CardputerZero IR Remote

IR remote capture and replay app for M5Stack CardputerZero.

Features

• Capture raw IR signals from the CardputerZero receiver
• Confirm, rename, or discard a captured signal before saving
• Browse and delete saved .ir signal files
• Inspect saved signals with waveform, timing metadata, and protocol decoding
• Replay saved signals through the CardputerZero transmitter
• Use generated dummy signals in SDL desktop builds for UI testing

Dependencies

Run the bootstrap script once after cloning this repository:

./bootstrap.sh

It creates .venv/, installs the Python build tools, fetches dependencies from repos.json, and keeps all third-party source under dependencies/.

System packages and runtime pieces expected by the app:

• CMake and a C/C++ compiler
• SDL2 development files for IR_REMOTE_USE_SDL=ON
• Linux LIRC UAPI headers for device builds (linux/lirc.h, usually from linux-libc-dev)
• Working rc-core/LIRC device nodes for capture and replay, such as /dev/lirc0 and /dev/lirc1
• python3-venv so bootstrap.sh can create .venv/
• aarch64-linux-gnu-gcc/g++ for cross-building the CardputerZero package

The device implementation uses the Linux kernel LIRC character-device API directly with read, write, and ioctl; it does not link against the liblirc userspace client library.

On macOS, install the desktop build tools with Homebrew:

brew install cmake pkg-config sdl2

macOS supports the SDL desktop build only. Device framebuffer, LIRC hardware access, and Debian packaging are Linux/CardputerZero targets.

Project dependencies pulled from repos.json:

• lvgl
• spdlog
• smooth_ui_toolkit

Image asset conversion runs during build and uses LVGL's Python converter. If the converter dependencies are missing, install them in your Python environment:

./.venv/bin/python -m pip install pypng lz4 Pillow

Font conversion is not part of the normal build. If fonts are regenerated with src/assets/convert_fonts.py, install lv_font_conv separately and keep it available in PATH.

Build

For Linux SDL testing:

cmake -S . -B build/sdl -DIR_REMOTE_USE_SDL=ON
cmake --build build/sdl -j8

For macOS SDL testing:

cmake -S . -B build/macos-sdl -DIR_REMOTE_USE_SDL=ON
cmake --build build/macos-sdl -j8

For CardputerZero framebuffer/LIRC build:

cmake -S . -B build/cp0 -DIR_REMOTE_USE_SDL=OFF
cmake --build build/cp0 -j8

For cross build from x86 Linux with the GNU aarch64 toolchain:

cmake -S . -B build/cp0 \
  -DIR_REMOTE_USE_SDL=OFF \
  -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=cmake/aarch64-linux-gnu.cmake
cmake --build build/cp0 -j8

The output binary is dist/M5CardputerZero-IR-Remote.

Usage

Run the SDL build:

./dist/M5CardputerZero-IR-Remote

Use a custom recordings directory:

IR_REMOTE_RECORDINGS_DIR=./ir-recordings ./dist/M5CardputerZero-IR-Remote

Packaged CardputerZero launches use $HOME/.config/IR-Remote/signals by default.

Useful environment variables:

• IR_REMOTE_RECORDINGS_DIR: exact directory for saved .ir files
• IR_REMOTE_CONFIG_DIR: app config root; recordings default to $IR_REMOTE_CONFIG_DIR/signals
• IR_REMOTE_LIRC_RX_RC: restrict receiver discovery to one rc sysfs path
• IR_REMOTE_LIRC_TX_RC: restrict transmitter discovery to one rc sysfs path
• IR_REMOTE_LIRC_RX_DEVICE: require one explicit receiver device path
• IR_REMOTE_LIRC_TX_DEVICE: require one explicit transmitter device path
• IR_REMOTE_KEYBOARD_DEVICE: Linux input device for hardware key events
• IR_REMOTE_KEYBOARD_GRAB: set to 1 to grab the keyboard input device
• IR_REMOTE_SDL_ZOOM: SDL window scale for desktop testing

By default, the device build scans all rc-core/LIRC nodes and selects them by capability rather than node number:

receiver     LIRC_CAN_REC_MODE2
transmitter  LIRC_CAN_SEND_PULSE

Explicit device and rc overrides are strict: discovery fails when the selected node does not advertise the required capability.

Key controls:

• List page: 4 record, 5/6 or Up/Down select, 7 or Enter detail, 8 delete, Esc exit
• Detail page: 7 or Enter replay, 4 or Esc back

Package

Build the cp0/CardputerZero Debian package:

./packaging/deb/package_deb.sh

The package script is device-targeted only. It always configures the framebuffer/LIRC build and produces an arm64 APPLaunch package.

The generated package is written to dist/:

dist/m5cardputerzero-ir-remote_0.1.1_m5stack1_arm64.deb