Hacking a remote to a G4 Mac Mini
Although this was originally done to satisfy a remote on a Mac Mini G4 , it works under Linux and PC hardware or a Mac with no IR receiver built in. It will actually give you an Apple IR hardware sensor on any system with a USB port.
Also there is now a new post that explains how to get software support for XBMC and possibly Plex from this under linux with long key press support WITHOUT using Lirc!
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If you have an older Mac Mini or any OSX based Mac without remote such as G5, and want a quick and cheap remote control…..
Here is what I did on a Mac G4 with no IR …
I bought an IR receiver for a Macbook Pro on ebay , connected it to a USB connector by matching up the colors on the wires with standard USB color coding (changing only yellow for white). See.. USB pin-out .
I believe what I bought on Ebay was for a Mac Book Pro and from what I have seen, you want to make sure it is from a MacBook PRO and not just a MacBook. If you buy one with the cable attached it will help you to identify the pin out of the IR receiver, and make it easier to solder as the board contacts are tiny.
It works great on XBMC on a G4 Mac Mini but I have never got it to work in Frontrow , using native Apple Drivers in OSX 10.4 or 10.5. I suspect Frontrow for PowerPC is not IR enabled.
Apple IR Sensor from MacBook Pro
Apple IR Sensor solder side
April 16th, 2012 at 4:30 pm
Do you have any pictures of the finished product? I would like to use it on a Raspberry Pi do you know if that is even possible?
April 16th, 2012 at 4:42 pm
The end result is unimpressive just a USB cable connected to the existing IR board wires. I attempted to place this in a couple of different housings but the board itself is so tiny I almost want to just glue it on the front of the monitor, or put it inside the G4 Mac Mini. I will try to take some and post here.
Do you have your Raspberry Pi? I am on the list and never got contacted. Is it vaporware?
As for use on the Raspberry Pi I think this IR will work with LIRC. There is also a driver package called ATVClient for Infrared on Apple TV on Linux but after directly corresponding with the developer he has no plans to extend it to other Apple IR which seems very odd since it installs and works without issue on ATV with no configuration. LIRC on the other hand has never worked out for me but I suppose it may be easier now then when I last tried.
It is definitely a compact solution for the Raspberry PI . I have seen other IR receivers that are the size of the Pi.
April 16th, 2012 at 7:45 pm
I haven’t received my RasPi yet! But they are shipping right now. I also enlisted earlier and didn’t hear from them so I registered again and this time with succes. I have already (pre)ordered mine.
I want to use it as a media center near my TV and don’t want to use keyboard and mouse. So I’m looking for a neat solution. I also find the big, fat, large one’s. I also looked for the FLIRC and that is the second option I want to try. And with a neat solution I mean: nice, small and easy to use. I already have a lot of Apple products and like their way of making things work with as little extra’s as possible. So I’m looking for a IR receiver that works with an Apple remote and is as small as possible. There is also, indeed, the option of gluing it under my tv and the RasPi on the back.
But for that to work I need to look for something like this: Apple Macbook Pro 17″ A1261 BOTTOM Lower Case sleep LED ir 820-2309-A?
Thanks for your help and reply!
April 23rd, 2012 at 6:07 pm
I added photos for anyone wanting to see it. It is nothing special just the wires from a cut off USB cable soldered to the wires from the IR board
July 16th, 2012 at 10:25 pm
I have come to discover that after updating the Eye TV app on the mac Mini G4 that the volume and other features of the remote suddenly work.
I first noticed this however after creating a new user and I think that the problem has more to do with XBMC taking over the remote than anything else.
December 31st, 2012 at 2:29 am
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