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[tzr916]

23.0.23 (7/25/2017)

10. NEW: An MCC command (28042) and keyboard accelerator (Ctrl K) to toggle automatic ComSkip off or on during video playback.

Thanks! I will be trying this very soon...

A few questions:
1. When it is toggled OFF, can I still use the normal remote buttons to manually jump to the next commercial marker "end point"? (that was the whole point of requesting this toggle - so that in cases where comskip makes the jump too soon on some shows, one can turn off automatic skipping, but still be able to manually use the skip button to get to the next marked end point)

2. How can I assign this toggle to the DOWN button on my Remote? Right now the DOWN button during playback is just another way of accessing/scrolling through the now playing INFO. How can I make the DOWN button be the comskip toggle OFF/ON, without affecting DOWN navigation in theaterview? (again, if it can't be assigned to a remote button, it's not very useful)

[tzr916]

So far testing CTRL+K does actually disable automatic skipping, but:
-manual skipping with remote does not work while automatic is disabled.
-after re-enabling automatic mode, pressing the manual skip button on remote makes the video skip two or three or four or more commercial markers. It should just skip the first/next immediate marker.

[tzr916]

23.0.32 Changed: Ctrl-K or MCC 28042 for toggling commercial skips will no longer turn off manual skipping (i.e. the Next/Previous buttons).

Excellent work, again! Wow. Works perfect. Thanks so much, Yaobing is the man 


Only help I need now is:
How can I assign this to the DOWN button on my Remote? Right now the DOWN button during playback is just another way of accessing/scrolling through the now playing INFO. How can I make the DOWN button be the comskip toggle OFF/ON, without affecting DOWN navigation in theaterview?

[Yaobing]

I don't think (but not entirely sure) you can assign DOWN button to something without affecting navigation.

[CountryBumkin]

Maybe if you have a Harmony Remote. Mine allows a short press and a long press to do different things/functions from the same button. Although I don't know for sure that that double function also applies to the down button.

[tzr916]

Yes, I have harmony. Double press is available on the DOWN button (and others). But what do I set it to in the Harmony software? My choices are:
ANGLE
AUDIO
DVD MENU
SUBTITLE
TELETEXT
ZOOM

And what has to be done in MC once I set it to one of the above?

Does MC recognize the mce RED or BLUE buttons? I know it does for GREEN and YELLOW.... Can I tell MC to use the mce RED or BLUE button?

Apparently the toggle gets reset to Auto On when going to a new show. So CTL+K has to be pressed every time playing back another show. It's kind of a mess having to grab a keyboard, or remote desktop into the machine just to press CTL+K every time I want to toggle it...

[tzr916]

Yaobing, any chance you can add an on screen pop up for this that says "Auto-Skip OFF" and "Auto-Skip ON" ? Right now it's just a blind toggle, with no indication whether it's on or off.

[RoderickGI]

How did you go with setting up the Harmony? They are great remotes, but they do provide some restrictions to use, I find.

I was doing some setup changes with my Harmony 880 as it seems that one of the custom buttons has stopped working. Drat. Anyway...

I'm using the Extended MCE profile available via the Harmony configuration site, which only provides a limited number of IR and Keyboard commands. Most of which are already in use by Windows or MC, and so can't be used for a new command. The command set I am using is called the "Windows Media Center SE" instead of the default "MCE Remote", found by adding a Device on the Harmony site or in their software, such as;

Device -> Media Center PC
Manufacturer -> Microsoft
Model -> Windows Media Center SE

I have had trouble getting passed the "Device" step in my setup in the past, and couldn't add another "Media Center PC" Device today. I know there was some trick to it but can't work it out now. Double drat! I'm pretty sure the only way to select the Extended "Windows Media Center SE" command set if you aren't already using it is to add a new device. Triple drat!

The "Windows Media Center SE" does include the Red and Blue buttons, so they should be available to use for your command, if you can set up or already have a Device using the "Windows Media Center SE" command set.


It doesn't help that the process to get a new command working seems to be convoluted.

On the Remote:
Pick an available Command from the Harmony Command set you are using. If there are no unused Commands you will lose the existing functionality of the Command you pick.
OR
Add a new Custom Infrared Command to your Harmony, but that will require a new Infrared code (command) to be assigned to the new Command. Usually, a Harmony remote can learn a new IR code from an original remote or some other device, such as an IR Keyboard. . But there is no guarantee that MC will be able to see and understand the learned IR code, depending on the source of the code. i.e. The new code from another IR remote may use a standard that MC can't read. It is a bit try and see, but I have done that previously.

I set up the existing standard Red and Blue buttons from the "Windows Media Center SE" command set on my Harmony using Custom Buttons for the first time today, rather than creating a new Custom Infrared Command and learning new IR codes. So at that point, I had a Harmony remote that would transmit IR Commands for the standard MCE Red and Blue Buttons.

In JRiver MC:
Then in MC, I added two new IR Commands, naming them "Red Button" and "Blue Button", and for each used the "Add Run" button to set MC to launch Microsoft Paint, just for testing. Unfortunately, that didn't work, so I tried Learning the Red and Blue IR code in MC. I received a warning that MC could already handle that IR command because it was an MCE command, but it didn't, so I went ahead with the learning. Both Red and Blue Buttons then worked.


So in answer to your question;

Does MC recognize the mce RED or BLUE buttons?

It should, but it doesn't. However, it can learn these IR codes and then the Red and Blue Buttons work. I also tested the launching of Paint with the Red and Blue Buttons using my standard MCE remote and they worked as well. So the IR codes learned from my Harmony 880 remote are definitely standard MCE codes, but MC didn't recognise them until I had it learn them. Disappointing, but not a major obstacle.

[tzr916]

I'm just using the standard mce profile with the Harmony. Works perfect for me. The main issue I have is that there appears to be no way to simply add a PC keyboard shortcut in the Harmony setup. You may be on to something with the extended profile. I may take a look, but don't want to break anything I've currently got.

I've actually managed to rig Event Ghost to send CTRL+K when I press the BLUE mce button on my remote (part of the standard Harmoney mce profile). So it's actually a good thing that JRiver doesn't use the BLUE or RED buttons... The method I used is not ideal or pretty but it works. A few guys over on the Event Ghost forum are now interested in working on a "real" JRiver MC plugin for EG (it might be a while):
http://www.eventghost.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9783

Since this MC toggle is a blind toggle, I added a macro to send the "Down" button press. This at least pops something on the screen but isn't quite what I wanted. I'm hoping someone can tell me the MC keyboard shortcut for the INFO button that we use on our mce remotes? It seems to be slightly different than the down button.

[RoderickGI]

Do look at the Windows Media Center SE Harmony profile. It adds quite a lot, even if lots can't be used. But now I look I see the standard "MCE Remote" does have the Red and Blue buttons.

Yep, not being able to add a simple keyboard shortcut to a Harmony setup has been my frustration as well. I think some people who happen to own an IR Keyboard have been able to add IR codes for the full keyboard commands to Custom Infrared Commands, but I read about that ages ago, and who has an IR Keyboard these days, if ever? Not me.
Note: I just realised that I was using the term "IR Sequence" in my last post when I really should be using "IR Code", as the Harmony does allow you to send a Sequence of IR Codes with the press of one button. Terminology needs to be correct for future reference! Edited to correct that error.

It is also annoying that you can't just key in an IR Code for Custom Infrared Commands, but instead, have to learn them all from another device.

If your Harmony works the same as mine, you could get MC to recognise the Blue button and then have MC launch something that executes the required keyboard shortcuts, in sequence. A batch file perhaps? That might be faster than using EG.

In fact, it would be nice if MC enabled any sequence of keyboard commands to be defined for a received IR Code so that the Blue button would simply send a "Ctrl-K, Down" for example. MC does allow a sequence of commands to be defined, but only commands from its know list. So you could have one remote button execute Up, Up, Left, Right, etc., and a few other commands, but not all keyboard commands. Unless I am missing an undocumented feature!

Or another option, if the Harmony could learn the IR Codes for keyboard commands you could set up a Sequence of IR Codes in the Harmony, against one button, and that would probably be faster again.


On the Info button. I customised what mine does years ago, so I don't even know what the default does anymore. But there was a thread discussing it way back. Yes, it is different to the OSD Arrow Up/Down display. I must revisit what I have done, as I no longer use it the way it is set up. EDIT: Just got rid my customisation and checked the Info button function: Toggles through the name of the program playing with heading Playing Now, the Time Shift display, and the Program Description. The latter is the main difference, and that only three bits of information are displayed.

I did look for a keyboard shortcut for the Info function a long time back but never found what I needed. I suspect that there isn't one, as it is an IR remote function only. It doesn't even appear in the Remote Control section of MC Options, just like the Red and Blue buttons. Did you search all the Developer section of the Wiki and the Resources file in MC? I couldn't find anything there either.

[RoderickGI]

Ha! Found it!

When a video is playing, the "D" button does the same thing as the remote control info button.

From here: https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,98874.msg687062.html#msg687062

That then links to Media Center Core Command:

Enum	Command	Parameter
10051	MCC_SHOW_ON_SCREEN_DISPLAY	0: position bar

[tzr916]

Ha! Found it!

When a video is playing, the "D" button does the same thing as the remote control info button.

From here: https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,98874.msg687062.html#msg687062

That then links to Media Center Core Command:

Enum	Command	Parameter
10051	MCC_SHOW_ON_SCREEN_DISPLAY	0: position bar

Perfect! Thanks. Funny, I had been trying CTRL+D (that's what I recalled from my old WMC days).

Given all the MCC commands, it's crazy to me how JRiver only has bare bones ability to remap/customize remote buttons (or at least no one in the forum seems to want to speak up about it). It would be amazing if they could figure out a way to add every MCC command to the remote settings in MC, as well as generic keyboard shortcuts.

Oh well, got it working using EG for now 

[RoderickGI]

Actually, we are both numpties who can't see the wood for the trees!

Both the ComSkip Auto-Skip Toggle and the Info Display have their own MCC Commands, so keyboard shortcuts and Event Ghost aren't required at all. It can all be done simply in MC, once you train MC to recognise the Blue button. Yaobing even listed the MCC Command for ComSkip and you quoted it in the first post in this thread. It is 28042. It isn't documented in the Wiki yet, but it is easy to look up in the Resource.xml file found in the "C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 23\Data\Default Resources" directory, if you search for Ctrl+K, or more specifically, "Ctrl;K"

ComSkip Auto-Skip Toggle command is "MC23.exe /MCC 28042, 0"
Show On Screen Display command is "MC23.exe /MCC 10051, 0" (I think you can leave the 0 off to change the start point in the cycle between the three info displays.)

I think you know how to add commands to a button in MC, but I have included an image showing most of the setup in this post. Note that there are two Run commands in sequence under the one button; The Toggle, and then the Info Display.

That allows you to take Event Ghost completely out of the picture. Should be faster and neater.

[jachin99]

If you still come across any any use the Event Ghost Plugin, I just tested it, and it is working for me so far.  One thing that might be confusing is that you need to double click command or right click and select configure to set its zones.  The zones in EG are labeled numerically so I went into my playing now view where it shows everything playing in every zone, and tested a next command through each zone until I saw the track change where I wanted it to.  All the MCC commands are there I think, and there are A LOT

[tzr916]

Actually, we are both numpties who can't see the wood for the trees!

I might try this method to create a one button press for DELETE (if an MCC for delete exists).

If you still come across any any use the Event Ghost Plugin, I just tested it, and it is working for me so far.

JRiver EG plugin: http://www.eventghost.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=9788

I guess an "input" plugin still required like the mce remote or generic HID device plugin?

[jachin99]

To the best of my knowledge, you will still need an input plugin to read what your MCE remote is doing.  If you still have a test machine, you could try installing the vista/Windows 7 MCE plugin in order to see if it gives you those three digit codes on your other machine.  The driver signing issue might vary between IR recievers, and I'm not sure if there is some driver on EG's part that isn't signed or if some of the receivers don't have signed drivers.  If you want to experiment, then EBay is your friend.  There is also an event broadcast kind of JRiver plugin out there that sends log data to event ghost which you can use to trigger macros so its kind of an "input" plugin that receives input from JRiver itself.  I'm thinking you might have to edit that plugin a little bit to get it working.  I'll look at that one too when I get a chance

[RoderickGI]

I might try this method to create a one button press for DELETE (if an MCC for delete exists).

There appear to be two Delete MCC Commands;
21004    Delete
21016    Delete All
I would try 21004, and be careful testing 21016

When you try this, be aware of all the standard navigation commands that are available using the Remote Control "Add Command" button, and that you can just put them in the sequence you need to achieve a "One Button Press Delete". Commands such as Up, Down, Left, Right, Enter, Tab, Back, Escape are probably the important ones, but if you want to be able to Delete a playing program, you may also want to add a Stop command before the Delete command. But be careful with that, as if nothing is playing it might delete the Bookmark from the highlighted file. I guess that wouldn't matter if the highlighted file was the one you wanted to delete. But just be aware.

Also note that MC can add in "Wait" periods between commands. I have now updated my Info button to show the Theatre View "Info" pane, which is similar (almost identical) to the "Watch" pane in the information it shows. In order to get MC to consistently go to that display I had to have it go the Theatre View Home position and navigate from there. Otherwise it remembered where it was in the menu structure previously and ended up in the wrong place the second and following times I used it. So my Info button now has the following commands assigned to it.

Theatre View: Home
Sleep: 1
Up
Up
Right
Right
Right
Sleep: 1
Right

I had to add in the Sleep commands for one second each to prevent MC from acting on the Right command before executing the command prior to the Right, and hence skipping forward in the program or selecting the wrong menu item. The actual sleep time is way less than that, and the button executes all commands in under a second total.

This new button sequence allows me to review the full program Description and other information, such as seen on the Watch display, and while the program is still playing in a quarter screen window to the right. To return to full-screen playback I just press the "Media Center" button on my remote, which is the equivalent of the big green "Windows" button on a standard MCE remote control.


You may need some wait commands to let MC finish displaying the Deletion popup Dialogue, for example, before navigating to the yes option and selecting it.

The Remote Control functionality in MC is actually pretty powerful and much simpler than using EG for example, if you don't need the capabilities of EG to watch for events and control third party applications. It just isn't documented very well and requires a good understanding of the MCC Commands, which means also being happy to read the "C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 23\Data\Default Resources\Resource.xml" file, because the MCC Wiki doesn't always get updated.

Finally, there is even a way to send keyboard keys to MC from a remote button, using the MCC Command 27000 as briefly documented here: https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/MCC_KEYSTROKE. MC can accept many more keys than those documented there. However I haven't been able to work out how to send key combinations yet, if it is at all possible. So I can't send a Ctrl+K command yet, but I am working on it. 

[tzr916]

...It can all be done simply in MC, once you train MC to recognise the Blue button....

I can't get MC to recognize the remote buttons RED or BLUE when I go to the "start learning" button in MC remote settings. Event Ghost sees these buttons being pressed but not MC.

[RoderickGI]

I've had trouble getting MC to see some IR commands in the past, which is why I tested the Red and Blue button learning after I found they weren't part of the defaults. MC obviously doesn't see all IR commands.

But the buttons worked for me, so the first thing I would check in your situation is that EG isn't capturing the commands and preventing MC from seeing them. That is, after all, one of its functions. Unless you have removed all the setup you had associated with the Red and Blue buttons in EG, and/or told it to ignore those buttons, it will eat the commands, I believe.

[tzr916]

Na, that isn't how EG works, or at least not how I have it setup. While EG can see ALL the buttons I press on the remote, it does not interfere at all with MC being able to see them. There is an option to do that, but I have that option turned off. Maybe I will try one of the other standard mce buttons that I won't ever use, like SUBTITLE.

[RoderickGI]

Hmmm, like I said, I have had trouble in the past. But now I'm wondering if that was when I was using the default "MCE Remote" profile on my Harmony. Now I'm using the "Windows Media Center SE" I haven't had any issues. Not that I have tried lots of buttons. You could try using the "Windows Media Center SE" profile and see if it works for the Red and Blue buttons. I know, more work, but it does expand the commands available to use.

[blgentry]

This all seems like a job for FLIRC to me.

Brian.

[RoderickGI]

Maybe.

But I like to keep things simple, with less moving parts. (Harmony + Harmony profiles) + (MC + MCC Commands + Remote Configuration) works for me. At this stage at least, I don't need more. I don't think tzr916 does either.

[blgentry]

FLIRC makes it easier.

Set up keyboard shortcuts for everything you want to do.  Then use FLIRC to program keys on your remote control to send those keyboard sequences.  Done.

None of this:  Does MC understand this kind of remote?  Why doesn't the blue button send anything to MC?  I know it works.  FLIRC understands just about every IR remote ever designed.  It doesn't care what it is; it just maps IR codes to keyboard keys.

I don't know if it satisfies all of your needs, but it certainly makes a lot of the above discussion a non-issue.

Brian.

[Hendrik]

I actually haven't had much luck with FLIRC and Harmony remotes. It doesn't seem to like them much. Harmonies are designed to be programmed to talk to any IR receiver, FLIRCs are designed to receive from any remote, but none of them have their own identity - and even with the harmony in its old HTPC mode FLIRC still wasn't very receptive.

In any case you can teach any remote command to MC as well with its remote learning ability.

[RoderickGI]

Hendrik, FLIRC have now partnered with Harmony, and seem to include default Harmony profiles in their current firmware. I guess they heard your thoughts!

In any case you can teach any remote command to MC as well with its remote learning ability.

This is the problem I have come up against in the past, and the one tzr916 is having with the Blue button now. MC doesn't see all IR commands in learning mode.

In the past, I have tried pretty hard to get MC to see and learn some IR commands sent from my Harmony, and it just wouldn't, so I had to work around that. I don't have examples right now, but I suspect that it wouldn't be hard to find some, like the Red and Blue buttons. From memory the extended MCE commands using Ctrl/Shift/Alt didn't work. I'm using an Inteset CIR (Consumer Infrared Module) receiver connected to the CIR header on my ASRock motherboard and Nuvoton/ASRock Drivers. Maybe that makes a difference, but it is supposed to receive all IR commands.

Brian, I do see that the FLIRC solves the above problem, so no more "Does MC understand this kind of remote?  Why doesn't the blue button send anything to MC?". I also see that it can send any keyboard commands, including combination commands using Ctrl/Shift/Alt, so it does have that advantage. While I didn't see anything saying it could send execution commands, which would allow it to send MCC Commands to MC, most MCC Commands required have keyboard equivalents anyway. Plus, as you say, you could set up Keyboard shortcuts to functions required.

So I guess the FLIRC would add some value. Their web site is a bit... messy at the moment. Hard to get a quick feel for what it can do. A flow chart of the process would make it easier!


One trick suggested on the FLIRC site that I haven't tried, which could make many more IR Commands available for me to use in the Harmony setup and hence learn in MC, is to add a Device in the Harmony that I don't actually have, of a different brand to all my devices, and use IR Commands from that device profile to program more custom buttons in the Harmony, and hence add more commands for use with MC. I might have to try that.

I still need to fix a button on my Harmony, and/or rejig all my custom commands around the failed button, so I might try the above while doing that.

[Hendrik]

It appears there is also a Gen2 Flirc dongle now, maybe I should give it another try.

[tzr916]

Revisiting due to possible issues with Event Ghost- like possible delayed button presses and the jump fwd/back buttons failing sometimes. I closed Event Ghost and proceeded to do more MC IR testing....

...You could try using the "Windows Media Center SE" profile and see if it works for the Red and Blue buttons...

Nope MC does not see Red & Blue buttons with that profile. Tried a whole bunch more buttons, the PC was definitely seeing the remote button presses - programs were launching, the Learning list in MC would change/move what was highlighted, etc... Yet MC sits there refusing to LEARN the actual IR. Finally found that MC does see the "Radio" button with the SE profile. "Radio" is a MC function that I will never use. So I was able to assign the comskip toggle [MCC 28042] plus Info [MCC 10051] (as a notification) to my Blue button on my Harmony.


So I can finally take Event Ghost out of my PC startup list!