[KidKiwi]

OK, so that seems to work.... I have an old MCE remote's IR receiver, a USB unit. Like this dude: USB remote

Don't use the remote part, but with the Harmony 650 it seems to be plug and play. I can't use the blutooth remote the shield comes with cause A) it's stupid IMHO and B) I distribute the HDMI to several rooms in the very spread out house, so range is an issue. Have used IR for many years with this setup and in kodi's keyboard mapping I setup years ago on the PC I can do all I need on the shield no changes required, I think. Not fully tested, but I'm running setup stuff and working most of the buttons without issue so far! I'll move the XML's I use on the PC over later and report back if it works... if theres any interest.

Might be an easier/faster route if you can find a basic usb IR receiver in that box(s) of old tech we all have getting dusty in the garage.

Glad you found something that works for you. I have a similar one for my old zotac-ion box running xbmcbuntu -> but I didn't want to use it because it would mean I couldn't just switch between the two boxes easily while I was setting up the Shield. It was a good call because it took sometime to get the shield working to my satisfaction and I had to go back to the zotac several times. I'd like to leave that as a backup box now the shield has been in constant use for a couple of weeks.