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[WeeHappyPixie]

Is it possible to customize the Exit menu in Theater View. I would like to hide all options like shutdown, hibernate, exit Theater View, Exit MediaCenter. My HTPC boots from M.2 SSD straight into MC and when the power button is pressed it goes to sleep via Intel Rapid Storage.

I would like to hide the other options as it confuses some folk at home who will remain anonymous as I value my life  .

My full system is controlled via a Harmony remote using actions yet they still insist on closing it down or exiting it which returns to the desktop.

Thanks,

John

[FelixM]

 +1 to customize the Exit menu in Theater View.

Meanwhile, I too use a Harmony remote to control my HTPC.
I have created a new remote command (Options/Remote Control/Commands/Add) and named it Shutdown.
I have defined the next Command Actions:

MCC: Stop             (Stop the current play. I had problems Exiting while playing)
Sleep:2                 (Adds a little delay)
MCC: Shutdown     (Exits JRiver and Shutdown the PC)

Choose any unused command in your Harmony and assign it a key in the remote.
In JRiver select the new Shutdown command, learn and press the selected key in your Harmony.

That way you can exit JRiver and Shutdown the PC with only a keypress in the remote. Or pressing only the power off in the Harmony, power off the PC, TV, AVR, etc.

[WeeHappyPixie]

Any news if this is possible. Would also be good if the exit option needed a pin.

[glynor]

I don't think you can modify it, but why not just run a script that checks if MC is running and if not, launches Theater View on a recurring basis?  Don't fight the users if you don't have to.

[BryanC]

I don't think you can modify it, but why not just run a script that checks if MC is running and if not, launches Theater View on a recurring basis?  Don't fight the users if you don't have to.

Along the same vein, I've got a button assigned on my remote to run a batch file that starts MC and loads theaterview. Everyone in my household knows that the yellow button will always get you to the right place.

[glynor]

Yeah.  Actually, I came back to say the same thing.

On my HTPC, I'm using a Logitech Harmony Smart Control now (the cheap one with the simple remote).  I have my main HTPC activity set to send an IR "Power" command (I think I used the Media Center Power Command, but it really doesn't matter).  My HTPC listens for this IR and then launches MC in Theater View mode.  So, that activity does:

1. Powers the TV on.
2. Powers the Receiver on.
3. Changes the TV to HDMI 1 (it always is there, but whatever).
4. Changes the Receiver to HDMI 1.
5. "Powers" MC into Theater View mode.

Likewise, the Off command on the remote does essentially the reverse:

1. Powers the TV Off.
2. Powers the Receiver Off.
3. Sends the Power Off command to MC, which does the /MCC command that shuts down MC if it is running.

Works perfectly.  If you ever get lost, you can always hit that Activity button, and it'll put you back to the home of Theater View.  And, the Guide button on the remote also does the Theater View F11 toggle via a script too, so that's another way to launch it.

[glynor]

I find if you're designing a system and you find yourself here:

"They just keep doing X and I don't want them to do X, but I can't get them to stop.  Let me find a way to prevent them from ever doing X."

The problem isn't the users.  It is your design.  Almost every single time.  The problem is that you're asking them to do something they fundamentally don't understand, or disagree with.  Fighting them is almost never worth it.  Find a way to make it work without fighting them, and you'll all be way happier.

[cncb]

Maybe I'm missing something, but it sounds like you don't need the Exit item at all, so why not remove it completely in the Theater View options, "Items to Show"?

[AVTechMan]

That's true the Exit item could be removed from Theater Options.

I have a Harmony 880 and been trying to figure how to configure my activity to turn on the TV and PC on and such....I think MC uses the same commands as WMC but for specific things like subtitles on/off and such whether that has to be programmed in, like I somewhat had to do for MPC-HC.

[glynor]

Maybe I'm missing something, but it sounds like you don't need the Exit item at all, so why not remove it completely in the Theater View options, "Items to Show"?

If it is just them hitting the menu option this will work.

ESC from the home of Theater View will still show the Exit menu, I believe, however.  I'd reckon this is how they're hitting it more often with a remote.

[glynor]

I have a Harmony 880 and been trying to figure how to configure my activity to turn on the TV and PC on and such....I think MC uses the same commands as WMC but for specific things like subtitles on/off and such whether that has to be programmed in, like I somewhat had to do for MPC-HC.

I can tell you what I did with my Logitech Harmony Smart Control.  You could almost certainly do the same, or similar, with your "legacy" Harmony.

My "HTPC Activity" for the button that launches MC (and generally runs the HTPC) is defined with four devices:
1. Panasonic TV
2. Media Center PC SE
3. Yamaha AV Receiver
4. Windows Computer

The Windows Computer device might be new to the Smart Hub things, but I think you can replicate the behavior on older Harmony devices with a bit of elbow grease.  It basically makes the remote into a Bluetooth keyboard (it actually shows up in Windows as a keyboard).

For Startup Settings, I have it set as follows:



Then, in the Buttons setup section, I have most of the "generic" buttons set to the defaults for Windows Computer (device #4 above).  So, Up/Down/Left/Right/Enter/Volume Up/Volume Down/etc all just "work" without additional fiddling because the remote IS a keyboard and sends those regular keypresses.

For the rest other buttons, I have them set to the Media Center PC SE device's version of the command.  This actually emits IR, which my USB-UIRT IR receiver on the computer "hears".  I'll assume since you have a Harmony that you have some way for the computer to listen to IR blasts.

Now, you can just let MC do what it will with the Media Center IR events, but you don't have to limit yourself this way.  First of all, you can configure MC's Remote Control responses, and it'll do all kinds of stuff itself.  But, that only helps when MC is running, so might not be what you want here.  Instead, you can use a third party "automation controller" to watch for the IR events and then issue whatever "real commands" to the computer you want.

In my case, I use Promixis Girder because I'm old school and I know it.  If I was doing it again from scratch I'd probably use EventGhost because it is free and commonly used out there now (though I do like Girder and it works generally quite well).  In any case, when my computer sees a Media Center PC SE "Next Track" command, then Girder decides what to do.  If MC is in the foreground it does one thing, and if Firefox is in the foreground it does another.  Similarly, I can launch a script if a particular IR command comes in (say, Guide, which runs my Launch MC Theater script).



To be clear, since I'm not natively processing any of the Media Center PC SE IR commands, it really doesn't matter what device I chose to add to the Logitech setup.  I could have just as easily picked any old IR BluRay player in the list.  The point is that the Logitech sends commands, which my IR receiver can learn, and then Girder can associate these with an "action" on the computer.

Go at it that way, and I bet you'll be happy.

[WeeHappyPixie]

Thanks for the suggestions. I did however use a different solution in the end. I built a mini HTPC using an i5 based NUC with a 128GB M2 SSD. The OS is Windows Embedded 8.1 Pro which when used in conjunction with Embedded Lockdown Manager replaces the Windows Shell with MC. I also did what was suggested by removing the Exit menu completely from Theater View.

What I was trying to do by design was to create a Media Player device which does only that, play media files. I never wanted it to look like a PC.

From power on with a MCE remote (cold start) Media Center is up an running in 3 seconds. When it goes to sleep then Intel Rapid Start kicks in. Waking the unit up via remote and the user is presented with Theater View within a second. If MC does crash then lock down manager simply restarts MC automatically. At no point do you know your using a PC.

John