(Updated September 22, 2010)
philips-mce-remote
Background:
At home I use Windows Media Center available on Windows 7. It’s a great program but it doesn’t play all the video codecs and file types that I have in my library. Even advanced codec packs like sharks “Windows 7 codecs” do not always solve this problem. To the rescue comes VLC . A media player that can handle almost any media file you throw at it. When using VLC however, I’m no longer able to use my Media Center Remote Control.
Say hello to mceRemote2vlc:
I decided to try and build an application to handle this, without incorporating this functionality into VLC, but using VLC’s excellent RC interface. In short it allows you to control a running VLC instance by communicating with VLC’s built-in TCP-server.
If you want to give it a try be sure to:
- Go to Tools-Preferences.
Select Show All settings (bottom left corner)
Click on Interface->Main interfaces
Check “Remote control interface”
Click on Interface->Main interfaces->RC
Enter in the field “TCP command input”: 127.0.0.1:8765
Check “Do not open a DOS command box interface”
- Install the .NET Framework 3.5 (if not already available)
- Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7
- A Windows MCE Remote , the following eHome compatible remote devices should be supported:
- Microsoft/Philips 2005
- Microsoft/Philips 2004
- HP
- FIC Spectra/Mycom Mediacenter
- Toshiba/Hauppauge SMK MCE remote
- Hauppauge OEM MCE remote
- Mitsumi MCE remote
- Fujitsu Scaleo-E
- Pinnacle PCTV Remote
- Shuttle MCE Remote
- Centarea Master Remote II
Supported buttons and default mappings:
| button | vlc_command | Description |
|---|---|---|
| None | none | |
| Power1 | none | |
| Left | menu left | navigate menu |
| Right | menu right | navigate menu |
| Pause | pause | pause |
| Power2 | quit | exit vlc |
| PowerTV | none | |
| Stop | stop | stop playback |
| Record | record | ? |
| Rewind | key key-jump-short | go 10 seconds back |
| Play | play | play |
| Forward | key key-jump+short | skip 10 seconds |
| Replay | previous | previous playlist item |
| Skip | next | next playlist item |
| Back | previous | previous playlist item |
| Up | menu up | navigate menu |
| Info | key key-intf-show | toggle display interface in fullscreen mode |
| Ok | menu select | menu select |
| VolumeUp | key key-vol-up | volume up |
| VolumeDown | key key-vol-down | volume down |
| Start | none | |
| ChannelUp | chapter_n | next chapter |
| ChannelDown | chapter_p | previous chapter |
| Mute | key key-vol-mute | mute sound |
| RecordedTV | f | toggle fullscreen |
| Guide | none | |
| LiveTV | none | |
| DVDMenu | key key-disc-menu | show dvd disc menu |
| NumPad1 | none | |
| NumPad2 | none | |
| NumPad3 | none | |
| NumPad4 | none | |
| NumPad5 | none | |
| NumPad6 | none | |
| NumPad7 | none | |
| NumPad8 | none | |
| NumPad9 | none | |
| NumPad0 | none | |
| Oem8 | none | |
| OemGate | none | |
| Clear | none | |
| Enter | none | |
| Teletext | key key-aspect-ratio | toggle aspect ratio |
| Red | key key-aspect-ratio | toggle aspect ratio |
| Green | key key-deinterlace | deinterlace |
| Yellow | key key-subtitle-track | toggle through all subtitles |
| Blue | key key-audio-track | toggle through all audio tracks |
| AspectRatio | key key-aspect-ratio | toggle aspect ratio |
| none | ||
| Down | menu down | navigate menu |
Download:
UPDATE: The latest version includes a setting to start minimized.
Please remove the previous version before updating. To keep your mappings:
Copy the file “mceRemote2VLC.s3db” located in the users profile dir (eg “C:\Users\arend\AppData\Roaming\mceRemote2VLC\mceRemote2VLC.s3db”) AppData is a hidden folder so you might have to make Explorer show hidden files. Backup this file before installing the new version. Uninstall mceRemoteVLC , update to the latest version and copy this file back to its original location, overwriting the newly installed file.
A big “thank you” goes to the team of MediaPortal as most of the functionality is coming right out of this project
| navigate menu |
Arend, MCE not maximized because mceremote2vlc.exe is active. If not mceremote2vlc.exe works, everything works perfectly.
The reason is sure that the “focus” on the remote control mceremote2vlc.exe, rather than on MCE.
If I manually maximize MCE, the “focus” of the remote control is back to MCE.
One solution would be mceremote2vlc.exe automatically start and stop with vlc.exe.
Can you build it? Please.
Ralf: Do you start mceRemote2VLC from the MCE plugin ?
I tried with the Media Browser plugin and as long as VLC closes after playing, MCE is maximized again, this is a configuration option, or parameter to VLC (–play-and-exit) or use the Power2 button on the remote to send the quit command to VLC.
Guys I finally managed to fix the problem where mceRemote2VLC interferes with the remote control of MCE. It should be fixed now, but UNINSTALL the previous version before you update, alongside the download link is an explanation on how to keep your mappings. (if you made customizations) Please give it a try and let me know how it works out.
Hi Arend, I use MyMovies plugin, not media browser. This is the original configuration of the “ExternalPlayers.xml” from MyMovies to start VLC.:
True
False
False
False
True
vlc.exe
“[PATH]” –fullscreen
Software\VideoLAN\VLC
Software\Wow6432Node\VideoLAN\VLC
How should I modify this so mceRemote2vlc.exe with start / end will be?
”
True
False
False
False
True
vlc.exe
“[PATH]” –fullscreen
Software\VideoLAN\VLC
Software\Wow6432Node\VideoLAN\VLC
“
mceRemote2VLC should just run in the background. Do not start it as part of an external player configuration. I will install MyMovies and see what’s going on.
I installed MyMovies, but using an external player requires a paid subscription so I removed it.
All I can say is that it works in Media Browser. And I believe this has more to do with MyMovies or VLC settings then with mceRemote2VLC.
Sorry, this blog/website may not post xml command.
MyMovies ExternalPlayers.xml for VLC can see here:
http://www.mymovies.dk/forum.aspx?g=posts&t=18357
Access Denied
You tried to enter a area where you didn’t have access… (I did create an account)
Hey Arend,
tested the new version and it seems to work very well. No more conflicts with MCE and also minimizing itself automatically after starting.
Very well done and big thanks from Germany!
Great, thank you.
Hi Arend,
tried your tool and stuck with some strange behavior. When vlc plays in fullscreen and I put just a single click on the fullscreen with the mouse… NO commands seem to get through! As soon as I take the focus from the fullscreen away (I have 2 monitors) by clicking on and activating a window on the second screen… vlc receives all commands.
Ain’t that weird since the commands come over TCP and shouldn’t be bothered by focus or nonfocus of a window??
my config:
win7, hauppauge MCE remote, vlc 1.1.4
THX for a quick response!
I can confirm this behavior. Strange indeed! I will look into it
It might not be that strange after all. When you don’t use mceRemote2vlc the play and pause button still work, the remote works as a regular keyboard press. So when vlc has focus and we press for example the Play button, vlc will receive the play instruction over it’s rc interface and by keyboard. The only option would be to detect weather vlc has (keyboard) focus or not, then decide what to do. For play and pause we should probably not send the commands. For now pressing the pause button twice (rapidly) pauses VLC when it has focus. I will think about this a bit more.
So you do think that these two mentioned input methods interfere with each other?
I’m not so into coding/programming, but no matter what commands come to the vlc task, it should be able to handle it, ‘cause in case there are two commands within a defined range of milliseconds, it still should decide to handle only one, but as we have learned …probably not.
Within autohotkey scripts it’s quite easy and works no matter of focus when you use e.g. the command “ControlSend”. Which means, that if you want vlc to pause whether it’s running in foreground or background, focus or nonfocus you could use it like: ControlSend, , {Space}, VLC Media Player
It should be close to Visual Basic, because ControlSend sends a “space”-keypress (which equals pause/play) to a window called VLC…
I don’t know how you did your program, but to give it a little workaround, wouldn’t it be the easiest way to kind of merge the two commands/buttons (Play/Pause) and instead set both equal to a “space-keypress” command, if possible? It would then toggle anyway between these options…
Thanks a lot for your effort in general !!!-)
btw.: even if vlc is out of focus, so where only mceRemote2vlc should be working, I realize that pressing play ain’t the opposite of pressing pause. Which means that if I pressed “pause” while watching a video, I could only continue watching by pressing “pause” again and not play!!
When the windows built in function is working it is vice-versa. Play only makes it play and Pause only pauses. This imho sucks too, a toggle pause/play would be ideal
I know. for this to work i would have to query vlc’s current state in order to decide whether to send play or pause command. maybe when i rewrite the part for the now deprecated rc-interface.
sorry for writing again, cause I think that this is probably the right thought to start from, what I wrote in my second comment. THAT:
your “play” is NOT the “play” it gets native from windows. It’s probably also not a space-keypress command, because that does alternate between play and pause. mmmmmhh…
With either an older CyberLink remote or a new VRC-1100 MCE Remote I get “Device Status: Remote not found” I’m running Win7 64 bit and have made sure NetFramework 3.5 is fully enabled. Both remotes work with Windows Media Center.
mceRemote2VLC only supports remotes which work in the MediaPortal project. (without special plugins) I found this thread (in german) which seems to indicate MediaPortal does not support the VCR-1100: http://forum.team-mediaportal.com/fernbedienung-tastatur-ir-465/auvisio-vrc-1100-ro-fernbedienung-mediaportal-einbinden-37925/
I’m afraid the same holds true for the CyberLink remote.
I installed MCERemote2VLC, I tested it and it worked great. However, the next day when I tried it, it no longer worked. So I uninstalled it entirely. But now my remote control doesn’t work in Windows Media Center anymore.
Any ideas what may have happened?
Hello Mathew,
Sorry to about your trouble. I however cannot relate your issues to something mceRemote2VLC might cause. It doesn’t change any settings on the host. No registry settings, no files are deleted etc. So are you absolutely sure you haven’t done anything else that might have caused it ?
I’m not absolutely sure of what I’ve done (I’m sure there was something I did unrelated to your app. and just didn’t realize it.)
I did get it fixed, though, by going to the device manager and uninstalling and reinstalling the IR transceiver (don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner.)
Love this program. Question: When I first installed it, I was using the default vlc skin and everything worked great. When I switched to another skin, the remote stopped working with vlc (still works with MCE). Any ideas?
Hi Scott, I just tried a different skin then reverted back to the base skin. I couldn’t detect any problem with mceRemote2VLC. Maybe this is not related to the skin switching ? Did you try to reinstall ? If you want to try with a clean slate, you will have to manually remove the db file or better the entire directory: C:\Users\YOUR_USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\mceRemote2VLC
I’ll try that and get back to you. Thanks!
OK. This is interesting. First, I uninstalled the app. When I went to the directory you mentioned, it wasn’t there. No biggie. I reinstalled, then tested with the same skin and the remote did not work. However, just messing around, under Preferences-Interface, I selected ‘Use Native Style’, then everything worked. I went back to my skin, which deselects ‘Use Native Style’, and the remote stopped working. Well, as long as it works. If you have any insight as to what’s going on, I’d be curious. Again, thanks for the help and a cool little utility.
Which skin are you using ? This might be skin-specific and is probably more related to vlc then my prog. But I’m curious too.
I was using this one: http://www1.videolan.org/vlc/download-skins2-go.php?url=redcoast.vlt. If you figure it out, don’t forget to let us know.
I can’t reproduce this, not even with the redcoast skin…
Hi, trying to use this for the first time. I have setup vlc as per the screen shots above.
I get a Device Status of ‘connected’. However, the VLC Connection Status is ‘Unable to connect’.
I have VLC running.
Any thoughts on what else I might need to configure?
Thanks.
Well it should be able to connect if setup according to the screen shot. The only option left is to check VLC really is listening on 127.0.0.1 port 8765. You can do this with a program like Putty. With PuTTy select connection type telnet or raw and type “play” while having a song on pause in VLC. It should start playing. There are more details about connecting with putty in the comments.
Is there a way to use another button to skip more than 10 seconds? eg. 30 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes, 1 hour
Is it possible for a button to fast forward until the play button is pressed?
I’d also like the same functions for rewind.
My files do not contain chapters.
1) If you look at the command which is sent when you press Forward you will see: “key-jump+short”
You could change this (or map a new key) to “key-jump+medium”, or “key-jump+long” medium stands for 1 minute and I haven’t tried long.
2) try the “fastfoward” command, or “faster” command. “fastforward” forwards as fast as possible. “faster” increases the playing speed each time you send this command. The drawback with these commands is that the play button/command does not reset vlc to normal playing speed. You will have to map an additional button to “normal” in order to play at regular speed again.
Check out these pages for more command options: http://lircconfig.commandir.com/lircd.conf/configs/?c=65312d999d
http://getluky.net/2006/04/19/vlcs-awesome-rc-interface/
1) I would like to map a new key to “key-jump+medium”. How do I do this? I need basic instructions please.
Why does the forward (skip 10 seconds) button and back button not work correctly for .tp files?
I worked out how to map a new key.
Using the forward and back (skip) buttons do not work properly with .tp files. They skip any random length or do not work at all. This is still the case if I change the file extension to .mpg.
I watch a lot of .tp files. Is there a fix for this?
Thanks
I am afraid you have to ask that question in the vlc forums. mceRemote2Vlc justs sends the command and then hopes for the best. It does not implement the forwarding/skipping itself.
Hi Arend: I’m using a generic WMC remote which is USB PnP, no drivers to install, on Win7 64. I have installed mceRemote2vlc and followed your instructions, but I’m only getting responses from Stop, Play, Pause, and Rew, just as I was before installing. When I run mceRemote2vlc from the start menu, the window says: “Device Status: Remote not found” Do I take that to mean I’ve done something wrong or that this is just one of those remotes that isn’t supported? Thanks.
It may not be supported as there isn’t much you can do wrong. Do you have a model or type number ?
No, it is just called “Computer Remote Control” on the package, no other ID either on the remote or the manual. It is this one:
http://www.meritline.com/showproduct.aspx?ProductID=39296&SEName=wireless-computer-remote-control-wireless-mouse
Interestingly, it also controlled MediaMonkey right out of the package, but VLC is my preferred player. Thanks.
Wayne, the only thing we can try is adding your device Product + Vendor ID to the list of supported devices. Since it claims compatibility it might just work. You can find the ID’s using this tool: http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/usb_devices_view.html
This tool will list the required ID’s. Look for VendorID end ProductID column. Add them to this file: C:\Program Files (x86)\mceRemote2vlc\eHome Infrared Transceiver List XP.xml
Thanks for the suggestion Arend, but still no luck. The ID tool showed it as being from Aureal Semiconductor, and I added it to the list as
following the formatting from the other lines, but it was still not found after rebooting. I also tried Media Player Classic, but it behaves very strangely. With an MKV video, the FF and REW don’t work, but the skip ahead/back buttons result in about a 30s skip, but with an AVI video, the skip ahead/back buttons both re-start play at the beginning, just as they do with VLC. Hmmmm…
Don’t know why this didn’t show in original post, added as:
This blog has issues with xml/html-like data in comments. I tried to show you some parts of the ehome.xml file but that didn’t work.
Anyway, it was worth a shot. I ordered the exact same remote because it is dirt cheap and my current one broke yesterday. I will let you know how that works out.
Please let me know if it works for you. I’m sure you’ll like the remote–it even has a mode to let you move the mouse cursor and use right and left clicks. In the meantime I’ve installed XBMC and the remote controls it perfectly. I’ve been using XBMC on an original XBox for about a year, not sure why I didn’t think to try it on a PC.
Ok, the remote arrived a week or so ago. But I got my old (original Microsoft remote) back to live and gave the new one away. I haven’t even tried it out. Sorry!
Hello i just bought a Vista remote control <- yes the name of it…. I have no problem using it in media portal or MCE on windows 7. However i cannot get it to work in your little nifty nice tool
.
I have added these vendor id because i was not sure wich one it 100% was.
On the manual it says:
Version 1.0 2007/03
ID NO: PAKL-F31VR901-00
Theres no driver required for it to work. it just uses the built in one in microsoft and then its working. Just out of the box. I manage to get VLC connected to your tool but thats it. Not the remote. Happy New Year.
This tool uses Media Portal as it’s base for detecting and communicating with the remote. But i did “hack away” at the source and removed everything but the MCE remote support. Maybe your remote is supported using one of the other “drivers” in MP. Did you buy it in a webshop? Do you have a link to this remote ?
Previous poster to this thread, here …
Anyway, since my last post, I’ve installed a new OS (Windows 7.) So I thought I’d try this again. It works in VLC, but in a very limited way. That is, the “Play” “Pause” and “Stop” buttons work as they’re supposed to, but no other buttons do what they’re supposed to.
Incidentally, this is how it was when I tried it last when I reported my previous [unrelated] problem [just search my name if you need a refresher.]
So obviously, I’m assuming that there’s something that I have overlooked (both this time and last time) since the functionality for both times are identical.
Also [and unrelated] I can’t get my own mappings to register. That is, in the “Create mapping” box, I press a button on the remote control; it shows that I pressed it. But when I attempt to map the VLC command from the pull-down, the “Button Pressed:” pull-down forces itself to the default, ultimately not allowing custom remappings (I hope that makes sense.) Maybe there’s something I’m misunderstanding.
Hi Mathew,
If only the “Play” “Pause” and “Stop” buttons work then it doesn’t work at all. These buttons will work regardless of mceremote2vlc. What is the connection state, does it detect the device ? Does it connect to VLC? It looks like a connection problem. Did you verify VLC is listening on the correct port with PuTTY ?
The mapping UI is flawed I agree. You best select or press the appropriate button, then check in the drop down box for the command you would like it to be mapped to. Then don’t select that command but write it in the drop down box. :-S. It shouldn’t update both ways but only select the current command based on the button pressed or selected.
I will fix this in the next release.
I have no idea what I did differently, but now it works.
—
But entirely for your information (for whatever it may be worth to you) back when the “Play” “Pause” and “Stop” buttons were the only working buttons, “Device status” was “Connected” and “VLC connection status” was “Connected” as well. And the “Button pressed” field correctly showed any buttons that I pressed. However, the “Commands to VLC” field remained blank. ?????
—
Thanks, though, for your quick reply.
Weird, but let me know if it happens again.
Hello!
I just tried to get the tool working with VLC and got a little frustrated.
It’s accepting the keys pressed on my remote control, it’s connected with VLC and it sends it’s commands to VLC. So what’s the problem for me? When mceRemote2VLC has got the focus, it’s working well. But if VLC has got the focus, VLC acts like if mceRemote2VLC is not installed at all. VLC is simply responding with it’s default actions when I press remote control buttons. I don’t have a clue where they are configured within VLC or how to avoid it. BTW, in these situations also mceRemote2VLC indicates that it sends the proper commands to VLC. Simply VLC is doing it’s own stuff.
I would appreciate any help or comments.
Thanks,
Stefan
p.s. I also realized that the mapping dialog has some flaws. But the workaround described above is helping.
Stefan, I will look into this soon.
Stefan, can you give me a bit more details about your setup ? What Windows version, latest VLC ?
I don’t experience this behavior so it’s hard to pinpoint the problem.
Arend, it’s a Windows 7 x86. VLC is version 1.1.5. Probably I’ll try 1.1.7 later.
Are there any logs which might be helpful?
As I said, everything is ok when mce2RemoteVLC has got the focus. But that’s rarely the case, especially when running VLC in fullscreen mode.
Try 1.1.7 even though I don’t think it will make a difference. Do you have a “genuine” Microsoft remote ?
There are no logging options. The only think to find out whether this is VLC or mceRemote2VLC fault is probably by using PuTTY from a remote machine and see if VLC responds to commands when in focus.
I’ve Just tried to install this software and cannot get it to work, Both devices are listed asd connected, but it has no effect on VLC. Am i doing soimething wrong?
Do you see the commands appear in the box “Commands to VLC:” ?
Windows 7 ? (x86/x64), which version of VLC? Do you have a playlist ?
The Commands appear in the DOS box, I’m running 32bit XP and i don’t have a playlist, i’m watching films
That’s strange. To me this looks like VLC is not responding properly. You can test if this is the case with PuTTY and connect to VLC directly using the RAW option. Make sure mceRemote2VLC is not running. If this doesn’t work then it must be a VLC problem.
http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html
(just an executable, no installation required)
hostname: localhost
port:8765
connection type:raw
Press connect and enter pause at the prompt (while having an item playing in VLC)
Hello Arend, I’m using a Logitech Harmony One acting as a Microsoft remote in this situation.
Don’t worry too much about this. I tried this in the context with Windows Media Center 7+Media Browser and VLC as external player. I did use MPC-HC first without remote control problems. But this brought up other issues.
Since a few days I’m testing Mediaportal. Remote control is no issue there and the internal player does not need to be exchanged as far as I can tell at the moment.
So, I won’t pursue the VLC problem at the moment.
Thank you for your support anyway!
Stefan
ok, thanks for the info. I will keep an eye on issues like these.
Hi Arend
Exactly what i’ve been searching for!
But one problem left:
I installed .NET Framework 3.5 and also mceRemote.
Then i wanted to test it…. but the mceRemote isn’t able to find my RC! (on vista home premium)
Do you know a solution for it?
Greez,
Marv
The remote might not be supported. Do you know the type/model ?
Dunno the model but it’s a remote which came with my acer aspire PC.
Hmm, I’m afraid your remote is not supported..
At first I wanted to use VLC (if I could get the remote to work) instead of WMC because I had so many problems with codecs (mostly solved in the meantime with a lot of trial & error with the Shark007 codecs).
But I prefer WMC due to the excellent 10-ft. interface that the Media Browser plug-in provides.
I later realized that Media Browser could be used to activate an external player like VLC, and in addition to having no codec problems, the playback quality is better and sharper in VLC (due to the range of color adjustments and especially due to the sharpening filter).
About a month ago, I installed the mceRemote2VLC software and configured it as best I could per your instructions.
But the only remote functions that worked with VLC were play and pause.
Now I see from a post on Jan. 26 that “If only the “Play” “Pause” and “Stop” buttons work then it doesn’t work at all. These buttons will work regardless of mceremote2vlc.”
The remote I am using is this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Control-Infrared-Receiver-Ultimate/dp/B00224ZDFY
This remote installed without any drivers and works fine to control WMC. Do you think this remote incompatible with mceRemote2VLC ?
It is my understanding that this remote (like most others) is basically a wireless keyboard with only some of the keys. What I don’t understand why the skip or fast forward/reverse commands which work fine for WMC would be different for VLC, since those functions work if using an actual keyboard.
In your Ja. 26th post, you mention a new release. Has anything new been released in the last month?
Thanks for your help.
Hi, nothing new has been released. Does mceRemote2Vlc detect your remote as seen by “Device status:” ?
What happens if you press the remote buttons in the “create mapping” configuration page ? If it does not detect the remote then I can’t do much about it. Maybe later when I have a bit more time at my hands I can look into supporting plain keyboards.
Hi! May I say – awesome utility! Many thanks.
I’ve been playing around with mappings, and everything seems to be fine. Except I’m struggling with chapter points in mkv files. I’ve tried chapter_n, key-chapter-next and key-next. All seem to have the same effect – they just restart playing the file from the beginning (there’s only one file in the playlist!). Is there a code I can use to select chapter points in this sort of file?
Hi Dan, Did you use “key key-chapter-next” ? The extra “key” is required. I just tested this with a matroska file with chapters and it worked fine.
Thanks for your quick reply. Yes I did use “key key-chapter-next”. I’ve tried this on several machines with the same result, but I guess out of laziness I’ve been using the same .mkv file. I’m pretty sure there’s nothing funny about the file; an mkv file with H264 video and AC3 audio. Two audio streams, subtitles and chapters, all compiled into the mkv file using mkvtoolnix. It sounds like this may be a matter of differences between mkv files, so I’ll try a range of other ones and see if I can spot a pattern. Dan
I tried it with the test file listed here: https://bugs.launchpad.net/vlc/+bug/288526
Before that I added chapters using mkvtoolnix, but that file behaved like you described. I thought I might have done something wrong, but maybe VLC does not support this type of chapters.
Try going to the next chapter using VLC’s menu Playback->Chapter->chapter-x
If that doesn’t work it must be VLC/the file.
VLC does support these chapters. They work fine using the buttons and using the menus. But it must be some difference in the way chapter points are created in the test file and in mkvtoolnix. A missing setting perhaps. Thanks for your help. I’ll investigate further. Dan
You’re welcome
I’ve problems with next chapter and previous chapter commands (chapter_n, chapter_p, key key-chapter-next and key key-chapter-prev).
I use Windows7-x64 NL, VLC 1.1.10, Hauppauge MCE remote. I tried next chapter on several DVD rips. VLC shortcut keys shift-n and shift-p work normally on this DVD-rips, but passing chapter_n via mceRemote2vlc won’t work. As far as I can see, other VLC commands, par example: chapter 1, chapter 2 etc, all work fine.
Do you have any clue what causes this flaw?
Can you reproduce this problem?
What I noticed is, that as soon as I check “Remote control interface” in VLC’s Main Interfaces, “oldrc” comes up, in stead of “rc”.
New information: This problem is not related to certain vlc commands like chapter_n, but is related to some mce remote buttons which, even though they are mapped by mceRemote2vlc, they are intercepted or interfered by mce.
I don´t want to uninstall mce, because I use mce for playing photo´s.
When I map chapter_n under Numpad1 or Clear, it works correct. When I map chapter_n under ChannelUp or Skip, it won’t work.
If I avoid using these remote buttons, (aparently they interfere with mce, even though mce is not started):
ChannelUp, ChannelDown
Skip, Replay
RecordedTV, Guide, LiveTV, DVDmenu
Power2
Next question, how do I temporary switch off the interference with mce? Than I can use all mce remote buttons for VLC.
Hi Gerrit, this might help:
“try this
turn off Media Center from reacting to a MSC keyboard or IR remote
click Start | Control Panel | Default Programs | Set Program access and computer defaults
then select the option for Custom
expand chevron at right side of screen
then scroll down for category: Choose a default media player
find: Windows Media Center
then uncheck option: Enable access to this program
beside: Windows Media Center
Scat”
From:
http://www.eventghost.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2315#p13339
Hey!!!
I’m having a problem too. I’m fiiiinally upgrading to the newest version (wanna try to put it in my startup since it auto-minimizes now), and it stopped working. It acknowledges the first button I press and then stops, and not even that first button press is acknowledged by VLC.
It says this in the lower box:
Unable to open db
SQLite error
no such table: settings
Value cannot be null.
Parameter name: ipString
I did copy my old mapping file over, in case that helps.
Also, even when I copy the IP/Port from VLC to Settings, if I close your app and reopen, it’s no longer there.
Hi Billkwando,
The db of earlier versions may not be compatible with the current one. I believe only the previous version allows you to copy the old database. A clean install maybe the only way forward.
Yep! Reinstalling did the trick.
If you decide to make a new version, you should add the ability to start up w/ windows.
For folks who want to add it to startup manually, here’s the steps:
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-make-an-application-start-automatically-in0.html
Yep, good tip. My official Windows mce remote broke down. I now use a cheap $9 remote mentioned previously in the comments. It’s a pretty basic remote that works much like a keyboard: http://www.nextag.com/1-Pack-Multifunction-PC-687744263/prices-html
Unfortunately it is not compatible with this program. I have to fix the old one before I can update and work on this program again, or update the program to make it work with this remote…
Hi Arend,
Previous poster to this thread; I use mceRemote2vlc all the time now. It’s perfect (just one minor hiccup for me.)
To preface, you’ve implemented “cycle through audio tracks” in the key mappings. But I don’t see a key mapping for “cycle through audio devices.”
You see, if I’m playing a video that has a 5.1 AC3 track, I must select “A/52 over S/PDIF” to get the sound to play over my 5.1 sound receiver. The annoyance come in when I’m watching a succession of videos that require “A/52 over S/PDIF.” Anytime one video finishes and the next one starts, it reverts the audio device to “Stereo” and I have to manually change it to “A/52 over S/PDIF” again; i.e., I have to get off the couch, walk over to my computer and select “A/52 over S/PDIF;” each and every time. Yeah, I know, life is so hard for me.
Is there any way around this using mceRemote2vlc?
Nevermind, I discovered how to make VLC default to “A/52 over S/PDIF” I should have looked more into the settings before posting.
hi,
((.
I also have a small problem.
I set up everything just how you’ve explained it, then I open VLC and mceremote2vlc.
The device and VLC connection are both connected but the Programm is not responding to my remote control … when I want to do the mappings nothing happens
I’m using win7 and the hauppauge MCE remote.
pls help
I think the remote is not supported, even though it is listed on the MediaPortal site: http://wiki.team-mediaportal.com/4_HTPC/HTPC_Hardware/Input_Devices/Hauppauge_MCE_Remote
Is it the same make / mode ?
I have the same problem as Gerrit who posted on 7/14/2011. I use your excellent program coupled with the MediaBrowser plugin for WMC. I m unable to map the chapter_p and chapter_n commands to the previous and skip buttons. Like Gerrit, I am unable to use the buttons he mentions because somehow the commands get intercepted by WMC before they reach your program.
No worries though. I set skip and previous to None and mapped chapter_p and chapter_n to the 1 and 3 button. All works well.