[jopopo]

I am reading and trying 20 days by now but I have problem and questions. I want to use Harmony 525 emulating MCE Keyboard and facts are:

1. I have some USB IR device. It was installed with generic Win7 driver and device name under device manager is W-01RN V_3.1
2. USB IR works with original remote (some 3rd party MCE Remote) and works with Windows MCE.
3. USB IR receives codes (red led flashing) from Harmony but in Notepad no entries.
4. Device Manager shows:
- USB Input Device (I have 5 of them but under one is USB IR)
- Driver Details > Driver date: 21.06.06 ; Driver files: C\windows\system32\drivers\hidclass.sys, ...\hidparse.sys, ...\hidusb.sys ; File Version 6.1.7600.16385 (win7.rtm.090713-1255)
- Under DETAILS tab and PROPERTY dropdown selected "Bus reported device description" value is "W-01RN USB_V3-1"
5. Also under Device Manager if you expand System devices I can find Consumer IR devices entry. Driver files: circlass.sys same Driver date and File version like above. Under DETAILS tab and PROPERTY dropdown selected "Manufacturer" value is "Microsoft"

So questions:
1. How to check is USB IR Microsoft compatible or not?
2. Can I change the driver to make it compatible or not?
3. Can you post here what is the DEVICE NAME and DRIVER of you who managed working USB IR to work with Harmony, MCE Keyboard and XBMC, please?
4. Share any information from Device manager you think can be useful.

Thanks.

[coup]

I thought this may be useful to others on here;

I've been trying to figure out a reliable way to launch and switch applications with my harmony remote configured as an MCE keyboard. the F4 shortcut option seemed unreliable so I have now started using a program call Autohotkey.

Its brilliant.

I can now run a macro from a single button press that does everything I want. For me this was to use one button to switch from XBMC to WMC and vice versa whilst also shutting down the inactive program.

I wrote some simple logic as follows for an Autohotkey macro using the 'Vertical Bar' key as per below

~::
IfWinExist XBMC
{
winclose XBMC
run E:\other\Desktop\Media Center.lnk
}
else
{
winclose Windows Media Center
run E:\other\Desktop\XBMC.lnk
}

This works great and ultra reliable so far. Note for the above I dragged both the xmnc and wmc links to the desktop for ease of use. Check out the quick start guide for autohotkey here http://www.autohotkey.com/docs/Tutorial.htm and make sure you put the macro file in your startup folder to kick it off at startup. Putting the system to sleep does not affect this.

[Matix]

I just wanted to say thank you for the tip within the logitech software. Everything is working perfectly after binding all keys and setting up the keymap.xml

Just throw my dinovo mini away for the harmony one

BTW have set it up on a Windows 2008 R2 Server with an RC6 IR receiver flawlessly after some driver tweaking !

[ryanja]

I thought this may be useful to others on here;

I've been trying to figure out a reliable way to launch and switch applications with my harmony remote configured as an MCE keyboard. the F4 shortcut option seemed unreliable so I have now started using a program call Autohotkey.

Its brilliant.

I can now run a macro from a single button press that does everything I want. For me this was to use one button to switch from XBMC to WMC and vice versa whilst also shutting down the inactive program.

I wrote some simple logic as follows for an Autohotkey macro using the 'Vertical Bar' key as per below

~::
IfWinExist XBMC
{
winclose XBMC
run E:\other\Desktop\Media Center.lnk
}
else
{
winclose Windows Media Center
run E:\other\Desktop\XBMC.lnk
}

This works great and ultra reliable so far. Note for the above I dragged both the xmnc and wmc links to the desktop for ease of use. Check out the quick start guide for autohotkey here http://www.autohotkey.com/docs/Tutorial.htm and make sure you put the macro file in your startup folder to kick it off at startup. Putting the system to sleep does not affect this.

This is an excellent tip. Using this, redoing the remote config in the registry, and creating a custom keyboard.xml has given me a really sweet remote setup that allows me to easily switch between WMC (for live TV) and XBMC (everything else).

Initially it didn't work right for me, so I rewrote the run lines to point directly at XBMC.exe. But I've just realised that I called the shortcut 'XBMC.lnk' which probably made it 'XBMC.lnk.lnk', thus not being able to be found. I'll give it another go later tonight and also post my final scripts.

Thanks for the very useful tip!

[Fleegle]

I picked up a Harmony 300, but I have no idea which option to select when configuring the Harmony Remote, and I don't know which IR receiver to get. Can someone please direct me to an IR remote that will work with a Harmony 300?

[Clump]

I'm a complete noob at this and managed to get it all working nicely. I wanted to post exactly what I did in the interest of (hopefully) helping others.

I'm running Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit, running XBMC stable build set up as portable. I'm using the default XBMC skin, but have tried a few other skins and the remote works fine. My remote is a Harmony One.

Here's a link to the MCE remote that I bought:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...K:MEWNX:IT
It cost me US $28.93 delivered. You could do it with the receiver only - I wanted the remote in case I needed to learn any commands with the Harmony One, but didn't understand how XBMC receives commands when I bought it. What's important is that your reveiver is MCE compatible. I had previously tried a very cheap China Vision remote from Amazon that was very limiting.

Windows recognized the receiver and installed drivers without any help.

In the Harmony Software when adding the device select Media Center Computer -> Microsoft (Manufacturer) and type in "Microsoft MCE Keyboard". This will give you access to regular keys (qwerty).

My activity is called "Listen to PC" and includes the TV, receiver and media center PC. The Harmony One sets the right input on the TV and receiver, uses the receiver for volume control and gives access to make the keys on the remote deliver keystrokes to XBMC.

The key to getting everything working is the keyboard.xml file, in my case (portable) it's in the XBMC install directory tree. Open it up and you will see all of the functions and the associated key presses. Just program the keys on your Harmony to deliver the appropriate keypress - for example fast forward is f, rewind is r, etc.. You can also modify the various keys in the keyboard.xml file, but I saw no need to mess with it at all.

You can test the functions by just hitting the associated keys on your regular keyboard and watching how XBMC reacts. Once you tell the Harmony to send that key the result is exactly the same.

I set up a few custom buttons also. My PC can be awoken from sleep with the space bar, so I have a "Wake Up" key that does that. Also using Danielocean's excellent instructions here http://forum.xbmc.org/showpost.php?p=406...stcount=34 to program F7 to start XBMC I have a "Start XBMC" button. I have a "Fullscreen Toggle" button that sends "tab" and works great for that.

I'm very happy with the way this all works now and there are many more possibilities.

For anybody that needs help with Harmony programming in general there are a lot of resources on the web. Logitech has a forum with some very knowledgable folks that are willing to help. I found the best way to learn it was to dive in, it's incredibly powerful, but not all that complex.

Having the ability for the remote to deliver keystrokes to XBMC makes pretty much anything possible!

[dave77]

I picked up a Harmony 300, but I have no idea which option to select when configuring the Harmony Remote, and I don't know which IR receiver to get. Can someone please direct me to an IR remote that will work with a Harmony 300?

HP IR receivers work fine, £11 on ebay. Then Media Center PC > Microsoft > MCE keyboard. Then map some keys http://forum.xbmc.org/showpost.php?p=461...stcount=73

I just wanted to say thank you for the tip within the logitech software. Everything is working perfectly after binding all keys and setting up the keymap.xml

What did you need to change to keymap.xml, mine worked without any changes. Can you add custom stuff to it?

[ogegoon]

Great !!!! I was just looking how to control XBMC on my HTPC "Acer Idea 510" with my "Logitech Harmony 895".

PReviouslu, I read about a patch to deal with keystrokes in XBMC, about customizing the keyboard.xml, etc... and finally, I found your suggestion: just configure a "MCE Keyboard" device on the Harmony and it's really perfect !

Thanks a lot for sharing this !

O.

[mdg123456789]

Hi, i'm mauro from italy. Excuseme for my english. I have logitech harmony300 and pavillion hdx9000 with windows 7. I want to use harmony with xbmc. I use a program logitech for set hp pavilion hdx9000 but not work with windows media center or xbmc. Please help me! How i can setup my harmony?
Thanks

[1979crazy]

Hi

Trying to setup Harmony 785 with this remote/receiver:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=385365

Harmony works fine when setup as MCE remote but changed to keyboard and the remote sends a signal but the receiver does not do anything?

Do you think this means the receiver is only mce remote compatible and not mce keyboard?

[mrgoolie]

hmmm tried to configure my logitech remote but i wont succeed
i have an antec fusion remote 350 with an imon ir remote included. i also have an logitech harmony one.
i tried to set my harmony as an microsoft mce keyboard, this works but when i try to do control my xbmc or windows it keeps getting up or down the whole time.
i tried to set my harmony as an antec fusion remote but this wont work in xbmc.
what can i do to solve this problem. i tried almost every option available

[jopopo]

Finally I bought on Ebay article "New Linksys MCE Remote Controll + HP Receiver XP WIN7" and I am using HP transceiver only with Harmony 525. HP transceiver has P/N#5187-5049.

Everything works!!!

[waverz]

This won't work with my Adesso ARC-1100. I can set it up in the harmony software but when i use the "device" my IR receiver doesn't recognize it. I know this because it normally lights up when getting a signal.

Might have to try a different remote/receiver I guess.

[gswarriorfan]

Just wanted to report that I bought the HP IR receiver on ebay. It cost $14 and shipped from Hong Kong. Surprisingly it arrived in about 5 days! I just set it up as a MCE keyboard and everything works great!

[automated]

Just wanted to report that I bought the HP IR receiver on ebay. It cost $14 and shipped from Hong Kong. Surprisingly it arrived in about 5 days! I just set it up as a MCE keyboard and everything works great!

Same here, I was having trouble with my Microsoft receiver (it would randomly stop working) and bought the HP one. I simply unplugged the Microsoft one and plugged in the HP one (without even shutting down) and my harmony continued to function normally.