2012-01-20, 11:47
How To: Setup a Harmony One Remote Control to Display Custom XBMC Buttons such as:
Imagine those buttons on the Harmony One - for example instead of Projector Input, it says "Recent TV".
Imagine your wife/ girlfriend/ boyfriend, simply being able to click one button to launch those most used place - Recently Added Episodes and Pandora.
My girlfriend LOVES this - so will yours.
Like what you see and hear? Here's how you go about getting the magic:
Using Windows 7 x64, Intelliremote ($24 - more on why this is worth it later), Harmony One Remote control's Logitech software, wget.
Tested on Windows 7 x64. Should run on all windows though.
GET WGET:
You'll need to download and install wget - here's where I grabbed mine. Make sure you just grab the .exe, and not the sources as you won't need them.
Install to: "C:\Program Files\GnuWin32"
PREP THE .CMD FILES THAT ACTUALLY DO THE WORK:
Download these .cmd files that I've created. They might flag as viruses because they are executable, but you'll see that they're very innocuous.
You might ask - why do I have shortcuts to the .cmd files in there? Because in Windows, cmd files will popup abruptly. You can run them silently with windows shell scripting - but Intelliremote will only run .lnk files (shortcut files), .cmd, bat, or .exe files. So, those shortcuts are set to run "Minimized", after right-click and going to properties.
What is in those cmd files? Where's the magic? Let me break it down for you.
SET UP THE HARMONY ONE:
Assuming you've already added your Receiver, TV, and computer (I'm using an Asrock with a stock crappy MCE remote), you'll want to add in another device which you will never buy.
For example, I chose 3D Optics vpl-aw15. So, try different devices...the main thing, you need it to have 5 or 6 different buttons available as you'll be using those keycodes. This is because you'll be using those keycodes on the Harmony - and teaching Intelliremote to listen for them.
In the Logitech software:
On Devices Tab, select Add Device....
Click on the Activity Tab, select your XBMC activity:
Select Review your settings for this activity, Next, then "Yes, but I want to add more control of options and devices for this Activity." Next.
Choose your 3d optics device below and click Add. Save.
You'll probably be asked to confirm the input settings on your TV and receiver.
Then what input setting for your made up device - select none. And Save.
And Yes these settings are correct. Next, and then Done. And Done again.
Now click on customize Buttons for your XBMC activity and go to the Additional Buttons tab. Set up as shown/ desired - the only important thing is that you chose the remote buttons from the made up device that doesn't match anything you have or are likely to ever have.
Click done/ next/ save as necessary, and then click Update Remote in the upper right. Let the remote update.
Take the remote and go into the living room, with Intelliremote open.
CONFIGURE INTELLIREMOTE:
This is very important - Intelliremote has no save function visible.
You must click on learning code, change the behavior, and then click Apply Button for every single button. Then, when finished, you must right-click on the icon on the lower right of your computer and choose "Exit" - or Intelliremote will NOT save.
Why not use Eventghost? You can use Eventghost if you want, but Eventghost is problematic on Windows 7 x64, so I've switched to Intelliremote. Best $24 I've ever spent after banging my head against the Eventghost Windows 7 issue for days.
In my files that I linked to above is my Intelliremote xml file - you can move it into your AppData/Intelliremote folder if you want to see this specifically, but since you really have to setup yours individually, there's really no point.
Instead - get on the XBMC profile in Intelliremote (you have to scroll down on the left to find it).
Once the XBMC profile is loaded (you'll the XBMC icon in the middle of the page once it is), choose some buttons you aren't using - as you can see in the screenshot below, I selected some Xi-Fi button or another.
Click on the Learn Code button, and press the Pandora button you programmed into your Harmony One.
The popup will say "Key learned" in bright red, and then disappear.
Next select the Application event, and browse to the shortcut to the Pandora cmd file.
Click Apply. Do NOT FORGET!!!!
Do the other buttons, clicking apply each time. When done, close Intelliremote and then right-click on the button on your lower right down by the clock, and select "Exit"
Do NOT Forget, or you'll be doing it again.
And that will be that
You now have custom buttons to launch Recently Added Windows, scripts, music - whatever your heart desires on your Harmony One remote.
And you can always add more pages to the custom buttons of the Harmony one!!!!!
Support for Intelliremote here.
Support for Harmony One here - although you can of course email/ call them.
- Recently Added Episodes
- Recently Added Movies
- Pandora (script)
- 8 track (audio plugin)
- Custom Playlists.
Imagine those buttons on the Harmony One - for example instead of Projector Input, it says "Recent TV".
Imagine your wife/ girlfriend/ boyfriend, simply being able to click one button to launch those most used place - Recently Added Episodes and Pandora.
My girlfriend LOVES this - so will yours.
Like what you see and hear? Here's how you go about getting the magic:
Using Windows 7 x64, Intelliremote ($24 - more on why this is worth it later), Harmony One Remote control's Logitech software, wget.
Tested on Windows 7 x64. Should run on all windows though.
GET WGET:
You'll need to download and install wget - here's where I grabbed mine. Make sure you just grab the .exe, and not the sources as you won't need them.
Install to: "C:\Program Files\GnuWin32"
PREP THE .CMD FILES THAT ACTUALLY DO THE WORK:
Download these .cmd files that I've created. They might flag as viruses because they are executable, but you'll see that they're very innocuous.
You might ask - why do I have shortcuts to the .cmd files in there? Because in Windows, cmd files will popup abruptly. You can run them silently with windows shell scripting - but Intelliremote will only run .lnk files (shortcut files), .cmd, bat, or .exe files. So, those shortcuts are set to run "Minimized", after right-click and going to properties.
What is in those cmd files? Where's the magic? Let me break it down for you.
"C:\Program Files\GnuWin32\bin\wget.exe" --delete-after http://192.168.0.10:8080/xbmcCmds/xbmcHt...episodes))"
- Wget.exe browses to the IP of your XBMC on your local network.
--delete-after . Normally, wget creates files to store whatever http file it's getting - but with the -delete-after, it just deletes it immmediately after.
- http://192.168.0.10:8080 - this is the IP, and port of your XBMC computer. You need to make sure the XBMC Web server is turned on!!!! (System/ Network settings, I believe).
To test this is setup correctly, simply open up your browser and click on the following link:
http://192.168.0.10:8080/xbmcCmds/xbmcHt...episodes))
After clicking Enter, you should see the Recently Added Episodes window pop up on XBMC, and the web page should show "OK" on it.
- A little about the different media you'll be opening. There are different ways besides these subroutines of ExecBuiltIn, but these are the ones that worked for me:
Recently Added Windows and Recently Added Movies
ExecBuiltIn(ActivateWindow(MyVideoLibrary,recentlyaddedepisodes))
Pandora (script)
ExecBuiltIn(RunScript(script.xbmc.pandora)
Script.xbmc.pandora to be replaced by whatever script ID you might want to run. You can find these in Windows 7 in this location: C:\Users\[yourUSERname]\AppData\Roaming\XBMC\addons .
8 track (audio plugin):
ExecBuiltIn(ActivateWindow(musicfiles,plugin://plugin.audio.8tracks,return)
Custom Playlist for your girlfriend:
ExecBuiltIn(PlayMedia(C:\Users\buddy\AppData\Roaming\XBMC\userdata\playlists\video\Heathers_Channel.xsp)
SET UP THE HARMONY ONE:
Assuming you've already added your Receiver, TV, and computer (I'm using an Asrock with a stock crappy MCE remote), you'll want to add in another device which you will never buy.
For example, I chose 3D Optics vpl-aw15. So, try different devices...the main thing, you need it to have 5 or 6 different buttons available as you'll be using those keycodes. This is because you'll be using those keycodes on the Harmony - and teaching Intelliremote to listen for them.
In the Logitech software:
On Devices Tab, select Add Device....
Click on the Activity Tab, select your XBMC activity:
Select Review your settings for this activity, Next, then "Yes, but I want to add more control of options and devices for this Activity." Next.
Choose your 3d optics device below and click Add. Save.
You'll probably be asked to confirm the input settings on your TV and receiver.
Then what input setting for your made up device - select none. And Save.
And Yes these settings are correct. Next, and then Done. And Done again.
Now click on customize Buttons for your XBMC activity and go to the Additional Buttons tab. Set up as shown/ desired - the only important thing is that you chose the remote buttons from the made up device that doesn't match anything you have or are likely to ever have.
Click done/ next/ save as necessary, and then click Update Remote in the upper right. Let the remote update.
Take the remote and go into the living room, with Intelliremote open.
CONFIGURE INTELLIREMOTE:
This is very important - Intelliremote has no save function visible.
You must click on learning code, change the behavior, and then click Apply Button for every single button. Then, when finished, you must right-click on the icon on the lower right of your computer and choose "Exit" - or Intelliremote will NOT save.
Why not use Eventghost? You can use Eventghost if you want, but Eventghost is problematic on Windows 7 x64, so I've switched to Intelliremote. Best $24 I've ever spent after banging my head against the Eventghost Windows 7 issue for days.
In my files that I linked to above is my Intelliremote xml file - you can move it into your AppData/Intelliremote folder if you want to see this specifically, but since you really have to setup yours individually, there's really no point.
Instead - get on the XBMC profile in Intelliremote (you have to scroll down on the left to find it).
Once the XBMC profile is loaded (you'll the XBMC icon in the middle of the page once it is), choose some buttons you aren't using - as you can see in the screenshot below, I selected some Xi-Fi button or another.
Click on the Learn Code button, and press the Pandora button you programmed into your Harmony One.
The popup will say "Key learned" in bright red, and then disappear.
Next select the Application event, and browse to the shortcut to the Pandora cmd file.
Click Apply. Do NOT FORGET!!!!
Do the other buttons, clicking apply each time. When done, close Intelliremote and then right-click on the button on your lower right down by the clock, and select "Exit"
Do NOT Forget, or you'll be doing it again.
And that will be that
You now have custom buttons to launch Recently Added Windows, scripts, music - whatever your heart desires on your Harmony One remote.
And you can always add more pages to the custom buttons of the Harmony one!!!!!
Support for Intelliremote here.
Support for Harmony One here - although you can of course email/ call them.
