Arch Linux

satcom886

Member

Registered: 2019-04-27

Posts: 7

How to get infrared USB dongles to work?

So I tried 2 different dongles, but none seem to work... As I understand it, after plugging in the dongle a device /dev/irda0 should appear. Nothing like that ever happens. I tried looking for the correct kernel modules, but I didn't have much luck.

These are the dongles I have (from lsusb):

ID 9710:7780 MosChip Semiconductor MCS7780 4Mbps Fast IrDA Adapter
ID 066f:4200 SigmaTel, Inc. STIr4200 IrDA Bridge

I tried loading these kernel modules:
stir4200
mcs7780
ircomm-tty
irtty-sir
irnet

All of them return

modprobe: FATAL: Module stir4200/mcs7780/irnet/ircomm-tty/irtty-sir not found in directory /lib/modules/5.0.9-arch1-1-ARCH

I also installed irda-utils and tried starting irda.service. This fails (probably because the modules it tries to load do not exist):

irda.service - IrDA Support
   Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/irda.service; disabled; vendor preset: disabled)
   Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Sat 2019-04-27 20:31:09 CEST; 2min 8s ago
  Process: 17850 ExecStartPre=/sbin/modprobe -qab ircomm-tty irtty-sir irnet (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)

Apr 27 20:31:09 Sodium systemd[1]: /usr/lib/systemd/system/irda.service:6: PIDFile= references a path below legacy directory /var/run/, updating /var/run/irattach.pid → /run/irattach.pid; please update the unit file accordingly.
Apr 27 20:31:09 Sodium systemd[1]: Starting IrDA Support...
Apr 27 20:31:09 Sodium systemd[1]: irda.service: Control process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
Apr 27 20:31:09 Sodium systemd[1]: irda.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Apr 27 20:31:09 Sodium systemd[1]: Failed to start IrDA Support.

seth

Member

From: Won't reply 2 private help req

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 78,517

Re: How to get infrared USB dongles to work?

https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=212991

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satcom886

Member

Registered: 2019-04-27

Posts: 7

Re: How to get infrared USB dongles to work?

Thanks for the quick reply! I have tried running sudo irattach irda0 -s before. It had no effect. Still no device called irda0.

seth

Member

From: Won't reply 2 private help req

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 78,517

Re: How to get infrared USB dongles to work?

What's the output trailing on dmesg when attaching the device? (run "dmesg -w" to follow it, makes it easier to spot the relevant bits)

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satcom886

Member

Registered: 2019-04-27

Posts: 7

Re: How to get infrared USB dongles to work?

[ 9675.331830] usb 1-14: new full-speed USB device number 36 using xhci_hcd
[ 9675.565051] usb 1-14: New USB device found, idVendor=9710, idProduct=7780, bcdDevice= 0.01
[ 9675.565055] usb 1-14: New USB device strings: Mfr=0, Product=0, SerialNumber=0

satcom886

Member

Registered: 2019-04-27

Posts: 7

Re: How to get infrared USB dongles to work?

The second one looks a little more alive...

[ 9745.498482] usb 1-11: new full-speed USB device number 37 using xhci_hcd
[ 9745.735395] usb 1-11: New USB device found, idVendor=066f, idProduct=4200, bcdDevice= 0.08
[ 9745.735399] usb 1-11: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
[ 9745.735402] usb 1-11: Product:  IrDA/USB Bridge
[ 9745.735404] usb 1-11: Manufacturer:  Sigmatel Inc

seth

Member

From: Won't reply 2 private help req

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 78,517

Re: How to get infrared USB dongles to work?

Whoops, irda and relevant drivers were dropped w/ linux 4.17 - I don't even have a remote idea whether and how this is supposed to be working atm…

Edit: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/ke … d599872a36

No one has publicly stepped up to maintain this broken codebase for
devices that no one uses anymore, so let's just drop the whole thing.

If someone really wants/needs it, we can revert this and they can fix
the code up to work properly.

Last edited by seth (2019-04-27 20:29:27)

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satcom886

Member

Registered: 2019-04-27

Posts: 7

Re: How to get infrared USB dongles to work?

That explains a lot... I hope we get irda (or alternative) drivers soon. Thanks for the help!

duaner

Member

From: Oklahoma City

Registered: 2018-10-13

Posts: 40

Website

Re: How to get infrared USB dongles to work?

You might try a Future Technology device. I bought mine years ago, and it still works fine on the stock kernel with the FTDI driver.

satcom886

Member

Registered: 2019-04-27

Posts: 7

Re: How to get infrared USB dongles to work?

Thanks but I am not buying another adapter.