[JazJon]

Hey All,

The most used remote control buttons for me are the skip forward (30 seconds) and skip back (15 seconds) This is much faster zipping though commercials.

My MCE Remote Control skip forward and skip back buttons have no effect in XBMC. I can only use regular fast forward and reverse.

What's the trick to enable skip forward and skip back once again in XBMC?

I tried following these links but none of it makes sense to me yet.. Is it something simple I over looked?

http://xbmccustomregis.sourceforge.net/remote_auto.html
http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Add-on:PVR.WMC

Here is my xbmclog
http://pastebin.com/0Ci9CrfR

More On Me:
I've been a Windows Media Center User since XP Media Center Edition Launch. (10+ years)
http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/memb...file&u=170

After lurking around awhile, I finally decided to take the plunge on trying out XBMC PVR full time. I love XBMC but I couldn't bring myself to leave MCE fully. What really pushed me over the edge or the damn no signal error message popups I have to clear every day. (that don't effect recordings at all)
http://experts.windows.com/frms/windows_...00245.aspx


EDIT: I just posted in the appropriate section:
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid...pid1634612

[krustyreturns]

I'll let others answer about the remote buttons.

You won't get those popups in xbmc obviously, that's one advantage I've never thought of, lol. Also in my home we run xbmc side by side with wmc (basically everybody has switched to xbmc except my wife). So you don't have to commit permanently to one of the other - that's one of the big reasons why I started the project. I use harmony remotes and program the 'activities' to either start xbmc or wmc (also known as xbmc or wife).

[JazJon]

I'm still using my XBox 360 in my bedroom as an extender. I might replace it with a Roku or some other XBMC based mini system in the near future once I'm confident XBMC PVR MCE is a good stable long term solution. :-)

I also still use Ceton My Media Center iOS app sometimes as well which is nice.

I'm still working through the remote control setup:
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid...pid1634612

[LSU Jonno]

JazJon,

Why don't you just use MCEBuddy to edit your recordings to strip out the commercials automatically?

http://mcebuddy2x.codeplex.com/

The free version is always one version behind the current paid version. It works great. I am using WMC backend and I schedule my recordings in XBMC. Then MCE Buddy scans my recording folder and strips the commercials out overnight. The next day the recordings appear in my TV Shows library instead of my recorded TV folder. This allows XBMC to scrape the data for all of the shows.

There are a lot of settings to mess with in MCE Buddy. I let it remux the WTV files to MKVs while it strips out the commercials but leave the videos as MPEGs so I don't lose any quality.

[advocate99]

Here's what you need to know on this subject:

While watching a video:

Up and Down directional buttons will skip forward and back 10 minutes.
Left and Right directional buttons will skip forward and back 30 seconds
The exit/cancel/back button will skip backwards 7 seconds.

I use a Universal Remote Control Model RF20 and have it learn these keys so that skip forward is mapped to right directional buttonal and skip backwards is mapped to exit/cancel.

However, as I'm sure you'll conclude quickly, 7 seconds is way too short. I posted another thread here with directions on how to change that using the advancedsettings.xml file... I'll find it and add a link shortly.

---

Here's the link to instructions on how to change the skip back time...

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=183475

---

I'm writing a complete walk through, and here are some hints from the section on using your remote control...

---



When using a Windows Media Center remote control like the one that I recommended, the up/down/left/right/ok and exit buttons work just as you would expect them to in most XBMC screens. However, when you’re in the File Manager or Browser, the left/right buttons are used to move from the folder list to the OK/Cancel buttons, even though they are below the folder list.

When watching videos, the up/down buttons skip forward and backward 10 minutes or move through chapters if you’re watching something that has marked chapters. The left and right buttons skip forward and backward 30 seconds. The exit button skips backward 7 seconds.

The Guide button on most remotes serves as a right click/context menu button. Typically, the context menu will allow you to select an item as a favorite, rescan your sources for new files, and make other changes to the selected files.

Pressing “Menu” on your remote control will usually take you back to the main XBMC screen. However, if you are watching a video, the Menu button will show you icons at the bottom that can be used to pause, rewind, and fast forward. In the bottom right hand corner, you’ll see some icons that can be used to change video and audio settings. If you push the up arrow, the focus will shift to an “X” in the upper right hand corner. If you select that X, your video will continue playing, but you’ll be able to now press “Menu” and get back to the main menu while your video continues to play in the background. To return to the video, press “Exit” or click on “Fullscreen” (which appears above the main menu).

[scarecrow420]

In my experience those directional buttons and skip actions are only when watching videos (eg in Video library) whereas when watching live TV it seems to be that up and down arrows change channel, and left and right arrows change channel group... so you would need to map them to the skip commands yourself for FullScreenLiveTV wouldnt you?

[advocate99]

My experience is based upon watching Recorded TV via ServerWMC. I'm using XBMC Frodo 12.2 (via OpenELEC) with a Ortek Vista MCE Remote Control. My Up/Down/Left/Right buttons work as I indicated. There are separate buttons for Channel up and Down.

I almost never watch Live TV. I'm testing it now.

---

You're right. Can you point me to instructions on how to map those buttons to other functions?

---

Well, if I ever decide I need to tackle this, I'll start here:

http://wiki.openelec.tv/index.php?title=...Remap_Keys

[advocate99]

And the missing link to make that comprehensible is here:

http://openelec.tv/forum/64-installation...here-is-it

---

[advocate99]

Okay, here's what you need to do to make the remote functions for LiveTV the same as the remote functions for RecordedTV and other video.

SSH into your machine. If you're using OpenELEC:

cp /usr/share/xbmc/system/keymaps/remote.xml /storage/.xbmc/userdata/keymaps/remote.xml
nano /storage/.xbmc/userdata/keymaps/remote.xml

If you're using any other version of XBMC, you'll just need to find your default remote.xml file and edit it, or copy it to a location where you can edit it. Then:

Find this section:

<FullscreenLiveTV>
<remote>
<left>PreviousChannelGroup</left>
<right>NextChannelGroup</right>
<up>ChannelUp</up>
<down>ChannelDown</down>
</remote>
</FullscreenLiveTV>

Change it to this:

<FullscreenLiveTV>
<remote>
<left>StepBack</left>
<right>StepForward</right>
<up>BigStepForward</up>
<down>BigStepBack</down>
</remote>
</FullscreenLiveTV>

CTRL-X, Y, ENTER to save and exit.

Then reboot by typing:

reboot

I haven't tested this, but I'm guessing that it will work...

[JazJon]

JazJon,

Why don't you just use MCEBuddy to edit your recordings to strip out the commercials automatically?

http://mcebuddy2x.codeplex.com/

Thanks, I've been meaning to try this for awhile now. I'll give it a whirl after I know the basics are stable and working well. (best long term solution!)

Here's what you need to know on this subject:

While watching a video:

Up and Down directional buttons will skip forward and back 10 minutes.
Left and Right directional buttons will skip forward and back 30 seconds
The exit/cancel/back button will skip backwards 7 seconds.

When using a Windows Media Center remote control like the one that I recommended, the up/down/left/right/ok and exit buttons work just as you would expect them to in most XBMC screens. However, when you’re in the File Manager or Browser, the left/right buttons are used to move from the folder list to the OK/Cancel buttons, even though they are below the folder list.

When watching videos, the up/down buttons skip forward and backward 10 minutes or move through chapters if you’re watching something that has marked chapters. The left and right buttons skip forward and backward 30 seconds. The exit button skips backward 7 seconds.

The Guide button on most remotes serves as a right click/context menu button. Typically, the context menu will allow you to select an item as a favorite, rescan your sources for new files, and make other changes to the selected files.

Pressing “Menu” on your remote control will usually take you back to the main XBMC screen. However, if you are watching a video, the Menu button will show you icons at the bottom that can be used to pause, rewind, and fast forward. In the bottom right hand corner, you’ll see some icons that can be used to change video and audio settings. If you push the up arrow, the focus will shift to an “X” in the upper right hand corner. If you select that X, your video will continue playing, but you’ll be able to now press “Menu” and get back to the main menu while your video continues to play in the background. To return to the video, press “Exit” or click on “Fullscreen” (which appears above the main menu).

Okay, here's what you need to do to make the remote functions for LiveTV the same as the remote functions for RecordedTV and other video.

SSH into your machine. If you're using OpenELEC:

cp /usr/share/xbmc/system/keymaps/remote.xml /storage/.xbmc/userdata/keymaps/remote.xml
nano /storage/.xbmc/userdata/keymaps/remote.xml

If you're using any other version of XBMC, you'll just need to find your default remote.xml file and edit it, or copy it to a location where you can edit it. Then:

Find this section:

<FullscreenLiveTV>
<remote>
<left>PreviousChannelGroup</left>
<right>NextChannelGroup</right>
<up>ChannelUp</up>
<down>ChannelDown</down>
</remote>
</FullscreenLiveTV>

Change it to this:

<FullscreenLiveTV>
<remote>
<left>StepBack</left>
<right>StepForward</right>
<up>BigStepForward</up>
<down>BigStepBack</down>
</remote>
</FullscreenLiveTV>

CTRL-X, Y, ENTER to save and exit.

Then reboot by typing:

reboot

I haven't tested this, but I'm guessing that it will work...

Thanks I just realized the directional up,down, left, right skips around nicely (thanks, had no idea!) This is actually easier to use blind with my thumb so maybe I should just keep it this way. It's best I leave the skip forward/backward buttons alone for now in case I need to use the default Media Center interface for some reason. I'll map it out later after I'm 100% happy with this thing.

I don't have a remote.xml file in folder C:\Users\JazJon\appdata\roaming\xbmc\userdata\keymaps
(so I'm assuming I just have to create a blank one)

So it looks like I need to try playing back regular .mkv .mp4 files and see how the default remote control behaves. The goal it to make the controls as universal as possible from LIVE TV to MOVIES to TV SHOWS

Ok well I'm slowly getting up to speed, so far so good. I have a Harmony 900 so I can easily remap buttons as needed. I'll probably make skip forward/backward buttons something other than the directional ones. (maybe 7 seconds) Thanks everyone!

[advocate99]

It occurs to me that the even better approach would be to remap the skip forward and skip back buttons from what they do in XBMC, which is to skip to the next video in your playlist. Generally, we don't even used playlists, and so these buttons would be far better for us as +30 and -7 buttons.

I'll have to peruse the remote.xml file and look for the entires corresponding to those buttons...

[advocate99]

In doing a little bit more reading, it appears that with some MCE Keyboards, you may have to do these changes in keyboard.xml instead of remote.xml. My reading may be based upon older versions as well. I haven't tested any of this yet. Still trying to find the keys that reflect the skip forward and skip back button....

[advocate99]

Even if you can't find one, there's a default installed somewhere. You'll need to find it and copy it over. For windows, you may be able to find the keyboard.xml and remote.xml files here:

C:\Program Files\XBMC\system\keymaps

The secret seems to be to find the entry that links to "SkipNext" and change it to "StepForward"
and then find the entry that reads "SkipPrevious" and change it to "SmallStepBack"

For my remote, it was in the remote.xml file and these are the settings:

Code:

<keymap>
  <global>
    <remote>
      <skipplus>StepForward</skipplus>
      <skipminus>SmallStepBack</skipminus>
    </remote>
  </global>
</keymap>

However, for older MCE Remotes, it might also be in the keyboard.xml file, in which case you might want to use this:

Code:

<keymap>
  <global>
    <keyboard>
     <f mod="ctrl">StepForward</f>          <!-- Skip -->
     <b mod="ctrl">SmallStepBack</b>      <!-- Replay -->
    </keyboard>
  </global>
<keymap>

---

So, here's the instructions for XBMC using OpenELEC on how to change the Remote Control Skip Forward and Skip Backward keys so the instead of skipping forward and backward in the playlist, they skip forward 30 seconds and skip backward 7 seconds. If you're using another version of XBMC, you'll have to determine where XBMC looks for user versions of the keymap files and create the files there.

SSH into your machine

nano /storage/.xbmc/userdata/keymaps/remote.xml

Type in the following:

Code:

<keymap>
  <global>
    <remote>
      <skipplus>StepForward</skipplus>
      <skipminus>SmallStepBack</skipminus>
    </remote>
  </global>
</keymap>

CTRL-X, Y, ENTER to save and exit.

Then reboot by typing:

reboot

If the above doesn't work, you might try the following instead:

nano /storage/.xbmc/userdata/keymaps/keyboard.xml

Type in the following:

Code:

<keymap>
  <global>
    <keyboard>
     <f mod="ctrl">StepForward</f>          <!-- Skip -->
     <b mod="ctrl">SmallStepBack</b>      <!-- Replay -->
    </keyboard>
  </global>
<keymap>

CTRL-X, Y, ENTER to save and exit.

Then reboot by typing:

reboot

[JazJon]

I still don't quite fully understand all the different XBMC files we can edit until I play with this a bit longer and read more.

Here's a question, why can't we use the keyboard arrows to skip while the mouse cursor is visible? You have to wait for the mouse cursor to disappear before left & right arrows will make the PVR video skip 30 seconds forward / 15 back. If you move the mouse and it's visible, you can't skip around and have to wait.

[advocate99]

If you have a mouse on your XBMC, I suggest you call an exterminator!

Seriously, though, you'd have to ask the XBMC devs. I'm just a user who likes to write things up and post them so that I can find them again if my hard drive crashes, and others can improve upon them.

I think my MCE remote has a mouse, but I never use it. I always use my URC RF20, and it doesn't have a mouse.

I tested it tonight, and it appears that if you use the mouse while a video is playing, the info screen comes up. At that point, the left/right/up/down buttons will choose from the icons on the info screen, so they wouldn't be available for skipping...

I still don't quite fully understand all the different XBMC files we can edit until I play with this a bit longer and read more.

Here's a question, why can't we use the keyboard arrows to skip while the mouse cursor is visible? You have to wait for the mouse cursor to disapear before left & right arrows will make the PVR video skip 30 seconds forward / 15 back. If you mouse the mouse and it's visible, you can't skip around and have to wait.

---

Update: If you hit the back/cancel/exit button while the mouse is active, it goes away immediately and your skip buttons will start working again right away.