How to program the Green Button to launch NPVR?

[Joram]

In my ongoing quest to ease the eventual transition from Windows Media Center to NextPVR for my wife, I'm looking for a way to reprogram the iconic Green Button on a WMC remote, which is used to launch WMC from the desktop, to instead launch NextPVR.exe.

Now, I'm aware that this is a pretty "niche" topic and there doesn't seem to be a whole lot about it on the Web, or even on this forum. So, rather than direct instructions specific to NPVR, I've been looking around the Web for directions that I might adapt from some other application, but have come up empty. I found instructions for pairing a WMC remote to (or from) some other remote by using a transmitter. I discovered the Advanced MCE Remote Mapper, but after launching it I didn't see any self-evident way to change what the Green Button does. I also came across something called EventGhost, but most of the documentation details are locked away in a community forum that was taken down at some point and is only in the process of being brought back.

None of these appear to be suited to what I need to do. I learned that the Green Button calls the shortcut Win+Alt+Enter, but this doesn't help me much since that's precisely what I want to replace with a combination that instead will launch the NPVR UI client.

Took a look at the KeyMappings.xml file, but I wouldn't know what to add or change there to do what's needed. I saw a reference somewhere to a Key Mappings section in Settings, but I have yet to find it in the settings for either the web client or the UI client.

Chances are I'm simply not expert enough to figure this out on my own. Hoping that someone reading this will be.

[JohnySmith1010]

Only way I know would be experimentation with AutoHotkey in combination with a FLIRC adapter.

[Joram]

Thanks for the idea, I'll look into it!

[mvallevand]

I don't think that would be the best solution since there likely is nothing magic about FLIRC unless they build a receiver app

Since we live in the AI age I asked Claude to create a problem that might do this.  The irony is it took minutes create and build this but I have now spent much more time trying my remote it so it is untested.  I will keep trying but you can test the yourself by by unzipping  the attached into to the NextPVR program folder and running it.

It should launch NextPVR.exe if it isn't running and give it focus and bring it to the top if it is.

Claude also advised

If WMC itself is still launching alongside your app, you need to stop the `ehRecvr` and `ehSched` services:

sc config ehRecvr start= disabled
sc config ehSched start= disabled
net stop ehRecvr
net stop ehSched

If you are running Windows 7 you also need KB2533623 (a security update for DLL planting) installed first, as the .NET 4.8 installer will check for it as a prerequisite.

It is possible the the NPVRTray app could conflict so you might need to stop it if it running.

If it works I will give the code the sub to add to the NextPVR tray (it might be there but maybe not working)

Martin

[Joram]

Martin, thank you very much for this test program.

This PC doesn't have WMC on it, so Claude's observation didn't come into play. However, while double-clicking on MyGreen.exe did launch that .exe (as shown by Task Manager), it didn't bring up NextPVR, even after making sure that the tray app wasn't running.

I noticed a reference to .NET Framework 4.8 in the config file. In case it makes a difference, Windows's Programs and Features shows that in addition to .NET Framework 3.5, I have .NET Framework 4.8 WCF Services TCP Port Sharing installed, but none of the other WCF services nor ASP .NET 4.8. FWIW, there's no listing there for .NET Framework 4.8 itself. Not sure whether I need to download this, or if what I currently have is enough.

[mvallevand]

For .Net when I designed it with Claude

To target Win 7 and above what version of .net is required? Can I use 4.8


Yes, .NET Framework 4.8 works fine, but there's a small nuance worth knowing:

.NET Framework 4.8 is the last version of the .NET Framework and is fully supported on Windows 7 SP1 and above. However, it is not pre-installed on Windows 7 — you would need to bundle or prerequisite the 4.8 redistributable installer with your application. The breakdown across Windows versions is:

Windows Version .NET 4.8 Support Pre-installed?
Windows 7 SP1 Yes No — requires manual install
Windows 8.1 Yes No — requires manual install
Windows 10 (1903+) Yes Yes
Windows 11 Yes Yes

For Windows 7 specifically you also need KB2533623 (a security update for DLL planting) installed first, as the .NET 4.8 installer will check for it as a prerequisite.

So it should be good to go, the fact that it loads is a good sign. You could confirm it loads NextPVR by going to the tray app and seeing if it launches or gives focus with the option.

When I found my device (Hauppauge) its' green button didn't work and part of the triage identified that if you go to In Device Manager under 'Human Interface Devices', do you see an entry called 'eHome Infrared Receiver' or 'Microsoft eHome Infrared Receiver' if you also see the Hauppauge then there will be trouble since their utility will also eat the green button.

That all said probably the easiest and most reliable thing would be to choice another key on the remote for this function. Maybe user ShowKey https://xbmcmce.sourceforge.net/ or Nirsoft's KeyboardStaeView https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/keyboard_state_view.html and check which keys are exposed choose one and I can have that launch NextPVR.exe If that works we can see about adding it to the tray.

Martin

[Joram]

Thanks, Martin.

After rebooting to start fresh, I double-clicked on MyGreen.exe and a new icon (green sphere with a white triangle, nice touch) appeared in the notification area. It's labeled MCE Green Button Launcher (NextPVR.exe itself didn't launch). Right-clicking on the icon revealed two choices, "Launch/Focus target now" and "Exit." Clicking on the Launch/Focus option then brought up the NextPVR.exe GUI on the screen

Device Manager shows the Microsoft eHome Infrared Receiver and nothing listed as related to Hauppauge.

This sounds promising, no?