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[marty3d]

I've been thinking alot about remote controls for my PC. Nowadays, I often use the computer for watching movies in various forms and listening to music (of course with MJ ) Since I'm a lazy person, I like the idea of sitting in my couch switching songs and pause the movies instead of bring my *ss to the computer (in the same room).

After looking reeeally hard (and a remote is apparently not the most common accessory for the computer), I got the chance to try Siliteks Netshooter, but with no success and I didn't like the fact that their latest driver is updated -98 or that they don't even have the darn thing on their web site.

So, my question is, what do you remote control pro's recommend? Remember, the use is not only for MJ, but for the system in all. Please throw me some pros and cons for the products!

Thank you all, and as I see some people comment, I can only agree to that this forum is really addictive!

[Matt]

Hey there,

I use a Sony universal remote with the IRMan and Girder.  It's great -- the remote powers my TV, satellite, stereo, and MJ.

And MJ is the only way I watch TV, DVDs and listen to music now.  Works pretty slick really.  Even my wife likes it...

Happy hunting and let us know what you end up with.

-Matt

[JimH]

[well I see Matt beat me to this but here's what I had written]

Matt and I were talking about this today.  

I don't use a remote.  I have a Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse.  Works pretty well but the range may be limited.  I'm about 8 feet from the receiver.

Matt has a more elegant solution.  He uses girder (http://www.girder.nl), our girder plugin, the IRMan IR receiver, and a Sony Universal remote.

[nila]

Hmm, sweet post. Glad u guys posted it.
I have a Haupaugge WinTV Theatre that I got ages ago. Crap reception on it but I got a remote with it and this inspired me.
I can use that remote to control Media Jukebox.
The girder plugin in your page though says it's for version 7 only? U guys got one for 8? Dont mind testing it if it's just beta.
I could use that remote to control my music - YES!
make the £80 it cost me for the stupid tv card almost worth it

[ama_mmmc]

Matt,
Any chance you could expand a little on how you have all that set up?  Nothing to detailed, but a high level about your setup.

Thanks

[JimH]

The person who did the girder "group" config file is WeeHappyPixie aka John Paton.  If you check in the girder info on that site, you may find his email address.  I know he's worked on one for version 8, but it isn't on Girder's site yet.

Also try a search here for his posts.

[JimH]

ama_mmmc
You're best off to start at the girder site and irman site. There's a lot you can read there.

Or, as I said above, try a search here for posts on either subject.  Bump them to the top if you find good ones.

[cjdshaw]

I use IRMan with a Home Theater Master universal remote and Girder. I did experiment with the the Girder plugin, but found it too restrictive. Now MJ's keyboard support is a lot better, I just map remote buttons to keys. That has the advantage that most of them work in other apps too.

You'll need a remote with loads of buttons that don't do anything. i.e. send signals that none of your equipment recognises. If you have a universal remote, set it to a piece of equipment you don't have.

My setup procedure:

Install IRMan - no drivers needed
Install MJ
Install Girder
Set Girder to start automatically minimised with Windows
Add Girder IRMan plugin and set it to autoload.
Create a Girder group.
Now's the labourious bit:
1: Add Girder command
2: Set it to send a keypress to the foreground app.
3: Click Learn and press the button on the remote you want to perform that task.
4: Goto 1

There are those who have got Girder to send commands to MJ whether it is the foreground app or not, but I've always had trouble targetting, and prefer to be able to control whatever is running anyway.

The most useful general buttons are Left, Right, Up, Down, Return, Tab, Space, Esc, Alt, context menu, Windows key, Alt-Left, task-switch

Some useful MJ specific ones are Ctrl-P, Ctrl-S, Ctrl-L, Ctrl-N, Ctrl-Left, Ctrl-Right, Ctrl-W, Ctrl-2

Welcome to a world of fun and laziness

[mountainman]

I looked around for remote controls.  Since my Win2K machine has 2 RS-232 ports and they are both in use by stuff not likely to support USB anytime soon, I needed a USB device.  The only one I found is the Keyspan Digital Media Remote.  This product is an IR receiver that plugs into a USB port and a remote control with 17 keys on it.

The receiver is very good - it seems to work at almost 80 degrees to the side and from 20|PLS| feet away.  There is a button on the remote to cycle between applications plus the common buttons you need for audio/video control.  The mapping of the button functions changes depending on which application has the foreground.  The configuration allows all sorts of exotic configurations such as time delay, repeating, etc.  I am impressed.

I do not know of a way to configure it such that MJ gets the input even if it is not the foreground app.

There is one problem that Keyspan is working to resolve.  As incredible as it sounds, their software does not work properly if the executable filename contains a space - like Media Jukebox!  I have worked around this by using the "default" mapping to control MJ.  If the driver can't find a mapping for the foreground app, it uses "default" mapping which is completely configurable.  Anyway, Keyspan has reproduced this bug, has attempted to fix it in rev. 2.0.5, but it persists.  I have faith they will fix it as they have been quite helpful when I have spoken with them...including downloading Media Jukebox and installing it just to reproduce the problem.

I recommend the product.

[nila]

mountainman - I suggest:  Universal Infrared Control Engine - works with anything and everything

[mountainman]

Nila- I checked the website for this product and support for the Keyspan Digital Media Remote is not listed.  They claim to work with most every RS-232 device, but no mention of USB anything.  Thanks, though.