IR remote for Windows Media Center (solved)

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per
Posts: 44
Joined: Tue Feb 02, 2010 8:47 am

IR remote for Windows Media Center (solved)

Post by per »

I had some problem understanding EventGhost and to get my remote to work with Media Center but solved it after a few evenings of tests and browsing.

I run Windows 7

Here is how to do it:

1) Install the fit-PC2 IR drivers that can be downloaded on this site.
follow the instructions found in the readme file

2) Install the EventGhost (EG) program.
http://www.eventghost.org/downloads/

3) Copy the fit-pc2_IR directory to c:\program files\EventGhost\plugins
this is the EG plugin needed to use the IR port

4) Get the Media Center plugin written by a user at the EG forum
http://www.eventghost.org/forum/viewtop ... f=9&t=1838

The file is called MCE.zip which is a bit confusing because there
is a built-in driver in EG also called MCE which is for the actual
Microsoft remote control (hardware).

5) Open the unzipped file using wordpad or a text editor

6) Edit the line about startup macro to say
createMacrosOnAdd = True

7) Copy the MCE directory to c:\program files\EventGhost\plugins

8) Start EventGhost and "Add Plugins"
Add the fit-PC2 hardware plugin
Add the MCE software plugin and say Ok to add the macro tree

In the "Autostart" section you should have Plugin: fit-PC2_IR and Plugin: MCE. Disable (right click, and disable) all the other entries.

Below Autostart you have a few Macros and Folders. Disable all of them except for MCE.

Open the MCE folder and you will see macros for each action you can do in Media Center.

Press a key on your remote, [Volume up] for example.
Check the left hand window of EG to make sure it found the event.
Drag and drop the event from the left hand window over to the Volume up macro in the MCE folder.

Do the same for all the keys on your remote that you want to program.

I disabled all other things as described above to have a clean slate and to understand EG better, and if I decide to use the remote for more than just WMC I can activate other macros and folders as I need them.

Cheers,
Per

afod
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2010 2:57 am

Re: IR remote for Windows Media Center (solved)

Post by afod »

Thanks a lot Per, everything works like a charm!

After I placed the IR codes captured by EventGhost onto MCE plugin's pre-configured command tree, my fit-PC2 turned into real media center appliance. Initially I thought of going with Linux-based units but soon realized that my new TV provider only supported AFS video streams and plugins for MCE and TMP clients.

One suggestion is to include a small remote control into the package - they are incredibly cheap these days - and shield the customers from do-it-yourself approach, as the majority is not necessarily technically savvy crowd.

Regards,
Alex

per
Posts: 44
Joined: Tue Feb 02, 2010 8:47 am

Re: IR remote for Windows Media Center (solved)

Post by per »

Hi Alex,

My pleasure, I was glad to have found the solution.

I agree a remote could be included, as could the plugin (or a similar plugin) for Media Center. I will add that to the suggestion section on this forum. I have also added a suggestion to the EventGhost forum to include the plugin in the package.

Cheers,
Per

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