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2024-11-12 at 7:21 PM UTCunmotivated to fail
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2024-11-12 at 7:24 PM UTC
Originally posted by the man who put it in my hood https://ask.metaenhancement.com/320921/Software-IR-fax-interception
Software IR fax interception…
April 7, 2018 7:30 AM Subscribe
This is a long shot. I want to turn a computer with an IR interface into something that will accept faxes beamed from a twenty-year old palmtop that still thinks IR Fax rules the roost and that if this email takes off, it will never replace it, or be used for junk.
I have a computer with an IR interface. I have an old palmtop which can beam faxes over IR (it used to send them to Nokia and Ericcson phones, if you can recall).
I would like to find a software means to make the PC/Linux IR interface pretend to be a modem, like on one of those phones, received a fax beamed from the palmtop, then ignore the phone number on it and forward it on as a bitmap or PDF to an email address (or better still, save it to a disk location).
Is this kind of stuff possible in our post-fax era?
Is this also possible for €cheap or $free?
(I avoided telephony acronyms and software as long as possible… )
posted by davemee to Technology (6 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
"IrDa" is the keyword you want to search here. How comfortable are you doing some software development? I'm guessing at least somewhat, if you're running Linux. This is an interesting question so I did some searching and ended up on the Linux Infrared HOWTO. There's also reference to a package in Ubuntu 8.x, but who knows if that's still in modern Unix. Anyhow basic IrDa support just gets you the ability to receive the data, then you have to send it to something that can reconstruct it as a document. I wasn't able to find anything specific to your use-case, and printing is not my area of expertise, but I'm sure that the raw parts exist to bolt together a solution if you ask the right questions.
posted by Alterscape at 7:45 AM on April 7, 2018
Here's a Python package, which as it says, just lets you treat the IR interface as a regular network socket. Installing (on Linux) should hopefully be as easy as "pip install irda", then you can just use it in all your scripts.
It seems like people in the Arduino world use something called IRLib2 to automatically detect and decode different infrared protocols. This may be intended more for TV remotes, though, and I'm not sure if they include support for whatever bizarre system is used to send faxes to a giant 3-foot-antenna cell phone.
posted by vogon_poet at 10:43 AM on April 7, 2018
if you have the particular brand of the palmtop, it might help in searching for what exactly the protocol is.
posted by vogon_poet at 10:52 AM on April 7, 2018
Best answer: Sorry to triple-post, but I just noticed the "Psion" tag. there's something called plptools (mentioned in the Linux IrDA guide posted by Alterscape, actually).
I can't find any documentation yet, but one of the commits in the repository mentions a working IrDA connection with a Psion.
posted by vogon_poet at 11:00 AM on April 7, 2018
Response by poster: Thanks for the advice, all. I've kinda gone round the houses trying to make this sensible (even to the point of trying to resurrect a 20-year old Canon BJC50 and scanning solution).
A lot changes with technology in 20 years. Things that were sensible once are now non-existent, replaced with alternatives that use entirely different models and toolchains. It seems intercepting modem emulation over IR would require some serious coding work (or expensive commercial software), and even getting IR working these days (as anything other than a TV remote control) is an ordeal.
The PLP packages look like they may be a sensible start and a possible bridge to a Dropbox folder - though then there's the whole toolchain issue of document conversion from a 20-year old proprietary format to chew through. Looks like plptools can be apt-gotten on Ubuntu, which could be a number of hoops resolved at once. I'll post back with findings if one of the dwindling number of Psion users stumbles across this post!
Thanks all and well done on the intention inference from vogon_poet :)
posted by davemee at 2:06 AM on April 8, 2018
Response by poster: … okay, PLP installs easily, both on debian and raspbian.
Hmm, dependant on IRDA. Hmm, more dependant on LIRC.
Hmm, looks like my gifted USB IRDA adapter picks up, but isn't fully supported by a layer up the stack for being initialised when an IR device talks to it.
Guess it's time to start hunting down potentially compatible devices!
(Tried again on Windows, on Win10 it's seemingly impossible to get a working IRDA driver and to bridge it to a PDF writer. Unsurprised meh)
posted by davemee at 11:23 AM on April 8, 2018 [1 favorite]
You have now been deemed an official "national security" threat. -
2024-11-12 at 7:27 PM UTCBRADLEYB STOLE MY GUIDE ON STEALING!!! I SPENT THREE MONTHS MAKING THAT!!! - KOF
Author BradleyB was quoted as saying "It taught me everything I know." -
2024-11-12 at 11:30 PM UTCrhanks 4 the bump
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared_Data_Association
IrDA 3 click is an intelligent IR transceiver device that can both send and receive UART commands via the IR interface. IrDA 3 click features both the IR transceiver and the encoder/decoder IC, used to convert the UART data and send or receive it in IrDA® compatible format. IrDA 3 click also has an onboard clock generator for the fastest possible UART performance of 115,200 bps, so it does not need an additional clock signal to be generated by the MCU.
IrDA 3 click provides a direct and easy to use UART to IrDA interface. The device can be used for various applications that use the short-range remote communication, such as fax machines, photocopiers, screen projectors, TV boxes, Data loggers, GPS, various system controllers and many other IR
How Fax Over IR Worked
IR fax transmission relied on short-range IR beams that could transmit data in line-of-sight conditions, typically within a range of about 1 meter (3 feet). Here’s how the technology worked in practice:
Data Transmission Protocols: The devices involved had to follow the same infrared communication protocols. The IrDA (Infrared Data Association) standards were popular and standardized data formats and transfer methods across compatible devices. However, not all fax machines used IrDA, so compatibility was limited.
Device Compatibility: For faxing over IR to work, both the sending and receiving devices needed compatible IR interfaces and fax support. This usually meant both devices had to be made by the same manufacturer or be explicitly compatible, as IR fax standards were not universally adopted.
IR to Modem Emulation: For mobile devices, the IR signal was often passed through an IR modem adapter, which would interpret the signal as a fax and transmit it via standard phone lines. This allowed portable devices like PDAs to send faxes through a nearby fax machine. -
2024-11-12 at 11:48 PM UTC
Originally posted by the man who put it in my hood rhanks 4 the bump
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared_Data_Association
IrDA 3 click is an intelligent IR transceiver device that can both send and receive UART commands via the IR interface. IrDA 3 click features both the IR transceiver and the encoder/decoder IC, used to convert the UART data and send or receive it in IrDA® compatible format. IrDA 3 click also has an onboard clock generator for the fastest possible UART performance of 115,200 bps, so it does not need an additional clock signal to be generated by the MCU.
IrDA 3 click provides a direct and easy to use UART to IrDA interface. The device can be used for various applications that use the short-range remote communication, such as fax machines, photocopiers, screen projectors, TV boxes, Data loggers, GPS, various system controllers and many other IR
How Fax Over IR Worked
IR fax transmission relied on short-range IR beams that could transmit data in line-of-sight conditions, typically within a range of about 1 meter (3 feet). Here’s how the technology worked in practice:
Data Transmission Protocols: The devices involved had to follow the same infrared communication protocols. The IrDA (Infrared Data Association) standards were popular and standardized data formats and transfer methods across compatible devices. However, not all fax machines used IrDA, so compatibility was limited.
Device Compatibility: For faxing over IR to work, both the sending and receiving devices needed compatible IR interfaces and fax support. This usually meant both devices had to be made by the same manufacturer or be explicitly compatible, as IR fax standards were not universally adopted.
IR to Modem Emulation: For mobile devices, the IR signal was often passed through an IR modem adapter, which would interpret the signal as a fax and transmit it via standard phone lines. This allowed portable devices like PDAs to send faxes through a nearby fax machine.
Now you have been upgraded, after been deemed worthy of being added to the terrorist group watchlist. -
2024-11-13 at 12:15 AM UTCRobopon cartridges have an Infrared panel on their top edge that allows them to trade information using waves much like a TV or VCR remote, allowing the cartridge to react to different objects. For example, pointing a remote control at the cartridges and pressing a button might boost the Robopon's stats, or open a chest within the games.[7] This feature was called the "GB Kiss".[8] The game included over 150 different Robopon to use, with the first 2 releases and then over 168, with the release of Moon version,[9] though some had to be upgraded, similar to Pokémon's evolution stages. The Robopon were classified as either Arm, Move, or Boot. Arm tended to have high offense, Move were fast, and Boot had the highest stats overall. Boot Robopon could not have their parts or software changed.
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2024-11-13 at 5:08 AM UTCmost 8210 era phones are irda capable
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2024-11-13 at 7:58 AM UTCthis is amazing technology
