Setting up LIRC in Dapper

[Dave M G]

Ubuntu Users,

I'm running Dapper 6.06.

I have in my computer a Hauppage PVR-150 TV tuner card. I have 
successfully set it up so that I can see TV signals in Xawtv. I had to 
install a more recent version of Xawtv than what was in the 
repositories, because apparently only the new version handles IVTV 
correctly. Xawtv seems to be, at the moment, the only option for TV 
signals for my hardware and OS set up.

I have succeeded in mapping my local broadcast channels as well.

The next step is to set up LIRC to be able to use the remote that comes 
with the Hauppauge card. This is where I have hit a wall.

I've downloaded LIRC from the repositories. But if I try to run any of 
the commands associated with it, I get a "connection refused" error:
dave at homebase:~$ sudo irw
connect: Connection refused
dave at homebase:~$ irrecord hauppauge_150
irrecord -  application for recording IR-codes for usage with lirc
Copyright (C) 1998,1999 Christoph Bartelmus(lirc at bartelmus.de)
irrecord: could not get file information for /dev/lirc
irrecord: default_init(): No such file or directory
irrecord: could not init hardware (lircd running ? --> close it, check 
permissions)
dave at homebase:~$ irexec
irexec: could not connect to socket
irexec: Connection refused

What I would like to do is the following:

1. Correctly identify the remote control as a Hauppauge_150

2. Be able to change channels in Xawtv. I have not been able to find 
instructions on the web which clearly specify how to do this. By 
searching the web I have discovered that there is a program called 
xawtv-remote, but running it simultaneously with xawtv has produced no 
results, I suspect because I have not properly configured the remote for 
use with the program.

3. Have LIRC, running at boot time so that pressing some button on the 
remote can do specific tasks, such as start and stop programs like xawtv.

Any advice is much appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

--
Dave M G