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SmallTownUSA · 2012-01-27, 18:16

Hi All:

Having successfully gotten XBMC to operate on my win7 system, I would now like to be able to start it using my standard WMC remote control. Is there anyway to enable a button on the control such that when I press it, it would cause XBMC to startup (similar to what happens with WMC?)
Thanks,
Harold

jhsrennie · 2012-01-27, 21:12

In Windows most MCE remotes work by sending keypresses. Grab ShowKey from http://xbmcmce.sourceforge.net/ and this will tell you what your remote is sending. If you can find a button on the remote that sends a suitable keypress set this keypress as the hotkey for the XBMC icon. To do this open the Start menu, navigate to where the XBMC icon is then right click the XBMC icon and choose "Properties". Click in the "Shortcut key" field and press the button on the remote. You should see the keypress appear in the Shortcut key field. Click OK to save your changes. You should find the remote button now starts XBMC.

JR

SmallTownUSA · 2012-01-27, 22:32

jhsrennie Wrote:In Windows most MCE remotes work by sending keypresses. Grab ShowKey from http://xbmcmce.sourceforge.net/ and this will tell you what your remote is sending. If you can find a button on the remote that sends a suitable keypress set this keypress as the hotkey for the XBMC icon. To do this open the Start menu, navigate to where the XBMC icon is then right click the XBMC icon and choose "Properties". Click in the "Shortcut key" field and press the button on the remote. You should see the keypress appear in the Shortcut key field. Click OK to save your changes. You should find the remote button now starts XBMC.

JR

Thanks for the suggestion. I followed you instructions but could not find a key on my remote which would map the same in showkey as well as XBMC shortcut key field. Eg, if I pressed "1" it would show "1" in showkey but would show as "cntl+alt+1" in the XBMC shortcut key field.

Any other suggestion?
Harold

jhsrennie · 2012-01-28, 11:24

This is Windows trying to be helpful and as usual just making life harder.

Windows won't let you use shortcuts that might clash with normal keys. In this case it won't let you set "1" as the shortcut, presumably because that would cause a few problems if you tried to use e.g. Excel. That's why when you try and press 1 in the shortcut field it helpfully puts in ctrl-alt-1 instead.

Windows seems to allow shortcuts like ctrl-shift-something, ctrl-alt-something and shift-alt-something. Try the buttons on your remote with Showkey to see if you can find any buttons that send a keystroke like this. For example with MCE remotes the DVD menu button usually sends ctrl-shift-M.

You don't say what remote you're using. If you post the details here I can probably tell you which buttons are likely candidates. NB it's the receiver that matters as your Harmony 550 will be emulating the handset that originally came with the receiver.

JR

SmallTownUSA · 2012-01-28, 13:57

jhsrennie Wrote:For example with MCE remotes the DVD menu button usually sends ctrl-shift-M.

You don't say what remote you're using. If you post the details here I can probably tell you which buttons are likely candidates. NB it's the receiver that matters as your Harmony 550 will be emulating the handset that originally came with the receiver.

JR

JR: The WMC remote I have is apparently a generic one. There is no brand name on it. However, the model no. is: HA-IR01SV(TSHA-IR01).

I tried the DVD Menu button. It does nothing. Most of the other "function" buttons (such as music, picture, etc.) cause WMC to execute.

I have succeeded in getting the Harmony 550 to load XBMC (using the "A" button.) However, I REALLY hate this remote. The keys on it are so small it is difficult to operate, hence my desire to get the WMC operational.

Thanks again for the help,

Harold

jhsrennie · 2012-01-29, 11:40

Is the remote using the eHome driver? have a look at http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Usi...in_Windows for how to tell.

I think the IR01SV does use the eHome driver, and if so you can use the MCERemote add-on to configure it. Just install the Add-on from the Programs section in Settings, Add-ons, Get Add-ons, XBMC.org Add-ons, then you can run it by going to Programs from the Home screen. Once in the add-on choose the "Apply current settings to remote".

JR

SmallTownUSA · 2012-01-29, 15:57

jhsrennie Wrote:Is the remote using the eHome driver? have a look at http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Usi...in_Windows for how to tell.

I think the IR01SV does use the eHome driver, and if so you can use the MCERemote add-on to configure it. Just install the Add-on from the Programs section in Settings, Add-ons, Get Add-ons, XBMC.org Add-ons, then you can run it by going to Programs from the Home screen. Once in the add-on choose the "Apply current settings to remote".

JR

JR: Thanks for the info.
I followed your instructions and installed MCERemote. Unfortunately, once I selected the correct option, my remotes (both the MCE and the Harmony 550) quit working!
After playing with the system some (rebooting, changing MCERemote, rebooting, etc.) a number of times I was still could not get either to work. Nothing would show on Showkey either (for any key). I then uninstalled MCERemote, rebooted and still the remotes do not work.
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Harold

jhsrennie · 2012-01-29, 17:31

MCERemote works by changing the registry key used by the eHome driver, and you need to reset this to the default. Just uninstalling the MCERemote add-on won't do anything. Reinstall MCERemote and open it, then select the option "Apply Windows default settings to remote". This will set the remote configuration back to what it was before.

Did you check if your remote is using the eHome driver? I assume so, otherwise MCERemote wouldn't have had any effect. Some receivers use the eHome driver but with non-standard config settings. Without having a IR01SV to test I can't comment further.

JR

SmallTownUSA · 2012-01-29, 23:44

jhsrennie Wrote:MCERemote works by changing the registry key used by the eHome driver, and you need to reset this to the default. Just uninstalling the MCERemote add-on won't do anything. Reinstall MCERemote and open it, then select the option "Apply Windows default settings to remote". This will set the remote configuration back to what it was before.

Did you check if your remote is using the eHome driver? I assume so, otherwise MCERemote wouldn't have had any effect. Some receivers use the eHome driver but with non-standard config settings. Without having a IR01SV to test I can't comment further.

JR

Looks like I must have done something...bad... I can not get back control of my remote. I have re-installed MCERemote, opened it, selected "Apply Windows..." save it, logged out of XBMC, restarted my computer...to no avail. The remotes will not operate anything. Somehow I guess my registry got zapped.

Any suggestions?

Harold

P.S. I can operate WMC and XBMC via my mouse and keyboard, but not remotes.

jhsrennie · 2012-01-30, 13:34

You should be able to uninstall the remote from Device Manager. You might also need to delete the registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\HidIr\Remotes

Disconnect the USB receiver and reboot. When you reconnect the receiver Windows should automatically detect it and reinstall it.

JR

SmallTownUSA · 2012-01-31, 17:36

jhsrennie Wrote:You should be able to uninstall the remote from Device Manager. You might also need to delete the registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\HidIr\Remotes

Disconnect the USB receiver and reboot. When you reconnect the receiver Windows should automatically detect it and reinstall it.

JR

JR:
Thanks again for the help. I am now back up and running and the remote seems to be working (a couple of tweeks to make, but basically working well.)

I have another related question of you if you do not mind.
As you see from my signature, my HTPC system includes a Westinghouse monitor and a ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics card. Well over a year ago, some automatic update was performed (either by Microsoft or by ATI). Since that time the resolution on my monitor has not worked properly. The native mode is 1280x1024, but when I use this mode, the display of win7 is expanded off the screen such that the outer 1 inch or so of the edges are beyond the field of view. In order to get the win7 screen to display all its information, I have to change the resolution mode of the monitor (right clicking on the desktop and changing it monitor resolution mode) to 1776x1000. In this more all the win7 information is displayed, but the actual display of the information on the monitor is now inset on the physical screen about 1 inch on all sides.
I have tried (many times) to reload the various drivers but to no avail. I am now seriously contemplating purchasing a new graphics card. If I need to do this, do you have any specific suggestions as to the best one to get?

Hopefully this rambling makes sense.

Thanks,
Harold

jhsrennie · 2012-02-01, 12:21

Personally I love NVIDIA cards. There are lots of perfectly happy ATI users out there, and I'm sure I'll be shouted at for saying this, but the majority of GPU problems I see in this forum are with ATI cards. The Catalyst Control Centre seems to offer you so much rope that hanging yourself is awfully easy.

If you're not a game player look for an NVIDIA G210. You'll find loads of cheap ones around.

JR

SmallTownUSA · 2012-02-02, 16:30

jhsrennie Wrote:Personally I love NVIDIA cards. There are lots of perfectly happy ATI users out there, and I'm sure I'll be shouted at for saying this, but the majority of GPU problems I see in this forum are with ATI cards. The Catalyst Control Centre seems to offer you so much rope that hanging yourself is awfully easy.

If you're not a game player look for an NVIDIA G210. You'll find loads of cheap ones around.

JR

JR: Thanks again for all the help. I took your advice and went to the local Best Buy and purchased a G250 card (they did not have the G210). Installed it in the HTPC and "surprise" I now have follow screen video. Big Grin

I now have a couple of XBMC questions. I am not sure if this is the correct part of the forum to ask these questions (not sure if they are win7 specific.) If not here, just redirect me to another part.

1. How can I make the fonts on all (or most) of the displays and/or lists larger? To effect this will I need a different skin?
2. (a) In my Weather panel, I am not getting any Title on the right hand side which corresponds to the temp of the left.
(b) I do not seem to get/be able to rotate through all three temp locations even though I have three setup in the settings panel
3. I want to be able to delete a video after viewing it. The only way I know how to accomplish this is right click with my mouse and choose "delete". I would like to be able to delete a video with the remote (thus not having to use the mouse). Is there anyway to setup the remote to accomplish this? Is there any menu item I am missing which would all this?
4. Lastly (at least for now Big Grin

), are they any plugins which will search for specific torrent, download them, unpack them and store them in the appropriate location?
Thanks again for your invaluable help.
Harold

jhsrennie · 2012-02-02, 19:51

I'm glad it's working. It's just a shame about the remote. If I see one cheap on ebay I might grab it to test.

1. I don't think there's an easy way to make the fonts larger without changing the skin, but I just use Confluence so I can't advise on other skins. It should be possible to edit the skin and change the font sizes. If you want to have a go the fonts sizes are set in "C:\Program Files\XBMC\addons\skin.confluence\720pFont.xml".

2. The weather is broken in v10.1 because the weather provider withdrew their free service. It should be working in the Eden beta 2.

3. The delete option is on the Context menu. You can open this by pressing C on the keyboard, so you just need to map a convenient button on the remote to do the same as pressing C. I'm not sure where we got to with the remote.

4. I do all my torrenting manually so I can't help. However I see occasional postings in the forum from people who have worked out ways to do this. An app called Sickbeard possibly?

JR

SmallTownUSA · 2012-02-02, 22:50

jhsrennie Wrote:1. I don't think there's an easy way to make the fonts larger without changing the skin, but I just use Confluence so I can't advise on other skins. It should be possible to edit the skin and change the font sizes. If you want to have a go the fonts sizes are set in "C:\Program Files\XBMC\addons\skin.confluence\720pFont.xml".

I will give it a look. It has been many years since I have done any technical/programming work so no telling what will happen Smile

jhsrennie Wrote:2. The weather is broken in v10.1 because the weather provider withdrew their free service. It should be working in the Eden beta 2.

Quess I will just wait for the Eden skin.

jhsrennie Wrote:3. The delete option is on the Context menu. You can open this by pressing C on the keyboard, so you just need to map a convenient button on the remote to do the same as pressing C. I'm not sure where we got to with the remote.

Got this working. Many thanks...

jhsrennie Wrote:4. I do all my torrenting manually so I can't help. However I see occasional postings in the forum from people who have worked out ways to do this. An app called Sickbeard possibly?
JR

I currently do my torrents manually also. Just thought there might be an easier way.

Again, many thanks for all the assistance. It would have taken me weeks to get this done w/o your help (assuming I could have even done it!)

Harold