[cw-kid]

Hello

I have just installed OpenElec 4.0.3 Gotham and my Logitech Harmony remote control (in Windows Media Center SE mode) is working great out of the box!

I would like to add several new custom buttons on to the Harmony's LCD screen. For example a button when I press it, it updates the XBMC Video Library.
Ideally I don't want to remap unused MCE buttons like Green, as there are not enough free / unused buttons available for remapping.

I have followed this OpenElec Wiki here to tweak some of the existing buttons and that has worked OK for me. I now have a remote.xml file located in: /storage/.xbmc/userdata/keymaps and a lircmap.xml file located in: /storage/.xbmc/userdata/

But I can't figure out how to create new custom buttons?? There is so much out of date / conflicting information regarding remote controls in Linux and XBMC and I don't know which guides are relevant to OpenElec? Lirc ? EventLircd? IRW? MODE2? ir-keytable? remote.xml or keyboard.xml? I'm lost..

Many thanks

[jerndl]

Hello

I have just installed OpenElec 4.0.3 Gotham and my Logitech Harmony remote control (in Windows Media Center SE mode) is working great out of the box!

I would like to add several new custom buttons on to the Harmony's LCD screen. For example a button when I press it, it updates the XBMC Video Library.
Ideally I don't want to remap unused MCE buttons like Green, as there are not enough free / unused buttons available for remapping.

I have followed this OpenElec Wiki here to tweak some of the existing buttons and that has worked OK for me. I now have a remote.xml file located in: /storage/.xbmc/userdata/keymaps and a lircmap.xml file located in: /storage/.xbmc/userdata/

But I can't figure out how to create new custom buttons?? There is so much out of date / conflicting information regarding remote controls in Linux and XBMC and I don't know which guides are relevant to OpenElec? Lirc ? EventLircd? IRW? MODE2? ir-keytable? remote.xml or keyboard.xml? I'm lost..

Many thanks

I'm not exactly sure what your question is. Which Harmony remote are you using? What device name are you using (Microsoft MCE Keyboard)? Using the Harmony software you want to use the "Customize the additional buttons on your remote" screen. With the Harmony One you can have many pages (6 buttons/page) of custom buttons. How many do you need? Also I just looked and there is more than 100 available commands using the MCE Keyboard device. I'm pretty sure I can help if I can understand a little more what you are trying to do as I have just gone through the same exercise with my setup. You also may want to try this http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=168767 Keymap Editor add-on. It works pretty good. Another helpful tool is the irw command. SSH into your OpenElec system and type irw and then every time you press a button it will tell you what it is sending to XBMC. Good luck.

Jay

[jerndl]

I just re-read your post and saw that you were using the Windows Media Center SE device. In my latest project I am using the "Microsoft Media Center Extender" device and it works pretty well. There are several different devices in the Harmony database related to the Microsoft MCE stuff. I'm not exactly sure how you are supposed to know which one(s) to use. In a previous setup I used 2 Microsoft devices in my activity (Microsoft Media Center and Microsoft MCE Keyboard). Then for each Harmony soft key you can choose a command from either device giving you many more possible commands. Good luck.

Jay

[cw-kid]

Hi Jay

I have a Harmony 555 remote and in the Harmony Software I added a "Windows Media Center SE" device. I am very familiar with the Harmony software however I am unsure what to do in the Linux / OpenElec side of things.

For example in the Harmony software under the "Windows Media Center SE" device if I select Customize Buttons and then Additional Buttons, there are loads of extra commands you can select like Alt+1 or Win+1 or Win+D etc

If I select one of these and save it to the remote control, if I then run IRW on the OpenElec PC when I press this new button on the remote nothing is detected in IRW no codes etc. Yet if I press a regular button on the remote like Right or Left then IRW displays the code.

I don't know how to link the new custom button on the remote with the inner workings of OpenElec / XBMC.



Cheers

[cw-kid]

I'm not exactly sure how you are supposed to know which one(s) to use.

I don't know, when I was using Windows Media Center we were always told it was best to use the "Windows Media Center SE" device over any others in the Harmony database.

[teeedubb]

when you press the custom remote button do you get any output out of the program irw ?

[cw-kid]

when you press the custom remote button do you get any output out of the program irw ?

Nope nothing. should I?

Any button that is not a standard MCE button, then IRW doesn't see / detect anything.

[teeedubb]

Yeah they should be, now stop lirc and chack with ir-keytable

killall lircd && ir-keytable -t

should do it, though Im not overly familiar with oe

Also exactly which command are you trying to send?

[cw-kid]

Yeah they should be, now stop lirc and chack with ir-keytable

killall lircd && ir-keytable -t

should do it, though Im not overly familiar with oe

Also exactly which command are you trying to send?

It says: killall: lircd: no process killed

I think OE uses eventlircd

---

This command works: killall eventlircd && ir-keytable -t

If I press a regular button like RIGHT I get a response and it mentions scancode.

If I press the new custom button I get no response.

---

Also exactly which command are you trying to send?

Was currently trying with the command Alt+1 which I picked from that list in the Harmony software.

[teeedubb]

looking at my remote in the harmony software I dont have nearly as many buttons and youre profile name makes me think it may be sending keyboard presses or something. You might have some luck with some of the buttons though.

Im using the MicrosoftMCE Remote profile and got custom buttons working by learning a bunch of codes from a old tv that didnt effect any of my other gear.

[cw-kid]

The "Windows Media Center SE" has an extended set of buttons / commands over the "Microsoft MCE" profile.

So I could teach the Harmony some IR commands from an old unused IR remote? And then see if IRW or ir-keytable detects those?

OK I will try that and report back.

So IRW / ir-keytable should output something when ever an IR remote is pressed at the PC ?

Cheers

[teeedubb]

Yeah it needs to show up in ir-keytable first - youll need a custom config file and maybe need to restart ir-keytable on boot, from memory the oe config file wasnt writeable, at least in 3.2. this thread is a good guide, but not oe specific http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=104541

[cw-kid]

Well I just taught the Harmony a command off an old Sony TV remote control. And added a new custom button on to the Harmony LCD screen.

Neither IRW or ir-keytable -t detect anything when I press this new button, so clearly something is missing.

In OE Frodo version I had big problems with the default remote control setup and eventlircd as I would always get double presses / commands being sent to XBMC I could not solve this so in the end I had to disable eventlircd at startup and I used ir-keytable and the in-built kernel stuff. I created my own keymap file and tweaked the keyboard.xml file.

In OE Gotham the MCE / Harmony remote works out of the box with eventlircd and I have no problems with double presses / commands being sent. So I was hoping to use eventlircd and just be able to some how add my own new custom buttons.

[teeedubb]

Unless the buttons are mapped via ir-keytable they wont be seen by lirc/irw. You probably need to enable the sony protocol, running

ir-keytable && ir-keytable --help

will show you how to.

Also how many custom buttons do you need? There were a few spares on the profile I used that were recognized by irw, easier than learning new codes.

[jerndl]

I just spent a few minutes playing with my Harmony One and irw on my OpenElec system. If you use the "Microsoft Media Center Extender" device all of the predefined commands are recognized by irw. I didn't count exactly but there at least 50 commands that can be used without having to do anything special. The numeric keys (0-9) and * and # work plus a bunch of others. I recommend trying this device and see if it provides enough buttons/commands for your needs. Good luck.

Jay