Flawless controller support?

[Dwolf]

I use the controller all the time on my xbox, and want the same for my windows xbox build.

I have a wireless 360 controller + usb dongle

I also have the regular xbox S controller + usb adaptor

Now is there a way to completely replicate the xbox controller experience on windows.

I mean fully; responsive control, left/right triggers for scrolling, right joystick for seeking in movies, etc. basically I want it to be so exact to the original that if someone were to use it, it would feel the same as the xbox did.

I have tried eventghost, joy2mouse, and xpadder .. none of these so far have been sufficient. I need trigger scrolling support, and right joy precision seeking.

If someone has perfected the controller transition from the xbox to the pc, let us know how?

Also to the developers, the linux/windows builds are great, but without better controller/remote support; the average user is going to give up fast and look for alternatives. (at least support the basic controls from the original xbox, aka the controller and IR unit!!)

people loved the xbox xbmc, and want a seamless transition to the pc xbmc.

[firewuff]

I use the controller all the time on my xbox, and want the same for my windows xbox build.

I mean fully; responsive control, left/right triggers for scrolling, right joystick for seeking in movies, etc. basically I want it to be so exact to the original that if someone were to use it, it would feel the same as the xbox did.

I have tried eventghost, joy2mouse, and xpadder .. none of these so far have been sufficient. I need trigger scrolling support, and right joy precision seeking.


Also to the developers, the linux/windows builds are great, but without better controller/remote support; the average user is going to give up fast and look for alternatives. (at least support the basic controls from the original xbox, aka the controller and IR unit!!)


With the right controler software there is no reason you cannot map the buttons to keyboard strokes to simulate the same controls. The MS sidwinder pads do this no problems. usings a DirectInput you can easily do the same so I'd love to see this within XBMC, making remote setup masivly easier (rather than a dodgey hack).

I have to agree, without decent remote support your just going to put a lot of people off. to be honest I was trying to use it only with my mouse (wireless gyro mouse) and can't access 50%+ of the functions like the library properly without the keyboard or even going back in the menus without a lot of setup. now i've found the keyboard contols I'm liking XBMC a lot better but need it infront of me most of the time which is a real shame.

In any case working Media Keys on the keyboard for OSX and Windows would also be great.

BRETT

[Dwolf]

sure you can map buttons to keys, and whatever ... (quite easy to do with the programs i have described) ... the problem comes with the analog controls (aka triggers, and joysticks)

my issue is more with responsiveness, and the fact that i cant get the triggers to smooth scroll like they did on the original xbox; nor can i get the right joystick to precision variable seek like on xbox xbmc. (any help would be appritiated

there really needs to be an easy was to do this.. full controller support is needed for anyone trying to transition from the xbox to the pc seamlessly.

I want the xbox controller to work on the pc exactly as it did on the xbox. Can this be accomplished? and if not, why inst is a priority to the developers? xbmc on the pc cannot replace my xbox until i get IR and Controller support to work as it should. Please help

[fanclub]

sure you can map buttons to keys, and whatever ... (quite easy to do with the programs i have described) ... the problem comes with the analog controls (aka triggers, and joysticks)

my issue is more with responsiveness, and the fact that i cant get the triggers to smooth scroll like they did on the original xbox; nor can i get the right joystick to precision variable seek like on xbox xbmc. (any help would be appritiated

there really needs to be an easy was to do this.. full controller support is needed for anyone trying to transition from the xbox to the pc seamlessly.

I want the xbox controller to work on the pc exactly as it did on the xbox. Can this be accomplished? and if not, why inst is a priority to the developers? xbmc on the pc cannot replace my xbox until i get IR and Controller support to work as it should. Please help

lol you sound like you've just bought a piece of software or something and are exercising your god-given right to whinge about it

i know plenty of people who are xbox converts... they werent (and probably still arent) aware that you can even use a 360 controller on a pc, let alone with xbmc

it's probably not a priority yet because this is the first post i've personally seen that even mentions that one small issue

i dont think anyone here has a problem if this software can't replace your xbox, ever

and for what its worth, IR works perfectly fine. boo hoo if it needs configuring

[Dwolf]

lol you sound like you've just bought a piece of software or something and are exercising your god-given right to whinge about it

i know plenty of people who are xbox converts... they werent (and probably still arent) aware that you can even use a 360 controller on a pc, let alone with xbmc

it's probably not a priority yet because this is the first post i've personally seen that even mentions that one small issue

i dont think anyone here has a problem if this software can't replace your xbox, ever

and for what its worth, IR works perfectly fine. boo hoo if it needs configuring

That is one of the whole points of porting xbmc to other platforms; to continue it as a great media center while maintaining what makes it great... simplicity. controller support is just that; I am not whining, I am simple curious why such an important feature is not being worked on?

Also for your information IR support is not perfect either on the pc either, XBCDRC is close, but not nearly as responsive as the original xbox. Also other solutions like MCE remotes and IR devices, and USB-UIRT with other remotes can emulate keypresses, but again are not as responsive, and require some knowledge to configure (also many have issues with not repeating commands when holding a button down, aka scrolling, continually clicking the button to move is not a great option either). I have tried many, none are perfect either.

and again they (ir or controllers right now) are not user friendly solutions for many people (unless you are tech savy and read the forums) There should be an increased focus to making at least common input devices plug and play and work right away (xbox controller and IR, and MCE remote for example, should work perfectly without tweaking or extra software).

I have found the best solution atm, is my logitech Divono mini keyboard/touchpad. But proper IR and Controller support, like our beloved xbox, would be nice, and should be worked on)

[clipper99]

That is one of the whole points of porting xbmc to other platforms; to continue it as a great media center while maintaining what makes it great... simplicity. controller support is just that; I am not whining, I am simple curious why such an important feature is not being worked on?

Also for your information IR support is not perfect either on the pc either, XBCDRC is close, but not nearly as responsive as the original xbox. Also other solutions like MCE remotes and IR devices, and USB-UIRT with other remotes can emulate keypresses, but again are not as responsive, and require some knowledge to configure (also many have issues with not repeating commands when holding a button down, aka scrolling, continually clicking the button to move is not a great option either). I have tried many, none are perfect either.

and again they (ir or controllers right now) are not user friendly solutions for many people (unless you are tech savy and read the forums) There should be an increased focus to making at least common input devices plug and play and work right away (xbox controller and IR, and MCE remote for example, should work perfectly without tweaking or extra software).

I have found the best solution atm, is my logitech Divono mini keyboard/touchpad. But proper IR and Controller support, like our beloved xbox, would be nice, and should be worked on)


AMEN brother! :)

I've tried pretty much every workaround over the past couple of months in order get my wireless 360 remote to behave exactly as the Xbox remote did with little-to-no success. I don't wanna pi$$ anyone off but unless you've used XBMC on the Xbox for years and gotten to know just how good the controller worked, then what Dwolf is saying about IR receiver solutions is pretty much spot-on. With my Xbox, I could queue up a dozen songs by as many artists and be sipping a cold one before I could queue up one using a handheld I/R remote....and please....don't jump on me for saying so. :grin: I have a Logitech 880 and I certainly don't want to use it with XBMC myself as the controller input layout, along with trigger support of the original XBMC, simply can't be reproduced with an IR remote. I have an IR receiver and have set up the 880 to control XBMC but find myself falling back to Winamp and WMP as the experience without an Xbox controller makes me pine for my Xbox back...(I set it up in my daughters playroom, if it handled HD you'd have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands)
Besides, if it was that easy to make the 360 remote work, and it looks like more than a few of us would like it to, then smarter people than me would have posted the keymap file by now!

[bb10]

I don't wanna pi$$ anyone off but unless you've used XBMC on the Xbox for years and gotten to know just how good the controller worked, then what Dwolf is saying about IR receiver solutions is pretty much spot-on. With my Xbox, I could queue up a dozen songs by as many artists and be sipping a cold one before I could queue up one using a handheld I/R remote....and please....don't jump on me for saying so. :grin: I have a Logitech 880 and I certainly don't want to use it with XBMC myself as the controller input layout, along with trigger support of the original XBMC, simply can't be reproduced with an IR remote.

I completely agree with you! :)

[atkfrg56]

I agree, XBMC needs flawless controller support just the xbox1.

[joshuacollins]

add me to the list. dedicated XBMC user for almost as long as XBMC has been in existance... (before it was called xbmc, the other name... i forget...)

anyway... keyboard/mouse is OK......... but it was so much easier to zip around with the controller, fast fwd through movies with the trigger, etc.

i appreciate all the work the devs put into this and wish they would put this as top priority, NOW. imo everything else is working GREAT and this is the only thing missing as far as i am concerned.

:)
thanks,
josh

[topfs2]

We are working on remote support, thats the entire point of the EventServer (http://xbmc.org/wiki/?title=EventServer).
Basically we need to go a crossplattform route as communicating with remotes are different on ALL plattforms.

We hope to have broadcast support in before 9.04 which would make you install XBMC, install the remote you want and then your done. No need to configure what computer the remote is going to connect to as this will be automated.

Currently the problem is different remotes needs different keymaps which we are also working on being automagic and will hopefully be available in 9.10 or if your really lucky 9.04.

There are less developers on win32 thats why the clients aren´t developed as rapidly, in linux the only thing thats hard to configure is IR and that is because LIRC is designed the way it is. And we have a tool in SVN that can be made to autoconfigure that aswell, though not done yet.

So just jumping out and say we aren´t working on it and that we should be working on it ASAP is uncalled for.

EDIT: Also IIRC WiSO have put the SDLJoystick mappings in SVN (might have been added after Atlantis) and that should make any joystick that Windows recognising work, just supply the keymap and voila. But afaik this is not that tested as I said, we have less developers on win32 and can´t test everything.

Cheers,
Tobias

[Dam0]

Tobias ,

thanks for the insight in future plans for xbmc...

it truely sounds like it will "eventually" be very easy to install IR on all platforms. Sounds great. we have to be patient i think, and let the devs do their magic.

i personally use and recommend Mode2006 MOdified drivers for xbox 1 dvd remote emulation on windows. works great for my systems, and is very similar to xbox operation at this time, and VERY simple to install.

going by the naming convention.... is the next major rls candidate due out on or around april 2009? is that when we "MIGHT" see ir auto built into xbmc?


my 2c worth

Dam0

[topfs2]

Tobias ,

thanks for the insight in future plans for xbmc...

it truely sounds like it will "eventually" be very easy to install IR on all platforms. Sounds great. we have to be patient i think, and let the devs do their magic.

i personally use and recommend Mode2006 MOdified drivers for xbox 1 dvd remote emulation on windows. works great for my systems, and is very similar to xbox operation at this time, and VERY simple to install.

going by the naming convention.... is the next major rls candidate due out on or around april 2009? is that when we "MIGHT" see ir auto built into xbmc?


my 2c worth

Dam0

Well I don´t think IR integration will change tremoudessly in the next couple of months, unless someone provides a patch that is.
The main problem is that all IR remotes work differently and thats why its easier to not reinvent the wheel for us and just relay that bit to OS or standalone apps (as with LIRC and IRSS). But IRSS is OSS so if someone wants to take out that code and make a good EventClient out of it that would be most awesome, then we could atleast discuss having it bundled with install (Discussion probably mostly around the fact that IRSS is dotnet and do we want to bundle that :) )


Although joystick might work better but as said it all hangs on how much people help out, it is OSS afterall.

[Dam0]

oic ,

point taken. Unfortunately, im kinda useless with regards to coding.

Dam0

[elinenbe1]

Tobias,

Sounds great! I've got my remote working, but any ease in the setup is much appreciated.