Lirc_Serial
Many times when using the lirc_serial module, you have to use setserial to change the com port settings. Most kernels are compiled with serial support, which causes the lirc_serial module to fail when loading. This is because the kernel is using the Com ports IRQ and I/O.
To fix this run this command.
setserial /dev/ttyS0 uart none;
Note: on Ubuntu (and possibly other distros) you have to install the "setserial" package before running the above command.
You can add this line to your modprobe.conf or modprobe.d to prep the serial ports before the lirc_serial module loads.
# Lirc options lirc_serial irq=4 io=0x3f8 install lirc_serial /bin/setserial /dev/ttyS0 uart none ; /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install lirc_serial
Ubuntu & LIRC
Reference: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Install_Lirc_Edgy
sudo apt-get install lirc lirc-modules-source module-assistant
Durring the installation of the Lirc package you will be prompted for they type of receiver you are using.
At the end of this you will be asked What would you like to do about lirc-modules-source.conf.
Choose: "Install Package Maintainer's version"
Now edit hardware.conf
sudo vi /etc/lirc/hardware.conf
In hardware.conf shange this line:
LOAD_MODULES=false
to
LOAD_MODULES=true
also change this line:
MODULES=""
to
MODULES="lirc_serial"
The above line assumes you are using the lirc_serial module (Homebrew IR Receiver) change to suit your needs
The lirc modules will need to be rebuilt every time that you update your kernel.
Grab the necessary headers to build the kernel modules:
sudo m-a update,prepare
This will clean out any old lirc module builds:
sudo rm /usr/src/lirc*deb sudo m-a clean lirc
Build the kernel/install modules:
sudo m-a a-i lirc
Update the modules list:
sudo depmod -a
If using the lirc_serial module and you are using a stock kernel then you will need to use the setserial utility to free the port for lirc to use. Add this to your /etc/modprobe.conf (this file may not exist, if not then just create one).
alias char-major-61 lirc_serial options lirc_serial irq=4 io=0x3f8 install lirc_serial /bin/setserial /dev/ttyS0 uart none ;\ /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install lirc_serial
That should be it. Reboot or start the lirc daemon and you're good to go. In Ubuntu you can use update-rc.d to add the lirc daemon to the list of services and invoke-rc.d to start|stop|restart the service. See Ubuntu for more info.