[Mckron]

"Using win+" buttons. Thanks Bodhi!

*ugh* I should have thought of that myself. And the sad thing is I put the "alt-tab" button right next to my "win+" launch button. Heh. That'll teach me to try and think! I knew that the there was a program that was pulling aggro...erm...I mean focus from XBMC, I just hadn't bothered to check what (was Windows updates, go figure). Do you know why XBMC drops focus? It's the only program that I've seen drop, from something simple like a system notification, while running. Heck, even the very crappy HDFrames (Dang! that's an ugly program!) that came with my case doesn't drop.

Will dig deeper.

[bodhi]

"Using win+" buttons. Thanks Bodhi!

*ugh* I should have thought of that myself. And the sad thing is I put the "alt-tab" button right next to my "win+" launch button. Heh. That'll teach me to try and think! I knew that the there was a program that was pulling aggro...erm...I mean focus from XBMC, I just hadn't bothered to check what (was Windows updates, go figure). Do you know why XBMC drops focus? It's the only program that I've seen drop, from something simple like a system notification, while running. Heck, even the very crappy HDFrames (Dang! that's an ugly program!) that came with my case doesn't drop.

Will dig deeper.

Yeah, Windows Update does that every time with XBMC the reason is XBMC is not sharing focus when we run it in true full screen (If you change it to run full screen window, then it will be OK. But that's ugly). Windows update displays notification message so it will grab the focus. One way to avoid it is to turn off notification and make it automatic (but I prefer to set it to download only, and then manually run Windows Update).

My XBMC activity is like this:

Start: Power up MCE SE, Power up MCE Keyboard, power up other devices, Win+3

Stop: Win+3, ... power down devices (this sequence is set by Harmony).

So XBMC is always minimized when exiting activity. During start activity, with the delay of 15 seconds (because of my Aquos TV requirement), XBMC is almost always maximized. Even with Windows Update notification. Once in while (it's rare), I have to use the LCD button to maximize it.

[Mckron]

Makes sense. My start-up and shut down are close to yours, with a few exceptions in the timing as my video goes thru my amp (so I can switch between my plazma and my projo on the fly). One big difference is that I don't minimize when leaving the activity, have mine to exiting XMBC all together. Suppose you could always permanently set priority in Task Manager to a program using the Prior download. Never used the Prior Program myself but have seen it around. That would get rid of that focus issue all together, maybe I'll play the lab rat here and try it out tonight.

Hey Bodhi, what Aquos do you have? They were amazing panels at one point. Real LCD trail blazers.

[bodhi]

Makes sense. My start-up and shut down are close to yours, with a few exceptions in the timing as my video goes thru my amp (so I can switch between my plazma and my projo on the fly). One big difference is that I don't minimize when leaving the activity, have mine to exiting XBMC all together. Suppose you could always permanently set priority in Task Manager to a program using the Prior download. Never used the Prior Program myself but have seen it around. That would get rid of that focus issue all together, maybe I'll play the lab rat here and try it out tonight.

Hey Bodhi, what Aquos do you have? They were amazing panels at one point. Real LCD trail blazers.

It would be great to solve this focus problem! But I think it could never be foolproof with Windows. Because any program that runs after you have forced the focus to XBMC would steal it again? unless Prior has the smart to steal it back!

I have the D64 model for a few years now (since it came out). It is a great HDTV, after I've calibrated it using settings learned from AVS forum. Saved a bundle as comparing to the Sony Bravia price

[svinyard]

Indeed, it is very different (apple and orange). When you use Harmony, you would use the IR receiver which is in line of sight of the remote to bring the HTPC out of the sleep state, or put it to sleep (this would need the HTPC to be capable of S3 sleep). You're using Android remote to send WOL magic packet to the network to wake up a machine with a certain address, and this occurs outside of XBMC.

The answer would be yes, with the following configuration: the Harmony remote is in the line of sight of the IR receiver, the receiver is RC6 type, and the HTPC is capable of S3 sleep.

Thank you for the clarification! Now the beauty of harmony is that you don't need line of sight right? Is there an RF receiver that everyone uses instead of IR for their XBMC? I'd like to put the HTPC hidden away and use the Harmony like I do with everything else via RF.

[bodhi]

Thank you for the clarification! Now the beauty of harmony is that you don't need line of sight right? Is there an RF receiver that everyone uses instead of IR for their XBMC? I'd like to put the HTPC hidden away and use the Harmony like I do with everything else via RF.

Not quite. The Harmony model that has RF built-in is the 900. And you would use its RF receiver which then converts the RF commands into Infrared. The rest of other Harmony later models are IR. The 900 popularity was destroyed by Logitech company itself because they removed the sequences capability (similar to macros). Power users hate the Harmony 900.

The alternative is to use a Next Generation Remote Control Extender with an adapter which looks like a AA/AAA battery that you insert into an IR remote, and a UFO shape RF-receiver-and-IR-emitter which then converts the RF commands into Infrared, and bast them to the equipments. Most IR remotes will work, including Harmony remotes, but some has problem.

There are other non-universal/universal RF remotes that work with Windows, too.

[Mckron]

You can also get the Monster AVL 300, the monster remote that uses the Logitech software and is RF for pretty cheap. Very nice and powerful with a crappy charging station. I have that and the Harmony One and the AVL 300 is far more powerful than the Harmony. Say, close to the 890 or the 900 but can be found much cheaper.

[johnmerrick]

I doubt it would help if XBMC wasn't in focus

How are you starting XBMC using eventghost using a button or at startup because mapping a button in eventghost to start XBMC would also bring XBMC back to focus if its minimised

I have 'Live TV' from mce remote mapped to start XBMC.exe in eventghost.

[svinyard]

Not quite. The Harmony model that has RF built-in is the 900. And you would use its RF receiver which then converts the RF commands into Infrared. The rest of other Harmony later models are IR. The 900 popularity was destroyed by Logitech company itself because they removed the sequences capability (similar to macros). Power users hate the Harmony 900.

The alternative is to use a Next Generation Remote Control Extender with an adapter which looks like a AA/AAA battery that you insert into an IR remote, and a UFO shape RF-receiver-and-IR-emitter which then converts the RF commands into Infrared, and bast them to the equipments. Most IR remotes will work, including Harmony remotes, but some has problem.

There are other non-universal/universal RF remotes that work with Windows, too.

Ah yes of course, I just use the IR receiver and put one of the harmony IR relays tapped to the front of it...just like everything else.

I have a harmony 880 so it works great.

I can't imagine that Logitech doesn't do sequences any more? Is this really true? Good lord, your saying if I have to turn on multiple devices and switch the receiver to output I can't do all that in a single button??

[bodhi]

Ah yes of course, I just use the IR receiver and put one of the harmony IR relays tapped to the front of it...just like everything else.

I have a harmony 880 so it works great.

I can't imagine that Logitech doesn't do sequences any more? Is this really true? Good lord, your saying if I have to turn on multiple devices and switch the receiver to output I can't do all that in a single button??

Yes, you can still do that with activity. But not with sequences on the 900. The Harmony One and others still have sequences (I believe it's limited to 5 steps). The problem with activity is it's setup by Harmony SW, so sometime it does not do exactly the way you'd want, and it's hard to tweak it. For simple setup, activity is all users would need. For some complicated setup, sequences help solve lot of problems.

[raybooysen]

Any ideas why the delay between keypresses is so high? I've gone into the Harmony app and reduced the delay to the minimum.

If I hold down the DOWN key, I can see the infra red received light come on but the XBMC has massive delays responding.

[calisto]

Hi,

was wondering if anyone can help please?

Have installed XBMC onto my PC & all going well, so thought would get an IR receiver for it so I could use my Harmony 525 with it using this tut, done as stated & pressed the activity button on remote, computer remained on but just a blank screen, so rebooted PC but PC starts up for about 10 secs, shuts itself down & starts again but no pic on screen & no hard drive activity, god knows what I have done.

Thanks
Calisto

[johnny87au]

The ones that for sure will work are RC6 receivers. Search for RC6 on eBay and post the link back here if you need our confirmation that it will work before buying.

hey mate hows this remote?
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/HP-Media-Cent...2c597a00fa

[bodhi]

hey mate hows this remote?
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/HP-Media-Cent...2c597a00fa

That listing does not show a receiver, only a remote. You'll only need the RC6 receiver to use it with the Harmony remote. Usually, they sell RC6 receiver only, or sell a full combo of RC6 remote and RC6 receiver.

It looks like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/1-NEW-Infrared-IR-Re...2c5dc70307

Or this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/HP-USB-RC6-IR-Remote...45fbf4d510

[johnny87au]

hows this mate ?
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Philips-MCE-U...43a88e583a