Red and Green Buttons Not working

[Jamie]

you may want to look at the flirc forum as well

[Pauven]

Hey, sorry for the slow reply, holidays are in full swing here.

I read through all the new posts, and I do have a theory. The problem is not the remotes. And the problem is not Win11 (or so I currently believe). Instead, I believe the problem is the FLIRC receiver.

Earlier I wrote that the FLIRC is great, and I use it. I was mistaken when I wrote that. While I do have a FLIRC, I don't believe I've ever used it, or if I did it may not have worked well for me.

Instead, what I use are Inteset receivers, those are great and my earlier comments about the FLIRC being good were baseless.

Something I discovered while creating CMC's Advanced Remote Mapper is that there are literally dozens (if not hundreds) of different IR receivers, and by different I mean that they are not RC6 compatible, but do their own thing. When I programmed the Advanced Remote Mapper, I had to connect it to the Microsoft's DLL for MCE remotes, but this ONLY works with RC6 remotes. At some point in the future, I may expand this tool to use other DLL's, but that's irrelevant to this discussion (since you're not even using CMC's Advanced Remote Mapper)- what's important here is that each unique IR receiver/DLL behaves differently, and some support those buttons, some don't. It might be that the FLIRC is capturing those buttons but outputting them as something completely unusable, or it could be simply ignoring them.

The main thing I would recommend is to get a true RC6 compatible IR receiver. Cheap ones are under $10, and the high end of the scale goes up to the $30's.

If you're really in love with the FLIRC, then I think the next step is to use a tool like Advanced MCE Remote Mapper (aka AdvancedMCRRemoteMapper.exe). This is the tool that I used as a basis for CMC's basic button programming (which you're using). Advanced MCR Remote Mapper might help you diagnose why those buttons are working, and you may even be able to reprogram them to something that works with Windows.

Another idea, perhaps FLIRC comes with their own tool for configuring buttons, or changing emulation modes. If there's an RC6 or MCE mode, that's the one you want.

The next step after that would be an even more advanced tool, like Event Ghost. It's been a while since I used it, but it includes DLLs for so many receivers, and has the power to program just about anything. It's way more power than you need, but at the very least could help get those pesky buttons working.

[Jamie]

I found several posts on rc6 remote programming with a flirc receivers in the flirc forum. Just do a google search on "flirc rc6". yesterday I found this link on a windows flirc gui for programming your remote on windows. https://support.flirc.tv/hc/en-us/artic ... on-Windows The gui download is here. https://support.flirc.tv/hc/en-us . Merry christmas. Hopes this helps to brighten your new year

[klpaint]

Sorry for the delayed response, Holidays caught up here too! I think I am making a bit of progress but I have an overall question to figure this out.

I am using Logitech Harmony remotes and using the Flirc layouts. When I look through the following Media Center Control Panel there is nothing defined to the "Record" key (which is what I am telling CMC to use to kill PowerDVD). I am guessing this is why it is not working.

In the Flirc GUI it talks about if a button is not working you can use your remote to "record" the key and it will update it. What is not clicking for me is how I "record" a Alt-F4. I tried using my keyboard but when I hit record and the hit Alt-F4 it kills Flirc (which makes sense considering that's what it does). It didn't record it though, it just killed it. Any ideas?

I am not against buying an Inteset remote and receive if that is the easiest. If I went that route would I just unplug the FLIRC and then plug in the Inteset receiver? I assume I would then need to go to Logitech and tell it to use Inteset remote codes?

It looks like the Inteset Remote is $27 and the receiver is $20. That is $47 vs the $5,000,000 in man hours I have in this trying to figure it out (smile). Is it as simple as ordering those two items and reprogramming my Harmony remotes?

Thanks,

Kevin

Go to pictures ctrl+i
Go to music ctrl+s
Go to videos ctrl+e
1 1
2 2
3 3
4 4
5 5
6 6
7 7
8 8
9 9
0 0
Page down end
Page up home
Home Windows key + alt
Go back backspace
Up up arrow
Down down arrow
Left left arrow
Right right arrow
Mute Shift + F8
Lower volume Shift + F9
Increase volume Shift + F10
Full screen Alt+return
Subtitles c
Play Ctrl + shift + 8
Pause ctrl + 8
Stop ctrl+shift+alt+8
Rewind ctrl+shift+b
Fast forward ctrl+shift+f
Previous ctrl + ,
Next ctrl + f
Aspect enter (incorrectly mapped
Will be fixed in a future update)

[Jamie]

Sorry for stirring you wrong on the flirc gui download. I followed the links I provided above and it appears flirc is no longer supplying support for their products. I believe that you managed to find a download so that is good news. I did do some research and I did find the download here https://archive.org/details/flirc-windows-3.11.6.0 I went to the forum and found out the flirc really doesn't provide any instructions or support any more. If it was me I would follow Paul's instructions and move on.

[Jamie]

what you want is a windows mce remote receiver. There are many on ebay and amazon including kits containing a remote and receiver. I will not give any recommendation because I have no experience with any of them. I use to use an mce remote with a NUC computer, but I found that I am more comfortable with a wireless keyboard the contains a keypad

[Pauven]

Sorry for the delay, holidays...

I am using Logitech Harmony remotes and using the Flirc layouts.

Generally, with Logitech remotes for HTPC use you will want to use the Windows Media Center / WMC / MCE emulation, not FLIRC layouts. This could be part of the problem.

In the Flirc GUI it talks about if a button is not working you can use your remote to "record" the key and it will update it. What is not clicking for me is how I "record" a Alt-F4.

I'm not 100% sure about the FLIRC process you're using, so take this with a grain of salt. With a Logitech remote, you should be recording an IR button, not a keyboard button. The main goal here is that you want that Record button to emit a signal. It could be that the Flirc layout doesn't include a signal for Record, and by changing it to WMC it would be fixed with no further effort.

If you're talking about the FLIRC software on the PC, then I don't know much about that, or what the record feature does. But I would still imagine it wants to record from a remote, not from the keyboard.

I assume I would then need to go to Logitech and tell it to use Inteset remote codes?

Again, WMC codes, not FLIRC and not Inteset. WMC codes are the best, as they are built into Windows, and that's also what CMC can change (if your receiver is a true RC6 compatible model).

It looks like the Inteset Remote is $27 and the receiver is $20. That is $47 vs the $5,000,000 in man hours I have in this trying to figure it out (smile). Is it as simple as ordering those two items and reprogramming my Harmony remotes?

Even simpler, you only need the receiver, so just $20. Reconfigure your Harmony for WMC, and you're basically done. Though you should really reconfigure it now and test it with your existing FLIRC receiver, perhaps it'll work too.

it appears flirc is no longer supplying support for their products.

That could be reason enough to get something different.

what you want is a windows mce remote receiver.

This is correct, but more technically accurate to say an RC6 receiver. There are some brands out there that sell Windows MCE/WMC compatible remotes/receivers that are not RC6. These typically come with their own driver (or at least use a different, not RC6 driver). Your best chance of success is to make sure whatever you get is RC6 compliant.

[klpaint]

Thank you. I just ordered the Interest Receiver and Remote. I saw your post that I don't need the remote but at this point I figured that is a small investment to prove this out in steps. I will get it working with their remote, then move to Logitech.

I headed down the Flirc path as that is what I have working on my other machine. It was years ago when I built that and I don't remember everything I did but it doesn't look like that is a good solution anymore so I am going to give Interest a shot.

They are supposed to be here on Saturday. I will report back with my findings.

Thanks!

Kevin

[klpaint]

Happy New Year!

The remote and receiver came in and unfortunately I still have the same issue. This is absolutely a better solution than Flirc but I still can't get Alt+F4 to work. Here is what I did.

1. I changed my Logitech remotes to use the WMC code set. I also have the Inteset remote I purchased so I am confirming with both remotes. They both do everything except the "Record" button killing PowerDVD. If I do an Alt+F4 on the keyboard it kills it (as it should) so there is something stopping the remote command from executing the Alt+F4.

2. I also reset everything in CMC, then rebooted and started over. The debug file is below and it looks right.

Is there something in Windows or another program that is "catching" the command from the remote or just disabling it?

Any thoughts on what else I can look at? Is there any other way to kill Power DVD from a remote?

Thanks,

Kevin

[Jamie]

Does the new remote say on the back that it is an rc6 remote?