Make Enter bring up full TV guide? (1 Viewer)

real_per

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I've bought a cheap usb remote from china, which comes with some weird buttons.
I tried to find out, how to make certain key combinations, perform certain actions in Mediaportal, but that seemes impossible.

So what I'll settle for is to have the full TV guide come up when I press Enter, instead of the mini guide. I cant find this keyboard shortcut anywhere in the Mediaportal Configuration, so I don't know how to change it?

Any help is much appreciated.
 

CyberSimian

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    I've bought a cheap usb remote from china, which comes with some weird buttons.
    There are various types of remote, and it is difficult to make suggestions without knowing more about the one that you have purchased.

    (1) Is it an RF (radio frequency) remote or an IR (infrared) remote?

    (2) Does it claim to be "MCE/WMC compatible"?

    (3) Does it use the "RC6" signalling protocol?

    If your remote is an IR MCE-compatible RC6 remote, you should be able to use the "General HID" customisation panel in "MP Config" to setup the buttons as you want. Other remotes are more difficult...

    -- from CyberSimian in the UK
     

    doskabouter

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    Or you can start messing about in the configuration/General/Keys and sounds.
    Only drawback of it is that the keymap.xml is overwritten on an update of mediaportal, so be sure to backup that file (or better: write down the steps and do them again after update)
     

    CyberSimian

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    It works fine as a HID remote, and it send commands just fine. Trouble is the "My dvd" button for instance sends ctrl+shift+T, and there's no Toggle Guide as a Mediaportal action under Change Keys?
    From the description on the website that you referenced, the remote's capabilities look similar to the Ortek VRC-1100 remote, which is also a remote that has mouse capability. It is possible that your remote is an Ortek internally, and differs only in the casing. The remote looks to be one that sends keyboard shortcuts, which are presumably for Windows Media Center (WMC). The problem is that many of the keyboard shortcuts for MediaPortal (MP) are different from those for WMC.

    For the Ortek remote, an MP user in one of the German MP fora created a remote config file that allows most of the remote's buttons to be used. I would suggest that you try this config file first, to see if it works for your remote. Download the file attached below. Unzip it and copy it to the folder:

    C:\ProgramData\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal\InputDeviceMappings\

    Then do the following:

    (1) Start "MP Config".
    (2) Select the "Remotes" section (left side bar).
    (3) Select the "General HID" tab.
    (4) Disable "General HID".
    (5) Select the "Microsoft MCE" tab (if present).
    (6) Disable "Microsoft MCE".
    (7) Select the "Sceneo" tab.
    (8) Enable "Centarea HID".

    Start MP, and with any luck most of the buttons will now work. To customise the button actions, click the "Mapping" button on the "Sceneo" tab in "MP Config". (All of the preceding is from memory, so I hope that I have remembered this correctly.)

    -- from CyberSimian in the UK
     

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    real_per

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    August 26, 2007
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    It works fine as a HID remote, and it send commands just fine. Trouble is the "My dvd" button for instance sends ctrl+shift+T, and there's no Toggle Guide as a Mediaportal action under Change Keys?
    From the description on the website that you referenced, the remote's capabilities look similar to the Ortek VRC-1100 remote, which is also a remote that has mouse capability. It is possible that your remote is an Ortek internally, and differs only in the casing. The remote looks to be one that sends keyboard shortcuts, which are presumably for Windows Media Center (WMC). The problem is that many of the keyboard shortcuts for MediaPortal (MP) are different from those for WMC.

    Hi there.

    Sorry, been busy the last few days.
    Anyways, I followed your instructions (although i didn't have a C:\ProgramData\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal\InputDeviceMappings\, so I just made it. (but I did have a C:\Program Files (x86)\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal\defaults\InputDeviceMappings))

    Most importantly; my remote works now!

    I'm glad I don't have to mess around with 3rd party programs.

    Thanks for your help!

    Regards from Denmark
     

    CyberSimian

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    I didn't have a C:\ProgramData\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal\InputDeviceMappings\, so I just made it. (but I did have a C:\Program Files (x86)\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal\defaults\InputDeviceMappings)
    I run MP on a 32-bit Vista system, which has the "...\program files\..." folder.

    I think that the "...\program files (x86)\..." folder is the folder for 32-bit programs running on 64-bit systems, so the XML file should probably have been placed in that folder. Sorry I did not make that clear :oops:. Still, if it has fixed your problem, perhaps it does not matter which folder is used? :confused:

    -- from CyberSimian in the UK
     

    mm1352000

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    @CyberSimian
    I've noticed you mention this infamous "Ortek VRC-1100" remote over and over again in various threads. Clearly that remote is somewhat challenging to get working with MP. Is there any reason why we couldn't include the mapping file you attached in MP, and by so doing, make life easier for people with aforementioned remote? ...or if we can't include the mapping file, is there something else that can be done?
     

    CyberSimian

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    Is there any reason why we couldn't include the mapping file you attached in MP, and by so doing, make life easier for people with aforementioned remote?
    An interesting suggestion. Some points:

    (1) The Ortek VRC-1100 is one of the remotes that I have in my collection (I have the Hama-branded one), and I have done some investigation of the signals that it sends, which is why I have contributed to the threads where this remote has been discussed.

    (2) I have been surprised at the number of users who want to use this remote with MP, so it seems to be more popular than one might expect (especially in Europe, where the Hama version seems to be common).

    (3) The Ortek is just one example of a whole category of remotes that claim to be MCE compatible by virtue of the fact that they transmit keyboard shortcuts for WMC. The problem with this is that various of the WMC keyboard shortcuts differ from the MP keyboard shortcuts, so those buttons do nothing in MP.

    Example 1: The remote that the original poster wanted to use.

    Example 2: A few months ago, an MP user in the UK wanted to use his Emprex RF remote with MP. In retrospect, that remote is probably also a keyboard-shortcut remote, but at the time I did not think to suggest trying the remote config for the Ortek (so that user is probably not using his Emprex any more).
    :(

    Note: the bog-standard Microsoft MCE RC6 remote does not transmit keyboard shortcuts, which is why it has to use the "Microsoft eHome Infrared Transceiver" driver.

    (4) Because WMC is so common as a media center, MP probably ought to provide some built-in support for the keyboard-shortcut remotes. But I am unclear whether MP already does this, via the other tabs in the "Remotes" section of "MP Config". The solution for the Ortek is to use a specific config file with the "Centarea HID" on the "Sceneo" tab. I am not familair with either of those names, but perhaps they too are keyboard-shortcut remotes? Perhaps @Stéphane Lenclud knows more?

    (5) The effect of using the Ortek config file is to map certain keystrokes (the WMC shortcuts) to other keystrokes (the MP shortcuts). At least one user has reported this affecting other programs, I think when accessing the web via some other software (presumably started from within MP).

    (6) Thinking about this now, I probably ought to try my Ortek using the built-in definition for "Centarea HID", to see if that actually works without using the Ortek config file. I will try that tomorrow and report back. It is possible that the Ortek config file is needed only to remap some buttons that are problematic in their native guise (START, INFO, maybe others).

    (7) Enhancements that could be considered: if the "Sceneo tab/Centarea HID" works for all keyboard-shortcut remotes, perhaps it should be renamed, to make its general applicability clearer? If it does not work for all keyboard-shortcut remotes, perhaps a new tab should be added?

    -- from CyberSimian in the UK
     

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