I wish I could program that quickly...

I will get stuck into the DLL and should have some results for you in the next few days (BTW the link should be http://burningzeroad.free.fr/MceIrApi.rar)

Looks simple enough but we will see!!

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Peter (BTMI)

Click here for HIP, the free alternative to control your PC via remote control

For the most part the DLL works really well (Bravo!!)

There were a couple of issues which I think is more the Microsoft implementation than the code itself.

1) Learning

Once learning begins, the routine does not return until you stop pressing the button (and can create quite large files), and so ALL commands should be taught with a short sharp tap on the remote you are learning.

2) Sending

Using an IRMan as the receiver, the output of the device is tempermental with about 6 out of 10 tranmissions being correctly interpreted by IRMan.  Placement of the IR Blaster is also critical as I found that for best results it had to be right next to the device you are controlling and sending the IR more than once increased reliability.

In any case, I have enough to create a plugin for HIP which will allow you assign any key to the MCE remote for any application, and save and send IR commands to external devices.  That will take a couple of days...

I will post a message here when the build is ready for testing...

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Peter (BTMI)

Click here for HIP, the free alternative to control your PC via remote control

BTMI and BurningZeRoad:

You guys ROCK! Look forward to testing out the new functionality.

slang

Hi Peter !

I'm very happy you got no problem with my dll and you can perform some tests so quickly !

1) Learning
You are right ! I'm stopping to record once a huge space is detected...
There are two options to solve that issue : I can add a parameter to limit the record file size or you can simply cut the file when you think it's too long. The file only contains raw data without any structure and the sample size is one byte.

2) Sending
I read many times that the IR blasters must be placed very close to the receiver so I think we have no choice... Anyway I'm going to check if I can improve sending quality. I don't know yet how... but I will first compare original recording with the one generated by a blaster and maybe I can find a way...

I hope I can try your beta before Saturday because I will be on skiing holiday next week... But take your time I won't miss my remote next week !

BZR

I am also going on holiday (to the beach) next week and so this may have to wait until we return...

I have uploaded a little test program at http://www.zinfonia.com/hip/mceremotetest.zip

which uses all of the commands in the dll which we can use for testing.

The command MceIrSetRepeatTimes always returns false at the moment.

It would be great if the timeout value could be used for both the beginning and learning stages, but I agree that it is simple enough to cleanup the result.

I still think the sending problems are hardware related, and so I am not sure if you can do anything....

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Peter (BTMI)

Click here for HIP, the free alternative to control your PC via remote control

An update is waiting for you at the same location : http://burningzeroad.free.fr/MceIrApi.rar
- MceIrSetRepeatTimes now returns TRUE !
- Timeout is now used for both the beginning and learning stages

Your test program will be very usefull.
Thx

I have also updated my Test program http://www.zinfonia.com/hip/mceremotetest.zip with that dll along with an option to set the get ir timeout.

I do get the occasional AV when reading, but I cannot work out the pattern. 

Rather than return an error when the second timeout expires, it would be better to simply return control back to the program (True) with the data collected up until then.

I will continue on the new build of Hip using this DLL, but that will take a little longer to sort out.

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Peter (BTMI)

Click here for HIP, the free alternative to control your PC via remote control

OK, this looks very interesting.  Could either of you two help us non-coding users to invision how this might be integrated into our MCE machines?

I would hope that all the original hands-free, non-tweaking functionality of the MCE receiver would remain with just the simple addition of 3rd party send/receive added on top.   Will this be how it works?  Will we need to use your HIP software?  Please tell me that i won't have to buy a USBUIRT to get receive/send functionality.  Great work guys.  Thanks for your contributions.

 

Samsonite

Hi Samsonite !

Don't worry, you won't have to buy a USBUIRT : this is the goal of this thread.

Since Microsoft didn't provide any tools for enabling the MCE remote to communicatate with non-MCE certified appliances... with my solution you will use the MCE remote as if it was a non-MCE certified receiver/blaster !

You will also be able to run non-MCE softwares using your remote thanks to HIP...

Goody. Goody.   To clarify, the receiver will still be able to be used for MCE2005 concurrently with your new added functions...yes?  Thanks again.

 

Samsonite

Excuse me for being dumb - but how exactly do I install the driver ? I'm not running MCE on my development machine (all I've done is plugin in the MCE2005 IR box to the machine).

I've tried 'right-click-install' on the inf file, but nothing comes up - and running the test-harness just gives me an error (error reading IR). It doesn't appear to have placed anything in the registry either.

Any ideas ? I'd love to use the DLL to create a plugin for talking to ZoomPlayer (well, using the DVD Menu and other buttons for functionality).

Thanks

Chris

 

@Samsonite: Yes Yes Yes !

@btmi: I think I've found a way to improve IR learning quality ! You can get an update at the usual place and try it...

I do get the occasional AV when reading, but I cannot work out the pattern.Sorry, I don't understand this one... Remember I'm a french guy so you have to write slowly !
What does "the occasional AV" means ?

Rather than return an error when the second timeout expires, it would be better to simply return control back to the program (True) with the data collected up until then.
This is the way it is coded... the only time the recording function should return FALSE is when I'm receiving an unknown packet header from the receiver... I will try to reproduce it...

Make sure the MCE remote is installed.

In the Control Panel/System, select the Device Manager button on the Hardware Tab.

In the Universal Serial Bus Controllers section, locate the entry for the remote, right click and select "Update Driver"

Select "No, not at the time" for the Window Update prompt.

Select "Install from a list or specific location"

Select "Don't search. I will choose the driver to install"

Select the "Have Disk" button and enter the location of the supplied drivers.

Select the MCE Infrared Remote Reciever option and the rest should be self explanatory.

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Peter (BTMI)

Click here for HIP, the free alternative to control your PC via remote control

Sorry...your english is so good I forget to type slowly

The "AV" is an unhandled exception - usually a reference to an invalid pointer.  If you run the "Learn" option enough times you will probably see it.

I will continue checking with the new version today....

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Peter (BTMI)

Click here for HIP, the free alternative to control your PC via remote control

Thanks for the reply, but it doesn't really help :-(

Like I said, I'm not running MCE, and the only way I've 'installed' the remote is to plug in the receiver - it simply works, I didn't have to install any drivers / software (of course, not all the buttons work which is why I wanted to try out the DLL).

My 'Universal Serial Bus Controllers' section in the device manager lists :

eHome Infrared Receiver
Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller
Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller
USB Composite Device
USB Root Hub
USB Root Hub

- and that's it. I do have a RF keyboard and mouse installed, but the list above isn't very helpful.

I tried the 'eHome Infrared Receiver' device to update the driver, but it wouldn't take it.

Any ideas ?

Thanks

Chris