Medion X10 remote and Linux

I've recently bought a remote for my PC. I thought it would be quite convenient to have one especially that it could be quite handy during watching DVDs.

I picked an inexpensive, radio operated, USB Medion X10 - around $10.

After plugging the USB dongle it turned out that the remote becomes a HID - dobling the keyboard. It was nice but not exactly what I needed. I want to have a remote control for my multimedia pplications - not to control the computer.

So here comes the magic word LIRC: Linux InfraRed Control.  It's a little bit misleading since the remote has nothing to do with InfraRed, but LIRC is actually an infrastructure which allows to control applications with remote controls. So I installed lirc:

apt-get install lirc

Upon configuration I selected ATI/NVidia/X10 RF Remote, and voila... the remote stopped working as a HID. Now I need to comeup with proper configurations for my multimedia applications. Here comes a complete config file /etc/lirc/lircrc I came up with:

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = xine
    button = DVD_Menu
    config = RootMenu
    repeat = 0
    delay = 0
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = xine
    button = Up
    config = EventUp
    repeat = 0
    delay = 0
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = xine
    button = Down
    config = EventDown
    repeat = 0
    delay = 0
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = xine
    button = Left
    config = EventLeft
    repeat = 0
    delay = 0
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = xine
    button = Right
    config = EventRight
    repeat = 0
    delay = 0
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = xine
    button = Vol_Up
    config = Volume+
    repeat = 1
    delay = 0
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = xine
    button = Vol_Down
    config = Volume-
    repeat = 1
    delay = 0
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = xine
    button = OK
    config = EventSelect
    repeat = 0
    delay = 0
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = xine
    button = Mute
    config = Mute
    repeat = 0
    delay = 0
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = xine
    button = Info
    config = OSDStreamInfos
    repeat = 0
    delay = 0
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = xine
    button = Rewind
    config = SeekRelative-15
    repeat = 1
    delay = 5
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = xine
    button = Play
    config = Play
    repeat = 0
    delay = 0
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = xine
    button = Forward
    config = SeekRelative+15
    repeat = 1
    delay = 5
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = xine
    button = Pause
    config = Pause
    repeat = 0
    delay = 0
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = xine
    button = Power
    config = Quit
    repeat = 0
    delay = 0
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = xine
    button = Stop
    config = Stop
    repeat = 0
    delay = 0
end

begin
    prog = Rhythmbox
    remote = *
    button = Play
    repeat = 1
    config = play
end

begin
    prog = Rhythmbox
    remote = *
    button = Pause
    repeat = 0
    config = pause
end

begin
    prog = Rhythmbox
    remote = *
    button = KEY_PLAYPAUSE
    repeat = 1
    config = playpause
end

begin
    prog = Rhythmbox
    remote = *
    button = Stop
    repeat = 1
    config = stop
end


begin
    prog = Rhythmbox
    remote = *
    button = Next
    repeat = 0
    config = next
end

begin
    prog = Rhythmbox
    remote = *
    button = Prev
    repeat = 0
    config = previous
end

begin
    prog = Rhythmbox
    remote = *
    button = Rewind
    repeat = 1
    delay = 5
    config = seek_backward
end

begin
    prog = Rhythmbox
    remote = *
    button = Vol_Up
    repeat = 5
    config = volume_up
end

begin
    prog = Rhythmbox
    remote = *
    button = Vol_Down
    repeat = 5
    config = volume_down
end

begin
    prog = Rhythmbox
    remote = *
    button = Power
    repeat = 1
    config = quit
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = totem
    button = DVD_Menu
    config = play_dvd
    repeat = 0
    delay = 0
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = totem
    button = Power
    config = quit
    repeat = 0
    delay = 0
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = totem
    button = Up
    config = up
    repeat = 0
    delay = 0
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = totem
    button = Down
    config = down
    repeat = 0
    delay = 0
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = totem
    button = Left
    config = left
    repeat = 0
    delay = 0
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = totem
    button = Right
    config = right
    repeat = 0
    delay = 0
end

begin
        prog = totem
        remote = Medion_MD8800
        button = OK
        repeat = 1
        config = select
end

begin
        prog = totem
        remote = Medion_MD8800
        button = DVD_Menu
        repeat = 0
        config = menu
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = totem
    button = Vol_Up
    config = volume_up
    repeat = 5
    delay = 0
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = totem
    button = Vol_Down
    config = volume_down
    repeat = 5
    delay = 0
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = totem
    button = Mute
    config = mute
    repeat = 0
    delay = 0
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = totem
    button = Back
    config = quit
    repeat = 0
    delay = 0
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = totem
    button = Info
    config = show_playing
    repeat = 0
    delay = 0
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = totem
    button = Rewind
    config = seek_backward
    repeat = 1
    delay = 5
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = totem
    button = Play
    config = play_pause
    repeat = 0
    delay = 0
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = totem
    button = Forward
    config = seek_forward
    repeat = 1
    delay = 5
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = totem
    button = Pause
    config = pause
    repeat = 0
    delay = 0
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = mplayer
    button = Power
    config = quit
    repeat = 0
    delay = 0
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = mplayer
    button = Up
    config = seek +60 0
    repeat = 0
    delay = 0
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = mplayer
    button = Down
    config = seek -60 0
    repeat = 0
    delay = 0
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = mplayer
    button = Left
    config = seek -6 0
    repeat = 0
    delay = 0
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = mplayer
    button = Right
    config = seek +6 0
    repeat = 0
    delay = 0
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = mplayer
    button = Vol_Up
    config = volume +1
    repeat = 0
    delay = 0
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = mplayer
    button = Vol_Down
    config = volume -1
    repeat = 0
    delay = 0
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = mplayer
    button = OK
    config = pause
    repeat = 0
    delay = 0
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = mplayer
    button = Mute
    config = mute
    repeat = 0
    delay = 0
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = mplayer
    button = Rewind
    config = seek -30 0
    repeat = 0
    delay = 0
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = mplayer
    button = Play
    config = pause
    repeat = 0
    delay = 0
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = mplayer
    button = Forward
    config = seek +30 0
    repeat = 0
    delay = 0
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = mplayer
    button = Pause
    config = pause
    repeat = 0
    delay = 0
end

begin
    remote = Medion_MD8800
    prog = mplayer
    button = Stop
    config = quit
    repeat = 0
    delay = 0
end

Mind that it enables remote control for xine, rythmbox, totem and mplayer (rythmobox, and totem must have the lirc support enabled to work, see Edit/Plugins). Enjoy.