Considering upgrading and iMON (2 Viewers)

[nicsergio]

I had switched to Windows 10 almost three years ago, so I don't remember well the various problems encountered at the time. As mentioned above, I have a batch that starts at startup, which launches iMon and every minute it checks if it is running otherwise it re-launches it.

Today I uninstalled SoundGraph iMon, rebooted the PC and reinstalled with compatibility mode active (I set Windows 7).
I then recovered all my settings (I also use iMon with the remote control and not only for MePo, but also for other applications such as Foobar or MPC-HC) with the restore command from iMon Manager.

What I have noticed is that iMon often crashes by changing the settings of the attached screen (starting the controller on power up) and it also does so by launching it as an administrator.

At the moment I have disabled my batch and left only iMon to start when the PC boots, so if it keeps crashing I will notice, but I don't use the HTPC often (two year old child to manage ) so I it takes some time to post my impressions after installing in this way.

 

[Rob Hexenmeister]

so I it takes some time to post my impressions after installing in this way

Thank you very much. If you can let us know how you get on, I would appreciate it. I am not rushing to Windows 10 just yet

 

[rsbrux]

@Rob Hexenmeister Please accept my apologies for hijacking your thread ;-} It was worth it for me, however, because I have made some progress following your advice to use FLIRC's "Full Keyboard" profile. The main thing missing is "The Green Button" (TGB), which FLIRC calls "Start". :-( This was handy for starting MP, but I don't find a way to mix profiles in the FLIRC GUI.
@CyberSimian Your point about FLIRC being a keyboard emulator was right on. Since some buttons important to MP operation (e.g. "info") are completely missing from FLIRC's "Microsoft WMC" profile, I am better off using the "Full Keyboard" profile as Rob suggested. I found an MCE keyboard file on hifi-remote.com which gives me pre-defined codes, as you suggested. The biggest drawback is that I no longer have TGB to start MP if it isn't running, nor do I have the convenient media buttons from my old RC6 remote:

• My TV
• My Music
• My Pictures
• My Videos
• Recorded TV
• Guide
• Live TV
• DVD Menu

However, half of these were missing rom FLIRC's "Microsoft WMC" profile anyway. The only one that seems to have a corresponding MP key is "DVD Menu", but that is a subject for a different thread; I have abused this one long enough ;-[

 

[CyberSimian]

The main thing missing is "The Green Button" (TGB), which FLIRC calls "Start". :-( This was handy for starting MP, but I don't find a way to mix profiles in the FLIRC GUI.

The keyboard shortcut which starts WMC is: WIN_ALT_ENTER. This should start MP if you have enabled the "MpTray" utility on the "Additional Third-Party Checks" panel in "MP Config".

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[rsbrux]

@CyberSimian Thanks for the tip. Now all I need is a way to map the media keys. However, if I understand this correctly, I can't do that with HID Mapping and would need something like the KeyboardInputPlugin for that.

 

[CyberSimian]

The keyboard shortcut which starts WMC is: WIN_ALT_ENTER. This should start MP if you have enabled the "MpTray" utility on the "Additional Third-Party Checks" panel in "MP Config".

Unfortunately, it is not a simple as I suggested.

I use the Ortek/Hama remote control, and like the Flirc, the Ortek/Hama IR receiver appears to Windows as a keyboard. If I press the Ortek/Hama START button, the remote sends the key combination WIN_ALT_ENTER. It is the Windows Media Center Services that intercept this key combination and start WMC in response. However...

Most users of MP disable the Windows Media Center Services so that their MCE RC6 remote controls can control MP instead of WMC. The result of this is that there is nothing to intercept WIN_ALT_ENTER and start MP in response. The reason that this worked on my HTPC when I tested it is that I use the "Centarea HID" Support Pack that contains an AutoHotKey script that specifically checks for WIN_ALT_ENTER and starts MP in response.

So to get a button on the remote to start MP from the Windows desktop using the Flirc "Full Keyboard" profile, you will need to use some additional software such as AutoHotKey or EventGhost. Since @Rob Hexenmeister already uses an AutoHotKey script with his Flirc, and has set it up to start MP and perform other fix-ups, the obvious solution would be to use Rob's AutoHotKey script. That will provide a starting point which you can customise to suit your own preferences.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

Edit: Changed erroneous "iMon" references to "Flirc".

 

[rsbrux]

Since I have my HTPC setup to start MP when the 10' screen account logs in, lack of a start key is only a minor inconvenience. I usually use it to start MP again after closing it to use MP Config (which I do in an admin account via Remote Desktop). I read somewhere that F2 will close MP and start MP Config, but haven't tried it yet. What interests my more is having keys for TV Guide, My Music, My TV, Recorded TV etc. I would imagine that this would be possible without AutoHotKey. The actions must be in the HID handler because the keys on the MCE remote are supported, but I couldn't find anything in keymap.xml.

 

[CyberSimian]

What interests my more is having keys for TV Guide, My Music, My TV, Recorded TV etc. I would imagine that this would be possible without AutoHotKey. The actions must be in the HID handler because the keys on the MCE remote are supported, but I couldn't find anything in keymap.xml.

If "HID" is disabled in "MP Config", MP uses the old keyboard support ("keymap.xml"). I have just been looking at the customisation panel in the "General" section in "MP Config", and it seems to be missing various capabilities that are available via a remote control. For example, there does not seem to be any way of displaying the EPG.

If "HID" is enabled in "MP Config" and you select the "Full" HID profile, you can define the mappings for the keyboard keys using the "Mappings" panel accessed from the "HID" tab. For example, the "G" key in the default profile invokes teletext functions. If you don't use teletext, you could change the definition of the "G" key to display the EPG instead. Obviously you can define the keys to perform any of the actions that are available, according to your requirements and preferences.

I am not that familiar with the "HID" support (the Ortek/Hama remote does not use it), so there may still be some limitations on what is possible.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[rsbrux]

I do have "HID" and "full keyboard" selected and already thought of using the mappings panel in the Config settings for HID. I was looking for keymap.xml because the "Technical Notes" in that article say that the default handler is still handling some keys. Also, the wiki article used to reference "Generic-HID.xml", which I couldn't find, so I looked at what I could find. I have a hard time using the mapping panel, since I like to use MP Config via RDP, in which the "Key" field is disabled. Since I have to program keycodes on the remote anyway, I will first try setting up the standard MCE hotkeys I found here.
P.S. The Windows MCE shortcuts do not work in MP, at least not with HID full keyboard enabled, which I heed for other purposes. I would prefer to use the HID mapping in MP rather than resorting to additional software like AutoHotKey, but I don't find any explanation of how the HID mapping should work. However, I have hijacked this thread enough, and will start a new thread on that subject.

 

[nicsergio]

Thank you very much. If you can let us know how you get on, I would appreciate it. I am not rushing to Windows 10 just yet

After this period of use I can say that iMon has not crashed anymore.
My feeling is that changing the setting on starting from always to automatic was decisive