[akg4y]

I am trying to use a universal remote to control my mac mini and was wondering if anyone had any insight on some questions I had.. As I understand it the Mac Mini remotes are set to function with only one mac mini so that you can have two mac minis and two remotes and have each remote only control one of the macs without interfering with the other? If this is the case then does that mean that each remote is emitting different IR signals/codes, and if so how can Harmony remotes duplicate these commands if they are not universal?

Thanks!

[eric_pwb]

That is not quite true. I have an apple tv and a MacBook pro and two apple remotes, and either remote will control both the atv or the MacBook at the same time, as long as the remote is not paired with one or the other.

As far as I understand you can put the harmony into learning mode and learn six codes from the apple remote, then hold I beleive it is the menu and next buttons for several seconds and it will then give you six more codes to learn.

[akg4y]

Ah ok I think from what I had read I assumed the remotes were 'paired' to the device to begin with. If that is not the case then the generic remote codes should be available with the Harmony software without having to learn the IR command directly, shouldnt they?

[eric_pwb]

If I remember correctly you can set up the remote as Plex Player from the harmony software, also I remember a mention that there was an apple tv listing in the harmony software. Google is your friend.

[Fergus]

I went through the learning curve setting up my Pronto Pro to mimic a Harmony remote which in turn mimics multiple Apple remotes. Have a look at http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=52169 and see if it helps your understanding...

[akg4y]

Thanks for that link, makes much more sense now (although a lot of that is over my head since I dont use Pronto). I am trying to figure out how to get another system with an IR bud on my AppleTV/Mac Mini to control XBMC. Essentially Ill have to edit the keymap.xml file so that one of the 60 commands goes to a specific remote ID with buttons 1-6.

For example:
151 - button 1 on remote 1
165 - button 5 on remote 2
196 - button 6 on remote 5

Then I have to map my Control4 remote or other remote such that button X corresponds to 151. Right?

[Fergus]

From memory, I think the 1st remote control device to be 'learned' has an ID of 150 rather than 151.

I'd also question whether you need to amend your keymap.xml? If you configure your universal remote such that it mimics the Harmony, then you could use the to the stock keymap.xml.

Have a look at the entry my earlier post links to at remotecentral.com and see if you can find any utilities for your particular remote control. I'm not sure what remote you're using, but there may be software option out there to import (rather than physically 'learn') the IR Codes. This may be quicker and less cumbersome than learning every button from your apple remote whilst you've set it up as unit 150, 151, etc.

Also, If you can find my CCF file on remotecentral.com (search the files area for 'XBMC') and load it into ProntoEdit (freedownload on same site) you should be able double-click on any of my buttons and see which button on which Apple Remote it maps too. You can find the same information by looking at the area of sourcecode highlighted by MaestoDD in his reply to my thread mentioned in my previous post.

[akg4y]

Thanks for the help. I am using a Control4 home automation system where the controller has an IR bud attached to the front of the AppleTV. I understand what youre saying about the keymap and how it doesnt need to be edited, but I guess the disconnect comes with teaching the Control4 system how to learn the actual IR commands for each button. Ill have to figure that out, hopefully it wont require physically learning each code.. if it does how do you change a single apple remote to emit the various codes (ie change the device ID on the remote?)

[akg4y]

Fergus, in your other thread you said this:
The Play button on Remote #1 equates to button id 5 in keymap.xml which in turn equates to the 'Select' function.

Ive figured out that keymap.xml is no longer part of Camelot, and instead there is remote.xml which is essentially the same thing. The mapping Play button of remote #1 to button ID 5 is done in the source file MaestroDD linked to.

EDIT: Looks like MaestroDDs link is broken in the other thread, the new link is:
http://trac.xbmc.org/browser/branches/9....wrapper.mm


Ok so help me wrap my head around this one more time... that source above takes remote ID (150, 151, 152, etc) and adds the button ID to it. Are the button IDs as follows:
UP 1
DOWN 2
LEFT 3
RIGHT 4
PLAY 5
MENU 6

So pressing up on remote 1 is interpreted by XBMC as 15001, right? Which file then associates the 15001 input to an XBMC command? I saw in this thread that LIRC.conf does it for the xbox remote if you use LIRC:
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid...keymap.xml

Even more confusing to me is I see the harmony remote button IDs here:
http://trac.xbmc.org/browser/trunk/syste...ny.xml#L59
... and I have no idea where the IDs are coming from.

[akg4y]

Third post in a row... but I think I may have figured it out.

So the file MaestroDD linked to actually gives each button a number from 1-100 using the code at the bottom of the page. For example:

Pressing up on remote 1 (device ID 150) gives button ID 1
Pressing down on remote 1 gives button ID 2
Pressing up on remote 3 (device ID 152) gives button ID 21
Pressing up on remote 4 (device ID 153) gives button ID 31
etc

Those button IDs are mapped to commands in the Harmony Remote joystick keymap xml.

Is there a place I can find the actual IR codes that the harmony remote emits? Thats what I need to get my Control4 system to mimic it. Then I can just map those codes to buttons on my remote and change what they do in the harmony joystick file.

[Fergus]

You've been busy AKG4Yl hope you're getting there!

You asked

Is there a place I can find the actual IR codes that the harmony remote emits

I can't reach http://www.remotecentral.com from my workplace (our super-protective proxy server doesn't like me wasting my time on forums, but doesn't object to the XBMC site) but you can find the HEX IR codes on that site.

Go to the files section and search for "XBMC" in the Pronto Pro section. You should find a file posted in my name (Fergus). If you download this .ccf file you can find the HEX IR codes inside it, although you'll need to download ProntoEdit or a utility to actually open the file and access it's contents.

You may actually find it easier to simply 'learn' the commands from your Apple Remote! Have a look at the following ...

http://www.filewell.com/iRedLite/downloa...oteIDs.pdf

... to see how you can cycle through you're apple remote such that it behaves as remote1, remote2, etc, etc so your universal remote can 'learn' the individual button codes.

Good luck!

[akg4y]

Awesome, thanks.. Im also limited in what I can do from work unfortunately so Ill check out that CCF file tonight.