What's the BEST remote for use with SageTV ?

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by infiniti_guy

MS MCE Remote (Great Price, but what can it do...)

1) Do I need Girder for the MS MCE remote/receiver, or will it work to control Sage (Client) without it?

SageTV can respond to many of the buttons from the MCE remote, except the ones that send WM_INPUT messages. See this MS site. Also see p. 154 in the v2.2 manual regarding the commands SageTV uses from multimedia keyboards & remotes -- those remote buttons are really the same as the multimedia buttons on some keyboards.

Harmony Remote (Nice remote, but expensive...)

2) For Client, is the USB-UIRT the only way to get the Harmony to work with the PC?

Not having a Harmony remote, all I can say is that if you don't already have some sort of IR receiver, you'll need something... and the USB-UIRT is a fairly versatile receiver/transmitter.

- Andy

[Crashless]

Originally Posted by infiniti_guy

Couple Remote questions for you guys

...sniped...

Harmony Remote (Nice remote, but expensive...)

1) How do the one-touch buttons work? Do they work well with the PC and the TV to turn everything on and off? Or does it get confused...

They are extraordinary! It's automation at it's finest - once you follow the setup site and assign the buttons, ANYONE can use your system. It basically is an automatically created macro that can remember what is on/off, and turn on/off, set inputs/outputs automatically for whatever activity you want to do. This is the best part of the harmony remotes!

2) For Client, is the USB-UIRT the only way to get the Harmony to work with the PC?

No, if you have a capture card with the remote port you can use that. (Think hauppage cards) But you'll have to use a hauppauge remote profile. (I think)

3) Does anyone know, if the Harmony can be configured to act as a mouse Outside of Sage (extra PC functions)?

You could, but you'll need a program to interpret the IR signals, like Girder.

4) For Client, is the USB-UIRT the only way to get the Harmony to wake the PC from S3 Standby?

I don't know about waking a PC with an IR remote, mine stays on all the time. But if any remote can, you can program the Harmony with it's codes and do it.

Sorry for so many questions, but I think these issues are at the heart of this topic and may help others as well

No worries - that's what these forums are for!

[HawgGuy]

After years with Tivo, my wife and I find that remote most excellent for controlling a PVR. I bought the usb-uirt and easily programmed sage to work with the Tivo remote.

[robk]

Could you post your irremote.ini? I have a Tivo remote, but having a very hard time teaching the USB-UIRT/Sage the codes.
Thanks,
Rob

[Opus4]

irremote.ini is only for the Hauppauge IR receiver. If you are using a remote with the USB-UIRT controlled directly by SageTV, the IR codes would be stored on the ui/rc_mappings/XXX=<some code> lines in the properties file.

- Andy

[robk]

Thanks for the clarification, I didn't realize that, but it makes sense since they are "learned" codes.
Rob

[haavoc]

Hi,

I'm running SageTV on WinXP Pro SP2 and I purchased the Microsoft MCE Remote Model 1039 and I was wondering if you could please post your girder file so I can access all of SageTV's features via my remote.

Thanksl

Originally Posted by andrewswright

The remote comes with it's own IR receiver that works with XP Media Center. It also works with XP Pro with service pack 1 installed (which is what I am running). With either of these OSs, many commands work out of the box (volume, all of the number keys, the arrow keys, enter, some of the transport keys). The keys that don't run out of the box can be used to drive Girder using a plugin specific to this remote. The green windows key on the remote is set out of the box to simulate the windows key on a keyboard, which normally brings up the start menu. I have mine remapped to return to myHTPC using a utility called hotkeyboard.

If anyone needs it, I can post my Girder file that uses the MCE remote to drive SageTV, Zoomplayer, and myHTPC.

If you don't have either of those operating systems, you can still use the remote but the included IR receiver will not work. You would then need another receiver, such as the USB-UIRT. You would also have to use the USB-UIRT SageTV plugin or Girder.

Andrew

[scat]

Originally Posted by justme

A Tivo remote also works great running thru a USB-UIRT. I just set up my Tivo and remote to think I had two Tivo's. Now I just slide a switch on my Tivo remote to go from Sage control to Tivo control.

PS:Obviously this won't work if you actually do have two Tivo's.

I would be interested how you did this, and what harware is involved.

Thanks
Scat

[bcjenkins]

Originally Posted by haavoc

Hi,

I'm running SageTV on WinXP Pro SP2 and I purchased the Microsoft MCE Remote Model 1039 and I was wondering if you could please post your girder file so I can access all of SageTV's features via my remote.

Thanksl

Haavoc,

If you don't own Girder you may want to check out HIP. It works really well with my MCE remote. I am attaching my two config files if your interested.

B

[HawgGuy]

Originally Posted by scat

I would be interested how you did this, and what harware is involved.

Thanks
Scat

If you edit the Sage Properties file and add the following, it should give you a good starting point towards using the USBUIRT with a TiVo remote to control Sage:

ui/rc_mappings/0=73976870158837,
ui/rc_mappings/1=73976870143477,
ui/rc_mappings/2=73976534599157,
ui/rc_mappings/3=73976786257397,
ui/rc_mappings/4=73976584930805,
ui/rc_mappings/5=73976853382645,
ui/rc_mappings/6=73976517838325,
ui/rc_mappings/7=73976803050997,
ui/rc_mappings/8=73976601724405,
ui/rc_mappings/9=73976534614517,
ui/rc_mappings/ch_down=73976853386485,
ui/rc_mappings/ch_up=73976517842165,
ui/rc_mappings/down=73976517821685,
ui/rc_mappings/ff=73976853370357,
ui/rc_mappings/ff_2=73976601712117,
ui/rc_mappings/full_screen=73985380389365,
ui/rc_mappings/guide=73976601706997,
ui/rc_mappings/home=73976517824757,
ui/rc_mappings/info=73976870159605,
ui/rc_mappings/left=73976853366005,
ui/rc_mappings/live_tv=73976786273525,
ui/rc_mappings/play=73976534619637,
ui/rc_mappings/play_pause=73976584951285,
ui/rc_mappings/record=73976870163957,
ui/rc_mappings/rew=73976786277877,
ui/rc_mappings/rew_2=73976803038709,
ui/rc_mappings/right=73976803034357,
ui/rc_mappings/select=73976786261237,
ui/rc_mappings/up=73976601707765,

[roxy99]

Harmony remote is excellent. I just can't bring my self to paying what would be the cost of a PC for just a remote.

I have a Radio Shack Kameleon 4-in-1 remote which I used to use to control an old dvd player. The buttons are straightforward- there is a satelite mode and VCR mode. These 2 modes would be perfect to configure for SageTV. The satelite mode hase all the channel surfing buttons needed and the VCR mode will be programmed to control the PVR function. I just hope the USB-UIRT can be set for a dual mode remote- since each mode (VCR and Satelite) will transmit IR on dif freq.

I am just waiting to receive my usb-uirt to configure everything. Can I leave the manufacturer code on the 4-in-1 as is and still program it for USB-UIRT? Just in case one day I still want to use the old DVD player.

[QuasiInsomniac]

I believe the best remote for Sage is whatever remote you have for your receiver. Here is why:

Mapping the "DVD" or "DVR" or "DBS" fuctions of your receiver remote to Sage commands are really conveinent and a way to use only one remote. I'm a big fan of only one remote. You just need a serial IR receiver and Sage knows what to do. You dont need the TV remote because all your doing with that one at the very least is turning it on, and at the most, adjusting the volume and the input every once in a while. And if you have a DVD drive in your PVR then you dont really need a DVD player externally.

My .02, your mileage may very.

[roxy99]

Originally Posted by QuasiInsomniac

I believe the best remote for Sage is whatever remote you have for your receiver. Here is why:

Mapping the "DVD" or "DVR" or "DBS" fuctions of your receiver remote to Sage commands are really conveinent and a way to use only one remote. I'm a big fan of only one remote. You just need a serial IR receiver and Sage knows what to do. You dont need the TV remote because all your doing with that one at the very least is turning it on, and at the most, adjusting the volume and the input every once in a while. And if you have a DVD drive in your PVR then you dont really need a DVD player externally.

My .02, your mileage may very.

Except that you will have to make sure that your reeiver doesn't get confused and respond when you only mean to communicate to the USB-UIRT. Also remember that many receivers come with 56khz based remotes. If you want to use that remote you have to make sure you have the USB-UIRT with the 56Khz IR-receiver. Otherwise with a standard universal remote you can use the standard USB-UIRT. It doesn't matter what frequency the STB is because either USB-UIRT can transmit at 56khz. The 56khz option is only needed if you want to use a 56khz remote.

PS-- More than $100 for a remote is a foolish waste of hard earned $ IMHO.

[takeshi]

The Universal Remote MX-350 can be purchased for $150 or less. Don't just look at it on their web site. It's not fancy and exotic-looking (or exotically priced) like the Pronto so it's not going to wow you with any tricorder-wanna-be design. The MX-350 is actually quite powerful and I recommend at least looking at my highlights below:

The MX-350 has 5 soft keys (physical buttons but they're labeled by the LCD) and 33 hard (fixed label) keys. The menu system is designed such that at the top level of the menu the soft keys represent your electronic devices. The soft keys can only have 5 characters in their names, but that's generally sufficent. Mine are labeled SAGE (SageTV) , DVDR (set-top DVD+R recorder/player), VCR (still have one), PIO (Pioneer receiver), PS2 (Playstation 2 - used as a secondary DVD player), CAM (miniDV camera), and TV (don't know why it's there since we use it only as video monitor).

The MX-350 supports up to 10 devices. How does it support 10 devices with only 5 soft keys? Well, you can have multiple pages. There are 5 devices on two separate pages. To navigate, the remote has hard keys for Page Up, Page Down, and Main (takes you to the top menu).

Once you select a device, the soft keys then represent custom-labeled functions that don't map well to the factory-labeled hard keys. For SageTV, since I have a Hauppauge PVR-150 and I'm using its IR receiver I followed the convention on the Hauppauge remote. My soft keys are labeled GO, FULL (Full Screen Toggle), TVPWR (Toggle TV power), NEXT>> (something like track skip), PREV<< (something like previous track), RED, GREEN, YELLW, and BLUE. If you own the Hauppauge remote the color keys will make sense to you. Anyway, every electronic device in your entertainment system can have up to 8 pages of soft keys. Yes, that's 40 soft keys for every component in your entertainment system! This remote can definitely replace all other remotes in your system unless you really need more than 40 soft keys. It does take some work to get everything set up.

The MX-350 has excellent macro capabilties. Macros can be assigned to nearly any key and they don't overwrite that key's function (i.e. if you delete the macro, the key reverts to whatever function it was mapped to). Macros can be up to 190 steps long and can include pauses as needed. Settings are stored in non-volatile RAM (you won't lose anything if you pull the batteries). Of course, it can learn from other remotes. The MX-350 also has a good built-in database of remote commands for various makes and models of electronics. You can "punch through" -- which is handy if you're only going to control the volume to your entertainment center via your receiver, and so on. You can also completely duplicate your MX-350's settings to another MX-350. It can be used with an (optional) RF transceiver to control your electronics without needing line of sight between the remote and your elecrtonics.

If you can swing it, I highly recommend getting one of their PC programmable remotes as:

1. They can be programmed via your computer.
2. You can download and transfer new commands to the remote for your electronics.
3. You can back up the remote's settings to your computer.

IMHO, for $150 the functionality of the MX-350 is a steal. I actually wished I had spent the money on a PC-connectable MX-series remote. It would have helped a lot with getting discrete codes programmed for my Pioneer receiver as well as with setup in general. As it is, the MX-350 has definitely integrated seamlessly (well, after a lot of setup) into my system. Yeah, you can use VNC and a laptop on your coffee table as a SageTV "remote" (and I do from time to time) but try pulling that one off on your SO. Unless you're lucky enough to have a geeky better half then you'll know that won't fly.

[mayamaniac]

MX-350 seems like a very good remote, lots of features at a decent price compare to the logitech/harmony remotes.

I had a thought about the requirements for the Best remote, and they are:

1. control everything*
2. reasonably priced
3. user friendly, good button layout and labels, good Wife Acceptance Factor (WAF) ratings

I put an asterisk on "control everything" because sometime it doesn't need to control everything. For example, in the main HTPC room, you probably do need it to control everything from HTPC, TV, DVD, VCR, Receiver, etc; but in the bedrooms or in other rooms that don't have all those highend equiptments, you probably need a simpler remote, one that control just the basic equiptments.

And since remotes like the MX-350 or harmony remotes cost a lot of money, you probably won't buy more than one. So you probably end up buying a different remote for other rooms. And this is where it interferes with the point #3 above, user friendliness. If you have two different remotes, that means you and your family have to learn to use both, this would hurt WAF ratings. You can buy multiple MX-350s to solve the problem so you only have one type of remote to learn, but of course it will cost you a fortune. And again, that will hurt WAF ratings.

So what we need is a remote that offers two versions, a complex one and a simple one, such as Pro version and Normal/Lite version. Both must have identical functions and button layout, except the Pro version has more functions and buttons. Of course the Pro version cost more, but you only have to buy one. The normal lite version should be fairly affordable so you can buy multiple of them.

Snapstream's Firefly remote does offer two versions, but the "pro" version isn't up to par with the harmony or MX-350, plus its only RF, no IR. I'm not sure if there are other remotes that offer two versions also, but I would like to check them out if there are some available.

[roxy99]

Best remote: One that works and does what you want whenever you need it and is reliable. PERIOD