · 2014-12-09, 19:18

I am thinking of getting a FLIRC dongle for my Raspberry Pi powered Media Centre and I was wondering if anyone had any remote control recommendations to use with it...

Nothing special needed - just the standard remote would do fine...

rodalpho · (This post was last modified: 2014-12-09, 20:01 by rodalpho.)

The beauty of the Flirc is that ANY remote works. You probably have a remote from a 15 year old broken DVD player in a junk drawer. That will work great. So will your TV's remote.

martinjh99 · 2014-12-09, 20:33

(2014-12-09, 20:00)rodalpho Wrote: The beauty of the Flirc is that ANY remote works. You probably have a remote from a 15 year old broken DVD player in a junk drawer. That will work great. So will your TV's remote.

If I was going to use my TV one would I control the TV as well as the Pi at the same time?

Pity I can't use my PS3 one as that is Bluetooth.. but what I have read up on setting it up is that it is a bit more complicated...

charliebrown · 2014-12-09, 20:33

Xbox one media remote!

averylinden · (This post was last modified: 2014-12-09, 20:38 by averylinden.)

If you have a pretty modern TV with HDMI CEC you may not need an extra remote at all - just use your TV remote.

martinjh99 · 2014-12-09, 20:50

(2014-12-09, 20:37)averylinden Wrote: If you have a pretty modern TV with HDMI CEC you may not need an extra remote at all - just use your TV remote.

Nope no CEC I'm afraid - Not a smart tv... Just a plain LG HD TV...

Matt Devo · 2014-12-09, 21:09

(2014-12-09, 20:33)martinjh99 Wrote: If I was going to use my TV one would I control the TV as well as the Pi at the same time?

Pity I can't use my PS3 one as that is Bluetooth.. but what I have read up on setting it up is that it is a bit more complicated...

if you're running OpenELEC on your pi, then the PS3 remote should work out of the box, unless the pi's BT isn't supported for some reason

martinjh99 · (This post was last modified: 2014-12-09, 21:37 by martinjh99.)

(2014-12-09, 21:09)Matt Devo Wrote:
(2014-12-09, 20:33)martinjh99 Wrote: If I was going to use my TV one would I control the TV as well as the Pi at the same time?

Pity I can't use my PS3 one as that is Bluetooth.. but what I have read up on setting it up is that it is a bit more complicated...

if you're running OpenELEC on your pi, then the PS3 remote should work out of the box, unless the pi's BT isn't supported for some reason

Ah OK - Running RaspBMC at the moment - Might have to look into OpenElec... Would the PS3 control turn on the PS3 as well as controlling the Media Centre?

averylinden · 2014-12-10, 02:18

A little confused at the advice here because the Raspberry Pi doesn't have bluetooth. At least my model B does not. If you are not using CEC I second the FLIRC recommendation if you want a real remote and not one of the Kodi software remotes.

wrxtasy · 2014-12-10, 04:30

Basic cheap remote - get a cheap Bluetooth USB dongle for the RPi.

http://elinux.org/RPi_USB_Bluetooth_adapters

then get a cheap bluetooth Amazon Fire TV Stick replacement remote.
PS3 bluetooth remote would work as well so long as it is NOT paired with a PS3.

Intermediate: Flirc + any IR remote control you want to reprogram, one that will not control any other IR devices in your house. XBMC keyboard shortcut controls can be programmed to a remote with this setup.

Complex: Flirc + Harmony reprogrammable remote, a Harmony that learns others IR commands such as the Harmony One. The advantage of this is you can have Harmony learn volume control for your TV or Amplifier as well. This is much faster than the volume control on the XBMC / Kodi when running on the RPi.
Harder to setup, but far more flexible. It's what i currently use.

martinjh99 · 2014-12-10, 05:53

The PS3 remote I have is paired with my PS3 - Would that be a problem...?

Having said that I might go the FLIRC and remote way as it seems more flexible - Was thinking of getting the Xbox360 remote...

nickr · 2014-12-10, 06:55

(2014-12-10, 02:18)averylinden Wrote: A little confused at the advice here because the Raspberry Pi doesn't have bluetooth. At least my model B does not. If you are not using CEC I second the FLIRC recommendation if you want a real remote and not one of the Kodi software remotes.

Bluetooth dongles are, like, $3.00.

Meteor · 2014-12-10, 11:39

PS3 remote with openelec, works excellent, and no config needed. All buttons are configured once paired.

martinjh99 · (This post was last modified: 2014-12-10, 11:57 by martinjh99.)

(2014-12-10, 11:39)Meteor Wrote: PS3 remote with openelec, works excellent, and no config needed. All buttons are configured once paired.

Thats ok and I would love to use it but it is already paired with the PS3 and would that make any difference?

wrxtasy · (This post was last modified: 2014-12-10, 13:27 by wrxtasy.)

You would have to unpair the PS3 remote from the PS3 everytime you wanted to use it with Bluetooth on the RPi.
The remote cannot be paired to two devices at the same time.

Better to buy another Bluetooth PS3 remote if this is going to be an issue and then pair that second remote with the RPi.

- The beauty too of a remote control like the Harmony One, (especially if you do not have a TV with HDMI CEC control) - is you can setup macros. ie Turn the TV on and switch to the correct input that the RPi is connected to.

For info:
Those of us with HDMI CEC controlled TV's, we just have to hit any button on the remote to bring our RPi's out of screensaver mode and turn the TV on, with the correct input selected. When the screensaver is activated the RPi can turn the TV off as well. Excellent stuff this HDMI CEC.