[jpf55]

Hello everyone,
This post is up to date as of version 9.11 of XBMC and I have made no modifications in the commands, everything is Stock.

By popular demand, here is a complete HOW-TO to control your appleTV-XBMC, this is going to be a long post but hopefully it will solve other people's problems as well.

I have answered some questions in the past about this and kept wondering why some people still had trouble.
First , a bit of history, I have had my AppleTV since they came out and I believe I am the one that had the Logitech people add it to the list of devices. I have never since changed that setup but, as some of you may have read, I did modify the commands within XBMC. Also, I have tried to use the Harmony setup found under Settings>System>Input devices>Apple remote > Multi remote (Harmony) but could never get it to work and now I know why. I had sent a ticket to the XBMC staff to make changes to the remote commands and the ticket was accepted but could never see the changes because I had the wrong setup. Yes, me too, and I apologize for silently doubting the excellent XBMC staff.

Originally, back in 2007, my device in the Harmony setup was called Media Device Centre PC, manufacturer was Apple and model number was MA-711LL/A but I discovered today that there exists another entry for the Apple TV and it is aptly called Apple TV, still under Media Centre PC and still under Apple but as you can see it offers quite a bit more control. Here is a list of commands available under both devices.
Original device: Apple TV (Apple MA-711LL/A)

Newer device: Media Centre PC (Apple Apple TV)


So, anyway, I went back to the Harmony setup and saw that in the device section there was a message saying there was an update for the AppleTV device, I answered yes and updated the remote. OUCH, nothing worked anymore so DON'T DO IT.

Simply create a new device, Media Centre PC > Apple > Apple TV and keep your original one as a backup, just in case.

At this point it would be wise to check your original Apple TV Activity setup and copy down the different input/output settings for the devices. And don't bother trying Copy/Paste, it does not work… Thanks Logitech

Now create a new Activity with your TV, Receiver and the new Apple TV device.

Click Add New Activity, choose "No - manually add Activity" and click Next
Choose Utility and click next new choose "Generic Activity ( Create a custom Activity" and click next and next again
In this screen you will add the devices you need to watch the Apple TV and after that you will be asked for the different input/output settings that you jotted down previously for each device but when setting up the Apple TV, don't select Frontrow, select the second option, the one that says something like "No special setup for this device"


Now still in Harmony, under Activities, choose Customize Buttons and set them as follows:




And lastly, Select the Additional Buttons tab and set them as follows:


Now, update the remote.
You may have to use the Pair/Unpair remote buttons on the additional Buttons screen in the remote for the remote to work but it will. Next you have to go to the Settings > System > Input devices > Apple Remote and select Disable, you will be asked to confirm this and then select Harmony. Again, you may have to use the Pair/Unpair remote buttons on the additional Buttons screen. Lastly, you want to check if the original Apple remote still works and if not, move it close to the Apple TV and keep Menu and the Left button pressed for 5 seconds to Pair it.

And that's it, if everything is to your satisfaction, you could delete your original AppleTV Activity.

I hope this helps some people and wish you all a wonderful New Year and to the XBMC team and contributors, THANK YOU

Edit: Obviously, certain button settings apply only to my equipment, i.e: Stereo receiver and TV

This HOW-TO is for the Apple TV only, not for OSX and using this HOW-TO, you won't have to mod the keymap file everytime you wish to change SVN, everything is built in XBMC