MCE Remote HIP and Media portal (1 Viewer)

[sonic-attack]

Hi

Has anyone tried the new MCE remote drivers and HIP combination as described in this post with Media Portal ?

http://www.thegreenbutton.com/community/shwmessage.aspx?forumid=27&messageid=93348#bm108074

I am thinking of trying out this weekend any tips appriciated ?

 

[thiskl]

I use it. It's pretty cool little app.

One thing to watch though. Because MP has builtin support for the MCE remote, and HIP comes pre-configured with MCE commands, you get the situation where MP is sent two keystrokes for some commands; ie. the direction keys.

The workaround I chose was to remove all the global key assignments in HIP, and let MP take care of that.

 

[and-81]

I'm using an MCE 2005 remote with HIP and Mediaportal and it works really, really well. I know MP has built in support for the MCE remote, but because I'm not using MP exclusively yet I disabled it.

One of the really nice things I've got going on with HIP is that when I press the TV button on the remote HIP sends out IR codes through the MCE blasters for Power On, and then 3 Source Select codes to get the TV onto AV-3. Works a treat.

Give HIP a go, it works really well.

One thing I found though, and I don't know if it's because my CPU is too slow or even if it is still necesary now that MP seems to run smoother with the current CVS builds, but ... I had to increase the process priority on HIP.exe to HIGH to get it to work properly when MediaPortal is running.

Good luck, let us all know how you go. And if you have any trouble or questions just throw them on here and either myself or someone else with HIP experience should be able to help you.

 

[sonic-attack]

Hi

Thanks for the info will download and give it a go.

the turn on tv and go to av3 bit sounds exactly what i need.

thanks again

 

[vbap]

when I press the TV button on the remote HIP sends out IR codes through the MCE blasters for Power On, and then 3 Source Select codes to get the TV onto AV-3

and-81 (or anyone else) - can you explain exactly how IR blasting works? WAF points at stake if I can control my TV (which has direct analogue connection) and MP (connected to the TV via DVI) with the one remote!

Cheers,
Danny

 

[and-81]

I'm not sure if you want to know how IR blasting works in general or if you want an explanation of how to do it with HIP?

I wrote a really long post explaining both, but then I decided it was a better idea if I just find out which one you're asking ...

 

[TVKiwi]

Can anyone please tell me if the HIP software allows you to train the MCE USB Receiver to recognise commands from remotes other than the MCE remote. I ask as I have the US version and there are not enough buttons to allow full functionality. If I could use a different remote using this software and the MCE Receiver/blaster it would solve many problems.

I guess I am asking if the HIP software turns the MCE receiver into a universal receiver?

High hopes so please let me down gently if this is a no go!

 

[and-81]

TVKiwi,

Your results may vary, but from my experience the answer is yes.

My MCE transceiver with HIP running will recognise my TV and Surround Sound remotes... That's not an exhaustive test, so I can't say it will work with any remote, but it will certainly work with more than just the MCE remote.

Hope that helps.

 

[vbap]

I'm not sure if you want to know how IR blasting works in general or if you want an explanation of how to do it with HIP?

I wrote a really long post explaining both, but then I decided it was a better idea if I just find out which one you're asking ...

Hmmmm - how about both? I can probably look up IR blasting on Google though...

I'm interested in knowing how I could use the MCE remote/receiver + HIP to control my TV? I run MP pretty much full-time, since this is a dedicated media PC. So, if HIP is not necessary (ie MP includes all the setup for MCE remote), then that's fine (better even, less config to do...)

Hope you copied your long post somewhere!

 

[and-81]

ok,

Well in my mind there are two reasons that you would use HIP with Media Portal.

1: You use more than one program and you need to control them all with the remote. EG. You use MediaPortal, but you also want to use a seperate DVD playing software or a picture viewer or a TV tuner app or whatever.

2: You need extra functionality that MP doesn't (yet?) provide. EG. You want to press one button on the remote and have the PC turn on the TV and set it to the right channel/source.

I use HIP because I currently do both of the above. Hopefully with the next release of MediaPortal I won't need the other software I'm currently using. But I will still want to be able to turn on and set up my TV with a single remote button press. Maybe I can run HIP and just use it to listen for that one button on the MCE remote ... haven't tried that yet.

Anyway, as for setting up HIP ... I'm not the sort of person that writes guides for these things so I appologise in advance if this is a bit long winded and hard to follow... And you should probably refer to the HIP help files to begin with, but hopefully I can help you in some way.

So, Let's go through the steps to set up HIP to turn your PC on and go to the right source. This is probably a good way to understand how it works.

What follows will assume you have installed and set up HIP to use your MCE remote. If not, there is plenty of info around on how to do this. The best place to start is the help files that come with HIP.

So once you've got HIP installed and configured for the MCE remote the first thing you need to teach HIP is the buttons needed to control the TV, so go to 'Edit IR Commands' off the main window.

Click on "Add Remote" and give the new remote a name, IE. "TV Remote"

Then, Click "Add IR" and teach HIP all the commands you need for the TV Remote. Just start with Power On and Source Select hopefully.

Now that HIP knows how to control the TV you need to tell it the button on the MCE remote that you want to do use to turn the TV on. So go to File... Preferences... Alternate Input... Add Value. And then press the 'TV' Button on the MCE remote.

Now that HIP knows which remote button to respond to, all you have to do is tell it what to do when it notices that button press. A window titled 'Edit System-Wide Key Value' will appear.

Enter a description ("TV On" for example), and then click on the little keyboard next to the 'Primary Command' text box. This will pop up a new window titled 'Keyboard Editor' which lets you assign keyboard button presses, mouse clicks and movements, and importantly it let's you Send IR commands.

So, click on the 'Send IR' button and then click on the TV Remote - 'Power On' IR code and then press Select IR. This will take you back to the 'Keyboard Editor' dialog and from here you can then add the 'Source Select' IR codes in the same way. However, you will probably need to insert a pause before you start sending the source select codes so the TV has time to power up. I have a delay of 7 seconds (HIPs pause command talks in Milliseconds, so 7000 ms)

The full command that I use (yours will be different) to turn the tv on and set the right source is:

{?13.001}{?23.001}{*7000}{?56.001}{*1500}{?60.001}{*1500}{?56.001}

The first command above (inside the {} ) is the Channel UP command for my TV (which turns it on). The Third is a wait of 7 seconds, the next is the command to change source, then another wait, another source change, another wait, and then the final source change command.

A couple of notes:

My TV turns on when you press Channel UP and turns off when you press Power. So to make this all work I had to teach HIP to send a Channel UP followed immediately by a Power command. This way, if the TV is OFF the Channel UP will turn it on and the Power command will be ignored because the tv is still powering up. And if the TV is ON the Power command will turn the TV off and the following Source Select commands will be ignored.

Also, you will see that the first and third source select commands I use are the same, but the second source select command is different. Basically, my TV would ignore repeated Source Select commands from HIP, so I had to teach the Source Select command twice once just tapping the button and the second time holding it down... For some reason the command learned differently, and both worked, so I alternate between them to make the three source select's in a row work. Hopefully you don't have the same problem, but if you do you will already have a solution.

Ok, so this might sound like a fair bit of mucking around, but if you walk through it step by step I'm pretty sure you wont have any trouble. And remember that once you've got this sorted out you shouldn't need to change it. So like anything with a HTPC, it might be a bit of setup time, but once you're happy with it, it's done.

Good luck, and if you have any questions don't hesitate asking (I'll be more concise next time I promise).