Kodi Community Forum

Full Version: Need help to map a few buttons on MCE remote
You're currently viewing a stripped down version of our content. View the full version with proper formatting.
Pages: 1 2
I have searched and found a lot of threads on how to configure my MCE remote. I read them but they are too many ways for different remotes and all the different directions are hard for me to follow blah blah blah.. i tried LM remote but i want to try to edit the xml myself. I will try to edit in the remote.xml.or I don't know keyboard.xml. Some guides say to edit keyboard.xml for remote control but that doesn't make sense. if i could get some specific help to the button i want to map it would be greatly helpful. Im windows 7 32bit with the the latest build of dharma. And please only noob directions

ok my remote Image

what i want to map

REMOTE BUTTON
(i more)----TO show info when im in library mode.
(i more)-----to toggle subs on of when playing in full screen mode
"don't know if multi button function is supported"
IF NOT SUPPORTED then map it to INFO AND-----MAP
(2) TO subtitle

(back <-) when viewing movie info to map to esc on the keyboard
(1) to map to M on the keyboard.( OSD while playing fullscreen)
(ZOOM) TO change aspect ration when playing fullscreen.
(3) to map to C same as keyboard brings up context menu
First of all go here and get the mceremote.zip

In here JR has described in details how to program your remote. Basic it means you have to use a .reg file and afterwards customize your keyboard.xml to meet your requirements. Also in the package there is a showkey program, this will show you what actions your press of a specific button does! So get going Smile
StefanM Wrote:First of all go here and get the mceremote.zip

In here JR has described in details how to program your remote. Basic it means you have to use a .reg file and afterwards customize your keyboard.xml to meet your requirements. Also in the package there is a showkey program, this will show you what actions your press of a specific button does! So get going Smile

Thanks for the link. I don't know what the a .reg file is but i will read instructions to figure it out as i go along. and i want to change my remote not my keyboard..could you give me an example edit to change one button on my remote..all thoose files look confusing.
Audible101 Wrote:Thanks for the link. I don't know what the a .reg file is but i will read instructions to figure it out as i go along. and i want to change my remote not my keyboard..could you give me an example edit to change one button on my remote..all thoose files look confusing.

The readme.txt in mceremote.zip gives all the details.

In Windows remotes emulate a keyboard i.e. when you press a button on the remote it sends a keypress just as if you had pressed a key on the keyboard. See http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Usi..._with_XBMC for background info.

JR
jhsrennie Wrote:The readme.txt in mceremote.zip gives all the details.

In Windows remotes emulate a keyboard i.e. when you press a button on the remote it sends a keypress just as if you had pressed a key on the keyboard. See http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Usi..._with_XBMC for background info.

JR

Ok guess i can try to figure this out
Audible101 Wrote:Ok guess i can try to figure this out

Ok seems that i need to downgrade to camelot? I have Dharma branch and a lot of the keys do work..I don't want to do that so i was thinking if anyone with that same remote could upload their keyboard.xml that should work for me rite..
Audible101 Wrote:Ok seems that i need to downgrade to camelot?

No, don't do that. Dharma has all the support for MCE remotes that you need.

The first job is to find out what type of remote you have. Run Showkey and press, for example, the Play button and see what you get. Showkey might show the keystroke ctrl-shift-P, or a "play" APPCOMMAND message or nothing at all. Also run regedit and look for the key mentioned in the readme:

Code:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
\SYSTEM
  \CurrentControlSet
   \Services
    \HidIr
     \Remotes
      \745a17a0-74d3-11d0-b6fe-00a0c90f57da

If ths key exists you probably have an MS compatible remote.

Either way, post your results here.

JR
using showkey.
i press stop i get "<stop>Notification(Key, stop, 3)</stop>"
volume "<volume_up>Notification(Key, volume_up, 3)</volume_up>"

in this pic is of my reg.Image

Also had weird issue..look at the pic. notice the volume icon..well it dosen't show up in xbmc anymore when i change the volume..when i first installed the remote and xbmc it was there so i might have played with something so any advice to get it working again. i will try to unistall driver and install again i don't know i can try..Image
It looks as if your remote is MS compatible. Double-click the MSRemote.reg file and it will come up and ask you if you're sure. Click OK then reboot your PC (if you've already done this there's no need to do it again). Now copy the keyboard.xml from mceremote.zip to your userdata\keymaps folder. To open the userdata folder click Start, Programs, Accessories, Run (or press Windows-R) and when Windows asks you what you want to run type %appdata%\xbmc\userdata. In this window you should see a folder called "keymaps". Double-click into this folder and copy the keyboard.xml there. To check it's all working run XBMC and press ctrl-A on the keyboard. You should get a little box pop up at the bottom right saying "Radio" (there's no special significance to this, it's just a test that the keymap is working).

Now try your remote and check that everything works. You should find most buttons do something, even if it's just to pop up a message like the "Radio" message mentioned above.

Check all this works and post the results here. Assuming it all works I'll write a keymap to make the buttons work as you asked in your first post.

JR
jhsrennie Wrote:It looks as if your remote is MS compatible. Double-click the MSRemote.reg file and it will come up and ask you if you're sure. Click OK then reboot your PC (if you've already done this there's no need to do it again). Now copy the keyboard.xml from mceremote.zip to your userdata\keymaps folder. To open the userdata folder click Start, Programs, Accessories, Run (or press Windows-R) and when Windows asks you what you want to run type %appdata%\xbmc\userdata. In this window you should see a folder called "keymaps". Double-click into this folder and copy the keyboard.xml there. To check it's all working run XBMC and press ctrl-A on the keyboard. You should get a little box pop up at the bottom right saying "Radio" (there's no special significance to this, it's just a test that the keymap is working).

Now try your remote and check that everything works. You should find most buttons do something, even if it's just to pop up a message like the "Radio" message mentioned above.

Check all this works and post the results here. Assuming it all works I'll write a keymap to make the buttons work as you asked in your first post.

JR

where is MSRemote.reg?
Audible101 Wrote:where is MSRemote.reg?

Download the latest version of mceremote.zip from http://xbmcmce.sourceforge.net/

JR
thanks for the link so here is what the remote does now..

music library and video library the (i) does map like info on the keyboard "great success" Smile
The ( <-) also is like the esc on keyboard "Great success"

it would be great if you could just map these for me

Map (i more) to toggle subs on/off while playin fullscreen movie
Map (zoom) to change aspect ratio while fullscreen video library
Map (Windows Green Button) to shut down XBMC or if not possible (s) on keyboard
( I have a moddifed exe for the windows logo downloaded from the forums to launch XBMC don't know if this would conflict)
i don't know if this is able to be mapped to a button..Well im watching episode or movie whatever and i Accidentally hit (<-) which brings me out of fullscreen and to the library.. the movie is still playing but i have no way of bringing it back, i have to press (Tab) on keyboard or if i press (OK) it will ask to resume from when i started watching not to when i pressed (<-) .

So would it somehow be possible to map (1) to (tab)..

THANKS FOR YOUR HELP. if there is anything that i could offer in return i be more than happy to assist in any way
Quote:music library and video library the (i) does map like info on the keyboard "great success" Smile
The ( <-) also is like the esc on keyboard "Great success"

Cool :-) In fact the <- button sends a Backspace keypress, which does the same as Escape in many cases, though not all. The button labelled "Clear" down at the bottom of the remote sends an Escape keypress.

Quote:Map (i more) to toggle subs on/off while playin fullscreen movie

The key thing to understand about the keyboard.xml is that it has different sections for the different states XBMC can be in. At the top of keyboard.xml is a section called <global> that defines global mappings for keys, but these can be redefined by other sections. In particular there is a section called <FullscreenVideo> that defines how keys should behave when you're playing a video. So to make the i button toggle subs when playing a video you need to add the following to userdata\keymaps\keyboard.xml just above the last line:

Code:
<FullscreenVideo>
    <keyboard>
      <d mod="ctrl">ShowSubtitles</d>
    </keyboard>
  </FullscreenVideo>

Note that MSRemote.reg configures the i button to send ctrl-D because this is the standard Microsoft Media Center keystroke for "Details" i.e. "Info". So you're adding a mapping for ctrl-D that applies only when playing a video and executes the action "ShowSubtitles".

Quote:Map (zoom) to change aspect ratio while fullscreen video library

Ah, now I'm not sure which button the Zoom button is. If you run Showkey and press the Zoom button Showkey will tell you what you need to add to keyboard.xml. If it's the top left button (this looks likely but it's hard to tell from the photo) then I think MSRemote.reg configures it to send ctrl-alt-T. In that case you'd add the mapping to the <global> section:

Code:
<!-- This is the new mapping for your Zoom button -->
      <t mod="ctrl,alt">AspectRatio</t>

The position of the lines doesn't matter in the <global> section doesn't matter. I'd put it at the top i.e. just after the lines:

Code:
<global>
    <keyboard>

simply because you'll be able to find it easily if you want to revisit your changes later.

Quote:Map (Windows Green Button) to shut down XBMC or if not possible (s) on keyboard

Note that MSRemote.reg configures the Power button to send alt-F4, so you can close XBMC just by pressing the power button. If you want to use the green button then MSRemote.reg configures it to send ctrl-shift-W so just add the mapping to the <global> section:

Code:
<w mod="ctrl,shift">ActivateWindow(shutdownmenu)</w>

Quote:I don't know if this is able to be mapped to a button..Well im watching episode or movie whatever and i Accidentally hit (<-) which brings me out of fullscreen and to the library.. the movie is still playing but i have no way of bringing it back, i have to press (Tab) on keyboard or if i press (OK) it will ask to resume from when i started watching not to when i pressed (<-) .

So would it somehow be possible to map (1) to (tab)..

The action you need is "Fullscreen" so you just need to map a selected button to this action. I'm not sure I'd redefine 1 to do this as then you wouldn't be able to use the remote to enter a "1". How about making the LiveTV button do it? Open your keyboard.xml in Notepad and find:

Code:
<!-- Live TV: ctrl-T: there isn't an obvious function in XBMC -->
      <t mod="ctrl">Notification(Key, Live TV, 3)</t>

and change this to:

Code:
<!-- Live TV: ctrl-T: map to Fullscreen i.e. the same as Tab -->
      <t mod="ctrl">FullScreen</t>

or change whatever button you want to map to Fullscreen. It should be obvious from the examples above how this all works.

JR
Wow thanks for the step by step guide..everything mapped correct. And the fullscreen was already mapped to (my Tv) the first button from the bottom. That is actually better.

Thanks for all your help much appreciated, these forums are the most helpful people i know.
wait i think that because i use a user defined keymap now my "windows logo" which launches xbmc from the desktop is not working. i used this method http://inchoatethoughts.com/ to launch..also my backup which defult launches windows media isn't working either..any suggestions
Pages: 1 2