You know how they say “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”
Well… I should have listened.

Yesterday i did a full update of my XBMC-Live box, and with it I got a new kernel version.
This broke my remote, again, which basically makes it unusable as a HTPC.

Here’s how to fix it.

1. Install kernel 2.6.32-25-generic
sudo apt-get install linux-headers-2.6.32-25-generic linux-image-2.6.32-25-generic

2. Edit /etc/default/grub and change GRUB_DEFAULT so it boot to the older kernel
sudo vi /etc/default/grub
In my case changed GRUB_DEFAULT=0 to GRUB_DEFAULT=2

3. Update grub
sudo update-grub

4. Reboot into 2.6.32-25-generic kernel
sudo reboot

5. After reboot check you are running the correct kernel, otherwise go back to step 2 and use a different value for GRUB_DEFAULT
uname -a
The output should contain “2.6.32-25-generic”

6. Install lirc, if it isn’t installed already
sudo apt-get install lirc
Select “None” & “None” during setup, if applicable

7. Download the lirc fix from ASRock
cd /tmp
wget http://europe.asrock.com/downloadsite/drivers/Nettop/Ubuntu/"IR(10.04)2.6.32-25.zip"
unzip IR\(10.04\)2.6.32-25.zip
sudo dpkg -i lirc-nct677x-1.0.4-ubuntu10.04_kernel2.6.32-25.deb
Select “Nuvoton Transceivers/Remotes” and “None” during setup.

8. Check that it installed correctly
sudo dmesg | grep lirc

You should see something similar to this
[ 7.001180] lirc_dev: IR Remote Control driver registered, major 61
[ 7.046587] lirc_wb677 w677hga: chip id high: 0xb4
[ 7.046603] lirc_wb677 w677hga: chip id low: 0x73 expect:0x73
[ 7.048158] lirc_dev: lirc_register_driver: sample_rate: 0

9. Reboot and enjoy!

Credits go out to bcsmith79 on the XBMC Forums