Display & IR control device plug-in Download

Description:

This is a special plug-in to support a custom hardware designed specially to control MediaPortal with RC5 compatible remote control, to display various informations in MediaPortal on external lcd display, and power on computer with rc5 compatible remote control.

The archive contains all informations needed to create the hardware part and setup a software to control it (firmware is also included)

The main features of this hardware/software solution are:

- Computer can be powered on/controlled with any rc5 compatible
remote control.
- Various information like current time, alarm if any, can be displayed on
external lcd display even when the computer is powered off.
- Various information from the MediaPortal can be displayed on the
external display, when the MediaPortal is running.
- Informations which can be displayed on the external lcd display are fully
customizable. All custom texts, dates or special informations like
playback duration, song artist etc. can be displayed as static texts or as
scrolling text lines.
- The lcd display brightness depends on the the current
daytime and can be customized.
- Each button of the remote control can be mapped to one or to many
conditional actions in MediaPortal. This functionality is similar to the
existing one in the remote plugins of the MediaPortal.
- The display used is very cheap (around 10 euro), and the text color can
be customized by selecting of an appropriate led and display type.
- The display used has very high contrast, so that all texts can be clearly
seen from even more than 5 meters distance.
- The display has small size, so it can be mounted anywhere even inside
of any 5,25'' drive bay.
- The hardware communicate with computer via simple serial port.
- The hardware is powered by PS/2 mouse or keyboard port.
- The computer can be powered on by the hardware by using the
power on switch of the mainboard.

Attention: i will not get any resposibility for a possible damages of any computer hardware if you will use such device. From my side i can say that this device is successfully working right now in my media center.

19.04.2008 Version 0.2
Fixes:
 + Internal logic has been corrected to remove power down/power up delays. The plugin has become more stable.
 + The ir & display configurations have been slightly changed to display more interesting TV server states.
 New:
 + Added first time remote control buttons setup for the offline mode (select power button, control brightness, display time/date etc.)
 + Added logging
 + Added powerdown change mode delay to prevent the computer from being powered up by the hardware if the power down is not yet finished.
 + Added reconnect into the internal communication with the hardware device in case if something goes wrong in the communication, for example:
   missed answers for internal commands, due to the high cpu usage.    
 + There where several tooltips added to make better the understanding of the plugin controls.
 + Added link to the support thread.
 Known issues:
 + The powerup by alarm is not yet implemented in the plugin (currently only in the firmware)
   due to the lack of the information about MediaPortal recordings. 
Small changes:
+ Welcome text is slightly changed to show the MediaPortal name.

30.03.2008 Version 0.1
Fixes:
- Gui & Power ON issues fixed
- Addition key mappings in configuration
- TV informations to display added
- Plugin file version reset to 0.1
- lcd display hardware description removed to reduce archive size

Any questions or change requests are welcome in the support thread.

Support thread is here:  http://forum.team-mediaportal.com/plugins-47/newplugin-dir-display-ir-control-device-37388/

Submitted On:

20 Apr 2008

Submitted By:

BadMojoX (BadMojoX)

File Date:

19 Apr 2008

File Author:

BadMojoX

File Version:

0.2

File Size:

358.04 Kb

File Type:

rar

Downloads:

1841

Rating:

Total Votes:1

Comments:

from Sergey K - Its work!!! A made hardware on PIC16F877A and big 20x2 LCD display!