Harmony, BeyondTV and USB-UIRT

[Luca]

I'd like to be able to control a PC running BTV-Link using a Harmony remote (880). I believe I found the Firefly mini 'device' for the 880 on the Logitech site, so I should be OK on that front. I have an USB-UIRT that was thinking of using as the IR receiver. I saw the USBUIRT plugin and installed it, now what? Is there a Firefly-mini profile for EG that I could use, or should I use keyboard emulation route? I looked for sort of a basic guide to EG and couldn't find it.

Luca

[fforde]

You should be using the USB-UIRT plugin. Also, don't bother with the software for the the Firefly Mini, it is just a HID device anyway and doesn't work that well in my opinion. Have your Harmony mimic something more complex (I have mine mimicing a regular Windows Media Center Edition remote). Then don't both with any special software or drivers, just have EventGhost directly read the incoming USB-UIRT codes with the plugin.

Actually though there is already a thread talking pretty much about what you are trying to do here:
http://www.eventghost.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=523

You may want to give that a read as well.

[Luca]

You should be using the USB-UIRT plugin. Also, don't bother with the software for the the Firefly Mini, it is just a HID device anyway and doesn't work that well in my opinion. Have your Harmony mimic something more complex (I have mine mimicing a regular Windows Media Center Edition remote). Then don't both with any special software or drivers, just have EventGhost directly read the incoming USB-UIRT codes with the plugin.

Actually though there is already a thread talking pretty much about what you are trying to do here:
http://www.eventghost.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=523

You may want to give that a read as well.

Thanks for replying. I've changed the Harmony settings to emulate the Windows MCE remote, as you suggested. Also checked made sure that the Firefly mini drivers were NOT installed. I left the USB-UIRT plugin as the only item in EG's autostart section.

EG starts with no errors. After selecting the proper activity on the harmony and start pressing buttons, still the remote does not have any effect on the BTV interface...

For every button I press I can see EG listing the IR events in the left pane, something like:
USB_UIRT.450CA1F040F1
USB_UIRT.4325A0F050F1
USB_UIRT.4323A1F040F1
[...]

I guess I'm missing a further (probably very basic one) step in configuring EG.

[fforde]

Well you have events registering in EventGhost, now you need to assign actions to them. I don't personally use BeyondTV, but I do use MediaPortal, which is similar, and for me the easiest way to set it up was to have EventGhost emulate the keyboard. For example when you press the play button on your remote, have that action trigger the keyboard press that corresponds to play in Beyond TV. The keyboard emulation actions I don't think are turned on by default, so make sure that particular plugin is activated on startup of EventGhost.

You will want to read the EventGhost docs more, but basically create a keyboard action on your tree on the right, and then drag the event from the log on the left (the USB_UIRT event) to the newly created action. If you want to get super fancy, you can get into switching folders of actions based on what application is active, but I would suggest you get BeyondTV working before you get into that stuff.

[Bitmonster]

http://www.eventghost.org/wiki/Controll ... EventGhost

[Luca]

Well you have events registering in EventGhost, now you need to assign actions to them. I don't personally use BeyondTV, but I do use MediaPortal, which is similar, and for me the easiest way to set it up was to have EventGhost emulate the keyboard. For example when you press the play button on your remote, have that action trigger the keyboard press that corresponds to play in Beyond TV. The keyboard emulation actions I don't think are turned on by default, so make sure that particular plugin is activated on startup of EventGhost.

You will want to read the EventGhost docs more, but basically create a keyboard action on your tree on the right, and then drag the event from the log on the left (the USB_UIRT event) to the newly created action. If you want to get super fancy, you can get into switching folders of actions based on what application is active, but I would suggest you get BeyondTV working before you get into that stuff.

I created a few macro, starting with the arrow keys and the enter key. For the first time I saw some action on the BTV screen, which was encouraging. However the behaviour is still very erratic.

One odd thing I noticed. The Harmony remote, while emulating the MCE, generates a 'pair' of codes for each key I press. For instance, if I press the 'left' key, one time EG will log it as "USB_UIRT.432488F050F1", and the next one as "USB_UIRT.432489F040F1">. The 'up' key generates other pair of codes, and so on. This is consistent, the two always alternating. Is this normal?

I tried repositioning the USB-UIRT but no joy. Then I tried switching the Harmony to control the AV receiver device, and I always get the same UIRT code, which makes more sense. Also, this makes me think that the USB-UIRT is working just fine, and the problem is with the MCE profile...? I don't actually have an MCE remote, so I cannot correct or verify the IR codes.

I'd be happy to have EG emulate a keyboard, I know that BTV is perfectly happy with that. I'm not sure if I should I setup the Harmony any differently for that.

[fforde]

The alternating codes is normal and a lot of infrared remotes behave that way. You will just need to assign both signals to the corresponding action for that button. If you want to get super fancy you can remap those two events to a single new event, but I would recommend you focus on getting the BeyondTV key bindings set up first.

[Luca]

The alternating codes is normal and a lot of infrared remotes behave that way. You will just need to assign both signals to the corresponding action for that button. If you want to get super fancy you can remap those two events to a single new event, but I would recommend you focus on getting the BeyondTV key bindings set up first.

OK, I setup a different device on the harmony (an IR keyboard), and configured 5 macros (left, up, right, down, enter). THis device on the Harmony generate a unique code for every button (unlike the MCE).

Now, as I press the buttons on the remote, the proper ID seems to be logged correctly by EG, and the correspondent macro executed. However, the result on the BTV screen are as though I am only pressing the left key.

How does EG 'know' to which app these keystrokes are supposed to get redirected? I assume that that is the application that is in the forefront? I also have a wireless (radio) keyboard, could this be complicating things?

I took a snapshot my EG's screen, perhaps you can tell me what I'm doing wrong.
http://tinyurl.com/yqs9r6

[fforde]

Your screenshot looks ok to me, I am not sure why you would always be getting the left key press. Based on your log on the left of your screenshot though, it looks to me like your macros are correctly being fired. For debuging though, that log is your friend. Try to consistently recreate the issue and then look at the log to see what is getting fired when. It may not even be a problem with your EventGhost setup, it could also be the keybindings in BeyondTV maybe.

As far as the wireless keyboard interfering I don't think so, the keyboard plug in should work fine with existing keyboards connected.

As far as application focus, there is a plugin that will change focus to a specified window, you might want to take a look at that. Off hand though I don't remember the name of the plugin (I am at work right now).

[Bitmonster]

Don't edit the labels of the actions. Edit their configuration.

[Luca]

Don't edit the labels of the actions. Edit their configuration.

Sorry it took so long but the brand new HD (only 2 weeks old) in the HTPC started pining for the fjords.... Time to rebuild all from scratch and I'm at it again.

After the OS, drivers and BTV-LINK install I just did the following:
- uninstalled the firefly mini drivers
- added a device in the harmony profile (firefly mini is already an option on the Logitech site) and updated the remote
- installed EG build 1141
- added the USB-UIRT plugin
- modified the "keyboard emulation" macros adding the correspondent USB-UIRT events

..and everything works! If I look at the log screen I see the macros running, just the same as before, only this time is working.

Luca

[fforde]

Glad it's working now!

[vogelap]

I've changed the Harmony settings to emulate the Windows MCE remote, as you suggested.

Total EventGhost newbie here... I've got a USBUIRT that I'd like to configure to work with my Harmony 890 Advanced Remote, SnapStream BeyondTV, and eventually SageTV.

How do I change the Harmony settings to emulate the Windows MCE Remote? I don't know how/where I do that and would appreciate any guidance.

Thanks in advance.

[stottle]

You need to add an MCE device to the harmony using the harmony software. Basically what you do to add a new DVD or stereo, just pick an MCE computer instead. It should then be able to transmit the MCE IR signals.

Brett

[vogelap]

You need to add an MCE device to the harmony using the harmony software. Basically what you do to add a new DVD or stereo, just pick an MCE computer instead. It should then be able to transmit the MCE IR signals.

Thanks, Brett! I appreciate the information... I wasn't sure where to look.