configure MCE remote buttons

[johnsonx42]

I have a nice MCE remote (this one: http://www.gyration.com/default.aspx?l=e...ediaRemote). They don't include any software with it, nor is there any on the web site, it's supposed to 'just work' with MCE.

All the standard buttons work fine in GB-PVR, so it's pretty usable, but none of the special buttons do anything (including the big green 'Windows logo' button).

Can I configure these buttons somewhere in a GB-PVR config file, or do I have to resort to a third party utility?

[SLR_65]

You will need to configure it with some third party software most likely. I like LM Remote Keymap but there are several others out there (and LM has some quirks - search for my posts on the Hauppauge 1062 remote).

If it's a matter of just wanting to make one button do something else sometimes you can edit the keymap files in GBPVR. I do this with the Weather Plugin - by default it uses a couple of the colored keys (yellow and blue maybe?) to go forward/back through the maps or forecast days. My 1062 remote doesn't have those keys so I edited the keymap file so that the left and right arrows can be used to navigate. I even downloaded some left and right image files and renamed them to match the graphics for the colored keys so now my Weather Plugin shows the proper keys to use on screen.

With the third party software you can do some nice things - one I did was make the big green Windows button launch GBPVR, so if someone exits the program for some reason and gets back to the desk top, or the machine gets rebooted or something, all you have to do is hit the big green button and GBPVR will pull right up. While in GBPVR I've reassigned that button to pull up the mini-guide (again, I don't have the colored keys on my 1062 remote and this function is normally mapped to a colored key (blue I think)).

TTYL,

Steve

[7ore]

I have an MCE remote as well. I use Eventghost to make the green-button start GB-pvr.
In the wiki there is a guide on how to do.
I didn't install any special driver (as recommended in the wiki), as I just wanted to use the green button i a specific way.

I had to remove some commandos in eventghost though, as some of them tended to be run both in the system and in eventghost (one press arrow down made the marker go two steps)

[johnsonx42]

If it's a matter of just wanting to make one button do something else sometimes you can edit the keymap files in GBPVR.

Yes, I think this is what I need to do. Any idea how I find out what code the remote is sending when I press a given key?

I found the showkey app in the keymap directory, but it doesn't show anything for the desired buttons on the remote. Even some of the buttons that DO work in GB-PVR don't show anything in showkey (like ff, rw, play, pause, record, and the button that brings up the TV guide in liveTV).

Thanks,

Dave

[7ore]

Any idea how I find out what code the remote is sending when I press a given key?

You can use the showkey.exe for that. You'll find that in the keymappings folder.

[sub]

The showkey utility is not related to remote controls. It is simply used to show the .net key name for each key on the keyboard. Sometimes these names arent obvious, for example "Page Up" has a .net key name of "Next"

[johnsonx42]

Thanks sub, but do you have any more insight on the original question of how to get the additional buttons on my Gyration MCE remote to work in GB-PVR? It's an RF remote, so many of the common remote customization apps like HIP won't work with it. I'd rather avoid having yet another program to install, configure, and troubleshoot anyway.

The remote receiver simply installs as a USB HID, and sends commands that MCE would recognize; many of them are just standard keyboard commands, but others are 'special'. GB-PVR recognizes at least some of the special keys, but not all. How does GB-PVR recognize buttons like 'Play', and can I access that mechanism to add other buttons?

[sub]

Sorry, I dont really know any details about the Gyration MCE remote.

GB-PVRs handling of MCE remote commands is limited to a table of codes published by Microsoft on MSDN, and each of these commands has a hard coded mapping from key code to a fake keyboard combination. It sounds like your Gyration remote is using some code not defined in that original table.

[johnsonx42]

ah, I see, somewhere you receive the code from the remote, and based on the table of codes you got from MSDN you translate that to a virtual keypress that is then used further up the chain (and this happens long before the KeyMappings files get used, right?). So if the remote is sending a code you don't have in your table, it never gets translated and therefore effectively disappears as far as GB-PVR is concerned.

If I understand it right, then I suppose that would be a wishlist request, to have that translation table be made an xml or ini file that us users could poke at.

[sub]

All I can give you is a maybe. Itll probably be a while though, so you'll need to find yourself a work around for now.