[MAC] XBMCHelper (XBMC's IR-helper) new Beta version (with Logitech Harmony support)

[MaestroDD]

While it won't go into XBMC Babylon because of feature freeze, there's a
new implementation of XBMC's IR-helper (aka XBMCHelper) on OSX for that includes support for handling multiple
AppleRemotes. This may sound not that interesting, but has a neat side effect:
Full usage of Logitech's Harmony remote (which simply acts as several AppleRemotes with different IDs)

To test this there are a few steps to do:
a) prepare your Harmony with Plex' mapping from the Logitech database by adding
a "Media Center PC - Plex - Plex Player" device
b) download new XBMCHelper (http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/858897/XBMC/XBMCHelper) (or build your own version from Babylon branch (http://trac.xbmc.org/browser/branches/9.04_Babylon-linux-osx-win32/XBMC/tools/EventClients/Clients/OSXRemote))
c) replace XBMCHelper in XBMC Babylon's App folder (/Application/XBMC.app/Contents/Resources/XBMC/tools/osx/) with the new version
c1) make XBMCHelper executable (chmod +x /Applications/XBMC.app/Contents/Resources/XBMC/tools/osx/XBMCHelper)
d) make sure AppleRemote is enabled and set to "Standard" (Settings->System->AppleRemote)
e) download updated Keymap.xml (http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/858897/XBMC/Keymap.xml) and copy it to your userdata folder (~/Library/Application\ Support/XBMC/userdata/)
f) make sure your Mac isn't paired with any AppleRemote

Please feel free to post bugs or discuss Keymap.xml default mappings in this thread.

Attention:
Babylon 9.04.1 has a typo that prevents XBMCHelper to survive reboots in "Always On" mode. This is fixed in current svn.
See this (http://xbmc.org/forum/showpost.php?p=343224&postcount=112)post for a workaround


Thanks to
- Martin Kahr for sharing the RemoteControlWrapper framework (http://martinkahr.com/2007/07/26/remote-control-wrapper-20/index.html), which does most of the remote handling stuff for us
- davilla/d4rk for bringing up the idea on how to support the Harmony through several remotes
- Plex team/Pundy for implementing this in Plex, so that we got our asses up and added it too :)

Keymap.xml changes:
- added JumpSMS stuff (thanks Weavus!)

EditX: added f)

[Nopel]

Today is the day I move back to XBMC on my Mini. This has been the killer feature that was keeping me on Plex.

I'll try it out when I get home tonight. Thanks a bunch!

[jodeman]

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!!

I wish I could buy you a beer. I've been trying to get my harmony remote working with xbmc on my apple tv for weeks. This worked absolutely perfectly.

Thank you!!!

[WJWNL]

Unfortunately, it's not working here. I tried to go back only using the Apple Remote, but this is also working anymore. Way to go! What have I done wrong? I also can't see an active XBMC helper in the activity moniter. This problem is driving me mad, instead of having a better remote control, i've gone to worse.

Please help!

[loula]

chmod +x /Applications/XBMC.app/Contents/Resources/XBMC/tools/osx/XBMCHelper

[WJWNL]

Nevermind, it's working with the 'codeidontunderstandbutitworked' from loula, thanks a lot!

[loula]

What kind of file is the new XBMC helper? I see that the old one is an Unix file, and the new one, a blank one. Also the old one is 128kb while the new one is 500+kb, maybe that's the problem?

open the terminal and type
chmod +x /Applications/XBMC.app/Contents/Resources/XBMC/tools/osx/XBMCHelper

[jmarshall]

It should be noted that Pundy was the guy who did all the work at learning all the remotes into the Harmony, and for working with Logitech to get the "plex" item into their software. And ofcourse, nice work by MaestroDD to incorporate the changes into XBMCRemote :)

Let us know what you think could be improved - we're more than happy to take the time to optimize both the keymapping (that's the easy bit) and/or the mapping of apple remotes to harmony buttons.

Once we have it perfect, we'll work with Logitech to get an XBMC entry into their software so that it's a little more intuitive.

Cheers,
Jonathan

[loula]

This still doesn't solve my main issue: Launch XBMC on my mac from the remote.
I guess I will have to wait some more.
It' a shame 'cause Plex and Boxee both can do it.

[davilla]

This still doesn't solve my main issue: Launch XBMC on my mac from the remote.
I guess I will have to wait some more.
It' a shame 'cause Plex and Boxee both can do it.

this does work and has been working for several weeks in svn before the beta branch, if you are having problems, please describe in detail what you are doing.

[loula]

Nothing special really. Just enabled "always running" in the options.
It has stopped front row from launching, but no XBMC.
I'm using the latest aeon skin (auriga) but I don't think this is an issue.
Anyway, it simply won't launch on both my machines, an Intel imac, and an also Intel Macbook.
What Kind of details do you mean?

[Weavus]

Could anyone tell me how to get the sms jump working for my harmony remote with this keymap.xml? Thanks!

[davilla]

Nothing special really. Just enabled "always running" in the options.
It has stopped front row from launching, but no XBMC.
I'm using the latest aeon skin (auriga) but I don't think this is an issue.
Anyway, it simply won't launch on both my machines, an Intel imac, and an also Intel Macbook.
What Kind of details do you mean?

pastebin of xbmc.log
pastebin of "ls ~/Library/Application\ Support/XBMC/"
pastebin of "cat ~/Library/Application\ Support/XBMC/XBMCHelper.conf"
pastebin of "ls ~/Library/LaunchAgents/"
pastebin of cat ls ~/Library/LaunchAgents/org.xbmc.helper.plist"

for starters.

Also XBMC.app is launched by holding down the menu button on the IR remote.

[Weavus]

Could anyone tell me how to get the sms jump working for my harmony remote with this keymap.xml? Thanks!
To answer my own question I added the follwing to the <joystick name=harmony"> section in MyVideoFiles, MyVideoLibrary, MyMusicFiles and MyMusicLibrary:

<!-- 1 --> <button id="11">JumpSMS1</button>
<!-- 2 --> <button id="12">JumpSMS2</button>
<!-- 3 --> <button id="13">JumpSMS3</button>
<!-- 4 --> <button id="14">JumpSMS4</button>
<!-- 5 --> <button id="23">JumpSMS5</button>
<!-- 6 --> <button id="24">JumpSMS6</button>
<!-- 7 --> <button id="33">JumpSMS7</button>
<!-- 8 --> <button id="34">JumpSMS8</button>
<!-- 9 --> <button id="43">JumpSMS9</button>

Works a treat! Perhaps it should be the in the default keymap?

[loula]

pastebin of xbmc.log
pastebin of "ls ~/Library/Application\ Support/XBMC/"
pastebin of "cat ~/Library/Application\ Support/XBMC/XBMCHelper.conf"
pastebin of "ls ~/Library/LaunchAgents/"
pastebin of cat ls ~/Library/LaunchAgents/org.xbmc.helper.plist"

for starters.

Also XBMC.app is launched by holding down the menu button on the IR remote.

I am the dumbest person on earth. I was just missing the press and hold thing.
A little weird but I can live with that.
Anyway, thanks a milion. You are the guy.

[Doraemonn]

Could you elaborate, because I am having the same issue, whether I press and hold or not it wont start. And it did before I updated the XBMChelper.

[MaestroDD]

Actually it should launch with a simple menu press. Please post the logs davilla mentioned.
Thanks!

[Doraemonn]

As requested, and thanks in advance.

http://pastebin.com/m20cb5bc1


Thanks!

[ShakeyBobWillis]

This may be a dumb question, but does this allow for additional button features beyond the basic apple tv remote ones or is this just adding Harmony support for the up/down/left/right pla/pause menu buttons?

I only ask because I already had my Harmony remote replacing the apple tv remote on XBMC. I used the Mac Mini profile on the Harmony setup page and it worked fine. I would switch if it added features like a button that just took me sstraght to music or main menu or whatever.

[garyi]

Um, it worked for about three minutes then stopped working after restart.

[garyi]

http://pastebin.com/m70f953d6

http://pastebin.com/m11e75480

http://pastebin.com/mc8592a0

I really wanted this to work, I am crestfallen it just stopped working. I have done nothing apart from put the latest build of stark in the skins folder. I tried running the ting again in terminal but its already running as an executable.

[garyi]

Also i can't pastebin some of the required as I have no idea what they are or how to, what is 'Is' and where is it in the XBMC folder?

[garyi]

Right ok, turns out a restart on the actual mac seems to have fixed something, so fingers crossed working right now.

Thanks who ever developed this.

[Doraemonn]

still not working here. Remote controls are ok once XBMC is up but pressing menu wont start the application.

[MaestroDD]

fixed (http://trac.xbmc.org/changeset/19701) bugs (http://trac.xbmc.org/changeset/19703) in handling the passed location of XBMC. I've replaced the binary (now version 0.2), so re-downloading should fix the startup thing.

thanks for reporting and keep the coming!

[garyi]

I am really unsure on what these branches and stuff means, do I just download the nearest looking files?

[cRazYee]

i have a problem, when i play .mkv with AC3 audio format
the movie tend to like play in faster speed, then no sounds. I tried the windows XBMC version, i have no problem in windows.

[MaestroDD]

bump to version 0.3:
fixed (http://trac.xbmc.org/changeset/19707) a bug where a subsequent start of XBMC failed because arguments were resetted. replaced the old binary (http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/858897/XBMC/XBMCHelper)

sorry about that!

[MaestroDD]

I am really unsure on what these branches and stuff means, do I just download the nearest looking files?

To get the new version, just use the link to XBMCHelper from the first post.

[garyi]

Cool, thanks

[jmarshall]

Just a point of interest for those with the 520 - it may just be something weird with the Harmony setup tool.

When I first selected the plex mediacenter thing, it didn't configure some keys by default, but the most important was Prev (needed to go back up a directory level).

Just something to watch out for.

Cheers,
Jonathan

[garyi]

I am seeing quite an issue in that it does not seem to like repeat commands left to right so skimming through movies or what ever is not working, it will only take the first move then thats it.

However up and down is just fine, hold the button and it spins through no issue.

I also get this behaviour with my ATV upstairs and appleremote, so a bit confusing really.

[Doraemonn]

Same issue here, although great job for fixing the non-startup problem in the latest release. Looks like XBMC's remote support is finally getting up to par with PLEX's!! Well done! :D

[unmesh]

I programmed my 680 to use Plex Player as a device instead of Apple TV and it won't issue IR commands when in the Launcher for say Menu, Up, Down etc at all as evidenced by the lack of the little green transmit LED turning on when these keys are pressed. IR commands that should go to the TV such as Volume are working.

Interestingly, if I instruct my Harmony to go into Device mode with PlexPlayer as the device, the controls work! I'm guessing (hoping?) that is not the way it is supposed to work.

The device I added was Computer->Media Center PC->Plex and typed in Plex Player. In the Logitech application, it says

Plex Media Center PC is set to "Media"

Is this the correct setting?

Thanks.

[MaestroDD]

I am seeing quite an issue in that it does not seem to like repeat commands left to right so skimming through movies or what ever is not working, it will only take the first move then thats it.
[...]


Repeat is only activated for up and down. Simply comes from the fact that the AppleRemote had no seperate pressed/released events for right and left, but special Right_Hold, Left_Hold events. This can probably be changed.

thanks for the feedback,
mdd

[MaestroDD]

I programmed my 680 to use Plex Player as a device instead of Apple TV and it won't issue IR commands when in the Launcher for say Menu, Up, Down etc at all as evidenced by the lack of the little green transmit LED turning on when these keys are pressed. IR commands that should go to the TV such as Volume are working.


This thread is dedicated to reporting bugs / discussing features for the beta of XBMCHelper. This beta version is not tested on the ATV, and probably won't work there currently, sorry


Interestingly, if I instruct my Harmony to go into Device mode with PlexPlayer as the device, the controls work! I'm guessing (hoping?) that is not the way it is supposed to work.


hm, sounds more like a misconfiguration of your Harmony. IIRC I just created an Action for XBMC with my TV, Plex Player and after activating that Action, pressed buttons go to XBMC.


The device I added was Computer->Media Center PC->Plex and typed in Plex Player. In the Logitech application, it says

Plex Media Center PC is set to "Media"

Is this the correct setting?

think so, yes.

you might want to create a new thread to discuss the Harmony and XBMC(@ATV) issues

[unmesh]

I'm wondering if, after adding the new device, I chose the wrong activity/action to set up. May I ask what you chose?

Thanks.

This thread is dedicated to reporting bugs / discussing features for the beta of XBMCHelper. This beta version is not tested on the ATV, and probably won't work there currently, sorry



hm, sounds more like a misconfiguration of your Harmony. IIRC I just created an Action for XBMC with my TV, Plex Player and after activating that Action, pressed buttons go to XBMC.


think so, yes.

you might want to create a new thread to discuss the Harmony and XBMC(@ATV) issues

[turbinez]

thanks for update!

[Weavus]

Repeat is only activated for up and down. Simply comes from the fact that the AppleRemote had no seperate pressed/released events for right and left, but special Right_Hold, Left_Hold events. This can probably be changed.
So can it be changed? On my system Plex can handle hold left/right with my Harmony but currently XBMC with the latest XBMCHelper cannot which is really bad for the Aeon skin... Thanks.

[MaestroDD]

new version of XBMCHelper replacement + Keymap.xml uploaded.
only thing changed (http://xbmc.org/trac/changeset/19879) was right/left-repeat functionality.
You'll need the new Keymap.xml, as Right_Hold and Left_Hold needed to be remapped.

cheers,
mdd

[Weavus]

Hmmm... something must have gone wrong. Downloaded new Keymap and XBMCHelper and installed them but now left and right single press don't work and hold left goes right and hold right goes left! Any ideas? Anything I can do to help you debug?

Thanks!

[garyi]

I put the new files in and nothing worked.

So I pulled them back out and put the originals back in and they don't work now either.

ffs.

[garyi]

Ok I went into remote settings in xbmc and cycled round to standard then restarted it and the old file works now.

Phew.

[MaestroDD]

crap :/ I see it here, too.
I'm looking into it...

[MaestroDD]

fixed:
1) Keymap.xml was messed up, thus the right<->left swap
2) reverted some untested changes from commit before :/

Links: Keymap.xml (http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/858897/XBMC/XBMCHelper.v03/Keymap.xml) and XBMCHelper (http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/858897/XBMC/XBMCHelper.v03/XBMCHelper).

sorry for the trouble!

cheers,
mdd

[Weavus]

Works great for me now with the new files. Thanks very much for the speedy fix. Have a great weekend!

[DAddYE]

Hi Maestro,

im using Babylon RC1, and I thinked support for harmony is bundled but same to be not.

So,

I configure my Harmony with the Plex Player Device
I changed XBMCHelper with yours in quote (but the location for me is XBMC.app/Contents/Resources/XBMC)
I added your Keymap.xml in my userdata
I using standard for apple remote in my settings of xbmc


$ ls ~/Library/Application\ Support/XBMC/
RB plugins scripts sounds userdata
XBMCHelper.conf screensavers skin system visualisations



$ cat ~/Library/Application\ Support/XBMC/XBMCHelper.conf
--timeout 500



$ ls ~/Library/LaunchAgents/
com.apple.SafariBookmarksSyncer.plist



$ cat ls ~/Library/LaunchAgents/org.xbmc.helper.plist
cat: ls: No such file or directory
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>Label</key>
<string>org.xbmc.helper</string>
<key>ProgramArguments</key>
<array>
<string>/Applications/XBMC.app/Contents/Resources/XBMC/XBMCHelper</string>
</array>
<key>RunAtLoad</key>
<true/>
</dict>
</plist>


But any key didn't work... suggestion?

fixed:
1) Keymap.xml was messed up, thus the right<->left swap
2) reverted some untested changes from commit before :/

Links: Keymap.xml (http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/858897/XBMC/XBMCHelper.v03/Keymap.xml) and XBMCHelper (http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/858897/XBMC/XBMCHelper.v03/XBMCHelper).

sorry for the trouble!

cheers,
mdd

[MaestroDD]

Hi,

few things propably mixed up, see comments below:
[...]
I configure my Harmony with the Plex Player Device
I changed XBMCHelper with yours in quote (but the location for me is XBMC.app/Contents/Resources/XBMC)


not sure about this one. Where did you install XBMC to (aka, where did you drop the XBMC.app-bundle)?


[...]

$ cat ~/Library/Application\ Support/XBMC/XBMCHelper.conf
--timeout 500



Please make sure you're using RC1 (check xbmc.log from ~/Library/Logs/xbmc.log, or open the shutdown menu in PM3.HD, hit Info and check the version there)



$ ls ~/Library/LaunchAgents/
com.apple.SafariBookmarksSyncer.plist



$ cat ls ~/Library/LaunchAgents/org.xbmc.helper.plist
cat: ls: No such file or directory
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>Label</key>
<string>org.xbmc.helper</string>
<key>ProgramArguments</key>
<array>
<string>/Applications/XBMC.app/Contents/Resources/XBMC/XBMCHelper</string>
</array>
<key>RunAtLoad</key>
<true/>
</dict>
</plist>



here's something messed up, first org.xbmc.helper.plist wasn't present, later it's there?!
Anyways, don't mind the LaunchAgent file for now (btw it looks like it's again not from RC1). It's only there if you have enabled "Always On" for AppleRemote in XBMC and it starts XBMCHelper on boot, rather when you launch XBMC.


Please make sure you're running RC1 first, post xbmc.log to pastebin and link here.

cheers,
mdd

[DAddYE]

Hi,

few things propably mixed up, see comments below:


not sure about this one. Where did you install XBMC to (aka, where did you drop the XBMC.app-bundle)?


It's sorry this is the full path

$ ls /Applications/XBMC.app/Contents/Resources/XBMC/
$ ls /Applications/XBMC.app/Contents/Resources/XBMC/
XBMCHelper media screensavers sounds userdata
extras org.xbmc.helper.plist scripts system visualisations
language plugins


Please make sure you're using RC1 (check xbmc.log from ~/Library/Logs/xbmc.log, or open the shutdown menu in PM3.HD, hit Info and check the version there)


Im really sure I downloaded it from here http://sourceforge.net/project/downloading.php?group_id=87054&filename=XBMC_for_Mac-Babylon-RC1.dmg

And my pastebin for log is here: http://pastebin.com/m7865c5f


here's something messed up, first org.xbmc.helper.plist wasn't present, later it's there?!


Yes I enabled (sorry) after "ls" the always on options, so after do that the launcher will be created.


Anyways, don't mind the LaunchAgent file for now (btw it looks like it's again not from RC1). It's only there if you have enabled "Always On" for AppleRemote in XBMC and it starts XBMCHelper on boot, rather when you launch XBMC.


Please make sure you're running RC1 first, post xbmc.log to pastebin and link here.

cheers,
mdd

Many many thanks

[MaestroDD]

12:32:12 T:2691954464 M:1861292032 NOTICE: Starting XBMC, Platform: Mac OS X. Built on Apr 3 2009 (SVN:19219)

log says it's alpha1.
Maybe copied somewhere else?

[DAddYE]

Im very stupid, I've downloaded the rc1 but I didn't install it :D

So now the path for XBMCHelper is in tools/osx but problem persist,

I followed step by step instructions but any keys of my harmony work.

This is my last log

http://pastebin.com/m30a6057b

Please don't see error on my device audio because are caused by a bad wmv ;)

Many thanks!

[MaestroDD]

[...]
So now the path for XBMCHelper is in tools/osx but problem persist,
[...]
please post the logs from your first post again, now with rc1 running and add output of
ls -la /Applications/XBMC.app/Contents/Resources/XBMC/tools/osx/
ls -la ~/Library/Application\ Support/XBMC/userdata/

[DAddYE]

Thanks for the fast reply!


$ ls -la ~/Library/Application\ Support/XBMC/
total 24
drwxr-xr-x 14 DAddYE staff 476 2 Mag 12:58 .
drwx------+ 60 DAddYE staff 2040 17 Apr 10:15 ..
-rw-r--r--@ 1 DAddYE staff 6148 2 Mag 13:00 .DS_Store
-rw-r--r-- 1 DAddYE staff 0 12 Mar 18:50 .setup_complete
drwxr-xr-x 4 DAddYE staff 136 9 Apr 16:06 RB
-rw-r--r--@ 1 DAddYE staff 129 2 Mag 16:51 XBMCHelper.conf
drwxr-xr-x 7 DAddYE staff 238 13 Mar 10:17 plugins
drwxr-xr-x 2 DAddYE staff 68 12 Mar 18:50 screensavers
drwxr-xr-x 5 DAddYE staff 170 9 Apr 16:06 scripts
drwxr-xr-x 4 DAddYE staff 136 1 Mag 14:18 skin
drwxr-xr-x 2 DAddYE staff 68 12 Mar 18:50 sounds
drwxr-xr-x 2 DAddYE staff 68 12 Mar 18:50 system
drwxr-xr-x 15 DAddYE staff 510 2 Mag 11:54 userdata
drwxr-xr-x 2 DAddYE staff 68 12 Mar 18:50 visualisations

$ cat ~/Library/Application\ Support/XBMC/XBMCHelper.conf
--timeout 500 --appPath "/Applications/XBMC.app/Contents/MacOS/XBMC" --appHome "/Applications/XBMC.app/Contents/Resources/XBMC"

$ ls -al ~/Library/LaunchAgents/
total 16
drwx------ 4 DAddYE staff 136 2 Mag 16:26 .
drwx------+ 51 DAddYE staff 1734 1 Mag 20:46 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 DAddYE staff 813 16 Dic 10:24 com.apple.SafariBookmarksSyncer.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 DAddYE staff 430 2 Mag 16:51 org.xbmc.helper.plist

$ cat ~/Library/LaunchAgents/org.xbmc.helper.plist
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>Label</key>
<string>org.xbmc.helper</string>
<key>ProgramArguments</key>
<array>
<string>/Applications/XBMC.app/Contents/Resources/XBMC/tools/osx/XBMCHelper</string>
<string> -x</string>
</array>
<key>RunAtLoad</key>
<true/>
</dict>
</plist>

$ ls -la /Applications/XBMC.app/Contents/Resources/XBMC/tools/osx/
total 1104
drwxr-xr-x 5 DAddYE admin 170 2 Mag 16:01 .
drwxr-xr-x 3 DAddYE admin 102 29 Apr 22:50 ..
-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 DAddYE staff 552304 2 Mag 16:01 XBMCHelper
-rw-r--r-- 1 DAddYE admin 373 29 Apr 21:14 org.xbmc.helper.plist
-rwxr-xr-x 1 DAddYE admin 5350 29 Apr 21:14 preflight

$ ls -la ~/Library/Application\ Support/XBMC/userdata/
total 288
drwxr-xr-x 15 DAddYE staff 510 2 Mag 11:54 .
drwxr-xr-x 14 DAddYE staff 476 2 Mag 12:58 ..
-rw-r--r--@ 1 DAddYE staff 6148 2 Mag 11:42 .DS_Store
drwxr-xr-x 8 DAddYE staff 272 2 Mag 16:51 Database
-rw-r--r--@ 1 DAddYE staff 73729 2 Mag 11:54 Keymap.xml
-rw-r----- 1 DAddYE staff 1448 12 Mar 18:50 LCD.xml
-rw-r----- 1 DAddYE staff 391 12 Mar 18:50 RssFeeds.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 DAddYE staff 71 2 Mag 16:52 Scrobbler.xml
drwxr-xr-x 7 DAddYE staff 238 12 Mar 18:50 Thumbnails
-rw-r--r-- 1 DAddYE staff 39025 2 Mag 16:52 guisettings.xml
drwxr-xr-x 5 DAddYE staff 170 12 Mar 18:50 playlists
drwxr-xr-x 4 DAddYE staff 136 1 Mag 13:54 plugin_data
-rw-r--r-- 1 DAddYE staff 393 2 Mag 16:52 profiles.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 DAddYE staff 2265 1 Mag 15:16 sources.xml
drwxr-xr-x 2 DAddYE staff 68 12 Mar 18:50 visualisations

[MaestroDD]

Thanks for the fast reply!

output looks good.

you can try to manually start the helper, and check if it sees your Harmony. Maybe something during Harmony's configuration went wrong.
In terminal do:

/Applications/XBMC.app/Contents/Resources/XBMC/tools/osx/XBMCHelper -v

and hit some buttons.

[MaestroDD]

output looks good.

you can try to manually start the helper, and check if it sees your Harmony. Maybe something during Harmony's configuration went wrong.
In terminal do:

/Applications/XBMC.app/Contents/Resources/XBMC/tools/osx/XBMCHelper -v

and hit some buttons.

ooops, forgot something. Access to IR is exclusive, so make sure no other instance of XBMCHelper/Plex's helper is running

[DAddYE]

Hi!

I installed plex for verify that my harmony work.

First problem (I suggest to insert in the main post) is that my mac have pair with only one remote apple, so in preference -> securety I need to disable it.

Now, plex work but xbmc not.

I killed XBMCHelper and PlexHelper and:


$ /Applications/XBMC.app/Contents/Resources/XBMC/tools/osx/XBMCHelper -v
2009-05-02 20:09:05.967 XBMCHelper[962:10b] OSXRemote 0.3 starting up...
2009-05-02 20:09:05.969 XBMCHelper[962:10b] [DEBUG] -[XBMCHelper init]
2009-05-02 20:09:05.978 XBMCHelper[962:10b] [DEBUG] objc_object* -[XBMCClientWrapper initWithMode:serverAddress:verbose:](XBMCClientWrapper*, objc_selector*, eRemoteMode, NSString*, bool)
2009-05-02 20:09:05.979 XBMCHelper[962:10b] [DEBUG] XBMCClientWrapperImpl::XBMCClientWrapperImpl(eRemo teMode, const std::string&, bool)
2009-05-02 20:09:05.980 XBMCHelper[962:10b] XBMCClientWrapperImpl started in multiremote mode sending to address localhost
2009-05-02 20:09:10.079 XBMCHelper[962:10b] [ERROR] No executable set. Nothing to launch
2009-05-02 20:09:10.081 XBMCHelper[962:10b] XBMCClientWrapperImpl::sendButton sending button 6 down:2 up:0
2009-05-02 20:09:15.391 XBMCHelper[962:10b] [ERROR] No executable set. Nothing to launch
2009-05-02 20:09:15.392 XBMCHelper[962:10b] XBMCClientWrapperImpl::sendButton sending button 6 down:2 up:0
2009-05-02 20:09:17.199 XBMCHelper[962:10b] XBMCClientWrapperImpl::sendButton sending button 2 down:2 up:0
2009-05-02 20:09:17.583 XBMCHelper[962:10b] XBMCClientWrapperImpl::sendButton sending button 2 down:0 up:4
2009-05-02 20:09:20.494 XBMCHelper[962:10b] XBMCClientWrapperImpl::sendButton sending button 3 down:2 up:0
2009-05-02 20:09:20.496 XBMCHelper[962:10b] XBMCClientWrapperImpl::sendButton sending button 3 down:0 up:4

[DAddYE]

I don't know how... but now work! :D

[MaestroDD]

Hi!

I installed plex for verify that my harmony work.

First problem (I suggest to insert in the main post) is that my mac have pair with only one remote apple, so in preference -> securety I need to disable it.

Now, plex work but xbmc not.

I killed XBMCHelper and PlexHelper and:


$ /Applications/XBMC.app/Contents/Resources/XBMC/tools/osx/XBMCHelper -v
2009-05-02 20:09:05.967 XBMCHelper[962:10b] OSXRemote 0.3 starting up...
2009-05-02 20:09:05.969 XBMCHelper[962:10b] [DEBUG] -[XBMCHelper init]
2009-05-02 20:09:05.978 XBMCHelper[962:10b] [DEBUG] objc_object* -[XBMCClientWrapper initWithMode:serverAddress:verbose:](XBMCClientWrapper*, objc_selector*, eRemoteMode, NSString*, bool)
2009-05-02 20:09:05.979 XBMCHelper[962:10b] [DEBUG] XBMCClientWrapperImpl::XBMCClientWrapperImpl(eRemo teMode, const std::string&, bool)
2009-05-02 20:09:05.980 XBMCHelper[962:10b] XBMCClientWrapperImpl started in multiremote mode sending to address localhost
2009-05-02 20:09:10.079 XBMCHelper[962:10b] [ERROR] No executable set. Nothing to launch
2009-05-02 20:09:10.081 XBMCHelper[962:10b] XBMCClientWrapperImpl::sendButton sending button 6 down:2 up:0
2009-05-02 20:09:15.391 XBMCHelper[962:10b] [ERROR] No executable set. Nothing to launch
2009-05-02 20:09:15.392 XBMCHelper[962:10b] XBMCClientWrapperImpl::sendButton sending button 6 down:2 up:0
2009-05-02 20:09:17.199 XBMCHelper[962:10b] XBMCClientWrapperImpl::sendButton sending button 2 down:2 up:0
2009-05-02 20:09:17.583 XBMCHelper[962:10b] XBMCClientWrapperImpl::sendButton sending button 2 down:0 up:4
2009-05-02 20:09:20.494 XBMCHelper[962:10b] XBMCClientWrapperImpl::sendButton sending button 3 down:2 up:0
2009-05-02 20:09:20.496 XBMCHelper[962:10b] XBMCClientWrapperImpl::sendButton sending button 3 down:0 up:4


looks good. Still nothing in XBMC?
may want to check system.log (/Applications/Utilities/Console.app -> LOG FILES -> system.log) and see if XBMCHelper starts up.
Other things:
-EventServer enabled?
-AppleRemote set to Standard?

[DAddYE]

Only one problem...

why when I press on my harmony "menu" still open frontrow?

also when Im in the app happen.

[MaestroDD]

Only one problem...

why when I press on my harmony "menu" still open frontrow?

also when Im in the app happen.

you'll need to set AppleRemote to "Always On", then it should launch XBMC instead of FrontRow.

[DAddYE]

Just do that but also launch frontrow...

[garyi]

Um, I downloaded your new links there on the last page.

My understanding was this would enable one to scroll left to right?

Well Its not. It seems to be as before with no changes?

[DAddYE]

Mmm I rebooted my system and now same to work except first startup that I need to do by hand because xbmc isn't open but the service are launched.


$ ps aux | grep XBMC
DAddYE 263 0.1 0,0 599820 464 s000 S+ 9:14pm 0:00.00 grep XBMC
DAddYE 207 0.0 0,1 355672 2608 ?? S 9:11pm 0:00.05 /Applications/XBMC.app/Contents/Resources/XBMC/tools/osx/XBMCHelper -x
D

[MaestroDD]

Um, I downloaded your new links there on the last page.

My understanding was this would enable one to scroll left to right?


yeah, mine, too :P


Well Its not. It seems to be as before with no changes?
Please make sure you replaced XBMCHelper _and_ Keymap.xml.
What did you expect, what do you see? Is right/left working, just not the repeat stuff? Please be as detailed as you can, so we're able to fix something

[MaestroDD]

hey DAddYE,

Mmm I rebooted my system and now same to work except first startup that I need to do by hand because xbmc isn't open but the service are launched.


hm, XBMC launches here with 'Menu' :/
You say after reboot, XBMC does not start by pressing 'Menu', but after XBMC was started/closed one time, it works?

[DAddYE]

Hi,


but after XBMC was started/closed one time, it works?


Yes after XBMC was started then closed if I press "menu" then works!

But some times (don't know why) also open frontrow...

[MaestroDD]

new version of XBMCHelper (v0.4) (http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/858897/XBMC/XBMCHelper.v04/XBMCHelper) uploaded.
changes (http://xbmc.org/trac/changeset/19902):
-proper app exit
-release remote on exit (so others, e.g. Sofacontrol, are notified to grab it)
-warn if IR cannot be opened exclusively

This may fix the occasional Frontrow starts.

[garyi]

Hi MaestroDD

I did install both helper and the keymap and I did run chomd to enable the helper.

I expected it to allow me to hold left or right and scroll to occur just as up and down does.

However for me it does not it goes left or right once and sits there.

I use a harmony 1000. It does work in PLEX. I only mention this to say that I have not made any harmony software changes that would prevent this from working.

I am going to try your version above there and see if I have anymore luck.

[modplug]

Is there any way to make it more responsive?
Right now it's quite the delay between each button press and gui interaction.
I know this might be a problem with the remote rather than xbmc.

[thesoulhacker]

Ok, now I feel really stupid.

Where is the XBMC.app folder you guys are talking about?? are you talking about the xbmc folder in application support? cause I do see an xbmchelper file in there but it much small than the one I downloaded from the first page of this thread.

Is that the one or am I completely lost here?

[thesoulhacker]

Nevermind, found my answer.

[MaestroDD]

hey modplug,

Is there any way to make it more responsive?
Right now it's quite the delay between each button press and gui interaction.
I know this might be a problem with the remote rather than xbmc.

I see the same here. And the AppleRemote for reference feels way snappier. The code isn't really straight forward, few indirections that can be removed, though I'm not sure that will help much.
Another thing to look into may be the Harmony configuration tool. There's some option to setup delays. Haven't played with it yet...

[garyi]

There is something you can try. it improves things a bit but not loads.

Open harmony software, click on devices, then on PLEX, and click trouble shoot.

In the next menu is something regarding delays, then the next menu you need to select 'my device is sending to many commands' the next menu you should find yourself on about 5 knock it down to 2. And then upload to your harmony.

Sorry I don't have the software available right now, but thats the gist of it.

[MaestroDD]

There is something you can try. it improves things a bit but not loads.

Open harmony software, click on devices, then on PLEX, and click trouble shoot.

In the next menu is something regarding delays, then the next menu you need to select 'my device is sending to many commands' the next menu you should find yourself on about 5 knock it down to 2. And then upload to your harmony.

Sorry I don't have the software available right now, but thats the gist of it.

Plex->Troubleshoot->PLEX responds to some commands either [...]
Setting it to 0 did the trick for me, and Harmony feels way snappier now.

Thanks for pointing this out!

The reason why it doesn't get even faster seems to be the timeout the Harmony uses to recognize hold-commands. IMHO this could be lowered...

cheers,
mdd

[DAddYE]

sorry but the keymap didn't work with the lastest stable version of babylon?

exit and back button are mapped as up/bottom

Thanks!

[MaestroDD]

sorry but the keymap didn't work with the lastest stable version of babylon?
[...]


yep, you still have to use the one linked in this thread (which still needs improvement...)

[DAddYE]

thanks, now same to be okey, some time open frontrow but generally works okey!

Good work!

[modplug]

Thanks for the tip of lowering the plex settings in the Logitech software.
The remote feels alot snappier now.

The reason why it doesn't get even faster seems to be the timeout
the Harmony uses to recognize hold-commands. IMHO this could be lowered...

cheers,
mdd

I agree on that one as well.

modplug

[pmcd]

yep, you still have to use the one linked in this thread (which still needs improvement...)

Hmm...do you mean the one in the first post or the one in one of your replies (or are they the same)? I can get XBMC to launch from the Menu button on the Apple remote but the menu button won't act as a right click (so you can't go back). I've tried both keymaps I mentioned and am running Babylon (the release).

philip

[MaestroDD]

Hmm...do you mean the one in the first post or the one in one of your replies (or are they the same)?


They're now versioned (in different subdirs), but the one linked in first post should always be the lateast. A way to check this yourself it to do 'md5 <FILE_TO_TEST>'. This will show if the files are different or not.


I can get XBMC to launch from the Menu button on the Apple remote but the menu button won't act as a right click (so you can't go back). I've tried both keymaps I mentioned and am running Babylon (the release).
philip

Are you using the new Helper with your AppleRemote or your Harmony? There's no way in this version of the helper to default it back to "Standard"/AppleRemote mode.

[pmcd]

They're now versioned (in different subdirs), but the one linked in first post should always be the lateast. A way to check this yourself it to do 'md5 <FILE_TO_TEST>'. This will show if the files are different or not.



Are you using the new Helper with your AppleRemote or your Harmony? There's no way in this version of the helper to default it back to "Standard"/AppleRemote mode.

I am using it with my Apple remote. I don't have a Harmony unfortunately. The Helper that comes with Babylon won't start XBMC via Menu, so I was thrilled that this one did, but then the back press wouldn't work. Is this just a keymap issue or do I have to use the standard Helper which won't start XBMC?

philip

[rasmusth]

This was the one thing that kept me from changing from Plex to XBMC. Thanks so much! This is amazing!

/Rasmus

[MaestroDD]

I am using it with my Apple remote. I don't have a Harmony unfortunately. The Helper that comes with Babylon won't start XBMC via Menu, [...]


tried menu_hold?

but then the back press wouldn't work. Is this just a keymap issue or do I have to use the standard Helper which won't start XBMC?

philip

keymap issue. Default for this beta version is to start in MultiRemote/Harmony mode, so you'll need to modify the Harmony-tagged parts in Keymap.xml

HTH,
mdd

[platte]

Has anybody tried this with Remote Buddy? I installed the new XBMC Helper and the keymap, but all I get in XBMC is the basic Apple Remote controls, none of the other Plex mappings on my Harmony work, even when I disable Remote Buddy. It works great in Plex.

[Ilia]

Any ETA on when we can see this killer feature on Apple TV, it works well on my Mac but I really need this on the appletv :>.

Cheers,

[garyi]

MDD, this went really belly up for me. And its done it twice now where inexplicably it will stop working properly or it will try and run front row, out of the blue whilst using it.

It was such a disaster this time I tried a brand new install of babylon, and I removed y entire XBMC folder and started again. But it still would not work. This is with a helper file that was just dandy a few moments before.

I am stuck now, I cannot get it to work regardless. Do you have the original one you posted up here, that was by far the most stable for me.

[MaestroDD]

Has anybody tried this with Remote Buddy? I installed the new XBMC Helper and the keymap, but all I get in XBMC is the basic Apple Remote controls, none of the other Plex mappings on my Harmony work, even when I disable Remote Buddy. It works great in Plex.

no RemoteBuddy here, sorry. I've seen few references in XBMC of it, but I'm not sure what/how it's done.
Does RemoteBuddy run while running XBMC?

[MaestroDD]

Any ETA on when we can see this killer feature on Apple TV, it works well on my Mac but I really need this on the appletv :>.

Cheers,

nope, sorry; it's on my list to merge ATV's (MultiFinder's) remote support with this version, but no ETA.

[MaestroDD]

MDD, this went really belly up for me. And its done it twice now where inexplicably it will stop working properly or it will try and run front row, out of the blue whilst using it.

It was such a disaster this time I tried a brand new install of babylon, and I removed y entire XBMC folder and started again. But it still would not work. This is with a helper file that was just dandy a few moments before.

I am stuck now, I cannot get it to work regardless. Do you have the original one you posted up here, that was by far the most stable for me.

Sorry about the 'disaster' and given the other random rambling thread you posted, I'd say build it yourself :P
This is a beta version to work out the issues out, and I'll try to incorporate your very useful feedback in the next version.

[Ilia]

nope, sorry; it's on my list to merge ATV's (MultiFinder's) remote support with this version, but no ETA.

Thanks for letting me know, am def on your list of beta testers for atv:>, this is something I really need to make XBMC wife proof on my apple tv.

Thanks again

[garyi]

Hi all. In a desperate bid to get this going again I totally levelled my Mac. Brand new instal of OSX. I then installed XBMC, the helperfile was chmoded and put in the right place and the key map put in as well.

And sure enough it was flawless last night whilst using it. Infact the best I have known, probably because I got rid of plex and all the other experiments on the mac. It is just OSX and XBMC and thats it.

Today after bring the mac back from sleep, the harmony is firing *everything* up, presses are working XBMC but also pressing play in itunes and launching front row. XBMC Says standard remote always running.

Here is the paste bin. I am no expert but it does not mention anything about remote in there at all, am I pasting the right log (XBMC log in the logs folder)

http://pastebin.com/m395eee89

[garyi]

Here is another one of just general stuff in console

http://pastebin.com/m6d55509

[MaestroDD]

Hi all. In a desperate bid to get this going again I totally levelled my Mac. Brand new instal of OSX. I then installed XBMC, the helperfile was chmoded and put in the right place and the key map put in as well.

And sure enough it was flawless last night whilst using it. Infact the best I have known, probably because I got rid of plex and all the other experiments on the mac. It is just OSX and XBMC and thats it.

ouch, but nice, only OSX and XBMC :)


Today after bring the mac back from sleep, the harmony is firing *everything* up, presses are working XBMC but also pressing play in itunes and launching front row. XBMC Says standard remote always running.

Here is the paste bin. I am no expert but it does not mention anything about remote in there at all, am I pasting the right log (XBMC log in the logs folder)

http://pastebin.com/m395eee89

Thanks for this report! I haven't tried sending my mac to sleep and use the Harmony afterwards. Will look into it and report back.

Thanks again,
mdd

[garyi]

If this is the likely cause I just won't put it to sleep!

Seriosuly though is there any info in there that is useful? The pastebin just looks like normal stuff to me. Is there anything I can dig up relating to OSX seeing the remote commands?

I was wondering if I disable the IR remote in system prefs would this turn it off or just stop OSX seeing it?

I can remove front row from core services as I never use it, but I have itunes running for macs around the house.

[garyi]

Um, one other muse. The only thing I have not done this time is actually use an apple remote. When I first got this mac I did try a remote on it. NOw I have levelled it I went straight to XBMC. Do you think it registers that as the remote it will look out for? Or if I bind my original apple remote to it do you think it might ignore the commands sent from harmony, thats got to be worth a go I reckon.

[MaestroDD]

If this is the likely cause I just won't put it to sleep!


played a bit over the weekend with it and putting the mac to sleep is not the reason.
The password dialog is the problem, search for "Secure Event Input" here (http://www.martinkahr.com/2007/07/26/remote-control-wrapper-20/index.html).
I'm not yet sure about the side effects of this, but haven't found problems with it either. I'll add this in the next days and also provide a new binary for Babylon.


[...]
I was wondering if I disable the IR remote in system prefs would this turn it off or just stop OSX seeing it?
[...]
Turning it off seems to disable the hardware.

[garyi]

I really appreciate you developing this. My issues defo occurs once woken from sleep. The fix is to go into settings and turn off standard remote and turn it back on again. Then quit XBMC then relaunch, but not using the remote.

Reading what you mention above. I suppose this is the issue, but you will have to forgive me but I would not have a clue what to do with the code there. So I will wait for you ;)

[MaestroDD]

New binary of XBMCHelper for the Babylon release is available (http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/858897/XBMC/XBMCHelper.v05/XBMCHelper), built from r20520 (http://xbmc.org/trac/changeset/20520) in babylon branch.
This should fix issues with XBMCHelper not capturing the AppleRemote exclusively after entering a password

cheers,
mdd

[DAddYE]

Thanks MaestroDD

[DAddYE]

Mmm, still have the same issue of last release.

After restart my os (Ive always on activated) the harmony don't launch xbmc.

If I start xbmc then quit, now harmony can launch xbmc

[DAddYE]

log from console is:

23/05/09 22:54:08 XBMCHelper[805] [ERROR] No executable set. Nothing to launch

[geebee75]

Using XBMC b20585 and following the above instructions (including new XBMCHelper and Keymap.xml), the remote doesn't work at all. Killing XBMCHelper restores remote functionality back to basic "AppleTV".

Details:

- Console logs show the following for my test keystroke (Down Arrow):

Unknown button for cookiestring 15_14_12_7_23_
Unknown button for cookiestring 23_
Unknown button for cookiestring 23_
Unknown button for cookiestring 23_
Unknown button for cookiestring 15_14_12_7_

- Killing, then manually running XBMCHelper and trying the different modes gave the same result. (-u, -m, nothing at all)

- There was NO ~/Library/Application Support/XBMC/userdata/Keymap.xml present. Following the instructions above I downloaded and installed one though. Perhaps its not loading this file or trying to look elsewhere and that's why it doesn't have the above definitions?

Also, what's the "-x" flag do for XBMCHelper? There's no mention of it in the Usage statement however that's what's being run automatically when XBMC starts.

[geebee75]

Using XBMC b20585 and following the above instructions (including new XBMCHelper and Keymap.xml), the remote doesn't work at all. Killing XBMCHelper restores remote functionality back to basic "AppleTV".


Sorry I didn't notice till now that so far this is only for running off a Mac and not AppleTV.

I'll go hide now..

[MaestroDD]

log from console is:

23/05/09 22:54:08 XBMCHelper[805] [ERROR] No executable set. Nothing to launch

Please post output of
cat ~/Library/Application\ Support/XBMC/XBMCHelper.conf
Before the initial launch of XBMC, when the helper fails to start XBMC. And same after initial (manual) launch.

Thanks,
mdd

[lompelurt]

Is it not possible to change the keymap file? Everytime I change a command, the button I change stops working. I know the new code is right.

Edit: What I am trying to do is to make a video stop when I hold the menu button.

[MaestroDD]

Is it not possible to change the keymap file?

sure it is.


Everytime I change a command, the button I change stops working. I know the new code is right.

Edit: What I am trying to do is to make a video stop when I hold the menu button.
What did you try?

cheers,
mdd

[lompelurt]

First I tried to change the prev button in the fullscreenvideo setting from osd to stop. That only made the button stop responding.
I then tried to change the hold menu key in the global setting from contextmenu to stop, but got the same result.
I also tried to make a hold prev key, but it didn't work of course : (

[MaestroDD]

First I tried to change the prev button in the fullscreenvideo setting from osd to stop. That only made the button stop responding.
I then tried to change the hold menu key in the global setting from contextmenu to stop, but got the same result.
I also tried to make a hold prev key, but it didn't work of course : (

sorry, meant to ask _how_ you tried it. Seen the Keymap.xml part of the online manual (http://www.xbmc.org/wiki/?title=Keymap.xml)?

[DAddYE]

Sorry for my late reply but for some reason I don't receive notifications from this forum.

So before "try to launch xbmc with my remote"

$ cat ~/Library/Application\ Support/XBMC/XBMCHelper.conf
--timeout 50 --appPath "/Applications/XBMC.app/Contents/MacOS/XBMC" --appHome "/Applications/XBMC.app/Contents/Resources/XBMC"


After first launch

$ cat ~/Library/Application\ Support/XBMC/XBMCHelper.conf
--timeout 50 --appPath "/Applications/XBMC.app/Contents/MacOS/XBMC" --appHome "/Applications/XBMC.app/Contents/Resources/XBMC"


so is the same :(

Please post output of
cat ~/Library/Application\ Support/XBMC/XBMCHelper.conf
Before the initial launch of XBMC, when the helper fails to start XBMC. And same after initial (manual) launch.

Thanks,
mdd

[MaestroDD]

Sorry for my late reply but for some reason I don't receive notifications from this forum.

hm, tried to subscribe again?


[...]
so is the same :(

please add output of
cat ~/Library/LaunchAgents/org.xbmc.helper.plist

cheers,
mdd

[DAddYE]

Hi Maestro,


<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>Label</key>
<string>org.xbmc.helper</string>
<key>ProgramArguments</key>
<array>
<string>/Applications/XBMC.app/Contents/Resources/XBMC/tools/osx/XBMCHelper</string>
<string> -x</string>
</array>
<key>RunAtLoad</key>
<true/>
</dict>
</plist>


What did you mean as "subscription?" I tried to enable/disable from xbmc the remote and my conf is always:


$ cat ~/Library/Application\ Support/XBMC/XBMCHelper.conf
--timeout 50 --appPath "/Applications/XBMC.app/Contents/MacOS/XBMC" --appHome "/Applications/XBMC.app/Contents/Resources/XBMC"


hm, tried to subscribe again?



please add output of
cat ~/Library/LaunchAgents/org.xbmc.helper.plist

cheers,
mdd

[MaestroDD]

Hey DAddYE,

reproduced it here. It was a typo in XBMC :/
It's fixed in svn (http://xbmc.org/trac/changeset/20737) but unfortunately didn't make it into 9.04.1.

As a temporary fix you could modify the LaunchAgent plist and make it read-only.

In ~/Library/LaunchAgents/org.xbmc.helper.plist change
<string> -x</string>
to
<string>-x</string>
and do
chmod -w ~/Library/LaunchAgents/org.xbmc.helper.plist
to prevent XBMC from overwriting it.

Thanks for pointing this out!
mdd

[DAddYE]

Many many thanks mdd for your fastest and great support. Now Im at work, but when I come back I will try.

Thanks a lot!

[Ayla]

MaestroDD,

If I wanted to map a button on my Harmony remote, so that it emulates that the "F3" key on my keyboard is pressed, how would I do that?

Thanks :)

/Martin

[MaestroDD]

If I wanted to map a button on my Harmony remote, so that it emulates that the "F3" key on my keyboard is pressed, how would I do that?

There's no way to map Harmony buttons to keyboard presses, but you are able to map Harmony buttons to XBMC actions. See Keymap.xml (http://xbmc.org/wiki/?title=Keymap.xml) in our manual for more information.

Key "F3" maps to "XBMC.ActivateWindow(videolibrary,tvshowtitles,retu rn)" by default. To do that with the Harmony, take the button in Keymap.xml you want to remap, and set the action for it.
By example: if you wanted to remap "1" on your harmony, you'd do:


[...]
<!-- 1--> <button id="11">XBMC.ActivateWindow(videolibrary,tvshowtitles,retu rn)</button>
[...]

this is not specific for the Harmony, so searching for Keymap.xml will probably give you lot's of examples.
HTH,
mdd

[Ayla]

There's no way to map Harmony buttons to keyboard presses, but you are able to map Harmony buttons to XBMC actions. See Keymap.xml (http://xbmc.org/wiki/?title=Keymap.xml) in our manual for more information.

Key "F3" maps to "XBMC.ActivateWindow(videolibrary,tvshowtitles,retu rn)" by default. To do that with the Harmony, take the button in Keymap.xml you want to remap, and set the action for it.
By example: if you wanted to remap "1" on your harmony, you'd do:


[...]
<!-- 1--> <button id="11">XBMC.ActivateWindow(videolibrary,tvshowtitles,retu rn)</button>
[...]

this is not specific for the Harmony, so searching for Keymap.xml will probably give you lot's of examples.
HTH,
mdd

Thanks for the reply MaestroDD !

What I want to do, is change monitor resolution on-the-fly.

With Plex I had the "red" button on my Harmony remote point to a small script which only job was to do a "F3" key press.

In SwitchResX I have "F3" as a global shortcut to enable 1080p@60Hz for example.

Is there any way I can achieve this "F3" button press now that I use XBMC instead of Plex (I can of course change the "F3" key to another key in SwitchResX if that's necessary)?

EDIT: I found this command by googling: XBMC.RunScript(q:\scripts\test.py)

So maybe I could do a Python script which only function is to "press F3" and point to it with the above command in the keymap.xml?

/Martin

[Ayla]

Another question,

I'm using the Harmony 890 and latest XBMC Mac SVN build.

What do I need to do, if I wan't XBMC to start up automatically when I start my Activity on the Harmony?

And when I leave the Activity I wan't the computer to sleep?

Thanks :)
Martin

[MaestroDD]

Another question,

I'm using the Harmony 890 and latest XBMC Mac SVN build.

What do I need to do, if I wan't XBMC to start up automatically when I start my Activity on the Harmony?

Not sure what enabling the "Activity" does on the harmony, but if you disable "Always On" in AppleRemote settings in XBMC, XBMCHelper won't run if XBMC is not active and thus won't be able to start XBMC.
Does that help?


And when I leave the Activity I wan't the computer to sleep?
it probably just shuts down XBMC. Does closing XBMC put your computer to sleep, too?

cheers,
mdd

[Ayla]

Not sure what enabling the "Activity" does on the harmony, but if you disable "Always On" in AppleRemote settings in XBMC, XBMCHelper won't run if XBMC is not active and thus won't be able to start XBMC.
Does that help?


it probably just shuts down XBMC. Does closing XBMC put your computer to sleep, too?

cheers,
mdd

Thanks for the reply.

In the Harmony software, you can set up a command to be executed when an Activity starts and one when you leave an Activity.

So I guess I need to know what commands I should use.

There must be many other Harmony users out there who has this set up? ;)

[BDPNA]

Anyone else having an issue where the Fast Forward and the Chapter Skip buttons are both doing the same thing (a chapter skip?) Is there a fix to get the regular rewind and ff buttons to just do that function? I am using the latest keymap.xml and latest helper from this thread and the latest SVN on OSX.

[Ayla]

Thanks for the reply MaestroDD !

What I want to do, is change monitor resolution on-the-fly.

With Plex I had the "red" button on my Harmony remote point to a small script which only job was to do a "F3" key press.

In SwitchResX I have "F3" as a global shortcut to enable 1080p@60Hz for example.

Is there any way I can achieve this "F3" button press now that I use XBMC instead of Plex (I can of course change the "F3" key to another key in SwitchResX if that's necessary)?

EDIT: I found this command by googling: XBMC.RunScript(q:\scripts\test.py)

So maybe I could do a Python script which only function is to "press F3" and point to it with the above command in the keymap.xml?

/Martin

I got my scripts working.

I now have a "F2.py" and a "F3.py" script.

They both contain code that calls on applescript to do the keypresses that I want.

In Keymap.xml I have mapped two buttons to call the .py scripts with XBMC.RunScript(/Users/blabla/F2.py).

It works great and I can now switch between 1080p60 and 1080p24 "on-the-fly".

[Ayla]

Another question,

I'm using the Harmony 890 and latest XBMC Mac SVN build.

What do I need to do, if I wan't XBMC to start up automatically when I start my Activity on the Harmony?

And when I leave the Activity I wan't the computer to sleep?

Thanks :)
Martin

OK, I got this working too.

In the Harmony software I have it send a "Menu" button press when the Activity starts.

It seems that the sleep function doesn't work (using latest SVN), so in the XBMC settings I have chosen to "Suspend" when I shutdown.

That way I can just send the "XBMC.Shutdown()" command instead when I leave the Activity and it then sleeps the Mac.

[MaestroDD]

Ayla,

glad it works and thanks for sharing!

cheers,
mdd

[Ilia]

MaestroDD,

Is there a reason why this cannot work for appletv?

I noticed that the next realease went from
* Logitech Harmony Universal Remote support in XBMC for AppleTV
to
* Logitech Harmony Universal Remote support in XBMC for Mac

This is a killer feature to have on the AppleTV.

Ilia

[garyi]

I still get a terrific amount of problems with XBMC keeping contact with the harmony, a restart or going to sleep of the mac 100% results in a loss of function whereby XBMC has limited functionality and the remote will launch front row, play itunes and all sorts.

And sometimes inbetween restarts of XBMC as well. At the moment typically I have to go into settings, system, remote, turn off standard, click yes then come out, go back in turn on standard click yes, then switch the always running to off then back on. Quit XBMC and relaunch and all is well again, until the next quit or sleep.

Its fantastic when it works.

[MaestroDD]

MaestroDD,

Is there a reason why this cannot work for appletv?


nothing but lack of time...


I noticed that the next realease went from
* Logitech Harmony Universal Remote support in XBMC for AppleTV
to
* Logitech Harmony Universal Remote support in XBMC for Mac

typo...


This is a killer feature to have on the AppleTV.

nah, killer is different :) Did you look at "Learned Remote" support. Adds quite a few extra buttons...

cheers,
mdd

[MaestroDD]

I still get a terrific amount of problems with XBMC keeping contact with the harmony, a restart or going to sleep of the mac 100% results in a loss of function whereby XBMC has limited functionality and the remote will launch front row, play itunes and all sorts.
And sometimes inbetween restarts of XBMC as well. At the moment typically I have to go into settings, system, remote, turn off standard, click yes then come out, go back in turn on standard click yes, then switch the always running to off then back on. Quit XBMC and relaunch and all is well again, until the next quit or sleep.

Its fantastic when it works.

Garyi,
please be as specific as you can. What are the steps to reproduce the problem? If you give a step by step description it is _sooo_ much easier to fix the issues. I do normally not use my Harmony remote with my Mac, so I may even oversee the simplest things.
Also, which version of XBMC etc. you are running is _essential_ for reproducing a bug.

Thanks in advance,
mdd

[mmmfishies]

I've been using XBMC on my Mac Mini for several months now (after years with the Xbox), and I just bought a Harmony remote so that I could test this. Wow! I'd forgotten how nice it is to have proper remote support!

Thanks, MaestroDD!

Rob

[garyi]

Hi there. The easiest way to reproduce the problem is to restart my mac.

I usually goto system prefs and restart without quitting apps first. Also I do a lot of VNCing into the mac and wonder if this has a baring.

I have tried a number of versions but in general I use the standard babylon release. I find it difficult to find the nightly builds, the latest one I found was April 24th? One of the builds did not appear to have the osx folder in the tools folder so that caused a bit of confusion!

[MaestroDD]

Hi there. The easiest way to reproduce the problem is to restart my mac.


So this happens with the Babylon release and XBMCHelper v.05 from this thread? I suppose you have "Always On" enabled?

If you're talking about reboot:
Did you read DAddYE's post (http://xbmc.org/forum/showpost.php?p=340792&postcount=100) that reboot results in remote loss and my reply/fix (http://xbmc.org/forum/showpost.php?p=343224&postcount=112) for it?

[HDKev]

arrrggghhh. I'm loving the work. SRIOUS Kudos.... But like others I'm only motivated to reply because of a problem.

I can launch XBMC after reboot, but it won't control it. I then close XBMC(via VNC) and re-open it with the remote and now I have full harmony control. I shut XBMC down for a while(A couple hours or so), then when I come back I have to start all over. Open-Close-Open. Any ideas? am I alone?

[BDPNA]

Is anyone else having the same problem as me, where their Harmony is not properly using the FF and REW buttons and instead doing a 10 minute skip? Is there a fix?

I have my Mac Mini set up as type "Plex" in the Harmony software.

Would sure appreciate any help anyone might be able to offer up.

[MaestroDD]

arrrggghhh. I'm loving the work. SRIOUS Kudos.... But like others I'm only motivated to reply because of a problem.

I can launch XBMC after reboot, but it won't control it. I then close XBMC(via VNC) and re-open it with the remote and now I have full harmony control. I shut XBMC down for a while(A couple hours or so), then when I come back I have to start all over. Open-Close-Open. Any ideas? am I alone?

What versions are you running? Logs may help, too.
Please open console.app, select "All Messages" on the top left side, enter XBMCHelper in the search box on the upper right sight, select all, copy, paste to pastebin.com and reply here with the link.
Thanks for your help!

cheers,
mdd

[MaestroDD]

Is anyone else having the same problem as me, where their Harmony is not properly using the FF and REW buttons and instead doing a 10 minute skip? Is there a fix?

I have my Mac Mini set up as type "Plex" in the Harmony software.

Would sure appreciate any help anyone might be able to offer up.

Button behavior can be changed in keymap.xml. Online manual has more information to offer. As said in the initial post, we're more than happy if you find a better default setting.

cheers,
mdd

[Soul]

I'm having quite a lot of trouble with this. Basically sometimes my Harmony works and sometimes it just won't control it. However if the screensaver kicks in and I press a button the remote the screensave quits so it's picking something up.

I tried killing XBMChelper and restarting and got the following error:

Mini:~ Soul$ /Applications/XBMC.app/Contents/Resources/XBMC/tools/osx/XBMCHelper
2009-06-17 23:03:06.999 XBMCHelper[282:10b] OSXRemote 0.5 starting up...
2009-06-17 23:03:07.001 XBMCHelper[282:10b] [DEBUG] -[XBMCHelper init]
2009-06-17 23:03:07.015 XBMCHelper[282:10b] [ERROR] Warning: XBMCHelper could not open the IR-Device in exclusive mode. Other remote control apps running?
2009-06-17 23:03:07.015 XBMCHelper[282:10b] [DEBUG] objc_object* -[XBMCClientWrapper initWithMode:serverAddress:verbose:](XBMCClientWrapper*, objc_selector*, eRemoteMode, NSString*, bool)
2009-06-17 23:03:07.016 XBMCHelper[282:10b] [DEBUG] XBMCClientWrapperImpl::XBMCClientWrapperImpl(eRemo teMode, const std::string&, bool)

Looks to me like something else has got control of the IR device and so XBMC can't use it?

[Soul]

Aha looks like PlexHelper was still running and was hogging the IR device. Killed that and got control back.... :)

[Soul]

Guys do I still need to use the XBMCHelper from this thread if I'm using SVN nightly builds, or is this version in SVN?

Would be nice not to have to copy this back in every day when I update builds.

Cheers,

Justin

[MaestroDD]

Guys do I still need to use the XBMCHelper from this thread if I'm using SVN nightly builds, or is this version in SVN?

Would be nice not to have to copy this back in every day when I update builds.

Cheers,

Justin

Hi Justin,

current svn has XBMCHelper included. You should see something like MultiRemote (Harmony) in Setting->System->AppleRemote. So no, the version posted here is only for 9.04.x.

cheers,
mdd

[Pete_London]

Can I compile this for Linux in order to get my Apple Remote working with my Acer Revo HTPC?

Cheers,

Pete

[MaestroDD]

Hi Pete,
Can I compile this for Linux in order to get my Apple Remote working with my Acer Revo HTPC?

nope, unfortunately not. Source is Mac OSX specific.

[Soul]

Ahh great! I'll try that option out instead then thanks :)

Hi Justin,

current svn has XBMCHelper included. You should see something like MultiRemote (Harmony) in Setting->System->AppleRemote. So no, the version posted here is only for 9.04.x.

cheers,
mdd

[wake15]

All right,

I have done everything to get my mac mini up and running on my Theater. The last thing is trying to get my URC MX-980 remote to work with it. Now the idea was just to learn the data from my Harmony I have.

Here is what I have:

Nightly build of XBMC
Mac Mini
Harmony 550

I have set the remote to Multi/Harmony in XBMC but commands still do not work, when I hit REW it turn the volume down etc.

I think my problem is in the Keymap but I am not sure what I did wrong. Do I just right click on the link and save it as an htm file and then change it back to xml? I have the file in the userdata folder but still no go.

Any ideas? I have had no luck so far so it isn't a case of it just stopped working.

Thanks

[garyi]

HI the keymap on mac downloads as keymap.xml.htm

Delete the .htm, the finder will moan but confirm it.

Also I found a couple of builds did not have the right folder to put the helper in, I have found in the end the best one at the minute is the current release.

Finally you did turn the helper into an executable, the icon changed and everything?

[iainp999]

Anyone else having an issue where the Fast Forward and the Chapter Skip buttons are both doing the same thing (a chapter skip?) Is there a fix to get the regular rewind and ff buttons to just do that function? I am using the latest keymap.xml and latest helper from this thread and the latest SVN on OSX.

Yes! Very annoying and I've not found a solution on the web yet.

Have you (or anyone else) had any luck with this?

[garyi]

Hi Mastreo, could I ask for a request?

Everything is working fine and its quite responsive which is nice. The only issue I am having is when scrolling in that the time between the system realising you want to scrool quickly and my brain are out of sync.

So basically I want to scroll a bit, so I hold the button, it then begins scrolling, and when I let go of the button its gone to far, so I try coming back and it over shoots again.

Hope I am making some sense. I think what I would like to do is make the time between a single click and scroll action to be quicker.

Can I adjust this in a file somewhere?

[ctawn]

Pardon me, as you can see from other threads I'm a newbie at XBMC but am eager to get it working smoothly.

maybe some day i'll have enough energy to hack through this on my own. But it would really nice if someone put together a Harmony One config file and a corresponding keymap.xml section, with a clear tutorial on how to do this. One that hopefully would include a way to do things like launch XBMC and shut it down and switch resolutions with SwitchRes X, etc.

in other news, what if your mac doesn't have built-in infrared? will any USB based infrared receiver work with the "universal remote" setting in XBMC? How?

[ctawn]

OK -- this worked wonderfully! One of the smoothest things about setting XBMC for me actually, when I expected it to be the hardest. What a relief!

By the way, I did learn that some of the buttons were actually unmapped and I could map extra buttons to the function keys and then match them up in the Harmony remote setup for the Plex player. Here's what I used, in case anyone finds it useful. (Note the function keys actually used are totally arbitrary, just line them up in the Harmony configuration to get them to work):


<!-- Aspect --> <button id="61">AspectRatio</button>
<!-- F1 --> <button id="53">XBMC.ActivateWindow(Music)</button>
<!-- F3 --> <button id="55">XBMC.ActivateWindow(videolibrary,tvshowtitles,retu rn)</button>
<!-- F2 --> <button id="54">XBMC.ActivateWindow(videolibrary,movietitles,retur n)</button>
<!-- F4 --> <button id="56">XBMC.ActivateWindow(Weather)</button>
<!-- F5 --> <button id="93">OSD</button>
<!-- F7 --> <button id="95">XBMC.ActivateWindow(settings)</button>
<!-- F6 --> <button id="94">XBMC.ActivateWindow(Scripts)</button>
<!-- F8 --> <button id="96">XBMC.ActivateWindow(favourites)</button>
<!-- F9 --> <button id="73">ShowVideoMenu</button>
<!-- F10 --> <button id="74">ShowSubtitles</button>
<!-- F11 --> <button id="75">NextSubtitle</button>
<!-- F12 --> <button id="76">CodecInfo</button>
<!-- F13 --> <button id="63">Playlist</button>
<!-- F14 --> <button id="64">AudioNextLanguage</button>
<!-- Large Down --> <button id="82">PageDown</button>
<!-- Large Up --> <button id="81">PageUp</button>
<!-- pwrToggle --> <button id="66">XBMC.ShutDown()</button>
<!-- Queue --> <button id="62">Queue</button>
<!-- Sleep --> <button id="46">XBMC.SleepSystem()</button>


Also, can we expect the next official release of XBMC to include the functional helper app so we don't need to mod both the XBMC package contents and make that plist file read-only? (And will we need to change that plist file to r/w? Just trying to stay sane here with all the mods. ;-)

Oh, and also... the only button that doesn't work is the one mapped to "XBMC.ActivateWindow(settings)" ... but that might be limited to the MediaStream skin, because what it does is go to the About page for the skin.

For others in the future, would be nice if this were part of the default system Keymap.html file and the xbmc manual were updated to recommend setting up a harmony with the Plex config, possibly with screen shots, as when I added the Plex, the Harmony setup system didn't automatically assign the buttons.

[MaestroDD]

[...]
By the way, I did learn that some of the buttons were actually unmapped and I could map extra buttons to the function keys and then match them up in the Harmony remote setup for the Plex player. Here's what I used, in case anyone finds it useful. (Note the function keys actually used are totally arbitrary, just line them up in the Harmony configuration to get them to work):
[snipped additional mappings]


thanks, added in r21895 (http://www.xbmc.org/trac/changeset/21895)


Also, can we expect the next official release of XBMC to include the functional helper app so we don't need to mod both the XBMC package contents and make that plist file read-only?

It's in svn for quite a while already. So, yes, it'll be included in next release.


[...]and the xbmc manual were updated to recommend setting up a harmony with the Plex config, possibly with screen shots, as when I added the Plex, the Harmony setup system didn't automatically assign the buttons.

Please feel free to do so. What about something like
"HOW-TO setup your Harmony Remote for use with XBMC on OSX"?

cheers,
mdd

[ctawn]

Please feel free to do so. What about something like "HOW-TO setup your Harmony Remote for use with XBMC on OSX (http://www.xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?p=379004)"

Someone should put me on payroll. ;-)

[MaestroDD]

Thanks alot ctawn!

Someone should put me on payroll. ;-)

yeah, think I'd join :P