Has anyone ever seen Consumer Infrared Receiver work on G51vx/G60vx?

Hello everyone,


I have G51vx and it has a little sensor near the WiFi switch which is supposed to be Consumer IR sensor.

I've had my laptop wince February 2010 and so far I have tried many different programs (Girder, EventGhost, etc) and many registry and driver hacks and I have never ever seen any signs of functioning of the IR sensor.

I have tried numerous remotes, including the regular ones and HP MCE RC6-based remote. The sensor seems dead. Dead like a dodo. No events are coming from it.

I know there is something installed that should have the CIR function because I can see the ITE CIR device in the Device manager and eHome Infrared Transceiver.


I wonder if the sensor is blocked by something from inside or not plugged in (lol, knowing Asus this is possible).


So, has anyone of you, guys, ever seen this IR sensor work? I would really like to make it function.

 

I have not been able to get it working with many different MCE remotes either I have tried different drivers but nothing worked. It would be great if someone knew how to get this working.

 

I would like to take my laptop apart to see what is behind that semi-transparent sensor cover, but I would also hate to take almost the whole laptop apart just to take a look at it.

I wonder if anyone who completely disassembled their G51/G60 can share some info.

It could be that so called "sensor" is just a leftover from previous models and in reality there is no sensor there. Maybe Asus developers just plugged in some NULL-device there, which is what shows up in the device manager as IR sensor, but it it not working.


Please, people, share all the information you know, even if it is some small detail. I really want to get to the bottom of it.

After all, it is kind of bad if you have a certain feature in your laptop that will never be utilized.

 

I've added a poll. Please, people, help me gather more info. I would like to see how widespread this issue is.

 

I hate to bump it, but, please, people, participate.

 

Ok, today I got tired of guessing and decided to take a look inside the laptop and see what's up with this IR Receiver. I was shocked!!! Freaking asus and its fake devices! They did this with decorative Fan/Subwoofer and they did it with IR receiver as well.

There is NO IR receiver inside any G Series laptops apparently. That IR glass-windows is also a decoration. The circuitry though is apparently there because it's detected in the Device Manager, but the actual IR photo-diode is not there. lol. I wonder how much asus saved by not including the photo-diode into $1000 + laptop. 5 cents? What a joke!

At least now we all know that we don't have IR in our laptops...

 

what about g50vt?does it have an IR reciever?
-premudriy: how did you managed to reach that part of laptop? did you detached the hole motherboard?
i am asking cause i think some g50 models included one of those pciexpress slot remote controls

 

Yup, this is exactly what I did. One day I got really bored and I decided to take my laptop apart and see if IR sensor is actually there. Turns out it is not there. After all the software testing that I have done for this IR, I started to suspect that the diode might not be there and, unfortunately, I was right about it.

I'm hoping that some owner of some asus G-laptop with completely working IR will eventually post some pics of the photo-diode or its model if it is written somewhere on the diode.

 

which parts needed to be removed to get to IR reciever?
I mean did you just removed the back panel?
or you removed the mainboard too?

 

To take apart my laptop I was following this Asus G50 Notebook Disassembly Guide because my G51vx pretty much the same.


So, yes, I had to remove the backpanel, remove keyboard, heatsinks, some other parts, and eventually lift up the motherboard from its position in the case.

There is no other easy way to get to that IR location that I know. Just taking the backplate does not help.


Because of these complications, someone has to be really brave/philantropic to take apart his/her G50 with working IR, just to take a pic of the diode.

 

its actually a dummy antenna for the tv tunner that comes in the European versions of this laptop.

-Googlei

 

Which one? Are you talking about the one by the USB and E-SATA port on the left side of the laptop? If so, then yes it is.

There is, however, a tiny window to the left of the WiFi switch, which should have had IR sensor behind it.

 

The optional tv tuner would come with a remote which would probably be interacting with the IR, or it may be an extra feature WHEN YOU GET the tv tuner so you are able to interact with the computer with one remote.

-Googlei

 

I see what you mean. Yes, that's what I've heard from Asus as well. Asus rep told me that I would get IR remote if I would buy the model with TV tuner.

BUT, the IR chip is still there. You can see that in the Device manager. So, I think that missing photo-diode can be just soldered back in and then we could use something like EventGhost to tweak the heck out of IR and use any remote control, including tyny RC-6 based HP remotes that fit into express card slot.

 

That might not be for certain, it could have been a simple driver add on, when asus installed the drivers its just easier to put the same thing on all of them, then to make specific batches, thats why you have that dummy port in the first place, unless someone can confirm, maybe with a picture for closer examination of this ir controller we must not speculate.

-Googlei

 

Well, I thought of that as well, but now I am pretty sure that there is a separate device there. If you install plain Windows, then you will see "unknown device" in the Device Manager that wants its driver. On update Windows 7 automatically sees this device and proposes you to download ITE Consumer Infrared Device Driver.

Furthermore, I also run Linux on my laptop and in linux you can run "lspci" or just look though the Gnome Device Manager and also observe that there is indeed ITE 8708 Infrared device there.

So, it is not just an addon driver that Asus put there and it shows up in the Device Manager.

EDIT: Typed ATI instead of ITE

 

Maybe it was integrated in the BIOS, again this is not for sure since i do not own this exact model i own the g51jx and not the g51vx I do not have a port beside my wifi switch, but let me tell you this why would asus include an ir controller without the the actual receiver, it would be cheaper for them to simply not put it, they wont have to buy one controller for every laptop, again unless i see a picture of this controller in this laptop I will not speculate of its existence.

Also, have you installed plain windows in order to see the unknown device.

-Googlei

 

Googlei, I am totally with you that it seems pretty stupid to include the IR controller chip, but not the receiving diode, but so far it seems like it.

I have installed plain Windows 7 and plain Windows XP on this laptop with same results: seeing ITE CIR in Device manager. Also, having Linux on laptop confirms this.

Not including the controller would indeed be cheaper, but an explanation for this could also be that the chips a part of the motherboard and is soldered into it. I know that this is a separate chip and not the part of the BIOS code because ITE 870X series of controllers are well known and included in many laptops. I know Dell has them too. There is even a Linux driver for it.

Your reasoning and critical thinking is totally valid, but all the evidences so far tell me that chip is there and that there might be a change that adding the diode will work.

When I tried to test the IR with Girder and EvenGhost then I also saw that they reported IR device to be identified correctly and working, but I wasn't able to get any response from sending IR signals with any remote (now I know why).

When I will take apart my laptop next time I will try to identify and take the picture of the chip. Last time I didn't think enough to look for the chip itself. I just wanted to see if the diode is there or not and quickly put laptop back together.


Also, as for the IR windows this is what I mean:

 

Looking at the g50 disassembly guide here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/318551-asus-g50-notebook-disassembly-guide.html


it looks like the rf controller is either on the motherboard, partially on the motherboard or simply not present because i definitely dont see one , am not denying the presence of the window am just trying to help and find out how to get this piece operational. I am not attacking you in any way but am simply stating my factual knowledge.

-Googlei

 

Or maybe everything is present and the ir is working maybe its simply locked by asus, again could be a possibility.

 

Thank you for your comments, googlei. I didn't feel/accept your comments in any way as attacking. I am actually glad that you try to brainstorm on this. I am very interested to get to the bottom of it, no matter what the answer will be: if it is impossible to get this thing working by adding photo-diode, then so be it (it would suck though), but if there's a slight chance that this might add IR capability back, then I would go for it.

 

There is something terribly illogical with leaving everything in controller and all and not putting in the receiver, so i searched for an answer from the disassembly guide i found that the controller is on the mobo, also apparently there is a rf receiver from either testimonials, so finally it comes to asus who blocked the use of it with out there tv tunner, did you try there drivers it might unlock it the link is here : ASUSTeK Computer Inc.

its under downloads then other then ITE Remote Controller Application.

hope that works


-Googlei

 

Very interesting find! I don't know how the proposed download might work because I didn't observe the physical photo-diode, but, nevertheless, I'm going to try that. I know how a regular photodiode should look like, but who knows, maybe it's there and really tiny or something. Will post results in a few mins...

 

Ok, after downloading I have realized that I have already tried the very same download. I have messed with that driver multiple times. Actually it is after that download that I was able to use Girder and EventGhost and those programs recognized that IR is there. Though still there were no events triggered or any sort of input signal received from multiple remotes.

I also remember that after installing that Remote Controller Application and clicking on Windows Update there is an update file proposed for that ITE CIR device.

I have tried to mess with just Remote Controller Application driver installed and with Windows' proposed update with no luck.

Now I still leaning toward the idea that the missing diode is the culprit.

 

It is possible maybe asus originally wanted to add ir but it did not work so they just did not put the ir diode.

Hope you find the solution, when you dissasemble you notebook

 

if its the controller is there we may just need to solder on the receiver..

maybe something like

INFRARED RECEIVER MODULE | AllElectronics.com

 

We where already talking about simply adding the receiver but the problem is we are not 100% sure the of what was added, until we open it an see we can only speculate.

-Googlei

 

Yes, and we need to possibly find out what exact model of the received/photo-diode should go the because there are hundreds if not thousands of different ones.

If I would know exact model, I would be willing to solder it in and test.

 

This is not ENTIRELY true and is the reason I voted yes on this poll.

My G50Vm-X1 (G50V series, ORIGINAL Best Buy model) had the IrDA photo diode and indeed works with every MCE remote I've thrown at it, including the HP ones and the Xbox 360 ones.

However, my G51VX-RX05 does NOT have the IrDA photo diode, just the chipset. That seems kind of useless to me. Why bother to install the chipset but not the diode?

 

Ok, so what is you conclusion? Do you think that the chip is also not there or what?

I think that the chip might be a part of the motherboard and that's why it's left there. I agree it seems silly to have just the chip there and not the diode. Nevertheless, "something" is there because I could see ITE Consumer IR ITE8708 with Windows and Linux.

I could see why some Asus engineer decided to remove the diode. I have 2 reasons:
1) This is gaming computer, so they thought that IR from other remotes could interfere with laptop while gamin and thus is unnecessary.
2) To save 10 cents per diode )))


Well, I'm still willing to experiment. Papa Midnight, if you will ever get a chance to disassemble your lappy with working IR, I would be very thankful if you would post some pics of diode and/or list its model if possible.

 

which HP remote did you use?

i got one from the HP DV7 and it doesn't work with my G50vt-X1, while my standard MCE remote (both the remote and keyboard) work with it.

if you could get me the model or close to which remote works i'd appreciate, i am looking at getting one that fits in the Express card slot.

 

Unfortunately, I'm not going to likely get that opportunity as I've had to repurpose the G50Vm for other usage and it is not in a position to be disassembled. I may, however, be able to dismantle this disassembled HP tx1215 and see about stripping the diode from it... if I can figure out where it is. I cannot exactly seem to come by a disassembly guide for it.

I used the one from the DV7, and the tx1000 (terrible model series, for the record). The first is the one that fits into the ExpressCard slot but does not have the number pad on it, like I've seen some of the ones from HP have. Outside of that, I used the one for the Xbox 360 I had borrowed from a friend, and an unlabeled remote that I assumed to be a Green Button remote.

 

If anyone wonders, it is possible to use *any* remote with IR, but if it is not a standard MCE, then you will have to do some extra work. For non-standard remotes I use program (highly recommend) called EventGhost. As long as IR receiver receives something, it can be assigned to some action in windows with EventGhost.

I'm currently using PS3 bluetooth remote with my laptop and I had to use EventGhost to assign all the buttons the way I wan't. When/If I will get IR on this laptop to work, I will use RC-6 ExpressCard remote from HP along with EventGhost to do stuff in windows.

With EventGhost you can mouse cursor in windows controllable by buttons on a remote and much more. Here's a link to EventGhost project:

EventGhost

:

 

if anyone is interested, i got the HP Remote Model: 463979-001 and it works great with my g50vt. it is a standard MCE express card remote.

conversely the remote that doesn't work is: 435743-001

 

I'm a bit confused. I thought it was confirmed earlier in this thread that the g50's don't have a IR receiver inside. Your g50vt does? I have a g50vt-x6 (bought from Newegg last year) and am interested in getting a IR remote but I'm not sure if it's a good idea since I was under the impression there never really was any IR receiver in the laptop (even though it appears in Device Manager with a working driver).

As far as your remote, H-street, does it work with VLC player and can you also set it up so you can move the mouse cursor with it (possibly with some settings changes in the Ease of Access center under the Control Panel in Windows 7) ? I know it's possible to make the keyboard move the mouse cursor with some changes, I was wondering if you can do that for that particular remote.

Also, does anyone possibly know any other remotes that definitely work with the g50vt?