2010-10-06, 00:16
Got this remote for £20 off amazon since it is RF so doesn't need line of sight. Plugged it in and whilst it did the basic stuff in xbmc if i accidentally pressed the green button or one of the media keys it would launch windows media centre, which was irritating.
Having looked around a while i couldn't find a quick fix so decided to get my hands dirty in eventghost. After a bit of fiddling I've managed to map any of the buttons to any XBMC/eventghost function. e.g. using the green windows MCE button to launch/re-focus xbmc.
This guide uses eventghost and changes a couple of windows settings to get things working as I wanted. Written assuming no knowledge of eventghost...
1. Getting eventghost to recognise all the buttons.
Download eventghost (google it) and install. Delete all plugins loaded by default (right click each plugin and choose delete).
Click add plugin from top bar and choose "generic HID" and click ok. This should open a box with several options for devices to add. You should have 4 options called "USB multimedia cordless keyboard" manufactured by BTC. Select the first one and click ok. Repeat for the remaining 3.
Test the buttons e.g. the "i" button to right of windows media centre green button. This should register in Eventghost window on the right as "HID.Button.521". Or the red button at the bottom of the remote which shows up as "HID.button.91".
Your remote is now working with eventghost.
2. Attach button presses on remote to xbmc functions.
In xbmc go to settings -> network ->services check "allow other programs on this system to control xbmc"
In eventghost add the xbmc plugin. Press a button e.g. the "i" button. Drag the HID.button.521 from the log on the left onto "info" in the xbmc plugin tree, pressing i will now activate the info command in xbmc. Repeat for all actions you want.
NB - xbmc detected up down left right and ok automatically so you don't need to map them.
3. Use the windows MCE green button to launch xbmc (and other media buttons).
I found a tip on another forum for this, this means changing a windows option and it does mean windows media centre won't be available on your pc anymore, i don't think it uninstalls it but it isn't obviously there... but you're using xbmc so does it really matter?
Go control panel -> default programs -> set program access and computer defaults. Choose custom and press down arrow on right hand side.
Scroll down to choose default media player and uncheck the box next to windows media centre.
Now the green MCE button and media buttons don't do anything and you can reassign them in eventghost to do other things in xbmc.
4. Stop the power button on the remote from suspending the computer.
Again i found this elsewhere. This will affect how your pc behaves if it has a "sleep" button since requires a change to windows settings, but works for me.
Go to control panel, power options and select "choose what the power buttons do" (on left hand panel) and change "when i press the sleep button" to "do nothing".
You can now remap the power button in eventghost.
This means the remote now works exactly as i want it to, hope it's useful to someone else!
cromity.
Having looked around a while i couldn't find a quick fix so decided to get my hands dirty in eventghost. After a bit of fiddling I've managed to map any of the buttons to any XBMC/eventghost function. e.g. using the green windows MCE button to launch/re-focus xbmc.
This guide uses eventghost and changes a couple of windows settings to get things working as I wanted. Written assuming no knowledge of eventghost...
1. Getting eventghost to recognise all the buttons.
Download eventghost (google it) and install. Delete all plugins loaded by default (right click each plugin and choose delete).
Click add plugin from top bar and choose "generic HID" and click ok. This should open a box with several options for devices to add. You should have 4 options called "USB multimedia cordless keyboard" manufactured by BTC. Select the first one and click ok. Repeat for the remaining 3.
Test the buttons e.g. the "i" button to right of windows media centre green button. This should register in Eventghost window on the right as "HID.Button.521". Or the red button at the bottom of the remote which shows up as "HID.button.91".
Your remote is now working with eventghost.
2. Attach button presses on remote to xbmc functions.
In xbmc go to settings -> network ->services check "allow other programs on this system to control xbmc"
In eventghost add the xbmc plugin. Press a button e.g. the "i" button. Drag the HID.button.521 from the log on the left onto "info" in the xbmc plugin tree, pressing i will now activate the info command in xbmc. Repeat for all actions you want.
NB - xbmc detected up down left right and ok automatically so you don't need to map them.
3. Use the windows MCE green button to launch xbmc (and other media buttons).
I found a tip on another forum for this, this means changing a windows option and it does mean windows media centre won't be available on your pc anymore, i don't think it uninstalls it but it isn't obviously there... but you're using xbmc so does it really matter?
Go control panel -> default programs -> set program access and computer defaults. Choose custom and press down arrow on right hand side.
Scroll down to choose default media player and uncheck the box next to windows media centre.
Now the green MCE button and media buttons don't do anything and you can reassign them in eventghost to do other things in xbmc.
4. Stop the power button on the remote from suspending the computer.
Again i found this elsewhere. This will affect how your pc behaves if it has a "sleep" button since requires a change to windows settings, but works for me.
Go to control panel, power options and select "choose what the power buttons do" (on left hand panel) and change "when i press the sleep button" to "do nothing".
You can now remap the power button in eventghost.
This means the remote now works exactly as i want it to, hope it's useful to someone else!
cromity.
