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Hoping that this new thread for people that are using the perfect (?) "HTPC" trio Smile

I recenty bought the Logitech Harmony Smart Control with Smartphone App and Simple Remote to replace the original Fire TV remote. I love the original FTV remote but the lack of volume buttons and my desire to only have one remote in the living room made me look for a universal alternative. The Harmony remote communicates via RF to the "hub" which sits in a shelf somewhere. The hub controls your devices via Bluetooth or IR, so you don't need a USB IR dongle for the Fire TV, which is nice.

Thanks to the XBMC for Fire TV Launcher (thanks, elmerohueso !) the Fire TV now boots directly into XBMC, and I can launch Hulu, Netflix, Pandora, a myriad of Fire TV games, etc., directly and I *almost* find myself in XBMC Heaven Smile

What works:
- the Fire TV remote can be completely replaced (except for the occasional need to reboot by holding down Play + Select)
- I've mapped the DVR button to "Home" and thus wherever I am in the Fire TV Eco system, I can click just one button and be back in XBMC
- As I've already mentioned, I can already launch Netflix and Pandora directly from the XBMC home screen

What doesn't work:
- I would like to be able to map "Info" to keyboard key "i", stop to "x", etc., for a better xbmc experience. So far this isn't implemented by Logitech. You can send keyboard keys, but only via a smartphone app. I've asked Logitech about this feature in this thread in their forums. Please chime in there if you also want this feature

My remote mapping right now:

Activities:

- music key, short and long press: Listen to Radio
- TV key, short press: Watch TV. Long press: Watch Apple TV (just for HBO Go at this point)
- Movie key, short press: Watch Fire TV. Long press: Watch Blu-ray

Playback keys:
- rewind & fast forward -> their respective buttons. Long press not mapped
- stop -> "back" key, which does what is expected during playback, but I'd prefer that it would do nothing while in the UI (hence the desire to map it to the X key on a keyboard)
- play / pause -> play / pause. Long press not mapped
- Guide -> the "Search" button
- Info -> Not mapped but I hope to map it to the "i" button at some point
- Menu -> Menu
- Channel up/Down -> rewind and fast forward, since these buttons do page up/down w/ the keymap

The red / green / yellow / blue buttons are reserved for the dimmable light switch in our living room. I bought the Lutron MIR-600THW-WH 600-Watt Maestro IR Dimmer which works perfectly with this setup. Red = light off. Green = dim light. Yellow = make brighter. Blue = Max brightness.

If other people can share their mapped keys for suggestions on how to improve, I'd appreciate it ! Smile

If Logitech the feature requested here I want to create key mappings with a corresponding xbmc keyboard map to accomplish the following:

- Exit: go to the XBMC home screen (or maybe restart XBMC)
- Guide: TV Guide using the PVR addon (haven't ventured down the PVR road yet but I'm hoping to get a PVR backend setup to work with my HDHomeRun Prime at some point)
- One button for marking something as watched / unwatched
- One button for toggling "Hide watched" in video library
- One button for updating video library

Thanks for the detailed info. I can't get the OK command on the remote or phone app to open anything in XBMC. Did you have to modify this? I can navigate in XBMC, but not open anything. Thanks.

Is there any way to get the Smart Control to send the number pad?

(2014-08-24, 21:16)Joey d Wrote: [ -> ]Thanks for the detailed info. I can't get the OK command on the remote or phone app to open anything in XBMC. Did you have to modify this? I can navigate in XBMC, but not open anything. Thanks.

Weird... sorry I can't be of any help on that, mine worked without problems.

(2014-09-08, 00:08)pmcd Wrote: [ -> ]Is there any way to get the Smart Control to send the number pad?

You can't send any keyboard presses yet, but the numeric buttons from a TV remote, etc. should work fine.

I'm still working on getting this set up the way I want. But, I thought I'd share what I have found so far.
The Harmony app can only send a limited number of different keys to XBMC. The standard buttons from the Fire TV remote are supported plus 2 extra buttons which are:
SKIPFORWARD - which I mapped to the stop key
SKIPBACK - Which I have mapped to the Info key

This mapping was done on my android phone in the Harmony app.

These keys show up in xbmc as:
SKIPFORWARD = next_track
SKIPBACK = prev_track

I added these 2 keys to the third keyboard.xml from the wiki and set thier activities as shown below:

Code:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<keymap>

  <Global>

    <keyboard>

      <up>Up</up>

      <down>Down</down>

      <left>Left</left>

      <right>Right</right>

      <enter>Select</enter>

      <menu>ContextMenu</menu>

      <play_pause>Play</play_pause>

      <backspace>Back</backspace>

      <rewind>PageUp</rewind>

      <fastforward>PageDown</fastforward>

      <next_track>Stop</next_track>

    </keyboard>

  </Global>

  <Home>

    <keyboard>

      <menu>XBMC.ActivateWindow(favourites)</menu>

    </keyboard>

  </Home>

  <FullscreenVideo>

    <keyboard>

      <up>ChapterOrBigStepForward</up>

      <down>ChapterOrBigStepBack</down>

      <left>SmallStepBack</left>

      <right>StepForward</right>

      <return>OSD</return>

      <menu>ShowSubtitles</menu>

      <prev_track>CodecInfo</prev_track>

      <play_pause>Play</play_pause>

      <backspace>Stop</backspace>

      <rewind>PreviousScene</rewind>

      <fastforward>NextScene</fastforward>

    </keyboard>

  </FullscreenVideo>

  <VideoMenu>

    <keyboard>

      <backspace>Stop</backspace>

    </keyboard>

  </VideoMenu>

</keymap>

I found that without a true stop button that I would get stuck in music playback and live tv using the x-newa plugin wth no way to exit.

I also managed to get XBMC on my FTV in a decent state, including controlling it via my Harmony Ultimate remote. What I still
don't like the stop key/function.

AFAIK, the FTV doesn't know a real stop button. At least if you use add the FTV as device and create the Watch FTV activity,
the stop button on my Harmony remote doesn't do much. This is a bit annoying, because if you really want a hard stop you've
to pause and then navigate to the GUI stop button.

If you don't do this and start a new button while the other is still paused, you can crash XVMC/Kodi or (in my case)
the sound system got messed up.

Generally, Kodi 14.0 alpha 3 performs much better than 13.2. 13.2 has serious issues when playing 1080p streams. 14.0
seems to be fine incl. bitstreaming hi-def audio formats to my receiver.

You're right about the stop button. I originally used the Ortek V1100 infrared remote. It does have a button that works as stop. However, there is no way for the smart hub to learn a function from the IR remote and use it with the bluetooth connection.

I wanted to get rid of the ir reciever and use the harmony smart hub connected wirelessly by adding the AFTV as a device in the Harmony setup app. I would be interested to know if the modified keyboard.xml file I posted above works with the Harmony Ultimate also. It should work with any SmartHub remote. I had the same problem and not be able to stop playback of some items.

Here is a link to the wiki page describing the alternate keymaps. Wiki. I modified the third one to add a global stop button.

I was thinking of getting the smart control, but now im not too sure. Thing is its not cheap at all in my country and I would like it to at least replace most, if not all of the functions of the 4 remotes I currently have for tv viewing lol.

(2014-09-25, 08:47)ars92 Wrote: [ -> ]I was thinking of getting the smart control, but now im not too sure. Thing is its not cheap at all in my country and I would like it to at least replace most, if not all of the functions of the 4 remotes I currently have for tv viewing lol.

Hopefully I'm not sounding like a fanboy here.....

I wouldn't let this discussion steer you away from the Harmony Smarthub remotes. Granted I have used Harmony remotes for a long time and understand their mode of operation. This will take some effort to set up. It's not a device that you can take out of the box, plug in and immediately start using. The setup is done through a smartphone or tablet. You will set up "Activities" that assign certain buttons on the included remote to specific functions on your devices. It's not going to give you every button on every remote, but that's the beauty of the system.

For example:
I have one of the 3 Activity buttons set to a Music Activity
This does the following:
Turns on my TV and sets it to the input for the FireTV HDMI out
Turns on my Soundbar and sets it to the input for the Fire TV optical out
Sets the Volume up and down buttons to control the soundbar volume
Turns on my 20 year old JVC stereo amp connected to speakers on the patio
Sets the channel up and down buttons to control the JVC amps volume
The other buttons (up, down,ok etc) are programmed as above to control XBMC on the Fire TV

The biggest advantage, in our household anyway, is that my wife and daughter can't break it. Well, can't is probably too strong a word... It's not so likely that they will change an input on the TV or the soundbar and break playback. This used to happen a lot with the Harmony 650 IR based remote.

The main problem is that the Amazon Fire TV doesn't have enough buttons available to properly control XBMC. That's why there are several alternate keymaps to give better control of XBMC.

The smartphone app will also control all your devices and does give you the option of controling each device independently with all of the buttons available on your original remote.

I too have found the combination of the Harmony Smart Control with FTV and XBMC to be truly outstanding. I've been through about a dozen programmable remotes over the years, and this is by far my favorite. It does require some effort to set up, including a custom keymap, but the result is well worth it. As dgeezer noted, the activities buttons can accomplish a great deal with a single press. Each of the physical buttons can actually serve 2 separate functions if you choose, so the small number of buttons is not nearly as limiting as it first appears.

Also, the in-cabinet control from the hub is the best performing and cleanest setup I've ever found.

My only gripes with the remote so far are:

- the absence of lighted keys
- while the initial settup must be done on a smart phone or tablet, certain advanced features need to be done from a computer. This was not immediately clear to me and increased the time it took for me to perfect my setup.
- the physical build feels a little flimsy considering the cost.

One other point to note. The remote is capable of rebooting the FTV, which I've found very helpful in tweaking the advancedsettings.xml and keeping the device running well. A daily reboot has kept it crash-free and snappy. Since I've got SPMC to auto-launch, this is a very simple 1-button operation.

I just got my FTV and have a Harmony Smart Control I want to setup.

@SandmanCL, have you done any more tweaking or have new tips?

@ChipsAhoy, can you share your advancedsettings.xml ?

thx guys

(2014-09-26, 17:20)ChipsAhoy Wrote: [ -> ]One other point to note. The remote is capable of rebooting the FTV, which I've found very helpful in tweaking the advancedsettings.xml and keeping the device running well. A daily reboot has kept it crash-free and snappy. Since I've got SPMC to auto-launch, this is a very simple 1-button operation.

How did you get the Smart Control remote to reboot the FTV? The play+select combination which works with the Amazon remote doesn't work for me with the Harmony Smart Control.

Are you able to get the numeric keypad to be recognized by XBMC?

(2014-09-10, 02:51)SandmanCL Wrote: [ -> ]You can't send any keyboard presses yet, but the numeric buttons from a TV remote, etc. should work fine.

I meant the numbers on the remote. Can they somehow be sent to XBMC running on the FTV and be recognized? If you use FLIRC with the FTV then it's all easy. But trying to control the FTV via Bluetooth with the remote seems to somehow limit matters. I have the Smart Control Keyboard AddOn which has no problem with XBMC on other platforms ( Mac, Windows). Haven't tried it with the FTV.

The Smart Control remote is really, really nice. I also have the Ultimate but actually prefer the basic remote that comes with the Smart Control Hub. Be ideal if I could get those numbers to work.

Livin:

Here's my advancedsettings.xml (minus the mySQL and thumbnail path substitution stuff):

Code:
<advancedsettings>

  <video>

        <timeseekforward>15</timeseekforward>  <!-- Time to seek forward in sec - short seek.  Defaults to 30. -->

        <timeseekbackward>-15</timeseekbackward>  <!-- Time to seek backward in sec - short seek.  Defaults to -30. -->

        <timeseekforwardbig>300</timeseekforwardbig>  <!-- Time seek forward in sec- long seek. Def 600 (10 min). -->

        <timeseekbackwardbig>-300</timeseekbackwardbig>  <!-- Time seek back in sec - long seek. Def to -600 (10 min). -->

     <stagefright>

    <!-- -1 is default, 0 is never used this codec, 1 is always use this codec, bypassing blacklist -->

      <usempeg2codec>0</usempeg2codec>

     </stagefright>

  </video>    

  <network>

    <buffermode>1</buffermode>

    <cachemembuffersize>104857600</cachemembuffersize><!-- Comment: Default is 20971520 bytes or 20 MB -->

    <readbufferfactor>5</readbufferfactor>

  </network>

</advancedsettings>

and pmcd here's the keyboard.xml:

Code:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<keymap>

  <Global>

    <keyboard>

      <up>Up</up>

      <down>Down</down>

      <left>Left</left>

      <right>Right</right>

      <enter>Select</enter>

      <menu>ContextMenu</menu>

      <play_pause>Play</play_pause>

      <backspace>Back</backspace>

      <rewind>PageUp</rewind>

      <fastforward>PageDown</fastforward>

    </keyboard>

  </Global>

  <Home>

    <keyboard>

      <menu>XBMC.Powerdown</menu>

    </keyboard>

  </Home>

  <FullscreenVideo>

    <keyboard>

      <up>ChapterOrBigStepForward</up>

      <down>ChapterOrBigStepBack</down>

      <left>StepBack</left>

      <right>StepForward</right>

      <return>OSD</return>

      <menu>ShowSubtitles</menu>

      <play_pause>Play</play_pause>

      <backspace>Stop</backspace>

      <rewind>Rewind</rewind>

      <fastforward>FastForward</fastforward>

    </keyboard>

  </FullscreenVideo>

  <VideoMenu>

    <keyboard>

      <backspace>Stop</backspace>

    </keyboard>

  </VideoMenu>

</keymap>

Note the section in the middle: XBMC.Powerdown

That's the command that will reboot the FireTV

Like JoeyD above my "OK" button will not open anything, and as a matter of fact if I navigate myself in with the FireTV remote and hit OK on the Logitech remote it opens the context menu. I have triple checked that the OK key is mapped to "enter" and again this works fine with the fire tv remote which is supposed to be the same set of commands. This same function does NOT work with a smartphone using the ok button however if I open a keyboard and hit the enter key it responds as expected.

Has anyone else run into this? I am running XBMC/SPMC 12.4

Thanks

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SandmanCL

Joey d

pmcd

SandmanCL

dgeezer

loekf

dgeezer

ars92

dgeezer

ChipsAhoy

Livin

pmcd

pmcd

ChipsAhoy

rwithers