Limited CEC functionality with LE10 on RPi 4 and Hisense TV

1st Official Post

    Hi folks,

    I'm running the latest RC 9.97.1 on a Raspi 4 linked to a fairly new Hisense TV set. Almost everything works smoothly. But when it comes to CEC, I get only very limited functionality.

    I can use the up/down/left/right navigation, select, play, stop, and pause keys on the remote. But anything apart from that seems not to be passed through from the TV to LE.

    I've already switched on debugging log and monitored it live via SSH while using the remote. Whenever I press one of the above mentioned keys, it pops up in the log as expected. However, any other key doesn't show up in the log at all. I therefore asume that none of the other keys' commands is passed through via CEC at all. I don't have a clue whether it's a Hisense problem or a CEC issue.

    Does anyone else have this? Or any hint as to why this is? It's very annoying.

    I'd appreciate any advice you could give. Thanks a lot!

    • Official Post
    Quote from jotam

    I don't have a clue whether it's a Hisense problem or a CEC issue.

    It could be both. CEC is a technology that is implemented in TVs by each manufacturer as they see fit, each of name them also has a different name for the same technology. So CEC is a bit of a loose canon. Some things can work, some things can work differently, and some things won't work. It's a bit like that "box of chocolats".

    If "non-working" keys on the remote are picked up by Kodi, you could try 'remapping' those keys to the actual Kodi functions, depending on what you want to see done.

    Hey, thanks for the quick reply. I half expected, half feared what you said. If it's a Hisense thing then I guess I don't have a chance.

    Quote from Klojum

    If "non-working" keys on the remote are picked up by Kodi

    I'm afraid that's the point exactly. The "non-working" keys aren't picked up by Kodi. At least they don't appear in the logs when pressed. So remapping is really not the solution I'm looking for.

    Unless anyone else would a have an idea, I guess I don't have too many options left. Do I?

    • Official Post

    I think there was a tool you could use in a terminal session, and see if a key was being pressed. It's been so long though, perhaps others can refresh my memory.

    Alternatively, you could get a Flirc module. An IR-dongle that will replicate your TV's remote.

    Perhaps that thing will see the other keys. It's a long shot though...

    BTW, I myself also only use the basic keys on my TV's remote. Any maintenance on the Kodi database is done via a different computer.

    If you aren't seeing button presses in debug log then the TV isn't sending them and there is nothing you can do from Kodi's end.

    Now it's possible you can do something from the TV's end. Read the manual closely and check all menus carefully.

    For example on my Panasonic I can enable extra buttons with a secret remote control code (see here).

    That was described in the user manual (but pretty hard to find). If your specific TV doesn't offer that option, then there's nothing that can be done.