How do you enable the IR port on the Inspiron 1520?

I have the IR remote - but it doesnt seem to do anything. I even run media center manually - and the remote does nothing. Ive tried the battery in both possible positions, although it says "Anode up" which I assume is the + side.

Ive searched google, and have just found a few people asking the same question.

How do you use the IR remote? ANyone?

 

you have to put the flat side up, not the side that has something of a black ribbon around it, and a grid like appearance.you must put the side with the info on how many volts, etc.

 

The battery isnt the problem> I just mentioned that I tried both ways to keep people from suggesting that the battery was the problem.

But I see that didnt work, lol.

Anyway, Im still baffled how to use the IR remote.

 

Well, I didnt get much help here!

I let Dell do their 'remote' system inspecting via their diagnostic tool (from dellconnect.com)

I was impressed. The tech was able to look into my bios and see that the IR card was not being detected by the bios. He says that the IR card was malfunctioning, and they are sending a tech to swap it out.

I'll be curious to see if there was actually an IR card -in- my 1520. Since I didnt order my system with a remote, and the ir port ONLY works with the dell remote, I wonder if Dell scrimped by just omitting my ir card entirely.

In any case, Im getting a new one to go with my refurbished remote that I bought from Dell's website for $10.99

I'll followup here, just in case anyone is reading, after the tech does his thing and swaps IR cards.

 

The IR card is merely a controller for the IR port.... It will be present in all the laptops with an IR port and since all DELL laptops come with an IR port you dont need to order it specifically

 

Well yeah, I ordered the refurbished IR remote- control (that fits in the express card slot), not the IR controller (i.e. the internal board)

The laptop bios doesnt detect the internal IR controller, so it is either broken, or Dell decided to not include it.

Since the IR port can -only- work with the dell travel remote, I can totally see Dell saying "Well, since he didnt order the dell travel remote with his inspiron, he will never have any use for his IR port, so lets save some $ and omit the internal IR controller board"

I guess I'll find out in a few days if the ir board was actually missing, or just broken like the dell tech says.

 

I dont think they assemble the IR controller board separately based on the system config.... Instead it would be a part of the base assembly I believe and so should be part of all laptops irrespective of whether the IR remote had been ordered or not.... I think some wire from the controller must have got disconnected or something which might be the cause of the problem...

 

How do I enable the IR port to detect my PDA? The sync manager says can't detect my iPaq RX1950....

 

Aramid I do not think the ir port on the 1520 can do that kind of thing. I think dell gimped it to only work with remotes.

 

I had trouble getting Dell to sell me a remote when I was placing my original order. They wouldn't sell me the MCE remote because they said it wouldn't work with my 1720 and Vista... I had my doubts about that but, this thread suggests it may be true.

I ordered the travel remote and was planning on using my Harmony 676's learning feature to learn Dell's IR commands. Is that going to work?