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[GreyGhost]

I am using an MCE type IR remote and a wireless keyboard with my Windows 10 HTPC. JRiver MC (21.0.30) "hijacks" the play/pause and stop media keys (not the other ones) when it is not running (only the server is running).

For example when I am in Spotify, the play/pause button will start/pause the current song on the JRiver playlist.

When I stop the server the normal behavior is back (media keys work with active program: Spotify/Kodi).

Can this behavior be changed? or at least be optional?

Thanks!  

Update: persists in 21.0.34

[RoderickGI]

What do you have set under "Options/General/Behaviour/Play Button"?

I have it set to play visible files, so that when file are highlighted in MC, pressing play starts playback, pause and stop both work.

Then if I close the MC User Interface and just leave the MC Server running, pressing play, pause and stop do nothing, as expected. I don't have Spotify or Kodi or another program that uses the MCE Remote, so I can't test if the remote would work with another program when the MC User Interface is closed, but it seems likely.

Actually, I just tested with Windows Media Player, and with the MC User Interface closed, and a file opened in WMP, the Play and Pause buttons work fine. The Stop button doesn't though, but I suspect that comes down to the program itself not using the Stop button.

So with the correct setting as above, and the MC User Interface closed but the MC Server running, an external program can use the IR Remote Control signals.

Of course with that setting, pressing Play when the MC User Interface is running will not play what is in Playing Now, but that is okay with me, the way I use MC.

[GreyGhost]

What do you have set under "Options/General/Behaviour/Play Button"?

I have it set to play visible files, so that when file are highlighted in MC, pressing play starts playback, pause and stop both work.

Then if I close the MC User Interface and just leave the MC Server running, pressing play, pause and stop do nothing, as expected. I don't have Spotify or Kodi or another program that uses the MCE Remote, so I can't test if the remote would work with another program when the MC User Interface is closed, but it seems likely.

Actually, I just tested with Windows Media Player, and with the MC User Interface closed, and a file opened in WMP, the Play and Pause buttons work fine. The Stop button doesn't though, but I suspect that comes down to the program itself not using the Stop button.

So with the correct setting as above, and the MC User Interface closed but the MC Server running, an external program can use the IR Remote Control signals.

Of course with that setting, pressing Play when the MC User Interface is running will not play what is in Playing Now, but that is okay with me, the way I use MC.

I have (and already had) the same setting but still the behavior as I described, do you by any chance have a Logitech keyboard? Because the Setpoint software intercepts the keyboard media keys before the JRiver server does, once I turn off the software the keyboard behaves as the remote i.e. the jriver server intercepts and plays.

[RoderickGI]

Actually I do have a Logitech K400r Bluetooth keyboard. However, I don't have Setpoint running. It is not visible in the Task Manager, or Services. I am just using the Unified device driver and whatever gets started with that. In fact, Setpoint is installed, but it doesn't run. It was always a rubbish bit of software, and it just crashes if I try to run it. That may be contributing to my observations. Or maybe just by having the K400r installed and operational I get different results. One other possible difference is that I run my HTPC using a limited Windows Account, rather than an Administrator Account. The HTPC account doesn't have access to change system settings of course, which could make a difference.

Whether the MC User Interface is running or not, pressing the Play button on the K400r starts playback of audio or video in MC. The Play/Pause, Mute and Unmute buttons all work, always. I guess that is the same as your observation, in that when Setpoint isn't running, the K400r behaves, to some degree, as a remote.

But at the same time, with Setpoint not running, my Logitech 880 remote control running as an MCE remote never starts playback if the MC User Interface is closed, and just the MC Server is running, as I described above.

I didn't test what happens when the MC Server also isn't running.

It would be good if there was a way to watch the command processing of IR and Bluetooth commands within Windows, to see which programs handle them. I haven't looked for a tool that would allow that, so maybe there is something available. (Well, I know there is for IR. Not sure for Bluetooth.)

I wonder if your case is just Windows receiving the IR and sending it to the default program, rather than the currently active program. If the MC Server received the signal, no doubt it would play the currently selected media. Maybe Windows 10 changed the way IR commands are handled, in which case there might be a setting for it. As per my signature, I'm still running Windows 7.

[GreyGhost]

Actually I do have a Logitech K400r Bluetooth keyboard. However, I don't have Setpoint running. It is not visible in the Task Manager, or Services. I am just using the Unified device driver and whatever gets started with that. In fact, Setpoint is installed, but it doesn't run. It was always a rubbish bit of software, and it just crashes if I try to run it. That may be contributing to my observations. Or maybe just by having the K400r installed and operational I get different results. One other possible difference is that I run my HTPC using a limited Windows Account, rather than an Administrator Account. The HTPC account doesn't have access to change system settings of course, which could make a difference.

Whether the MC User Interface is running or not, pressing the Play button on the K400r starts playback of audio or video in MC. The Play/Pause, Mute and Unmute buttons all work, always. I guess that is the same as your observation, in that when Setpoint isn't running, the K400r behaves, to some degree, as a remote.

But at the same time, with Setpoint not running, my Logitech 880 remote control running as an MCE remote never starts playback if the MC User Interface is closed, and just the MC Server is running, as I described above.

I didn't test what happens when the MC Server also isn't running.

It would be good if there was a way to watch the command processing of IR and Bluetooth commands within Windows, to see which programs handle them. I haven't looked for a tool that would allow that, so maybe there is something available. (Well, I know there is for IR. Not sure for Bluetooth.)

I wonder if your case is just Windows receiving the IR and sending it to the default program, rather than the currently active program. If the MC Server received the signal, no doubt it would play the currently selected media. Maybe Windows 10 changed the way IR commands are handled, in which case there might be a setting for it. As per my signature, I'm still running Windows 7.

You may be on to something there, I never noticed this behavior under Windows 7 with the same hardware.