IR Server Suite - Public Test Version (3 Viewers)

[enco]

Today I wrote a small app to (gracefully) close and re-start IR Server after resuming from standby as a workaround, now everything IR-related is working hunky-dory for me - thanks again for all you've done

Another small thing I found though is that processing the MediaPortal_Start event seems to be thread-blocking, i.e. if I create a macro containing a pause of 30 seconds and assign it to MediaPortal_Start, MP's splash screen will stay at "Starting plugins..." for those 30 seconds and wait until the macro has finished executing. Not sure if this is intented or not or if this may cause problems on other MP events. Just so you know, in case you get bored someday

 

[Fabolus]

Today I wrote a small app to (gracefully) close and re-start IR Server after resuming from standby as a workaround, now everything IR-related is working hunky-dory for me - thanks again for all you've done

Another small thing I found though is that processing the MediaPortal_Start event seems to be thread-blocking, i.e. if I create a macro containing a pause of 30 seconds and assign it to MediaPortal_Start, MP's splash screen will stay at "Starting plugins..." for those 30 seconds and wait until the macro has finished executing. Not sure if this is intented or not or if this may cause problems on other MP events. Just so you know, in case you get bored someday

Hi enco,
pls can you upload your applicaton, maybe resolve my standby/resume problem with Ir Server.
Thank you

 

[enco]

Hi enco,
pls can you upload your applicaton, maybe resolve my standby/resume problem with Ir Server.
Thank you

Sure, but keep in mind that it's put together really quick'n'dirty, in no way intended for the public - it's supposed to be a temporary solution after all
Also I haven't tested it with standby mode yet, only with hibernation.

Launch IRServerRestart.exe and keep it running in the background, it should recognize every resume event and subsequently close and relaunch IR Server.exe. The location of IR Server.exe is obtained from the Windows registry, so this should work no matter where you installed it.

Good luck... if you encounter any problems or questions, let me know.

 

[blankpoint]

I am using the latest IR Server with Translator. I've turned off HID because I get two keypresses for every button with it on, and I also want to be able to redefine all the keys.

Everything is working great except for one thing. I want certain buttons on the MCE remote (and their corresponding keyboard buttons) to press certain keyboard buttons. For example, I want the "DVD Menu" button on the remote to press F12. I am able to this, and if the program I'm using responds to F12 on its own, it works. But what I'm trying to do is send commands to AutoHotkey in this fashion. What I mean is, I have an Autohotkey script which does something with the mouse (clicks in an exact place -- Translator only moves the mouse relatively) upon receiving "F12", for example. I've done this, and the script works when I actually press F12 on the keyboard, but if I use translator to have a remote button do F12 (or anything else) AutoHotkey does not "see" the key press. This makes it impossible to get the remote to trigger AutoHotkey scripts, only shortcuts that are defined in the original program.

Hope that made sense? Anybody have any ideas on why this happening and how it could be fixed? I thought that the keypresses that Translator generates would be the same as keypresses actually typed on the keyboard, but it seems that's not the case.

 

[RocketMan66]

How to change channels for scheduled recordings

Never mind, I think it is working now

I have the non-MCE PVR150 (it uses a hauppage IR Blaster) installed on my MP TV Server. I am using the TV3 Blaster Plugin to execute an external program that controls my IR Blaster for changing channels on my Foxtel STB. It is working well when I use the "test" function in the plugin.

I currently don't use MP with a remote control, I am happy to operate the GUI with my PC mouse.

I use the SVHS#1 input of the PVR150 for my Foxtel STB.

Can I map all of the Foxtel STB channels and assign a channel number so that the TV3 Blaster Plugin changes to that channel? I am primarily using MP as a PVR, so of course I will also want to change to the corresponding channel when I schedule recordings.

For example:

I schedule a recording on the Discovery Channel (Foxtel channel number 610). Before the recording commences, my Foxtel STB is set to channel 503. So I need MP to change from 503 to 610 when the recording starts.


I assume that the main feature of the plugin is used for changing channels using a remote control and resending that command to the IR Blaster, but how do I change channels without using a remote?

I apologise if this is documented elsewhere, but I haven't found a solution yet.

Thanks in advance.

 

[wdanen]

Hi and-81!

Th IR-server sms to be the solution to a lot of my problems, but i just can´t get it to work. This is a copy of the log fil. What hav I done wrong?

Thanks for all your work, I really appreciate it.

2007-10-11 12:34:19: Log Opened
2007-10-11 12:34:19 - Info: Starting IR Server ...
2007-10-11 12:34:20 - Info: Started in Server Mode
2007-10-11 12:34:25 - Error: Failed to start receive plugin: "Microsoft MCE"
2007-10-11 12:34:25 - Error: System.ApplicationException: Timeout trying to write data to device
vid MicrosoftMceTransceiver.DriverXP.WriteSync(Byte[] data)
vid MicrosoftMceTransceiver.DriverXP.Start()
vid MicrosoftMceTransceiver.MicrosoftMceTransceiver.Start()
vid IRServer.IRServer.Start()
2007-10-11 12:34:25 - Error: Failed to start transmit plugin: "Microsoft MCE"
2007-10-11 12:34:25 - Error: System.ApplicationException: MicrosoftMceTransceiver already started
vid MicrosoftMceTransceiver.MicrosoftMceTransceiver.Start()
vid IRServer.IRServer.Start()
2007-10-11 12:34:25 - Info: IR Server started

I had a similar problem. On boot up, IR Server wouldn't work and the log would have that same set of errors in it, but once I killed and restarted IR Server, it was fine. It turns out that by disabling all of the "Media Center" services, I was able to fix it. I just went to "Control Panel" -> "Administrative Tools" -> "Services" and made sure that "Media Center Extender Service", "Media Center Receiver Service" and "Media Center Scheduler Service" were all set to "Disabled" and that fixed it for me.

Edit: I'm not sure if all three of those really need to be disabled, I just didn't bother to do more testing to find out

 

[dareh]

Hello Aaron , I have updated with the latest version , and now I have a problem with the ir commands in macros, before now, to switch my tv on I used this command "Blast: TVON |Port_1|Fast " but now this command gives me a jit error, and if I create a new macro then I can only choose the port number but not the speed nor even a repeat count, and then the ir code is too short to switch the tv on, how can I make the blasting last longer?

Thank you very much.
Dareh.

Have you tried to create a macro, repeating the same command several times? That's what did the trick for me. You may have to insert a short pause between each blast though, at least I had to.

Thanks Enco , it worked, I had to find the timing for the pauses but it worked very well.

Dareh.

 

[Fabolus]

Hi enco,
pls can you upload your applicaton, maybe resolve my standby/resume problem with Ir Server.
Thank you

Sure, but keep in mind that it's put together really quick'n'dirty, in no way intended for the public - it's supposed to be a temporary solution after all
Also I haven't tested it with standby mode yet, only with hibernation.

Launch IRServerRestart.exe and keep it running in the background, it should recognize every resume event and subsequently close and relaunch IR Server.exe. The location of IR Server.exe is obtained from the Windows registry, so this should work no matter where you installed it.

Good luck... if you encounter any problems or questions, let me know.

Thank you enco,
your program work very well but my problem remains, It seems that after the standby the Irserver not found the mce blaster.

Thank you again.

Fabiano

 

[and-81]

having problems getting this thing to work.

I've got the latest svn on MP installed, but I can't get it to startup when pressing th e green button on the mCE Remote. Any ideas ?

Are you running the Tray Launcher or Translator app? If you use tray launcher you just need to tell it what to launch, if you use Translator the setup is a little more complicated, but you can control your whole PC with translator.

I am using the latest IR Server with Translator. I've turned off HID because I get two keypresses for every button with it on, and I also want to be able to redefine all the keys.

Everything is working great except for one thing. I want certain buttons on the MCE remote (and their corresponding keyboard buttons) to press certain keyboard buttons. For example, I want the "DVD Menu" button on the remote to press F12. I am able to this, and if the program I'm using responds to F12 on its own, it works. But what I'm trying to do is send commands to AutoHotkey in this fashion. What I mean is, I have an Autohotkey script which does something with the mouse (clicks in an exact place -- Translator only moves the mouse relatively) upon receiving "F12", for example. I've done this, and the script works when I actually press F12 on the keyboard, but if I use translator to have a remote button do F12 (or anything else) AutoHotkey does not "see" the key press. This makes it impossible to get the remote to trigger AutoHotkey scripts, only shortcuts that are defined in the original program.

Hope that made sense? Anybody have any ideas on why this happening and how it could be fixed? I thought that the keypresses that Translator generates would be the same as keypresses actually typed on the keyboard, but it seems that's not the case.

The method that Translator uses to send Keystroke commands is the SendKeys function built into Microsoft .Net 2.0.

The SendKeys method is to blame for the problem you're having. I'm working on a new method that will call the native Win32 code to handle the button presses and this should be compatible with software like AutoHotKey and others.

Keep an eye on the change log when new versions are released and you should see when the change goes in. hopefully it will be in the next test version.

@Everyone having standby/resume problems...

This is an ongoing battle. I will try again to resolve this problem. I can only ask for your patience while I try to correct this rather difficult bug.

The log files that several people have provided are making this much easier, so thank you for your help.

I'll post back when I have something working/testable.

Cheers,

 

[wwallquist]

Hi and-81!

Th IR-server sms to be the solution to a lot of my problems, but i just can´t get it to work. This is a copy of the log fil. What hav I done wrong?

Thanks for all your work, I really appreciate it.

2007-10-11 12:34:19: Log Opened
2007-10-11 12:34:19 - Info: Starting IR Server ...
2007-10-11 12:34:20 - Info: Started in Server Mode
2007-10-11 12:34:25 - Error: Failed to start receive plugin: "Microsoft MCE"
2007-10-11 12:34:25 - Error: System.ApplicationException: Timeout trying to write data to device
vid MicrosoftMceTransceiver.DriverXP.WriteSync(Byte[] data)
vid MicrosoftMceTransceiver.DriverXP.Start()
vid MicrosoftMceTransceiver.MicrosoftMceTransceiver.Start()
vid IRServer.IRServer.Start()
2007-10-11 12:34:25 - Error: Failed to start transmit plugin: "Microsoft MCE"
2007-10-11 12:34:25 - Error: System.ApplicationException: MicrosoftMceTransceiver already started
vid MicrosoftMceTransceiver.MicrosoftMceTransceiver.Start()
vid IRServer.IRServer.Start()
2007-10-11 12:34:25 - Info: IR Server started

I had a similar problem. On boot up, IR Server wouldn't work and the log would have that same set of errors in it, but once I killed and restarted IR Server, it was fine. It turns out that by disabling all of the "Media Center" services, I was able to fix it. I just went to "Control Panel" -> "Administrative Tools" -> "Services" and made sure that "Media Center Extender Service", "Media Center Receiver Service" and "Media Center Scheduler Service" were all set to "Disabled" and that fixed it for me.

Edit: I'm not sure if all three of those really need to be disabled, I just didn't bother to do more testing to find out

Thanks. Unfortunately I am runing Win XP and not MCE, so there are no Media Cebter Services to disable
With the new version the log file is a bit more detailed, but I still don´t understand anything. Hope you can help me.