HP IR Receiver Options

I have heard great things about the HP IR receivers in conjunction with XBMC. Their MCE receivers seem to be quality products with great compatibility. The XBMC Live build should recognize the receiver once you plug it in to your HTPC.

Now, the confusing part for many people is probably the multiple HP IR Receivers available. There are at least a handful of different HP IR receivers (with unique product/model numbers).

According to the resident hardware guru, the legendary poofyhairguy, the OVU400103/00 (p/n 5188-1667) is the best option available. This can be had for around $15-$20 from eBay (more eBay options)

The other options available include:

• OVU422000/06 (p/n 5070-2584)
  

Now, I am curious to hear if anyone is using these alternative options/has had experience with them. How do they stack up compared to the recommended OVU400103?! Any other recommendations?


Thanks for your input! I hope this thread will be useful for others looking for an IR receiver.

I bought the OVU400103/00 listed here http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...OU:US:1123

I wasn't out of the box supported by the current version of lirc, but I found a thread on here about how to add it to the lirc library of devices. It involved typing "lsusb" into the command line, writing down some numbers, an apt-get of the lirc sources, adding a line to a file, then recompiling and installing. I had some missing dependencies for building, so I had to install those also.

All in all, once I found the right thread it took about 30 minutes to get it up and working. It works beautifully. You could easily be hand-held through the process if you're even a total n00b, but it isn't totally plug and play.

Edit: So, the basic gist of it is that if you're not scared of typing a couple of commands into a terminal and editing a file, then pretty much any hp IR receiver could be made to work pretty quickly.

No idea if the newer versions of lirc support these out of the box. I have 0.8.6 installed, I upgraded to 0.8.7 and it didn't appear to have support, but 0.9.0 is coming out soon and is supposedly a big overhaul, so maybe it has native support? I was going to install 0.9.0, but found the thread gave it a try and it was very easy, so I left it at that.

Edit2: Threads are here https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Instal...%20remotes
and here http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid...ight=lsusb

Oh wow! From my impression, XMBC Live Dharma supported that HP Receiver right out of the box. I thought it was plug-n-play and go

Anyhow, I am eying that receiver specifically due to compatibility with Harmony Remotes.

Does not seem too hard to add to LIRC, I just find it shocking since I thought XMBC Live supported it as plug-n-go!

bmcclure937 Wrote:Anyhow, I am eying that receiver specifically due to compatibility with Harmony Remotes.

Can someone explain to me why certain IR receivers would work better than others with a Harmony (or any other) remote?

kaiser423 Wrote:I bought the OVU400103/00 listed here http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...OU:US:1123

I wasn't out of the box supported by the current version of lirc, but I found a thread on here about how to add it to the lirc library of devices. It involved typing "lsusb" into the command line, writing down some numbers, an apt-get of the lirc sources, adding a line to a file, then recompiling and installing. I had some missing dependencies for building, so I had to install those also.

I think in the future I am gonna have to specifically say to avoid that vendor. This is the second time I have heard that they sold an IR receiver that wasn't what was expected and it took work to configure. Its like its a knock-off of the real thing or something.

I bought another receiver from this vendor:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...500wt_1156

And it was plug and play working with XBMC Dharma. Even got it working on regular Ubuntu with a few easy steps:

http://www.hackourlife.com/instal-xbmc-o...ucid-lynx/

No compiling needed. From now on I will say to avoid that one seller.

bswiz Wrote:Can someone explain to me why certain IR receivers would work better than others with a Harmony (or any other) remote?

Two things:

1. The HP receiver (if you get a real one jeez) supports the newest standards.

2. Its a higher quality receiver, which to me has less lag than other receivers I have messed with. The Harmony, for all its good things, is very picky.

Thanks for the clarification poofy!! Appreciate it

This seller looks reputable too! For things like this, I would avoid prices that seem unbelievable (probably knock-off) or any items shipping straight from Hong Kong! (also probably knock-off).

I bought a Hong Kong one the first time a year ago, and it took like a month to deliver so the last few have all been from Americans. Looks like because of my impatience I dodged a bullet.

If you don't want to use a Harmony Remote. My HP receiver works for *all* the remotes in my house. My Yamaha Stereo, my Samsung TV. (I use "DVD" on the Stereo and "STB" on the Samsung). So you really don't need more remotes.

They should also work with nearly any universal remote out of the box.
(I found an MX-800 at GoodWill for $2.99, just need to figure out how to program it).