[Bug 567512] Re: uinput broken for at least Mac mini

[Mario Limonciello]

Jonathon:

Just uploaded it to the queue for you, thanks for getting it together.

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uinput broken for at least Mac mini
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/567512
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Status in “lirc” package in Ubuntu: Fix Released
Status in “lirc” source package in Lucid: New
Status in “lirc” source package in Maverick: Fix Released

Bug description:
I have patched and tested the latest lirc packages from lucid. I have uploaded a bzr branch to Launchpad and requested a merge to lucid-proposed. The debdiff is also attached.

For the needs of the SRU:

- Impact of this bug: This bug renders the "--uinput" of lirc useless. This options allows remote controls to input commands like key strokes (as you would with a multimedia keyboard with "play", "next/previous", "volume up/down", etc buttons). This is obviously a very simple and attractive way to use a remote control with Ubuntu, and is recommended in many tutorials (including on help.ubuntu.com). Currently, in lucid, the buttons pressed on the remote have no effect (until the lircd daemon is stopped or restarted).

- Nominating for SRU, fulfills: (1) have an obviously safe patch (it only concerns the --uinput which is currently non-functional, and is tested by upstream and other distros) and (2) affect an application rather than critical infrastructure packages

- My proposed patch simply includes a patch from upstream (git commit d987ce9c68239f637dddb9de9f9668f6e8f9fc1d) to fix this problem. It is included in the 0.8.7~pre3-0ubuntu1 version in maverick, which works fine.

TEST CASE: A supported remote control and IR receiver are required.
Install the lirc package. Configure /etc/lirc/lircd.conf for your remote, if not already done during package installation (or include a preset from /usr/share/lirc/remotes/). Ensure your remote button presses are detected when running irw. Edit /etc/lirc/hardware.conf and set these keys:
REMOTE_MODULES="uinput"
REMOTE_LIRCD_ARGS="--uinput"
Restart lirc.
Start rhythmbox and enable the "lirc" module. Restart rhythmbox and start playing a song.
Press pause key on the remote and notice that rhythmbox doesn't take any notice.
Stop lirc, and see that rhythmbox then pauses the song.

I see no regression potential for this patch, as it only affects users running lirc with the --uinput option, which is currently non-functional with an up-to-date Ubuntu lucid.