I've just discovered something that others might find useful.
If like me you've got a TV remote with some extra VCR/DVD buttons (whatever they are) you can train your ATV2 to recognise these buttons, then you've got an alternative way of using your ATV2 when the supplied dinky remote gets lost down the back of the sofa.
In the apple menu (frontrow?) go to settings->general->remote and follow the on screen instructions.
I've got a panasonic G10 TV, i've trained the extra prog+/- to do up down, REW and FF to do left and right, PLAY to do select, and STOP to do exit/menu
The only slight quirk about this remote is that to train it you have to hold in the key, but on my remote holding REW or FF actually sends a different command which is then learned by the ATV2 as left/right, so I had to fake holding it in by pulsing it. (This issue is probably very specific to TV remotes similar to mine)
I've also got the android remote app which is BRILLIANT.
Cool. Thanks for sharing. I'm going to try that
This is just fucking awesome.
with a universal remote, could i change the device its supposed to control (lets say an unused "aux" device), will atv2 recognize my up/down/left/right/select etc if i train it?
thesuffering Wrote:with a universal remote, could i change the device its supposed to control (lets say an unused "aux" device), will atv2 recognize my up/down/left/right/select etc if i train it?
The apple tv will detect any RF signal. You can teach the Apple TV to respond to any signal you transmit. I'm suprised people don't know about this it was pretty much the first thing I did when I got my Apple TV.
Stiffler Wrote:The apple tv will detect any RF signal. You can teach the Apple TV to respond to any signal you transmit. I'm suprised people don't know about this it was pretty much the first thing I did when I got my Apple TV.
i didnt read any instruction manuals, first thing i did when i pulled it out of the box was jailbreak and install xbmc. i havent even really messed around with front row at all. apple should be happy for the xbmc developers. if it wasnt for xbmc i would have never given them my $99.
Stiffler Wrote:The apple tv will detect any RF signal. You can teach the Apple TV to respond to any signal you transmit. I'm suprised people don't know about this it was pretty much the first thing I did when I got my Apple TV.
IR not RF
I don't read manual's but I've discovered over the years that apparantly I'm more inquisitive than most. It's rare to never someone will tell me about a genuine feature or functionality of something without me having found it first. Having said that I've owned a couple of apple TV's since before jailbreaking was possible so I suppose I did have a greater incentive to explore frontrow.
And good point about the RF I typed that without even thinking.
About Remote Learning on Apple TV from support.apple.com
Quote:Summary
Apple TV can learn how to be controlled by third-party infrared remotes. This allows you to use a remote that came with your TV, cable box, or DVD player to also control Apple TV.
Products Affected
Apple TV (2nd generation), Apple TV (1st generation)
It is important to note that this feature is different from what is offered by programmable remotes. The Learn Remote feature of Apple TV allows Apple TV itself to learn how to be controlled by various remotes as opposed to a programmable remote that has to learn how to control various devices. To set up a third-party remote with Apple TV, follow the steps below.
Note: Apple TV (1st generation) requires Apple TV software 2.3 or later.
To use a remote that came with your TV, cable box, or DVD player
1.Choose Settings > General > Remotes.
2.Choose Learn Remote.
3.Set your remote to a device setting that doesn't control any other devices in the area or identify other buttons that do not already control a function on your TV or other device. Many third-party remotes have an option to control different devices such as a VCR or DVD player or have an auxiliary option for an unspecified device.
4.Select Start (using the Apple Remote included with Apple TV).
5.Apple TV will display icons that represent the six buttons on the Apple Remote with the "Up" or "+" button highlighted first.
6.Using your third-party remote, press and hold the button you would like to use to control the "up" function until the blue progress bar is full as shown below.
7.Apple TV will then select the next button function. Repeat step 6 using a different button
8.After you have programmed all six button functions, you can now use your third-party remote to control Apple TV. You can optionally setup specific playback buttons for Fast-forward, Rewind, Next chapter, and more.
You can always program additional remotes to control Apple TV by repeating steps 1-8. At anytime you can rename, delete or revise your button choices for a selected third-party remote by choosing Settings > General > Remotes and selecting a third-party remote that Apple TV has already learned.
Additional Information
When performing the steps above you may experience an issue where Apple TV indicates "No Signal Received. Check Remote" as shown below. This will occur if Apple TV does not detect any infrared signal coming from your third-party remote within 20 seconds. In some cases, the button you are trying to program may not be enabled. Consult the user's manual for your remote to learn how to enable the desired button.
If you see the "Button Already Learned" error message, this means one of the following:
■A different, previously learned remote, has a learned button with the same IR code as the current button that you are trying to program.
■A previously learned button of the current remote has the same IR code as the current button that you are trying to program.
Either use a different button or delete the previously learned remote if it is not being used.
Correct, this is nothing specific for XBMC.
Edit:
Nevermind, this was a stupid idea anyhow
I had to cheat on my remote's left button. I don't know why, but the progress bar stopped even though I kept the button pressed. I pressed the button repeatedly and it worked. I also setup the additional buttons, but they don't work inside xbmc. I guess I have to define those keys somewhere, right?
One thing that doesn't work is using the old Xbox DVD remote
I think it uses a different IR standard to most remotes and so isn't recognised by the ATV2. Shame
jgawera Wrote:One thing that doesn't work is using the old Xbox DVD remote
I think it uses a different IR standard to most remotes and so isn't recognised by the ATV2. Shame
Total shame... I was pumped when I saw the learn function on the atv2... figured any remote I had would work and the only one I had was the original XBOX remote... which has tons of buttons, good feel, looks decent.
Best hope is the Apple Remote app for the iPhone/iPad/iPod I guess. Time to do some digging around here to see what's the latest. My atv2 remote has overlapping controls with the remote for my speakers which is driving me insane so time to use the iPhone as a remote.
jgawera Wrote:I've just discovered something that others might find useful.
If like me you've got a TV remote with some extra VCR/DVD buttons (whatever they are) you can train your ATV2 to recognise these buttons, then you've got an alternative way of using your ATV2 when the supplied dinky remote gets lost down the back of the sofa.
In the apple menu (frontrow?) go to settings->general->remote and follow the on screen instructions.
I've got a panasonic G10 TV, i've trained the extra prog+/- to do up down, REW and FF to do left and right, PLAY to do select, and STOP to do exit/menu
The only slight quirk about this remote is that to train it you have to hold in the key, but on my remote holding REW or FF actually sends a different command which is then learned by the ATV2 as left/right, so I had to fake holding it in by pulsing it. (This issue is probably very specific to TV remotes similar to mine)
I've also got the android remote app which is BRILLIANT.
I taught my apple TV to use the commands from an extra Squeezebox remote I had, and then got access to discrete play, pause, stop etc commands.
But XBMC still only accepts the basic commands (now overwritten w squeeze remote)?? The new discrete commands are ignored. Are there any settings I have missed?