Microsoft MCE Keyboard Remote

[The Robman]

So how did you get the RC6 keys into your remote, did you create an RC6 upgrade? If so, would this upgrade be useful to other folks using the Netflix Remote Controller? If so, could you post it?

EDIT: a penny has just dropped, when you refer to RC6 functions, you're referring to the standard Windows MCE functions that use the MCE protocol, right? RC6 is also an IR protocol, so I kept thinking that you wanted to mix in RC6 functions whereas you really wanted to mix in MCE functions. Makes sense now.

[legzrwheelz]

Yeah, I apologise for not being clearer. I had ADHD and my thoughts go 1000000 miles a minute...I don't always convey my thoughts into words as well as I could. Yes. That is what I was trying to do. I can share my rmir file. Idk how to take an rmud file for just the keyboard and remote control... I'm not as knowledgeable as you are. I just wing it. So if you want to give me instructions... I'll be happy to share what I've come up with

[The Robman]

Yeah, I apologise for not being clearer. I had ADHD and my thoughts go 1000000 miles a minute...I don't always convey my thoughts into words as well as I could. Yes. That is what I was trying to do. I can share my rmir file.

I see that the guy who created refers to RC6, so that must be where you got it from.

Idk how to take an rmud file for just the keyboard and remote control... I'm not as knowledgeable as you are. I just wing it. So if you want to give me instructions... I'll be happy to share what I've come up with

You can't, nor should you want to. The RMDU files represent individual devices, and in this case, the "Windows MCE Remote" and the "Windows MCE Keyboard" are separate devices. The correct place to mix the functions is in the RMIR file. We do stuff like that all the time. Think about most regular remote users, let's say they're watching programs on a cable company DVR, they need the DVR remote to bring up the guide and select something to watch, they may have the sound running through a soundbar or a stereo, so they'll use the stereo remote to control the volume, and they'll need the TV remote to adjust the picture, and just for fun, let's assume that they have a video selector, so they'll need that remote to select the right input. When they replace those 4 remotes with a JP1 remote, they will import the 4 RMDU files into their RMIR file, then they'll mix things up so that while most of the buttons work the DVR in DVR mode, the volume buttons will work the stereo and maybe they have a button or two which work the TV's picture controls and maybe there was a macro that select the right input. The point being, they would do all this mixing of the remotes in the RMIR file, not the original RMDU files.

[legzrwheelz]

Yeah, I apologise for not being clearer. I had ADHD and my thoughts go 1000000 miles a minute...I don't always convey my thoughts into words as well as I could. Yes. That is what I was trying to do. I can share my rmir file.

I see that the guy who created refers to RC6, so that must be where you got it from.

Idk how to take an rmud file for just the keyboard and remote control... I'm not as knowledgeable as you are. I just wing it. So if you want to give me instructions... I'll be happy to share what I've come up with

You can't, nor should you want to. The RMDU files represent individual devices, and in this case, the "Windows MCE Remote" and the "Windows MCE Keyboard" are separate devices. The correct place to mix the functions is in the RMIR file. We do stuff like that all the time. Think about most regular remote users, let's say they're watching programs on a cable company DVR, they need the DVR remote to bring up the guide and select something to watch, they may have the sound running through a soundbar or a stereo, so they'll use the stereo remote to control the volume, and they'll need the TV remote to adjust the picture, and just for fun, let's assume that they have a video selector, so they'll need that remote to select the right input. When they replace those 4 remotes with a JP1 remote, they will import the 4 RMDU files into their RMIR file, then they'll mix things up so that while most of the buttons work the DVR in DVR mode, the volume buttons will work the stereo and maybe they have a button or two which work the TV's picture controls and maybe there was a macro that select the right input. The point being, they would do all this mixing of the remotes in the RMIR file, not the original RMDU files.

I appreciate such a clear and awesome explanation. I want to get further down this rabbit hole. As far as rc6, that's what the official mce remotes and receivers are known as...M$'s doing. So, as long as you have any rc6 receiver, any branded mce remote will work. MS made an MCE keyboard that ran on IR and another that ran on bluetooth. I have used both and thats why I was searching for the MCE keyboard for my remote.

[rsbrux]

@The Robman
Many thanks for your Windows MCE Remote device upgrades. I am trying to use the original (default) one to control my MediaPortal installation via FLIRC USB. So far, so good, but I am curious about the characters at the end of many of the mouse functions. They all display as boxes on my Windows 10 system. What are they supposed to be, and how can I make them display correctly?

[The Robman]

@The Robman
Many thanks for your Windows MCE Remote device upgrades. I am trying to use the original (default) one to control my MediaPortal installation via FLIRC USB. So far, so good, but I am curious about the characters at the end of many of the mouse functions. They all display as boxes on my Windows 10 system. What are they supposed to be, and how can I make them display correctly?

Could you give me a link to the specific file that has the funny characters, as I just tried downloading the file that I assumed you meant and didn't see any. Perhaps also post a screenshot of the RM or RMIR screen where you're seeing the characters.

Want to post an image, but don't know how? Read this...
http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6557

[rsbrux]

Here's the file:
http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... e_id=14728

and here's a screenshot for RMDU with the entries outlined in red:
https://i.imgur.com/5z4Qodm.png

P.S. Sorry the BBcode isn't working for the screenshot, but the URL still works.
I tried to follow your instructions.
Thanks for your support!

[The Robman]

I don't know what those characters are, and I don't see them on my screen, so the screenshot was helpful. You can edit them out by backspacing over them, either in RM itself or by opening the RMDU file using Notepad (or similar)

P.S. Sorry the BBcode isn't working for the screenshot, but the URL still works. I tried to follow your instructions.
Thanks for your support!

You tried to use the link to the page, rather than the image itself, in an IMG statement. I fixed your post. (I have since converted it to a link as it was making the thread too wide).

The page is: https://imgur.com/a/SCcAqhL
Whereas the image is: https://i.imgur.com/5z4Qodm.png

[rsbrux]

I still have one problem with the MCE Keyboard DU: I am missing the media keys, which are meanwhile standard on many Windows keyboards. Since I don't have a standard Windows IR KB, I can't learn them. I thought I might be able to infer the correct codes from some other code reference, but I can't discern any correlation between the remote codes in the MCE Keyboard DU and the most likely reference I have found.
Any idea how to find out the correct remote codes? Is there any relationship between Windows internal messaging key codes and the codes of hardware keyboards or remotes?

[rsbrux]

I meanwhile tried to figure out the keys by using an ordinary RF keyboard to type them into the "shortcut key" field of a shortcut on the Windows desktop. This is what Windows came up with (from 2 different keyboards):

• Browser: Ctl-Alt-M
• Rewind: Ctl-Alt-Q
• Next: Ctl-Alt-G
• FFwd: Ctl-Alt-P
• Mute: Ctl-Alt-D
• Volume -: Ctl-Alt-C
• Volume +: Ctl-Alt-B

Unfortunately, typing these key combinations does not produce the expected result, e.g. typing Ctl-Alt-D does not mute/unmute the system.
Apparently I am missing some qualifier that Windows doesn't pick up in the "Shortcut key" field. Any idea what it could be?

[The Robman]

When you say "typing these key combinations", are you trying to create a macro with these 3 buttons, or are you setting the byte2 value? The instructions in the file say:

If you want to do a combination of buttons, like CTRL+ALT+DELETE, all you need to do is add the modifier codes together. For CTRL+ALT+DELETE, CTRL+ALT=5 and DELETE=76, so CTRL+ALT+DELETE is obc=76, byte=5.

So, for example, for "Browser: Ctl-Alt-M" you would want OBC=16, byte2=5, is that what you tried?

[rsbrux]

When you say "typing these key combinations", are you trying to create a macro with these 3 buttons, or are you setting the byte2 value?

I haven't even gotten that far ;-{
Before trying to program the remote, I tested the key combinations with two different RF keyboards. Windows doesn't respond to Ctl-Alt-D, so obviously, what the "Shortcut key" field captures is not the true (or complete) key definition.
Any suggestions how to figure out the correct key combination?
I suppose I could try programming all possible combinations of Ctl, Alt, Shift, Win etc. with D to see if any of them work.

[The Robman]

When you do a key combination, it doesn't actually send 3 codes, like in a macro, it sends a single modified code. So, the best I can suggest, if you want to try those combos, is to program the codes like how I showed and try them that way.

[rsbrux]

Thanks, but it looks like I am wasting my time.

1. According to this post, there are no key combinations to substitute for hardware media keys.
2. Without such a combination I can't configure them on my FLIRC IR receiver as the FLIRC "Full keyboard" profile doesn't include media keys.

The FLIRC "Media keys" profile seems to include the right keys, but I don't know if it is possible to combine two FLIRC profiles. Without a real Windows IR keyboard with media keys, I can't teach FLIRC (or my remote) the correct associations, but when I have more time I will try to combine the FLIRC profiles, using some remote key codes that I don't otherwise need for the media keys.

[mdavej]

Why can't you use the standard MCE profile on your FLIRC and just use those media keys? I ran WMC for years with all the media keys. Seems like we're re-inventing the wheel here.