[asthepenguinfly]

Heyo,

I'm looking to upgrade my XBMC experience, and part of that means turning my current box into a media server, getting a couple revo's (or something similar), and installing ubuntu and xbmc on all of them (maybe not the sever, it probably won't have a monitor).

All of that seems pretty simple to accomplish. However, I'd also like to replace the remote setup I have at the moment. Currently, I am running XP with a USB-UIRT, a directv remote, and event ghost. I know that I can set this back up function-wise with lirc, but to be honest, I'd like to hear about what people think is the best usb remote setup for linux with xbmc. I won't be able to swing a serial connection on a nettop, so USB seems to be where it's at.

I've seen some solutions with MCE remotes, but I hate the idea of using a "branded" remote like that — I'd prefer to use a universal remote of some sort, so that I don't have 80 remotes lying around.

Any ideas/tips/links I ought to check out?

[odinb]

I got a Microsoft MCE remote a while back just to get the IR receiver, have the USB IR receiver hooked up to my Asrock 330 (first model without built in IR).

Control everything with my Harmony 880, so the actual MCE remote is tucked away in a drawer.

If you run the XBMCFreak Live setup, you will be up and running in no time with everything working out of the box: http://www.xbmcfreak.nl/en/xbmcfreak-livecd-9-11-v14/

This compilation works on most ION based nettops.

[jiz_king]

I'm using Live on an Asrock 330 and bought one of these...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILXuNkqo-hU

Rii

which I am really happy with. The only drawback I've found is that the KB can't send Ctrl-Alt-Fx so b ringing up a new shell session is a pain.

Edit: Forgot to mention, it works out of the box with zero config.

-C

[asthepenguinfly]

Thanks for the tips so far guys.

I'd love to get a harmony setup going, and that would certainly get around my problem with remotes that have microsoft branding on them (since you'd never see the actual remote) but I don't have the money to lay down on that right now with all the upgrades I'm doing. Same goes for the rii mini.

I also found the "remote control review" wiki page, and it got me thinking about the Mediagate GP-IR02BK, because it's an MCE remote and seems to have quite a few functions. And I can get it set up with a harmony later.

However, apparently it can't learn to control the volume of the tv, or power it on or off. That's even worse than my current setup. My directv remote is great in that regard, but the USB-UIRT occasionally reads multiple presses from the remote, and doesn't register "held down" presses as repeating commands. I assume this is not an issue with the MCE remotes?

Assuming I get the Revo 3610s, they come with a small wireless keyboard I could use, but they're gonna have the same problem as the MCE remote — no controlling the TV.

Is there a good full-featured MCE remote that can control TV volume and power?

Thanks for your help so far!

[bnbtnt2]

I've also been searching for a good cheaper remote that can control the TV as well!

[poofyhairguy]

Based on your needs you really need a Harmony. It is the only "step up" for you available. They get pretty cheap, I got my Harmony 600 for $50 locally. When you do get a Harmony, get this IR receiver (AND NOTHING ELSE):

http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=+OVU400...m270.l1313