[solved] HID remote requires multiple button pushes (1 Viewer)

[IllustriousGuru]

I just upgraded my HTPC to a 12th gen Core i5 CPU and Windows 11 running MP 1.30 (Ukraine). It works well except for two minor annoyances. The first one is: the system doesn't always respond to button presses on the remote, taking multiple presses to get a response. Every button is the same. The remote is a HP MCE USB remote that worked perfectly well on the previous system, a 4th gen Core i3 CPU running Windows 10, also running MP 1.30. It shows up in Device Manager as "eHomeInfraredReceiver" and the red light on the IR receiver flashes everytime a button is pushed on the remote, so Windows is receiving the command but not all of them are getting through to MP. I'm using the "classic" HID setting in MP Configurator. I've tried multiple USB ports with no change and I'm out of ideas.

The second annoyance is that the system doesn't resume properly from sleep, the screen doesn't come on, requiring a button push (multiple) on the remote to wake the screen up. The previous system also did not do this.

Any ideas?

 

[CyberSimian]

the system doesn't always respond to button presses on the remote, taking multiple presses to get a response.

Umm. It is unfortunate that you have changed two things simultaneously (the hardware and the OS). I realise that if you build a new system, you probably want to use the most-recent version of the OS. But now we don't know whether the problems are caused by the different hardware or by the different OS.

Some things to try:

(1) Put fresh batteries in the remote control. If the batteries are becoming weak, there may be enough power to transmit an IR signal (which causes the IR receiver to flash), but the signal may be garbled (unintelligible to MP).

(2) Have you installed the Chrome web browser or iTunes (or probably several other applications)? These have a tendency to grab button presses from the remote. Disable Chrome and iTunes (and whatever else) to see if that makes a difference.

(3) In "MP Config", on the "HID" tab, select the "Classic" profile and select "Enable HID", but do not select anything else (do not select "Use HID keyboard").

The second annoyance is that the system doesn't resume properly from sleep, the screen doesn't come on, requiring a button push (multiple) on the remote to wake the screen up.

Do you leave MP running when you sleep your system, or do you exit MP to the Windows desktop and then sleep your system? MP's handling of the display across sleep/wake cycles has always been a bit unreliable, and it would not surprise me that there are still some problems with certain combinations of hardware and software. My preference is to exit MP before sleeping or hibernating the system, and this seems to encounter fewer problems.

Another factor may be the display device connected to the HTPC. If it is a TV, be aware that some TVs break the connection between the TV and the HTPC when the TV is switched to standby, and Windows can detect this. My old Toshiba TV behaves in this way. However, there are other TVs that maintain the connection even when the TV is switched to standby, and so Windows thinks that the TV is permanently connected. My current Sony TV is like this.

Then there is the question of what happens if the HTPC wakes to perform an unattended recording, i.e. when the TV is in standby. How does Windows react? How does MP react if it is still running?

And then there is the further complication of using an AV amplifier connected between the HTPC and the TV. How does the AV amplifier behave when switched to standby? Plenty of scope for things not to work correctly.

If you are really desperate, you could create a drive image of your current Windows 11 installation, download Windows 10 from Microsoft, install it, and see if the same problems occur. If the problems do not occur on Windows 10, you will need to decide whether you really want to use Windows 11.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[IllustriousGuru]

Umm. It is unfortunate that you have changed two things simultaneously (the hardware and the OS). I realise that if you build a new system, you probably want to use the most-recent version of the OS. But now we don't know whether the problems are caused by the different hardware or by the different OS.

i hear you on this, but as Windows 10 will be phased out in 2025, I thought it warranted upgrading to Windows 11.

Some things to try:

(1) Put fresh batteries in the remote control. If the batteries are becoming weak, there may be enough power to transmit an IR signal (which causes the IR receiver to flash), but the signal may be garbled (unintelligible to MP).

Batteries were brand new, so not this.

(2) Have you installed the Chrome web browser or iTunes (or probably several other applications)? These have a tendency to grab button presses from the remote. Disable Chrome and iTunes (and whatever else) to see if that makes a difference.

I have installed Chrome, nothing else. I had Chrome on my old machine and it did not affect the operation of MP. I shall deinstall it and see what happens.

(3) In "MP Config", on the "HID" tab, select the "Classic" profile and select "Enable HID", but do not select anything else (do not select "Use HID keyboard").

already did this.

Do you leave MP running when you sleep your system, or do you exit MP to the Windows desktop and then sleep your system? MP's handling of the display across sleep/wake cycles has always been a bit unreliable, and it would not surprise me that there are still some problems with certain combinations of hardware and software. My preference is to exit MP before sleeping or hibernating the system, and this seems to encounter fewer problems.

I leave MP running, but tried sleeping it with MP stopped, no difference

Another factor may be the display device connected to the HTPC. If it is a TV, be aware that some TVs break the connection between the TV and the HTPC when the TV is switched to standby, and Windows can detect this. My old Toshiba TV behaves in this way. However, there are other TVs that maintain the connection even when the TV is switched to standby, and so Windows thinks that the TV is permanently connected. My current Sony TV is like this.

It is connected to a Samsung TV, same as with old system

Then there is the question of what happens if the HTPC wakes to perform an unattended recording, i.e. when the TV is in standby. How does Windows react? How does MP react if it is still running?

No problems with unattended recording, wakes OK.

And then there is the further complication of using an AV amplifier connected between the HTPC and the TV. How does the AV amplifier behave when switched to standby? Plenty of scope for things not to work correctly.

I have a Yamaha AV receiver in the circuit, same as with the old system. Never caused a problem before.

If you are really desperate, you could create a drive image of your current Windows 11 installation, download Windows 10 from Microsoft, install it, and see if the same problems occur. If the problems do not occur on Windows 10, you will need to decide whether you really want to use Windows 11.

If I'm desperate, I'll try this, but would rather not if I can avoid it.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[joecrow]

Based on my own experience with upgrading from Win 10 to Win 11 but using the same hardware there was no difference in the functionality of my remote or any different issues on resume from sleep so you may want to consider the OS as a lower priority. Although to be fair I am using a remote that emulates KB presses so not an HID one. It would be worth a check to see if your remote requires a specific driver and if it does whether a Win 11 one is available. I have a not so old Canon printer which is not supported on Win 11 and the Win 10 driver no longer works with the USB connection only over the network (LAN and Wifi).

The second annoyance is that the system doesn't resume properly from sleep, the screen doesn't come on, requiring a button push (multiple) on the remote to wake the screen up. The previous system also did not do this.

Firstly how are the AV and TV connected to the PC? Secondly when you say the screen does not come on has the PC started at this point and the TV is not displaying anything or do you need multiple button presses to start up the whole system? Thirdly is the AV and TV actually in standby at this point?

 

[IllustriousGuru]

Based on my own experience with upgrading from Win 10 to Win 11 but using the same hardware there was no difference in the functionality of my remote or any different issues on resume from sleep so you may want to consider the OS as a lower priority. Although to be fair I am using a remote that emulates KB presses so not an HID one. It would be worth a check to see if your remote requires a specific driver and if it does whether a Win 11 one is available. I have a not so old Canon printer which is not supported on Win 11 and the Win 10 driver no longer works with the USB connection only over the network (LAN and Wifi).

I could not find any updated drivers for the eHomeInfraRed driver, Device Manager says it's working OK. As I mentioned before, the light on the receiver flashes with each button push, so it is getting to Windows, but not getting to MP.

Firstly how are the AV and TV connected to the PC? Secondly when you say the screen does not come on has the PC started at this point and the TV is not displaying anything or do you need multiple button presses to start up the whole system? Thirdly is the AV and TV actually in standby at this point?

Connection is thus: Mediaportal PC --> HDMI cable --> AV Receiver --> HDMI cable --> TV. The MediaPortal PC is on, you can see the disk activity light, just the TV says no signal. Pressing a button on the remote (sometimes multiple times because of the above problem) "wakes" up the TV. The receiver and TV are both on at this point.

 

[CyberSimian]

the screen doesn't come on, requiring a button push (multiple) on the remote to wake the screen up

There is a power setting that might be affecting this: away mode. Check to see if it is currently enabled or disabled, and toggle its setting to see if that has any effect.

Away mode is one of the "MultiMedia" settings in the "Advanced" section of the Windows power plan.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[joecrow]

Away mode is one of the "MultiMedia" settings in the "Advanced" section of the Windows power plan.

While doing that it is also worth checking the display is never put to sleep, see screenshot below, and there is no OS screensaver running, if you need a screensaver use the MP one available via the home screen gui under Settings/GUI/Screensaver which can blank the screen but still allow audio to play for radio and music.
Sorry but no further ideas on the unresponsive remote, though

 

[IllustriousGuru]

I think I've solved the remote button issue, there was an unknown driver in Device Manager which I discovered was the Serial IO GPIO driver. Installing that appears to have solved the remote problem. Who knew? Thanks to all who contributed to my solution.