[Hitcher]

Context Menu > Now Playing.

[spiff]

so it's not a design problem even, it's a pebkac ;>

[Xobbo]

I didn't even know there WAS a context menu! How do I get to it?

[Xobbo]

There's nothing in the manual about context menus, but by searching the forums I have learned that pressing the "c" key on the keyboard opens one. However, this thread:
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=93740
implies that it can't be opened using the standard navigation controls, so it has exactly the same problem that we started with.
I know the phrase "design problem" is missing from the lexicon of many software developers (I'm a developer myself), so unless spiff can explain to me how the context menu solves the problem, I'm inclined to think that the pebkac is at his end, not mine.

[Hitcher]

Menu or Title on most remotes.

[spiff]

you can go to now playing from the context menu in the media windows, and you have dedicated

opening the context menu is not mapped on all devices, but maybe on 95%. on a keyboard it also has a direct mapping (space), as does some remotes. and should you be using a mouse (which you should not), it's right-click. it is certainly mapped on a properly configured mce remote.

while the menu is hidden, it's a known paradigm, e.g. right-click on the mouse in pretty much all desktop environments/software.

so i fail to see the design problem here (and by design problem, i mean a logical fallacy).
but sure, probably a documentation problem.

[Xobbo]

Thanks Hitcher - obviously, it isn't either of those on my remote (or presumably those of the people on the other thread I found), but if most people can access the context menu then I guess it's a low-priority problem.

Spiff, the logical fallacy I see is that a certain set of controls (i.e. mine) can get you into a mode that you can't get back from. If my remote control has so few commands as to be unsupported, then that's fair enough, but considering I can do everything else I would expect to be able to do with my remote, this seems unlikely to me - and even if it WERE the case, only one command would need to be added to the menus in order to reduce the minimum required number of controls by one.
What are the requirements for a "properly configured mce remote"?

[digitaltomj]

I set my remote to send almost every key keystroke necessary to run XBMC...I have even set it so when I hold down the MCE button in the middle and press the arrow buttons it acts as a mouse with the ok key being a left click and the enter key being the right. I used a cross between the MCERemote add-on and an AutoHotKey script I wrote myself...you may not have to go to the lengths I did, however, if you have any "extra" buttons on your remote that serve the same functions as your appendix...I would suggest re-mapping them so you can control your computer and XBMC setup.

Here is a nice little how to website

and here is a list of keyboard commands

Also a helpful graphic of the commands

[SHO NUT]

I set my remote to send almost every key keystroke necessary to run XBMC...I have even set it so when I hold down the MCE button in the middle and press the arrow buttons it acts as a mouse with the ok key being a left click and the enter key being the right. I used a cross between the MCERemote add-on and an AutoHotKey script I wrote myself...you may not have to go to the lengths I did, however, if you have any "extra" buttons on your remote that serve the same functions as your appendix...I would suggest re-mapping them so you can control your computer and XBMC setup.

Here is a nice little how to website

and here is a list of keyboard commands

Also a helpful graphic of the commands

I would also suggest that if the standard iPad or Android remote software had a mute button pre-configured (and not require nice custom work like you did above to get it), this problem would probably resolve itself - people would see 'mute' on the remote, and think to press it to try and make the sound come back (just like most standard remotes have both mute bottons AND volume buttons). I, for one, never clued into the fact that the Android remote mapped the Android volume button to XBMC until I read about it. Even then, once set properly (unmuted), you can only effectively turn the volume *down* from the normal setting of 0, which doesn't help you if you need more volume, and XBMC is already at maximum volume - then you need to find the amplifier remote for that. I think I've also mentioned that if they used some command other than 'mute' (which isn't otherwise explicitly mapped on the stock Android/iPad remote) during configuration, we wouldn't have to be writing in this thread at all. :-)

Of course, someone will shortly point out that they can use a single remote (application) to control XBMC AND the amplifier, but I don't think I can do that ... LOL

[digitaltomj]

what you are talking about is the app, not xbmc...and the app is sending the "+"(plus) and "-"(minus) key rather than turning the system volume up or down...so if there is a way to set the app's settings, then just make the volume control the computer/device...or use an android/ios remote that controls your computer/device specifically because then there is no third party software in the way and you can still do all the things you want to do...and maybe more.

I know I can remotely control my htpc with a biostar motherboard remote app for android because I have a biostar motherboard...I can send any keystroke or combination of keystroke I want as well as use the mouse...however, a wireless keyboard is much simpler.

[SHO NUT]

what you are talking about is the app, not xbmc...and the app is sending the "+"(plus) and "-"(minus) key rather than turning the system volume up or down...so if there is a way to set the app's settings, then just make the volume control the computer/device...or use an android/ios remote that controls your computer/device specifically because then there is no third party software in the way and you can still do all the things you want to do...and maybe more.

I know I can remotely control my htpc with a biostar motherboard remote app for android because I have a biostar motherboard...I can send any keystroke or combination of keystroke I want as well as use the mouse...however, a wireless keyboard is much simpler.

So what you are saying is that the official XBMC Remote for Android app simply sends + and - keystrokes to the PC via ports :8080 and :9777 as if they were being typed on the keyboard, and XBMC picks them up from there because it is the program that has focus? Or are you saying that the Android remote app is sending the + and - keystrokes to XBMC directly via ports :8080 and :9777? I understood the latter, which is what caused the XBMC system volume to go up and down, and no way of controlling anything else connected to the PC (or even external to the PC). I suppose I could test by minimizing XBMC, give another app focus (say, Notepad), and then press the volume keys on the phone and see what happens - whether the volume changes, or a series of + and - appear on Notepad.

If you are suggesting the former, then it might be easy to do exactly what I want to do - it's all a matter of mapping ... all remote app menu/play controls go to XBMC, and volume goes to the amp via an external IR transmitter commanded by the app.

This is getting interesting

P.S. I checked out your links - interesting stuff - however I still have yet to find a keyboard equivalent to the single 'mute' command that is being issued by the remote that puts XBMC in mute mode. I highly doubt the app is issuing the '-' keystroke multiple times to put the volume all the way down to get an effective 'mute'.

[digitaltomj]

I honestly do not know, I don't have the app,..nor do I know which app it is. so I can't do testing...I just know the cause is the app since increasing or decreasing the system volume is different than increasing or decreasing the decibels within xbmc (which is what the app is doing)

...honestly, I never quite understood this feature...perhaps it's an obsolete feature...I could understand if the plus or minus sign were the shortcuts for the volume amplification (which would be more like how VLC player does it...but right now, there is no shortcut available for this. )

as for the "mute" button, well, it is unclear to me if the app is sending mute within the xbmc gui or if it spammed the minus sign so the decibels is total -60...i now it sounds odd but the app is in fact doing something odd.

btw, so is the app controlling xbmc via IR or via wifi?

[SHO NUT]

I honestly do not know, I don't have the app,..nor do I know which app it is. so I can't do testing...I just know the cause is the app since increasing or decreasing the system volume is different than increasing or decreasing the decibels within xbmc (which is what the app is doing)

...honestly, I never quite understood this feature...perhaps it's an obsolete feature...I could understand if the plus or minus sign were the shortcuts for the volume amplification (which would be more like how VLC player does it...but right now, there is no shortcut available for this. )

as for the "mute" button, well, it is unclear to me if the app is sending mute within the xbmc gui or if it spammed the minus sign so the decibels is total -60...i now it sounds odd but the app is in fact doing something odd.

btw, so is the app controlling xbmc via IR or via wifi?

The official XBMC Remote for Android app uses wifi via ports :8080 and :9777 which have to be opened in your router and forwarded to the XBMC machine (or at least I had to, or thought I needed to)

I'll do some testing with Notepad as the app with focus, and that will answer all of the above, and report back. I was going to do it last night, but ended up playing with some other XBMC features and watched a movie instead ... lol

If it turns out that the keystrokes are going to the PC, and XBMC is receiving them as it is the app that has focus, that is great, as it means that the Android app can be used as a Wifi Keyboard for the PC, plus it opens up a world of possibilities.

[iand51]

just delete guisettings.xml in C:\Users\Users Name\AppData\Roaming\XBMC\userdata

[Let_It_Ride]

For Xobbo, did you try turning up the volume with your *standard [remote] that came with [your] PC*?

or pressing the plus sign on your keyboard...as simple as it sounds sometimes its the simple things we overlook...like i didnt know the tab brought what ever was playing in focus till a month ago

I'm very new to XBMC, just started using it yesterday and this forum is great, thanks for the simple fix for the Muted problem... selected the PLUS sign on the keyboard and it fixed it.