girs driver issues

[Tim P. <ple...@gm...>]

Hi all,

I am using GirsLite 1.0.2 via a self-compiled firmware on an Arduino nano
clone configured with a Vishay TSOP38438 for receiving only.  I have
customized the girs firmware to include only:
    Base Receive Led Parameters
On Xubuntu 20.04, this configuration works great with IrScrutinizer using
the girs client for capturing via receive.  I have generated some lirc
files that are working just fine with a custom built Iguana-IR design
RS-232 serial receiver i built a long time ago.

Unfortunately, I am encountering a few issues with the girs lirc driver
producing some odd behavior when testing with irw.  For testing, I am using
the following remote lircd.conf file from the lirc remote database:
https://pastebin.com/JZVFzBE9

First:
I tested with GirsLite compiled using the default BEGINTIMEOUT value of
10000 ms as found in the Agirs configuration from github (consequently, i
couldn't figure out how to pass PARAMETERS values to the girs lirc driver
to change this on the fly.....).

This configuration produced the following behavior:
Upon pressing a remote key, irw indicates the signal was received and then
after a delay with no further remote keypresses, irw repeats another of the
same keypress.
Example irw output sequence:
00000000e0e020df 00 KEY_1 SamsungBN59-01054A    <- pressed at time=0
00000000e0e020df 00 KEY_1 SamsungBN59-01054A    <- appears 10 seconds
later  (as an example, see line 316 in first log linked below).

If I press a remote key, followed by another different one shortly
thereafter, it first emits another repeat of the first key and then show
the second keypress 10 seconds later.
sequence:
00000000e0e0a05f 00 KEY_2 SamsungBN59-01054A   <- initially pressed '2'
00000000e0e0a05f 00 KEY_2 SamsungBN59-01054A   <- appears at press of '3'
just after initial keypress
00000000e0e0609f 00 KEY_3 SamsungBN59-01054A   <- appears 10 seconds later

Trace1 log of an example session with this configuration found here:
https://pastebin.com/3y1Fng9U. See line 316 to see the repeat appearing 10
seconds later. I also frequently see errors of "Warning: girs: readline
buffer full:" spamming in syslog as seen in line 269 if try to put in many
keypresses quickly.

Second attempt:
I then experimented by changing the BEGINTIMEOUT value in the compiled
GirsLite firmware to 100 ms.  With this configuration, I still always
receive a keypress repeat in irw but the responsiveness to remote input is
much.  Unfortunately, a nasty hang always occurs with this configuration
where irw stops responding to input and lircd seems to block with no
further log output until i kill the process.
     A log showing this issue is linked here: https://pastebin.com/MYuYrR6e

The middle of the log is cropped and the lines associated with the hang are
at 2867 - 2871.  This is repeatable and always occurs after some period of
time with this BEGINTIMEOUT value.

I am seeing similar results/behavior on bare metal Xubuntu 18.04 (lircd
0.10.0) & VM Xubuntu 20.04 (lircd 0.10.1). I can manage the repeat
keypresses by using suppress_repeat in the lircd.conf for the remote. But,
I do want the remote receiver to be responsive and the hang in irw is
disconcerting

Can anyone using similar kit tell me if I need to do further configuration
or if there is a better way to tune for routine use of an arduino as a USB
IR receiver with girs?

Thanks,
Tim