XBMC - remotes and control

[queeg]

XBMC Fans - Please share your experience

• What is your XBMC setup include?
   
  
• Do you use a remote?  Would you recommend it to others?
   
  
• What do you like most?
   
  
• What do you wish you could make it do?
  

 

I'm finally getting around to the HTPC front end of my unRAID fun.  So I installed XBMC and after even a short while I like it.  Mostly because it scanned my folders of ripped ISO files and found artwork for them all.  Ok, I'm hooked on that.  One thing I don't like about PC based HTPC's are the mouse/keyboard paradigm.  I'd prefer to have a remote and the type of control that comes with Dish Network for example. 

 

 

They all have Pause, mute, fast forward, jump to end, fast reverse, jump to start, stop, volume control.

 

Dish network remotes have jump back, and jump forward buttons that jump back or forward a certain amount of seconds.  I love this feature and want it on my HTPC.  Great for watching TV or sports video.  My CinemaTube has a fast forward button that also includes 1.5 and 2.0 speed with audio.  While the 2.0 is good for laughs the 1.5 speed is actually useful. 

 

 

[kizer]

I personally use the old school remote from the Xbox and the dongle. You can do a search on the net for drivers for it. Of course I use in in Linux and it uses the LIRC mod.

 

In windows you would use this.

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?t=38585

 

I use http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?t=50348 for my movie fan art

I use http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?t=47071 for my tv show fan art

[squirrellydw]

If you have an iPhone there is an app for xbmc, android has one to I think

[WeeboTech]

One thing I don't like about PC based HTPC's are the mouse/keyboard paradigm.  I'd prefer to have a remote and the type of control that comes with Dish Network for example.

 

This is funny. I;m the opposite. I have a Keyboard, Mouse and Microsoft Remote on my HTPC/XBMC.

I find myself using they keyboard most of the timle when I search for music. (I have over 6000 cd's on my machine).

I find that I only use the remote when I am sitting there watching movies.

 

I have a Terk Leap frog so the 3 rooms all have synchronized video and music.

When I am in the home office I use the HTTP interface and a cool remote app I found called XBMCControl.

[Rajahal]

I use a Microsoft MCE remote.  If I press the arrow keys while watching/listening to something, it skips forward/back about 5 seconds.  I didn't program this, XBMC just mapped it out that way.  I would recommend my remote to others, but I would prefer to have a remote with better learning capabilities.

[timsutton]

I built a basic Zotac ION box for XBMC about six months ago, first started using just an iPhone remote software. Found it pretty annoying (needing to get the phone + look at the remote for everything I was doing), so ordered a $20 HP MCE remote. The XBMC live install found it easily enough with lirc, though I needed to program the codes myself, which was kind of a PITA, and figuring out the translation from remote code to message, from message to XBMC commands, etc.  All in all that took a couple hours to figure out.

 

Also, it's surprising what basic functions are absent from this generic MCE remote (eject, dvd menus, etc.) Some of the default commands aren't exactly obvious, especially to others (for example, press "play" to get a context menu). A few custom mappings will be necessary.

 

I did have the old school XBox remote with my Xbox, but couldn't get it to work with my mod to USB, and I never really liked the remote in the first place anyway.

 

 

Just now have my unRaid up and running and it's working great with XBMC. Never really pleased with its library mode, except possibly with TV episodes. Mostly just stick to file mode viewing.

[ClunkClunk]

I use Plex, which is a Mac fork of XBMC.

 

It has support for Logitech Harmony remotes, and with some tweaking, it works wonderfully, and is a real TV remote, not a computer keyboard or basic remote. It nearly always passes WAF - Wife Acceptance Factor.

 

It looks like the setup for Harmony remotes is very similar for XBMC as it is with Plex.

 

I currently use a Harmony 676 and a Harmony 600 for Plex. I've mapped appropriate buttons for fast forward, skip ahead/skip back (+/- 1 minute), jump ahead/back (+/- 10 minutes), volume, contextual menu, subtitles, language selection, and a few library features - namely jump directly to TV Shows or Movies, and update my Plex library (scrape new media).

 

I love the library mode. I have over 150 shows and 450 movies scraped to it with little tweaking on my part other than some careful initial setup.

[wreck]

I'm in agreement with Weebo. I have a full sized wireless keyboard that I use with my htpc running xbmc live. It does everything I could ask for and probably has a lot of cool stuff I don't even know about.

[JustinAiken]

I've tried:

 

X360 wireless controller -  A pain, because you have to hold down the connect button and wait for the connection before you press pause or anything

iPhone app - Broken, unsupported...avoid!

Logitech wireless mini keyboard - Don't like; no backlit means the keys are impossible to see, mouse is too sensitive

 

I still need to find a good remote...

[kizer]

I've tried:

 

X360 wireless controller -  A pain, because you have to hold down the connect button and wait for the connection before you press pause or anything

iPhone app - Broken, unsupported...avoid!

Logitech wireless mini keyboard - Don't like; no backlit means the keys are impossible to see, mouse is too sensitive

 

I still need to find a good remote...

 

Thats why I posted up above my solution. Use the old school Xbox remote and the dongle and a USB to dongle converter. It works perfectly. Once your drivers are installed and the little app that makes it work, it just works.

 

Play

Stop

Pause

FF

RW

Title

Info

Back

Select arrows. Up,down,left,right

Menu

Number keys

Display

 

 

 

Clickable Video of it in action. I'm not a camera man by any means so sorry for the crappy quality. It at least shows how it works. Not shown in the video is the quick response because I had an issue pointing, filming and actually paying attention to what I was doing. LOL

[WeeboTech]

But that ASROCK comes with a remote that works.

There are just a few steps and it's up and running.

[NAS]

Are you sure. I was under the impression only one of the models came with a remote. All others had none.

 

Would love to be wrong

[barrygordon]

XBMC has a reasonable HTTP API that allows control of the box by anything that can issue TCP/IP. The Remote that does this best is the Philips Pronto PRO.  You can use WOL to wake up and start the XBMC and then issue commands that give fairly decent control for dealing with the system, but not qiuite as good as the mouse keyboard.

[WeeboTech]

XBMC has a reasonable HTTP API that allows control of the box by anything that can issue TCP/IP. The Remote that does this best is the Philips Pronto PRO.  You can use WOL to wake up and start the XBMC and then issue commands that give fairly decent control for dealing with the system, but not qiuite as good as the mouse keyboard.

 

Really now...

Which pronto pro has IP control in it?

[DavejaVu]

I'm a longtime XBMC user, and one of the nicest things about it is the ability to customize the keymappings and remote mappings to do exactly what you want simply by editing an XML file or two.  As far as hardware goes, I picked up a cheap MCE remote, but just for the USB -> IR receiver, and I use a Logitech Harmony 880 remote with it and everything else in my home theater rack.  The Harmony website already has mappings in their database for a bunch of MCE remotes, so getting it to work is simple.  For anything requiring a mouse or keyboard, I've been using an integrated keyboard/remote from Lenovo:  http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/integration.workflow:ProductDisplayItem?GroupID=38&Code=57Y6336

 

...which isn't something I'd want to write a novel with, but for adding something minor does the trick.

[barrygordon]

Really now, you seem to be doubting my statement.   . . . The Pronto PRO TSU9600, Pronto PRO TSU9800, and the Pronto PRO TSU9400.

 

It is best to think of these as small hand held computers with good battery life and Javascript as its programming language with some interesting graphic extensions.  The whole language thing is called Prontscript by Philips.  I completely control all of my home, every electroinc device using TCP/IP over wifi from a number of these remotes. This includes music servers using Logitech Squeezebox with full two way communications with playlists, cover art, now playing queues showing up on the remote. The Pronto OS implements both UDP and TCP sockets and has some nice libraries for HTTP and XML parsing.

 

All of the my homes lighting, the Theater and all of the theaters componets are controlled by PC's (Thats the way I initially built it) but the Pronto's now direct the control PC's providing a very sophisticated UI.

 

I am exploring with the idea of building a Kaliadascape like system using the Pronto as the UI and control, unRaid as the Movie server, and a librarian I wrote as the jukebox system.  I might put a PC into the loop (could just be an app on the unraid ) if I need it to serve data to the Pronto (graphic memory issues).  I think I could do the whole thing in a robust configuration for $2000 to $3000 as opposed to the $25,000 for a Kalaidascape system of equivalent size. The player would be either a Dune or XBMC over IP as I have the code to do either. If I used the XBMC system I would just use that librarian.

[WeeboTech]

Really now, you seem to be doubting my statement.   . . . The Pronto PRO TSU9600, Pronto PRO TSU9800, and the Pronto PRO TSU9400.

 

I'm not doubting you!  I was excited about it. Really!

 

It should have read.

 

Really!!! now which pronto pro has IP control in it?

 

I was poking around and I did not want to take too much away from my unRAID programming.

 

I've always thought the whole home automation was cool, but when it comes down to it, my living arrangement is small enough for me to walk over and press the buttons on devices or keyboard.

 

My only reason to get a pronto like that would be to condense my remotes and call http events remotely... but then. I can walk over to my computer which is always on anyway.

 

I two of those viewsonic smart displays, A V.150 with Nevo remote and a V.210.

[WeeboTech]

For anything requiring a mouse or keyboard, I've been using an integrated keyboard/remote from Lenovo:  http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/integration.workflow:ProductDisplayItem?GroupID=38&Code=57Y6336

 

...which isn't something I'd want to write a novel with, but for adding something minor does the trick.

That is cool. I would love to use that with ASROCK.

[Cornelius]

I use the Wii Remote. Works Perfect for me...

[kizer]

But that ASROCK comes with a remote that works.

There are just a few steps and it's up and running.

 

Only the newer AsRocks come with remotes and a IR sensor. Mine which is one of the originals did not come with a remote or IR sensor. The newer ones had some issues with Linux because of the drivers, but they have since have been addressed.

 

So basically I made it work. I never really do anything other than turn on the power button to it so I've never taken the time to actually put the Dongle in a nice spot. Eventually when I replace my 37" LCD with a 60-65 I plan on mounting the sensor under the TV because its only natural to point at the TV than down to the left.

[BLKMGK]

I use an older MCE remote for the irda receiver - Harmony remote has been programmed with it's codes. I also have a DiNovo BlueTooth remote I use occasionally and for real fun I use the XBMC iPhone app. Some of the HTML shows up a touch goofy with the iPhone app but overall it's working great for me. I'd love to see an even better iPhone app that was better supported and I'd be willing to pay a buck or two for it as well.

 

I too have an older ASROCK and I have a ZOTAC box as well going into service with a second TV soon. The Zotac will also use an MCE irda receiver and will run live code vs the SVN my ASROCK does. Both are on Ubuntu.

 

Now would I would love to do is figure out way to run synched music with the tow of them - that would rock!

[barrygordon]

Weebotech, Just think of replacing your smart viewsonic displays with a TSU9800. You would get to do a lot more programming!

[WeeboTech]

Weebotech, Just think of replacing your smart viewsonic displays with a TSU9800. You would get to do a lot more programming!

 

hahahaha! True that, but then I can't sport a 15" removable display that can have a whole rdesktop anywhere I want.

 

http://www.viewsonic.pt/support/mobilewireless/airpanelsmartdisplays/airpanelv150/

[queeg]

I currently use a Harmony 676 and a Harmony 600 for Plex. I've mapped appropriate buttons for fast forward, skip ahead/skip back (+/- 1 minute), jump ahead/back (+/- 10 minutes), volume, contextual menu, subtitles, language selection, and a few library features - namely jump directly to TV Shows or Movies, and update my Plex library (scrape new media).

 

I love the library mode. I have over 150 shows and 450 movies scraped to it with little tweaking on my part other than some careful initial setup.

 

How do you set up the skip forward/back?  Is the time amount adjustable?

[kizer]

Yeah in XBMC you can find the key map settings and you can determine how much a skip forward is and how much a skip backwards is.