[Fergus]

Hi,

I'm currently using a Philips Pronto Pro to control my TV, Amp and Mac Mini. The remote control isn't one of the newer wi-fi enabled gadgets, it's just a good old fashioned touch-screen, programmable, IR remote.

(http://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-Pronto-L...B000068TYU)

Because my Pronto has learned the IR sequences from my original Apple Remote, it's restricted to the 6 buttons and doesn't give me the flexibility I enjoy on my XBOX.

I could get myself access to some extra buttons by enabling "Universal Remote" mode in XBMC, but I'm assuming that the method used here (chaining together of multiple button presses) would make the remote control feel less responsive and bring a bit more lag to the user experience.

I assume (but I'm not sure) that the "Harmony" option in XBMC is based on the Harmony remote emulating multiple Apple Remotes and that this method wouldn't suffer from any lag. If this is the case, I could use the "Harmony" option so long as I teach my Pronto the same IR sequences as the Harmony uses.

Still with me?

Can anyone confirm the following;

1. Is my understanding of the Harmony option in XBMC correct?
   
2. Where could I find a list of the Apple Remote buttons relevant to the Harmony set-up (e.g. which button on which numbered remote is 'Menu' mapped to)?

Better still, does anyone have a Pronto ccf file that replicates the Harmony Plex/XBMC profile?

Thanks in advance for any help. Happy to clarify if (quite likely) these written ramblings make less sense here than they do in my head.

[MaestroDD]

[snip]

1. Is my understanding of the Harmony option in XBMC correct?
   
2. Where could I find a list of the Apple Remote buttons relevant to the Harmony set-up (e.g. which button on which numbered remote is 'Menu' mapped to)?

a) yep
b) Unfortunately that information is not as explicit as it could be:

1. XBMCHelper source code starting from here. device_ids are, yeah, the different device ids. Then the combination of device id + AppleRemote button is mapped to a number [1...$(no_of_device_ids*10)]
   
2. mapping of those numbers to harmony buttons / xbmc actions is in Keymap.xml
   
   

I'm not sure if this is all the information you need. Do you already know how to send the "remote changed / I am remote xyz" command?

HTH
mdd

[Fergus]

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, it's really appreciated!

Do you already know how to send the "remote changed / I am remote xyz" command?

Not off the top of my head, but I seem to recall it being easy enough to find through Google. I'll search about and call for help if I get stuck!

Then the combination of device id + AppleRemote button is mapped to a number [1...$(no_of_device_ids*10)]

If I've understood your comment and the source and keymap.xml correctly then...

• The Play button on Remote #1 equates to button id 5 in keymap.xml which in turn equates to the 'Select' function.
  
• The Play button on Remote #2 equates ti button id 15 in keymap.xml which in turn equates to the 'Stop' function.
  

Have I got that right? If so, I'll have a go at setting up my Pronto over the next few nights (spare time is tight right now). If it works, I'll post the configuration here and at remotecentral.com for anyone else who's still running one of these old remotes!

[MaestroDD]

[...]

• The Play button on Remote #1 equates to button id 5 in keymap.xml which in turn equates to the 'Select' function.
  
• The Play button on Remote #2 equates ti button id 15 in keymap.xml which in turn equates to the 'Stop' function.
  

Have I got that right?

yep! (I just came to the same result, but as always, off by one _might_ be possible )

If so, I'll have a go at setting up my Pronto over the next few nights (spare time is tight right now). If it works, I'll post the configuration here and at remotecentral.com for anyone else who's still running one of these old remotes!

sounds good.

have fun,
mdd

[Fergus]

Just thought I'd post back to confirm that I've got this working now, in case any other Pronto Pro users want have a go at this too.

I used the instructions (and software) for iRedLite to ensure my Aple Remote was set to the right ID before allowing the Pronto Pro to learn the IR codes. I messed up first time around, as I assumed that I was supossed to learn the IR codes for remote IDs 0 - 9. Only when I went back to look at the code highlighted by MaestroDD did I realise that the XBMC Harmony profile uses the buttons from Apple Remotes with IDs of 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 157, 158, 159 and 160.

After learning the repeating IR codes for all 60 buttons (10 remote IDs x 6 buttons), it was a case of reading through the keympap.xml in order to work out the purpose of each button, and give it a suitable icon, text and position on the ProntoPro screen.

I didn't want the screen to be too crowded or busy, so some buttons just aren't used on my set-up (e.g. I use the arrow keys for big/small steps forward/backwards in preference to 'rewind and 'fast-forward' buttons that never really worked for me over SMB shares). All the 60 buttons are learned and present on hidden panels; the buttons on my visible panels simply contain an alias that maps onto the appropriate hidden button.

Here's the end result;

Visible Panels






Learned Buttons



Finally, I've sent a full ccf file to remotecentral.com for the benefit of any other Pronto Pro XBMC users. It can be found here at remotecentral.com.

Fergus.

[MaestroDD]

Hey Fergus,

nice job, and thanks for sharing!

[thijse]

This is an old thread, but I'm basically trying to do the same thing as Fergus but with another universal (non harmony) remote, so I'll post my questions here.

- In the Dharma there is a multi-remote (Harmony) and a Universal Remote setting. What is the difference?
- In the case of multi-remote, are the buttons now renumbered onto the joystick.Harmony.xml file?
- Is it still true that the combination of device id + AppleRemote button is mapped to a number [1...$(no_of_device_ids*10)]?
- Do we still map Apple Remotes with IDs of 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 157, 158, 159 and 160? Can you provide a link to the specific code? The trac reference does not exist anymore
- Looking at the button ID's in joystick.AppleRemote.xml, I find
"
<!-- plus --> <button id="1">Up</button>
<!-- minus --> <button id="2">Down</button>
<!-- left --> <button id="3">Left</button>
<!-- right --> <button id="4">Right</button>
<!-- center --> <button id="5">Select</button>
<!-- menu --> <button id="6">PreviousMenu</button>
<!-- hold center --> <button id="7">Fullscreen</button>
<!-- hold menu --> <button id="8">ContextMenu</button>
<!-- old buttons for ATV <2.2, used on OSX -->
<!-- hold left --> <button id="9">Left</button>
<!-- hold right --> <button id="10">Right</button>
"
So are these the 10 buttons I need to map on my Remote, including the "hold" buttons? And not the new aluminium remote play button?
"
<!-- new aluminium remote buttons -->
<!-- play --> <button id="12">Play</button>
"

If I get this to work, I'll make a wiki page for this :-)

[Fergus]

Starter for ten...

In the Dharma there is a multi-remote (Harmony) and a Universal Remote setting. What is the difference?

Multi-remote (Harmony) has lots of unique 'buttons' available at it's disposal, since it mimics ten Apple Remotes. The Universal Remote setting is limited to a smaller set of 'buttons' from a single Apple Remote, but includes logic to handle the chaining together of consecutive button presses. In other words. Universal Remote will show more lag, since XBMC chooses to wait before acting on your button press to establish whether you're about to press another follow-up button as part of a pair.

In the case of multi-remote, are the buttons now renumbered onto the joystick.Harmony.xml file?

Can't answer this one I'm afraid, haven't needed revisit the mappings since programming my Pronto Pro last June. At a quick glance however, this does look like a sensible assumption on your part.

Can you provide a link to the specific code? The trac reference does not exist anymore

I can't promise that the sourcecode hasn't been revised since my original post, but here's where it moved to way back when the directory structure was rejigged; http://trac.xbmc.org/browser/trunk/tools...er.mm#L360


Finally, if you follow my link to remotecentral.com and load up my Pronto Pro configuration in the free 'Pronto Pro Edit' (Windows) or Tonto (Mac) applications, you may find that an easier way to reconcile the question of which harmony buttons map onto (i.e. need to learn) which Apple remote ID/Buttons. You might even strike it lucky and have a remote that can import a Pronto Pro ccf file?

[thijse]

Thanks for your help! I'll go and have a look at the Pronto Pro configuration files, but I don't think my humble Philips SRU 8015 remote can import them.

I'll post a link to the wiki if I have everything working.