xbmc for the average user
#1
Hello xbmc developers

The more people I recommend this application for the more I see that it has a small user problem. At the moment I think the weakest link in the application is the support for remotes. I believe that xbmc is meant for the living room and for pc's with remotes. If you are going for windows users - I think many of them are using the mce remote. But only a couple of the buttons work to start with....which is a problem. I know you have guides to setup eventghost and so on - but I do not think you should expect the avearge user to get that up and running. Would it be possible to get some sort of default support for a serie of remotes for different platforms?

/needtotest
Reply
#2
since xbmc is multiplatform, what do you expect? imho is it okay the way it is ... just find use your favourite remote/software and youre good. there are unlimited ways to achive the goal of a full functional remote usage. you can't implement every possibility for every system... eventghost + xbmc plugin and the eventserver of xbmc is a good start!
Reply
#3
Just typical they get something as good as xbmc for FREE then whinge about support for Remotes!! never heard about wireless keyboard or the xbox 360 controller
XBMC Frodo 12 - Windows 7 - Asrock Ion 330HT - Aeon Nox
Reply
#4
eh why you giving this guy a hard time its a perfectly valid observation. Its not even worded badly hes simply making a observation from his point of view.

Encouraging user feedback is part of open source development.
Having problems getting your TV shows recognized?

Try my extra TV show matching REGEX here
Reply
#5
there is absolutely no cross platform way to do remote support. there is one api per platform, heck, several for some. we could either

1) support all those api's inside xbmc code cluttering things
or
2) use external apps and only support one api in xbmc - OUR api.

we opted for 2). if anything is missing or you have ideas on how to make it more of a smooth process, you are free to add it and submit a diff or describe your idea in here / on trac. we respond very nicely to those.

we do not expect anything from 'the average user' that is unfair imo. if you want to use a computer you need to know how, it's just like cars. nobody complains about the need for a license to drive those, yet everybody expect to be able to operate computers, MUCH more sophisticated equipment than a mere combustion engine driven metal box, without investing any effort at all. guess we can thank steve effing jobs and his friends for that Wink </rant>
Reply
#6
needtotest Wrote:Hello xbmc developers

The more people I recommend this application for the more I see that it has a small user problem. At the moment I think the weakest link in the application is the support for remotes. I believe that xbmc is meant for the living room and for pc's with remotes. If you are going for windows users - I think many of them are using the mce remote. But only a couple of the buttons work to start with....which is a problem. I know you have guides to setup eventghost and so on - but I do not think you should expect the avearge user to get that up and running. Would it be possible to get some sort of default support for a serie of remotes for different platforms?

/needtotest

We are working on better remote support, have been discussed in another thread. But MCE Remote is, to be frank, a mess to use API wise in windows. the few buttons are HID and thats why they work, they are recognised as keyboard. And the rest (or atleast a portion of the rest) is taken from a Windows form IIRC. This makes it a hassle to write an EventClient of as it needs to have a window visible, otherwise it wont work.

IRSS works without one but no dev have had the time to pick through the code to make an eventclient out of it, also for some the IRSS doesnt even work good. For me it works great, when it works (I need to restart XBMC to get it to work) so if an eventclient was written it would probably work good.

So we have made this observation ourself but haven´t found a proper solution for it / had time to fix it. In XBMC Live the mce remote works perfect.
If you have problems please read this before posting

Always read the XBMC online-manual, FAQ and search the forum before posting.
Do not e-mail XBMC-Team members directly asking for support. Read/follow the forum rules.
For troubleshooting and bug reporting please make sure you read this first.

Image

"Well Im gonna download the code and look at it a bit but I'm certainly not a really good C/C++ programer but I'd help as much as I can, I mostly write in C#."
Reply
#7
spiff Wrote:we do not expect anything from 'the average user' that is unfair imo. if you want to use a computer you need to know how, it's just like cars. nobody complains about the need for a license to drive those, yet everybody expect to be able to operate computers, MUCH more sophisticated equipment than a mere combustion engine driven metal box, without investing any effort at all. guess we can thank steve effing jobs and his friends for that Wink </rant>

Hahahaha, perfect compare Smile
If you have problems please read this before posting

Always read the XBMC online-manual, FAQ and search the forum before posting.
Do not e-mail XBMC-Team members directly asking for support. Read/follow the forum rules.
For troubleshooting and bug reporting please make sure you read this first.

Image

"Well Im gonna download the code and look at it a bit but I'm certainly not a really good C/C++ programer but I'd help as much as I can, I mostly write in C#."
Reply
#8
If i remember correctly XBMC Live + MCE Remote works out of the box.
 
  • Intel NUC Kit DN2820FYKH ~ Crucial DDR3L SO-DIMM 4GB ~ SanDisk ReadyCache 32GB SSD ~ Microsoft MCE model 1039 RC6 remote
Reply
#9
xbs08 Wrote:If i remember correctly XBMC Live + MCE Remote works out of the box.

Yeah, probably because it's a lot easier to respond to Lirc events than the Windows MCE api.

Edit:
It would be cool if someone could put together an EventGhost installer that pre-configures it for MCE and XBMC. Something like that is probably the best we could hope for on Windows for the near future.
Reply
#10
needtotest Wrote:But only a couple of the buttons work to start with....which is a problem.
In addition to what everyone has said so far consider the overhead of doing such a task. The best method would be to acquire every type of remote out there. A satisfactory method would be to acquire just the major players' remotes. Once that's complete record all of the configs of all of the various remotes, write the code for selecting the proper remote, preferably in GUI, and then troubleshoot on top of all of that any problems that the users crop up with as a result of relying only on what has been given to them.

It's quite a task. If this were a commercial product backed by funding, and it required purchase for the end user, than yeah, a little better out of the box support might be expected. However, this is not the case.
Reply
#11
Maxim Wrote:In addition to what everyone has said so far consider the overhead of doing such a task. The best method would be to acquire every type of remote out there. A satisfactory method would be to acquire just the major players' remotes. Once that's complete record all of the configs of all of the various remotes, write the code for selecting the proper remote, preferably in GUI, and then troubleshoot on top of all of that any problems that the users crop up with as a result of relying only on what has been given to them.

It's quite a task. If this were a commercial product backed by funding, and it required purchase for the end user, than yeah, a little better out of the box support might be expected. However, this is not the case.

This is more or less what IRSS is actually Smile

And it works with XBMC
If you have problems please read this before posting

Always read the XBMC online-manual, FAQ and search the forum before posting.
Do not e-mail XBMC-Team members directly asking for support. Read/follow the forum rules.
For troubleshooting and bug reporting please make sure you read this first.

Image

"Well Im gonna download the code and look at it a bit but I'm certainly not a really good C/C++ programer but I'd help as much as I can, I mostly write in C#."
Reply
#12
I love XBMC and I use it exclusively on my HTPC but I don't set it up or recommend it to my friends who aren't at least a little more than average when it comes to computer literacy. For them, I just install CCCP on their windows machine and point them to Vista Media Center. It's boring and doesn't look nearly as nice as XBMC, but it is incredibly easy to use and works fine.
Reply
#13
Not the kind of response I was expecting. I am telling everybody who wants to listen that this is the best media center software I have tried - and with skins like mediastream and aeon it is the best looking as well. This beat mce if you have the ability to set it up. Most of the accessability is up to the skinners - but we have to have the installer and starting point from when you have installed xbmc upped to get this out to a broad audience. Xbmc is easily the best media center movie player around...so I think everyone should be able to use it.

/needtotest
Reply
#14
I'm an professional installer of home cinemas, and I'm using universal remotes in many cases. I really want to use HTPC with XBMC in my projects. But major problem is to get control of them.
I'm not a programmer, not a developer, but I have a idea. May be it's stupid, but may be not. So ...

First thing - many remotes can simulate keyboard buttons. So, if XBMC can be fully contrallable via hot keys - it will be easy solution.

Second, more complicated, but more efficient way - to make your own IR codes. Like Sony, Pioneer and so on. IR receivers afaik connected direcltly to USB port. Not standard IR receiver that many custom install companies produces, like this one - http://xantech.com/Infrared/Infrared/LCD...Rcv/48085/ - but plus some converter of IR electric signal (these receivers has 3 wire connection - 0, +12v, IR signal) to something that can be accepted by USB port. Next point - device driver and script or direct support of these codes inside XBMC.
And - remotes. In this case anyone can use any learnable remote - from cheap chinese remotes, to harmony or pronto or urc or crestron or amx devices.

Any suggestions?
Reply
#15
yecora Wrote:First thing - many remotes can simulate keyboard buttons. So, if XBMC can be fully contrallable via hot keys - it will be easy solution.

You can do everything with the keyboard:

http://wiki.xbmc.org/?title=Default_Cont..._and_Mouse
Reply

Logout Mark Read Team Forum Stats Members Help
xbmc for the average user0