[nmirza]

I just started using xbmc on a net top, after having xbmc for Mac on Mac mini for years. I have several questions regarding setting up my mce remote. I have read the sticky thread and have seen The xbmc remote confit plugin method too which is here: http://xbmcmce.sourceforge.net/

1- which is the preferred to do this? Event ghost or the xbmc mce plugin method linked, or is this all now baked into xbmc for win the way they were in xbmc Mac. With event ghost if I add the xbmc plugin, are the keys pre programmer or do I have to drag the keys recorded? Also with event ghost do I need to edit some keymaps XML file.

2- how do I set up my system so that the mce media key brings up xbmc?


3- so far certain actions Also trigger media centre to start. How do I disable this behavior.

4- I also just read the wiki which mentions registry changes pretty much for every remote listed but doesn't clarify why. I also don't know if this is still necessary to do. My remote btw is the hp original mce. It also says T doesn't work. What button is this?? 8?

I'm using the latest xbmc btw.

[jhsrennie]

See http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Usi..._with_XBMC for some general background on using remote controls. If you're remote is MS compatible follow the like to the "Using a Microsoft remote" article.

Eventghost can "capture" the remote control and route signals from it to XBMC even when XBMC doesn't have the focus. This is useful if you have two screens and run XBMC on the second screen while you're working on the first. If you use a single screen and just use the PC for running XBMC Eventghost isn't necessary.

To get any further we need to know what model your remote is. The cheap end of the remotes just emulate a keyboard and the green button is hardcoded to start Windows Media Center. You can get around this but only with a bit of hacking.

If your remote is MS compatible it can be configured through the registry. This sounds hard, but the MCERemote add-on or EliteGamer360's scripts make it pretty straightforward.

JR

[nmirza]

thanks jhsrennie for helping. I read that article, and it seems mine is probably type 1, but not sure. I have an HP remote (older), which is the third one listed here: http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Rem...ol_Reviews

As i'm using the htpc ( with windows 7) on just a big screen tv via hdmi, single display, I hope I can do without eventghost.

I think I'll go the MCE plugin route as it seems simpler. Will I be able to configure the video, music, tv etc buttons on the remote with this method?

Also, how do i make it so the green button starts xbmc rather than mce. Also, is there a way that I can retain all functionality in media centre, as well as make this work with xbmc. as it is now, if im in xbmc, and i press video for example, it starts media centre. how do i stop this.

I also just read this http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Usi...in_Windows

It says i can use your mce remote plugin script and it will configure everything. will i also be able to configure hte info button, green windows button, guide, etc from within your plugin? its a bit confusing as at some point it says to continue reading further, and then it says the plugin does everything and read on just if you're curious.

I apologize if i seem a bit confused, i was used to the harmony remote config on the mac, which while a pain to startup, was simple as I just configure the software and keymaps and that was that. no registry edits etc.

[jhsrennie]

As long as your remote appears as an eHome remote in Device Manager then it can be configured to do whatever you want.

Windows has no such thing as a standard interface for remote controls, so we usually configure the MS remote to emulate a keyboard i.e. when you press a button on the remote it sends Windows a keypress, just as if you had pressed a key on the keyboard. Install the MCERemote add-on then open it and select the "Apply current settings to remote" then restart Windows. The remote should now work with XBMC.

MCERemote configures the green button so send the keypress ctrl-shift-W. If you set this as the HotKey for the XBMC icon in the Windows Start menu then pressing the green button will start XBMC.

JR

[nmirza]

thanks that suddenly sounds alot simpler than i thought it was.

so once i configure this the way you've mentioned, if i manually start windows media centre, will the original remote mapping still work the way it does now in WMC, or will all the buttons do odd things in WMC but work in xbmc? additionally, once configured with your plugin, i'm guessing pressing video music etc will take me to the relvant sections in xbmc instead of starting WMC.

[jhsrennie]

Microsoft published a list of keyboard shortcuts for Media Center (see for example http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windo...-shortcuts). MCERemote configures the remote controller to send these keyboard shortcuts so the remote should still work normally with Windows Media Center.

The v10.0 version of XBMC also recognises these keyboard shortcuts, so the end result is that the remote control should work with both Media Center and XBMC.

JR

[nmirza]

Thanks JR, ok i get it now So i did install the plugin, and just simply picked the second option to apply mce remote settings.

while pictures and videos takes me to the appropriate section, pressing live tv or recorded tv buttons takes me to mce. if i understand correctly, what i basically have to do is look at the shortcuts you've provided in the link above, so say i find the shortcut for recorded tv, i would then go into the third option i.e. configure buttons, and input that shortcut, and apply again? do i need to make any changes to keyboard.xml keymaps file?

[jhsrennie]

Hmmm, the Live TV button should send the keypress ctrl-shift-T and Recorded TV should send ctrl-O. With the default XBMC setup these keys will just pop up a little message saying something like "You pressed Live TV" because there is no obvious function for these buttons.

Grab a copy of ShowKey.exe from http://xbmcmce.sourceforge.net/ and use it to see what keypresses the buttons are sending. Not all remotes are strictly MS compatible so your Recorded/Live TV buttons might be behaving differently from the MS remote.

JR