Considering upgrading and iMON (3 Viewers)

[Rob Hexenmeister]

Evening everyone,

Is anyone operating Windows 10 and the latest installation of Mediaportal with iMON Frontview working, in particular the display.

I am not bothered about the remote as I successfully use FLIRC for that.

The VFD display is critical to me, so I need to know if it is reliable, with no black displays etc,

Many thanks
RH

 

[rsbrux]

@Rob Hexenmeister
Sorry I can‘t help you with iMon, but I am curious about your experience with FLIRC. I just bought one to replace my onboard CIR and USB IR from my original FSC Scaleo E. Neither work anymore, apparently due to a change in WIndows which prevents installation of the needed driver, so I bought a FLIRC because it advertises a Windows MCE profile. I was expecting to just load the profile and go, but it looks like I still have to individually program every key. What was your experience?

 

[netexplorer]

I upgraded my Windows 7 installation to Windows 8.1 instead of Windows 10 because of the full support of my old hardware including iMon.
Microsoft supports Windows 8.1 until january 2023. Beside that, you don't have to upgrade every half year to a new OS version, which sometimes brake anything. Lately I bought a One For All remote Smart Control 5 URC 7955 which work perfect for me, my old Logitech Harmony 650 stoped working.

 

[rsbrux]

@netexplorer
I too am using Windows 8.1, for similar reasons. However, my problem with the CIR driver already started with a Windows Update to Windows 7. I was hoping that the upgrade to 8.1 would fix it, but no joy. Until then I happily used a OneForAll Xsight Touch to emulate the standard Windows MCE RC6 remote for many years. The Xsight Touch still works fine for everything else in my system, and I am hoping it will also work with the FLIRC USB.

 

[Rob Hexenmeister]

Sorry I can‘t help you with iMon, but I am curious about your experience with FLIRC. I just bought one to replace my onboard CIR and USB IR from my original FSC Scaleo E. Neither work anymore, apparently due to a change in WIndows which prevents installation of the needed driver, so I bought a FLIRC because it advertises a Windows MCE profile. I was expecting to just load the profile and go, but it looks like I still have to individually program every key. What was your experience?

I programmed every key using the FLIRC software. I found it easy to do, and what I did was go through the MP keyboard shortcuts and programme them directly to my preferred buttons on my Sky Touch remote. Took me about 10 minutes, and avoids all that mucking about with selecting and configuring remote controls in the MP Configuration.

General

Please note, these are the default keyboard shortcuts provided with MediaPortal and do not reflect any changes you may have made in Configuration > Keys and Sounds

www.team-mediaportal.com

 

[rsbrux]

@Rob Hexenmeister
Thanks for responding. I realized that that was the only way and did the same using the FLIRC profile for Microsoft WMC. Since the Microsoft WMC RC6 remote control has standardized key codes, I would have expected these to be already included in the profile. I would have preferred that, because I know from my experience with programming my Xsight Touch that programmed codes are more reliable than learned ones. The FLIRC Microsoft WMC profile has 8 buttons fewer than the remote I got with my FSC Scaleo E. In particular, the colored buttons (red, yellow, green and blue) have been combined with the media selection buttons: these are separate on my RC6 remote. The FLIRC GUI Advanced settings mentions a FLIRC WMC profile as well as the MS one, but I couldn't find any way to invoke it.
Since MediaPortal can use WMC RC6 commands directly, I never had to "muck about with selecting and configuring remote controls in the MP Configuration." In older MP versions there was a dedicated MCE Remote option. In newer versions, I just use "Enable HID" and everything works.

 

[Rob Hexenmeister]

using the FLIRC profile for Microsoft WMC

I used the whole keyboard profile. I was able to utilize all the buttons on my Sky touch remote control that way.

 

[rsbrux]

I guess I will have to do something similar. Some of the missing buttons are important ti MP operation, e.g."info". Furthermore, some of the memorized buttons don't work: so far play, pause and stop! The XSight Touch doesn't have a full keyboard, so I'm not sure how to deal with that.

 

[CyberSimian]

Some of the missing buttons are important ti MP operation, e.g."info". Furthermore, some of the memorized buttons don't work: so far play, pause and stop! The XSight Touch doesn't have a full keyboard, so I'm not sure how to deal with that.

I have several Xsight remotes (a "Lite", a "Plus", and a "Colour"), but I currently use a Harmony 650. Although I dearly love the Harmony "activities", as the months pass I am becoming increasingly annoyed by the Harmony's quirks, so I may return to using one of the Xsights.

The Xsights were originally intended to be programmed using the One-for-All web site (the Xsights have a USB socket), but One-for-All closed that web site several years ago. However...

There is an excellent freeware tool that can program One-for-All remote controls, including the Xsight range. The tool is "RMIR", which can be found here. This tool runs on your local PC (i.e. it does not require an internet connection). It may require a bit of learning initially, but that is worth doing, and the enthusiasts on the RMIR web site are usually very helpful.

The Xsights have the MCE RC6 code set built-in, so you merely need to program the correct code number (1272 from memory) -- it should not be necessary to learn any buttons. However, you can also use RMIR to program it (but you usually do this by starting with the built-in code set and then modifying it).

You need to be clear about what code set to program into the Xsight:

• Microsoft MCE RC6
• Keyboard shortcuts

Code set 1272 is MCE RC6, so you need to define your FLIRC to accept these codes. But these codes are different from the keyboard shortcuts. So you define your FLIRC to accept either MCE RC6 or keyboard shortcuts, but not both.

The simplest solution by far would be to purchase an MCE RC6 IR USB receiver (which requires no programming), and then setup the Xsight using code 1272. MCE RC6 IR receivers are easily available on Amazon and Ebay, and unlike remote controls, IR receivers do not wear out (so little risk in buying a pre-owned IR receiver). Hewlett-Packard IR receivers are aesthetically pleasing. There are some smaller ones available, but make sure that they are "MCE RC6". If you buy one such as the Ortek/Hama IR receiver, that requires a different code set in the Xsight.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[rsbrux]

@CyberSimian
Thanks for your detailed advice. I have been using RMIR for some time now. I ordered the FLIRC, because I couldn't find an RC6 USB I/F that:

1. doesn't require the driver I can't install (as does the internal RC6 USB I/F that came with my original FSC Scaleo E)
2. ships to Switzerland

If you can suggest one, I would be grateful! Ideally I would like one with back panel I/O. My motherboard CIR I/F advertised this, but I could never get it to work. It was probably just for lack of a pull-up resistor, but I never found adequate application notes and the point is moot since the driver problem cropped up.
I don't use ebay, but I would consider Amazon as a last resort. However, there is no Amazon in Switzerland and most of the suppliers on the German and U.S. sites don't ship outside the EU or the US respectively. Thanks to Brexit I might have better luck with Amazon UK now ;-}
HP sounds good, but I couldn't find anything relevant in the Swiss HP Store. I tried searching for various different terms in both German and English.