Win Probelms with MCE Remote in Gotham 13.2 - only some keys don't work
#1
Question 
I run Gotham 13.2 on Win 7 Pro. I use this MCE Remote

Ortek Windows 7 Vista XP Media Center MCE PC Remote Control and Infrared Receiver for Home, Premium and Ultimate Edition
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00224Z...UTF8&psc=1

Have been using it, for a long while. Since I upgraded to Gotham, I notice that the "stop" and "pause" buttons no longer do anything. I see that the remote is sending signals, as the receiver end lights up. But there is no effect - no pausing, no stopping.

The other buttons all work - forward x seconds, back, fast forward, rewind, etc - but not pause and stop. Which, you can imagine, is a pain. :-) Now I need to keep my phone or iPad near, to use as an auxiliary remote control . I thought maybe the remote was broke, so I bought a new one. No good, still those 2 buttons (and only those 2) don't work.

Any idea why just those 2 don't work? (I know they used to work in Frodo) Is there a way I can maybe define just those 2 keypresses to do what they are supposed to? I really would very much like to use a handheld remote with XBMC/Kodi.
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#2
You can use the mce mapper tool (link in my signature) to know what message the stop and play buttons sends. Change them to 'p' and 'x', save and reboot.
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#3
(2014-09-11, 05:30)baijuxavior Wrote: You can use the mce mapper tool (link in my signature) to know what message the stop and play buttons sends. Change them to 'p' and 'x', save and reboot.

Thanks, I will try that later tonight, if I can.

Why 'p' and 'x', tho? The pause key, when using a keyboard, is the space key. That's a key I need to remap. Shouldn't I be setting that one to space, not 'p'? Or am I totally misunderstanding?
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#4
On the Ortek/Hama remotes (which are not true MCE remotes) the play and pause buttons are the same. What this means is you have to map the Play button to play/pause and not simply play in order for the pause to work. I'm not sure if the MCE mapper works on these remotes or only on the true MCE RC6 remotes
If I have been of help, please add to my reputation as a way of saying thanks, it's free.
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#5
(2014-09-11, 23:27)Dilligaf Wrote: On the Ortek/Hama remotes (which are not true MCE remotes) the play and pause buttons are the same. What this means is you have to map the Play button to play/pause and not simply play in order for the pause to work. I'm not sure if the MCE mapper works on these remotes or only on the true MCE RC6 remotes

OK. So I should start the app; press the "pause" key on the remote"; choose ... what from the "Key" dropdown? "p"?
And do the same for the "play" button, then?

And what do I do for the "stop" button? 'x"?

Sorry if I am just being dense, but it's not clear to me what I should be doing. I get that I am remapping, but I don't know why I am not choosing "space" as the "Key" dropdown when I hit the "pause" button on the remote, since that's the key I would hit on my physical keyboard to pause the video.
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#6
(2014-09-11, 05:30)baijuxavior Wrote: You can use the mce mapper tool (link in my signature) to know what message the stop and play buttons sends. Change them to 'p' and 'x', save and reboot.

OK, I changed "Pause" to "p", and "Stop" to "x". Hit "Apply To". Rebooted.

No difference, neither key does anything. :-(
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#7
I think your remote control is not RC6 compliant. The tool works only with such remote controls. You can use showkey.exe to find the keypress send by you remote and change the xbmc keyboard.xml file to get the play and stop buttons to work.
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#8
(2014-09-12, 02:58)baijuxavior Wrote: I think your remote control is not RC6 compliant. The tool works only with such remote controls. You can use showkey.exe to find the keypress send by you remote and change the xbmc keyboard.xml file to get the play and stop buttons to work.

I downloaded show key.exe, pressed buttons on my remote, but don't see any key codes shown. At all.

This remote is like first one that comes up, when you do a search for recommended remotes with XBMC. I'm surprised there isn't a well known FAQ and fix for this remote.

I suppose I am at the point of just scrapping this remote, and buying some true MCE R6 remote?
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#9
Since the remote worked in older version, probably some settings has been changed in your gotham installation. I think there is an option 'remote control sends keyboard presses'. Adjusting it may help solve the problem. You can also try eventghost if it doesn't work.
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#10
Close iTunes. Close Chrome. They are known to interfere with multimedia keys.
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#11
(2014-09-12, 05:01)baijuxavior Wrote: Since the remote worked in older version, probably some settings has been changed in your gotham installation. I think there is an option 'remote control sends keyboard presses'. Adjusting it may help solve the problem. You can also try eventghost if it doesn't work.


I have that option already turned on. I will look into EventGhost, I guess.

Thanks

(2014-09-12, 11:39)crawfish Wrote: Close iTunes. Close Chrome. They are known to interfere with multimedia keys.

iTunes isn't running on my XBMC box, but I think Chrome might be (with the option to run minimized in the system tray, for faster start up time). I will try turning that off, thanks.
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#12
Wink 
(2014-09-12, 11:39)crawfish Wrote: Close iTunes. Close Chrome. They are known to interfere with multimedia keys.

EUREKA! Thank you crawfish! Yes, I had Chrome installed, and it was using it's option of running in the system tray. I uninstalled Chrome (I rarely need a web browser on my XBMC box), and magically my "Pause" button on my remote started working again. Exactly what I need.

The only thing I might need Chrome for, would be to watch NetFlix, using one of the addons. But I have an Apple TV I can use for that ...

Thanks again. Should have thought to try here before buying a 2nd remote, but it was only $15, and maybe I can gift it to my friend or something ...
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#13
Glad it helped. We've been talking about it in this thread at thegreenbutton.tv, a Windows Media Center forum:

http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/view...361#p79361

I see now someone has posted that uninstalling Chrome's "Play Music" addon is sufficient, so give that a try if applicable.

If you want to be able to leave Chrome, iTunes, and other interfering programs running, I described how to solve the problem without closing them in this thread:

http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/view...f=7&t=7555

Note that the sample Autohotkey code is for WMC, not XBMC. If anyone is interested in seeing the full-blown solution including XBMC, let me know. Briefly, the idea is to use ReportMappingTable to bind remote buttons to F13-F24 combinations and translate them using Autohotkey to the appropriate keyboard shortcuts for WMC, XBMC, etc. Besides solving the interfering program problem, it also restricts the remote control to only those programs that are suppposed to use the remote control. This eliminates the danger of accidentally sending key combinations like Ctrl+D, Ctrl+Y, etc, to an unintended program that happens to have the focus instead of the intended target.
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#14
(2014-09-15, 04:11)crawfish Wrote: Glad it helped. We've been talking about it in this thread at thegreenbutton.tv, a Windows Media Center forum:

http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/view...361#p79361

I see now someone has posted that uninstalling Chrome's "Play Music" addon is sufficient, so give that a try if applicable.

OK. I rarely, if ever, use Google Play Music from my browser, only from the mobile app on my Andorid phone or iPad tablet, so uninstalling the addon should be not big deal.
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