CMC Forums

Hi Paul,
Please tell me if I'm following the process correctly. If not where am I going wrong.

If I want to change buttons to launch CMC, close down CMC then right click to run it as a administrator. I then go into settings and choose the button I want to launch it with. It should tell me once I change to the button I want. CMC tells me that the change does not match the registry and that I need to save and reboot for the changes to take. After that it should if close CMC down and launch it again from the button I have chosen before hand.

But it doesn't. As a matter of fact it never really has if I'm following the process correctly. This forces me to keep a keyboard and mouse connected which is really inconvenient. It's a 10' interface an all I want is to use my remote.

Another weird thing is I picked the tv guide button to launch CMC. I try launching it and it doesn't launch. Okay so let me run CMC as a administrator and pick the green media center button. Once I pick it CMC tells me that there is no change and I don't need to update the registry. I've tried several different buttons and I can't launch CMC.

I'm not a fan of CMC messing with my registry. Any Windows update can come along and wipe it out (usually a major update which comes about twice a year). As far as I know Media Portal doesn't require this nor does jriver. Could you please consider another way to handle the remote outside the registry that doesn't require me to bring out a keyboard, mouse when Windows has a major update and I have to reconfigure it?

Other then that It's working pretty well.

The ability in CMC to program a few buttons on your remote is a feature, for your convenience, not a requirement. If you don't want to use it, no one's making you. There are other tools that can do it too, but they also require registry edits, so I won't bother mentioning them. Without changing registry values, it is impossible to change MCE remote mappings.

A couple questions for you:

1) Are you Saving the button assignments that you configure before you update the registry?

2) What version of Windows?

Hi Paul

Okay I didn’t know that you had to change registry. That’s why I was asking.

The record button I use as ALT+F4 to close the players. That has always worked right out of the box.
Yes is am saving the button the button assignments.
Windows 10 1903.

I asked about the Windows version because older versions like Windows 7 prevent you from reprogramming the Green Windows button or media buttons. I plan to add an OS version check in a future version, and to limit button options to buttons that are valid for each OS. The four colored buttons are valid on all OS's.

I asked if you were saving because from your description it sounded like you might have been skipping that step. While you can still update the registry without saving, the next time you come in to CMC it would say the registry needs updating, because the registry values don't match your saved values. I've been thinking I need to make saving mandatory before allowing registry updates, just to eliminate that possible confusion.

It sounds like what you are doing is correct. Plus, my new HTPC build is running on 1903, so I can confirm that the remotes still program correctly on that version.

The next thing to check are the shortcuts. The button presses can only issue keyboard commands, not directly launch programs. So what I have to do is create a shortcut to launch CMC with a hotkey to launch that shortcut, then program a button to issue that hotkey. That's as simple as it can be, but does leave a few break points to investigate.

The hotkey that I use for CMC is CTRL+ALT+8. CMC creates the shortcut when you update the registry, so you should be able to press CTRL+ALT+8 on your keyboard right now, and it should launch CMC. If it does not, then the problem is the shortcut.

If CMC launches with the hotkey, then the problem is the remote button press is not issuing the hotkey. I assume you have already programmed a Close action, which issues the ALT+F4 hotkey that closes the currently focused program. If that is working, that is a good sign that the registry updates are working as expected. If not, then the registry edits could be the problem.

One more thing to check is your remote itself. If you have a learning/programmable remote, it's possible that the button your pressing is not issuing the command you think it is sending (I speak from firsthand experience, and I was slow to catch on). If you have a basic RC6 MCE remote, then definitely try using it to see if perhaps your learning remote's programming is the issue.

Let me know what you find, and we can dig into next steps.

Also, you can check out the How-To here, and look at the sections titled 'Create a Shortcut Key for CMC' and 'MCE Remote Configuration'. In older versions of CMC I didn't have the MCE remote programmer/shortcut creator feature, so we had to do everything manually, and those how-to's explain the steps in great detail and can be very useful for trouble-shooting your issues, since CMC is essentially doing the exact same steps.

By the way, I used the source code for Advanced MCE Remote Mapper v2 as the basis for the registry remote button mapping update function in CMC. They work identically, except that in CMC I've greatly simplified the settings and limited what buttons can be programmed. If you want more powerful programming than CMC offers, you can use that tool instead.

Teddyboy wrote: Thu Aug 29, 2019 9:57 pm I'm not a fan of CMC messing with my registry. Any Windows update can come along and wipe it out (usually a major update which comes about twice a year).

One of the features of CMC's remote programmer is that I have it check to see if the registry configuration matches what you have configured/saved every time your start CMC, and this is precisely because major Windows updates reset the remote mappings in the registry. As soon as you notice your remote not working, you hop into the settings and see it says Registry Update Needed. You relaunch CMC as Administrator, update the registry, and reboot, and your remote is right back to working again. I don't know of any other program out there that makes this so simple.

So what you are perceiving as a negative, to me is one of the greatest strengths of CMC. While it would be great if Microsoft didn't revert the registry on major updates, especially on Windows 10 that doesn't have WMC, at least they do allow us to remap these remotes.

Hey Paul,

I'm running a standard vanilla RC6 MCE remote. I actually have a spare and I can try that one as well to see if there is any change. I even changed the battery's thinking that might be the issue with signal strength which didn't solve the issue. CNTRL+ALT+8 does indeed work from the keyboard as well as ALT+F4 to close programs from the remote and keyboard (ALT+F4 has always worked out of the box).

I tried again to run CMC as administrator to change, and save it to a different button to launch CMC and it still would not launch it. I went back the Green button again using the same steps, and it still would not launch CMC when I press the Green Button. I then used MCE Remote Mapper and it worked. I can now launch CMC from the Green Button.

What are your thoughts? BTW I do enjoy this trouble shooting. I usually don't post until I've exhausted all other avenues that I'm aware of. MCE Remote Mapper was my application of last resort, but I wanted to speak to you first to make sure that I hadn't done something wrong.

This is the second report I've received that MCE Remote Mapper works when CMC doesn't. Since CTRL+ALT+8 worked, that indicates that the shortcut was good, and since the Close button worked that indicates that the registry updates were working too.

The only thing I can think of is that somehow CMC is not correctly programming the hotkey CTRL+ALT+8 into the registry. It would be interesting to know what MCE Remote Mapper reports as programmed after updating the registry with CMC and the button not working. Perhaps that will give a clue.

Paul tell me where to look in the registry for the remote key mappings and I'll post them here when I get back from work.

Here's what MCE Remote Key Mapper puts in. Does this help you?

I’ll do all that when I get home and report back. I initiate the debug log in settings right? It’s probably obvious, but I’m at work right now. It’s a three day weekend so I plan to leave early today, so I can knock this out to get you the info that you need.

1. In MCE Mapper: Load Original MCE, apply/save and reboot
I ran MCE Mapper as a administrator. I loaded Original MCE applied, saved, and rebooted.

2. Verify remote button no longer works
The Green button does not launch CMC

3. In CMC: enable Debug Logging
I enabled it and saved

4. In CMC as Admin: update registry, reboot
I ran CMC as Admin and selected the green button, saved and rebooted

5. Verify that remote button still isn't working
The Green button still does not load CMC after exiting CMC

6. In MCE Mapper: Load From Registry, and provide screenshot
Debug log is attached