Migrating to NextPvr from WMC and dealing with Hauppage (MCE) Remote Issues

[Bitswap]

Greetings All!

I've been using Windows Media Center (WMC) for about a year since I pulled the plug on 'cable' and started recording Over the Air broadcasts. I installed two Hauppague 2250 cards giving me four tuners. Despite minor issues, WMC has served me well... until last week... when I learned they changed their EPG provider and discontinued support for WMC in Windows version 10. I'm using Windows 7.

The new EPG provider is substandard and only provided half of the channels in my area, thus the migration to NextPvr with Schedules Direct for the EPG service.

Installing NPVR was trivial. The problem came when using the Hauppague (45 button) remote. With WMC enabled, certain buttons would launch WMC completely making them worthless in NPVR (especially the Live TV, Guide and Recorded Programs buttons). On my computer, disabling the WMC feature also disabled the MCE remote too. That was okay since I wanted to keep an eye on WMC and it also provides an Actor search queue that I haven't seen in NPVR (yet).

By the way, I did reference the wiki to modify c:\windows\Irremote.ini and a few remote configurators.... nothing worked. I saw some interesting comments in the Irremote.ini talking about 'native' calls which could not be modified (or turned off) for WMC. I suspect the windows DLL that handles the calls bypasses any modifications made to the ini file.

Okay, let's get to it, here's how to fix the problem. You need to rename c:\windows\ehome\ehshell.exe to something else like myehshell.exe. Think of ehshell.exe as wmc.exe. But there's a trick: you just can't use Explorer or Dos Command to rename the file (typical windows bs). You MUST boot to a non-windows (7) environment. I've been using Hiren Boot CD 15.2 to backup my hard drives which is a Linux shell on a bootable cd. Launch the Linux Rescue Environment, file manager and you won't have any problems finding or renaming the file. Linux/Unix expertise is not needed. Clonezilla on this cd is the BEST backup/restore program EVER, better than Ghost or anything else out there, and free... you may want to take a look at it, especially if you have your OS / Programs on a 120 gb ssd drive that is easy and small to backup/restore. I digress.

After renaming the file you'll have the best of both worlds. NextPvr with no MCE Remote issues and WMC with no MCE remote issues. To start WMC, rename the command in the launch icon from ....\ehshell.exe to ...myehshell.exe. That will now be the only way to launch WMC now.

Hopes this helps.
Later,
Bit

[Bitswap]

Migrating Part 2: Pulling the Plug on WMC

In this post I'll explain what I had to do to remove WMC and use NextPVR exclusively with the IR Remote in mind. This was done after I had all my Season Passes and Actor searches set up in NPVR that was in WMC. I found NPVR to be a much better program and more stable then WMC. And you won't have to deal with Windows WTV file formats anymore! As a bonus, you'll be able to use the IR Remote in other applications, like programs designed to remove commercials.

First launch the Hauppauge IR Configuration Tool and UNCHECK all boxes. The title of the dialog box should really read "Check the device you'd like Windows to completely hijack all your IR Remote button calls", not "Check which device you'd like to use". Then deactivate the WMC in Control Panel > Program Features > Turn on or off Features > Media > Uncheck WMC. If you decide to activate the feature again, all you data will be restored on startup: WMC databases and recorded shows remain intact.

Install IR32.exe if you haven't done so already. Check in the Task Manager > Processes for Ir.exe. WMC doesn't need it but NextPVR will since you can't enable Settings > Misc2 > Use MCE Commands anymore. Turn these options off. Backup and edit c:\windows\Irremote.ini and add the NextPVR section(s) as per the wiki on this site. While you're in there, edit the "1=" to "1=default" and "1=debug" in the [Default] and [Debug.txt] sections for testing. Use the x64 command to launch NPVR in Win 7.

Reboot. Ensure the Ir.exe process is running. Open a text editor (notepad) and make sure it has focus. Press the '1' button. You should see 'default' magically entered. All is good! Save as 'debug.txt' press '1' again. You should see 'debug' entered. You are basically done if the tests are successful. Edit out the test strings in Irremote.ini and then use the Restart Remote program so you don't have to mess with the Ir.exe process. The reason I use a text file to test is to give you an idea of the power behind the IR Remote and possibilities to be used in other applications. Almost any keystroke can be 'defined' in Irremote.ini for an application. It the application misbehaves, use the [Default] section.

Now if things don't work in the text file, here are some ideas. If you see a '1' entered when you press the 1 button, Windows still has control of your remote... check the configuration tool and make sure nothing is checked. If nothing is checked, you may have to start from scratch as my Hauppague setup disk has a section labeled 'Install WMC Support' which shouldn't be run, just install the drivers. In my case, nothing happened when I pressed the 1 button. Shutting down and plugging the sensor to the 'other' 2255 (I have two installed) solved the problem. Having two IR ports is an issue and I haven't found a way to select a port with ir.exe parameters or in the ini file.

Once the Remote is working 'properly' and actually using Irremote.ini, the fun begins! Blue={alt}{enter}, woot! Full Screen Toggle! There are lots of sites that note the keys in irremote.ini and it's easy to implement. Just restart the process after the edits and you'll be fine. If you renamed ehshell.exe, restore it to put things back in order.

Later,
Bit

[Graham]

Shutting down and plugging the sensor to the 'other' 2255 (I have two installed) solved the problem. Having two IR ports is an issue and I haven't found a way to select a port with ir.exe parameters or in the ini file.

Values are stored in the registry at hkey-local-machine\software\hauppauge\ir

I used to change the values for irport and i2ctype to swap the ir on devices that I used. I have no idea whether this is relevant to your tuners or what the values might be.