Difference between revisions of "IrDA"

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== ThinkPad IrDA configuration ==
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| IrDA can be used to communicate using Infrared to other IrDA compliant devices, such as other Notebooks, PDAs and mobile phones.
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| [[Image:IrDA.jpg]]
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IrDA can be used to communicate using Infrared to other IrDA compliant devices, such as other Notebooks, PDA's and mobile phones.
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Pre-2006 IBM ThinkPads have integrated IrDA that can be used in one of two modes, SIR or FIR.
 
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*SIR is limited to serial datarates up to 115.2Kb/s
All IBM ThinkPads manufactured in the last years have integrated IrDA that can be used in one of two modes, SIR or FIR.
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*FIR is the preferred mode of IrDA operation and operates at a bandwidth of 4 Mbps
 
Some very old ThinkPads only support SIR mode, or might not have IrDA support at all.
 
Some very old ThinkPads only support SIR mode, or might not have IrDA support at all.
  
The purpose of this document is to get the IrDA hardware in your ThinkPad operational, setting up communication to other devices is not covered. However, the external links section can prove useful for this.
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A newer VFIR standard exists, which supports speeds upto 16Mbps. However for the moment no ThinkPads support this.
 
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==Linux support==
=== Serial IR (SIR) ===
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See [[How to make use of IrDA]].
SIR is limited to serial datarates up to 115.2Kb/s
 
 
 
==== Linux 2.4 kernel config ====
 
Edit /etc/modules.conf and add the following lines
 
  alias tty-ldisc-11 irtty
 
  alias char-major-161 ircomm-tty
 
 
 
=== Fast IR (FIR) ===
 
FIR is the preferred mode of IrDA operation and operates at a bandwidth of 4 Mbps
 
 
 
Main problem here is that the chips FIR mode needs to be activated. On A, G, R, T and X model ThinkPads, the easiest way to activate FIR mode is by entering BIOS setup during boot-up by pressing F1 when prompted.
 
Then, selecting 'Config' followed by 'Infrared' will allow you to control the IrDA operation. Here you will need to select the option to Enable the infra-red port. Be sure to save the changes, and then Exit.
 
 
 
Note: Changing these BIOS settings do not affect Windows 2000 or XP operating systems, but may cause memory resource issues in older windows versions, or other legacy operating systems.
 
 
 
If changing the BIOS setting is not an option or if the settings cannot be altered, as on some older ThinkPads, the FIR mode can be activated by running Linux OS with one of the following:
 
 
 
* setpnp as part of the old pcmcia-utils source package
 
* tpctl, but only for some old ThinkPads
 
 
 
If the FIR mode is not activated, attempts to load the nsc-ircc module will result in an error in syslog of "Wrong chip version ff".
 
 
 
=== Very Fast IR (VFIR) ===
 
 
 
Some Thinkpads come with an even faster version of IrDA (VFIR) that operates at 16 Mbps.  This may cause some incompatibilities with devices that expect to be able to communicate in FIR mode. You can check your speed by doing the following:
 
 
 
cat /proc/sys/net/irda/max_baud_rate
 
 
 
Additionally, you can revert to regular FIR by doing the following:
 
 
 
echo 4000000 > /proc/sys/net/irda/max_baud_rate
 
 
 
Similarly, you can also set IrDA operation at the conventional serial IR port bandwidth (SIR):
 
 
 
echo 115200 > /proc/sys/net/irda/max_baud_rate
 
 
 
==== Linux 2.4 kernel config ====
 
Edit /etc/modules.conf and add the following lines
 
 
 
      alias irda0 nsc-ircc
 
      options nsc-ircc dongle_id=0x09 io=0x2f8 irq=3
 
      pre-install nsc-ircc setserial /dev/ttyS1 uart none port 0 irq 0
 
 
 
==== Linux 2.6 kernel config ====
 
Edit /etc/modprobe.conf and add the following lines
 
 
 
      alias irda0 nsc-ircc
 
      options nsc-ircc dongle_id=0x09 io=0x2f8 irq=3
 
      install nsc-ircc /bin/setserial /dev/ttyS1 uart none port 0 irq 0; /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install nsc-ircc
 
 
 
If you have a Thinkpad R51-1830WCZ infrared might not work though. You need a pnp
 
version of the nsc-ircc driver. There exists a patch for the standard nsc-ircc driver
 
from Jean Tourrilhes. It enables the device and probes it afterwards. You still have to
 
call setserial and set the dongle_id parameter manually.
 
With this driver it "works for me" (only SIR tested) but the driver needs to
 
be reloaded after a suspend to S3 state.
 
 
 
Get the patch here: [http://steffenpingel.de/patches/nsc-ircc-pnp.diff link nsc-ircc-pnp.diff] it applied cleanly against 2.6.10. An updated version for 2.6.12-rc6 can be found here: [http://shamrock.dyndns.org/~ln/linux/nsc-ircc-pnp.2.6.12-rc6.diff nsc-ircc-pnp.2.6.12-rc6.diff]
 
 
 
=== Some other things you might want to do with IrDA ===
 
 
 
# add fast PPP support:
 
modprobe irnet
 
 
 
# if needed, limit further the size of the transmit window
 
echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/irda/max_tx_window
 
 
 
== External links ==
 
[http://irda.sourceforge.net/ Linux-IrDA Project] (External)
 
 
 
[http://pcmcia-cs.sourceforge.net/ Linux PCMCIA Project] (External)
 
  
[http://tpctl.sourceforge.net/ tpctl homepage] (External)
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== External Sources ==
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*[http://irda.sourceforge.net/ Linux-IrDA Project] (External)
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*[http://pcmcia-cs.sourceforge.net/ Linux PCMCIA Project] (External)
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*[http://tpctl.sourceforge.net/ tpctl homepage] (External)
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*[http://www.lirc.org/ Linux Infrared Remote Control] (External)
  
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== ThinkPad Models featuring this Technology ==
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'''IrDA 1.0 (SIR - 115Kbps)'''
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* {{365C}}, {{365CD}}, {{365CS}}, {{365CSD}}, {{365E}}, {{365ED}}, {{365X}}, {{365XD}}
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* {{535}}, {{535E}}
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* {{560}}
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* {{755CD}}, {{755CDV}}, {{755CE}}, {{755CSE}}, {{755CV}}, {{755CX}}
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* {{760C}}, {{760CD}}, {{760E}}, {{760ED}}, {{760EL}}, {{760ELD}}, {{760L}}, {{760LD}}, {{760XD}}, {{760XL}}
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* {{765D}}, {{765L}}
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* {{PC110}}
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'''IrDA 1.1 (FIR - 4Mbps)'''
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* {{240}}, {{240X}}
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* {{380}}, {{380D}}, {{380E}}, {{380ED}}, {{380XD}}, {{380Z}}
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* {{385D}}, {{385ED}}, {{385XD}}
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* {{390}}, {{390E}}, {{390X}}
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* {{535X}}
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* {{560E}}, {{560X}}, {{560Z}}
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* {{570}}, {{570E}}
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* {{600}}, {{600E}}, {{600X}}
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* {{770}}, {{770E}}, {{770ED}}, {{770X}}, {{770Z}}
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* {{A Series}}
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* {{i1720}}, {{i1721}}
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* {{R30}}, {{R31}}, {{R32}}, {{R40}}, {{R50}}, {{R50p}}, {{R51}}, {{R52}}
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* {{T20}}, {{T21}}, {{T22}}, {{T23}}, {{T30}}, {{T40}}, {{T40p}}, {{T41}}, {{T41p}}, {{T42}}, {{T42p}}, {{T43}}, {{T43p}}, {{T60}}, {{T60p}}
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* {{X22}}, {{X23}}, {{X24}}, {{X30}}, {{X31}}, {{X32}}, {{X40}}, {{X41}}, {{X41T}}, {{X60}}, {{X60s}}
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* {{Z60m}}, {{Z60t}}, {{Z61m}}
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* {{TransNote}}
  
[[Category:Drivers]] [[Category:600]] [[Category:600D]] [[Category:600E]] [[Category:770D]] [[Category:770ED]] [[Category:770X]] [[Category:770Z]] [[Category:A20m]] [[Category:A20p]] [[Category:A21e]] [[Category:A21m]] [[Category:A21p]] [[Category:A22e]] [[Category:A22m]] [[Category:A22p]] [[Category:A30]] [[Category:A30p]] [[Category:A31]] [[Category:A31p]] [[Category:G40]] [[Category:G41]] [[Category:R30]] [[Category:R31]] [[Category:R32]] [[Category:R40]] [[Category:R40e]] [[Category:R50]] [[Category:R50e]] [[Category:R50p]] [[Category:R51]] [[Category:R52]] [[Category:T20]] [[Category:T21]] [[Category:T22]] [[Category:T23]] [[Category:T30]] [[Category:T40]] [[Category:T40p]] [[Category:T41]] [[Category:T41p]] [[Category:T42]] [[Category:T42p]] [[Category:T43]] [[Category:T43p]] [[Category:X20]] [[Category:X21]] [[Category:X22]] [[Category:X23]] [[Category:X24]] [[Category:X30]] [[Category:X31]] [[Category:X32]] [[Category:X40]] [[Category:X41]]
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[[Category:Components]] [[Category:Glossary]]

Revision as of 14:46, 2 September 2013

IrDA can be used to communicate using Infrared to other IrDA compliant devices, such as other Notebooks, PDAs and mobile phones.   IrDA.jpg

Pre-2006 IBM ThinkPads have integrated IrDA that can be used in one of two modes, SIR or FIR.

  • SIR is limited to serial datarates up to 115.2Kb/s
  • FIR is the preferred mode of IrDA operation and operates at a bandwidth of 4 Mbps

Some very old ThinkPads only support SIR mode, or might not have IrDA support at all.

A newer VFIR standard exists, which supports speeds upto 16Mbps. However for the moment no ThinkPads support this.

Linux support

See How to make use of IrDA.

External Sources

ThinkPad Models featuring this Technology

IrDA 1.0 (SIR - 115Kbps)

IrDA 1.1 (FIR - 4Mbps)