- January 7, 2006
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Netherlands
Hi,
Been using Flirc for a while and with recently adding a Harmony Hub + Harmony companion in the mix it has really become a nice setup albeit with some extra work to setup, below are some basic explanations and guide based on Harmony setup.
Hardware
- Flirc
It's an USB dongle which emulates keyboard commands and can learn from just about any IR remote, requires no extra software after setup and stores its config in internal dongle memory so you can swap to another machine and have the same configuration.
- Harmony Hub
An WiFi / Bluetooth / IR station which can receive commands via those protocols and is easy to setup via Android / iOS app
The Flirc dongle is placed right next the Harmony Hub so I don''t need line of sight, it beams IR codes straight to the dongle that way.
- Harmony Companion
RF remote which communicates to the Harmony Hub, has some cool features like holding keys for x seconds does a different command (double function)
Battery life is amazing and it goes to sleep when not used for a while, so far mine is going 2 months without replacing the small replaceable battery.
Setup
This depends on the remote but gonna use Harmony Companion as an example here:
Step 1
In the Harmony app add a new device and base it on Microsoft MCE keyboard from the supported devices it shows you (preferred) or create one yourself so long as it sends non-mce IR commands as Flirc can't handle those.
Tweak layout and key functions with app to your liking.
Step 2
Connect your Flirc dongle and starts it software, since there's no clear cut Mediaportal profile you have to lookup the keyboard commands here:
http://wiki.team-mediaportal.com/1_MEDIAPORTAL_1/20_Reference/Keyboard_Shortcuts/1_General
Click on a keyboard key you want to map in the Flirc app and then press the key on your remote you want to map to it, repeat this for every key.
Step 3
Flirc also has a dedicated wake up key which you can map to any IR key to wake up even when machine is in deep sleep:
Step 4 (Optional)
In the Flirc app you have advanced options for inter-key delay, depending on your remote you might need to tweak this and for Harmony Company kept it at 4.
Also Flirc has the option there to allow sequence modifiers i.e. key combinations for more freedom, these key combinations you can map or create new ones for in Mediaportal configuration (general -> Keys and Sounds) or EventGhost depending on your preference.
Step 5
Been using Flirc for a while and with recently adding a Harmony Hub + Harmony companion in the mix it has really become a nice setup albeit with some extra work to setup, below are some basic explanations and guide based on Harmony setup.
Hardware
- Flirc
It's an USB dongle which emulates keyboard commands and can learn from just about any IR remote, requires no extra software after setup and stores its config in internal dongle memory so you can swap to another machine and have the same configuration.
- Harmony Hub
An WiFi / Bluetooth / IR station which can receive commands via those protocols and is easy to setup via Android / iOS app
The Flirc dongle is placed right next the Harmony Hub so I don''t need line of sight, it beams IR codes straight to the dongle that way.
- Harmony Companion
RF remote which communicates to the Harmony Hub, has some cool features like holding keys for x seconds does a different command (double function)
Battery life is amazing and it goes to sleep when not used for a while, so far mine is going 2 months without replacing the small replaceable battery.
Setup
This depends on the remote but gonna use Harmony Companion as an example here:
Step 1
In the Harmony app add a new device and base it on Microsoft MCE keyboard from the supported devices it shows you (preferred) or create one yourself so long as it sends non-mce IR commands as Flirc can't handle those.
Tweak layout and key functions with app to your liking.
Step 2
Connect your Flirc dongle and starts it software, since there's no clear cut Mediaportal profile you have to lookup the keyboard commands here:
http://wiki.team-mediaportal.com/1_MEDIAPORTAL_1/20_Reference/Keyboard_Shortcuts/1_General
Click on a keyboard key you want to map in the Flirc app and then press the key on your remote you want to map to it, repeat this for every key.
Step 3
Flirc also has a dedicated wake up key which you can map to any IR key to wake up even when machine is in deep sleep:
Step 4 (Optional)
In the Flirc app you have advanced options for inter-key delay, depending on your remote you might need to tweak this and for Harmony Company kept it at 4.
Also Flirc has the option there to allow sequence modifiers i.e. key combinations for more freedom, these key combinations you can map or create new ones for in Mediaportal configuration (general -> Keys and Sounds) or EventGhost depending on your preference.
Step 5
Last edited: