Antec Fusion Black SoundGraph Devices

[Humanzee]

I just bought the "Antec Fusion Black" case for a new client machine. I've got vista up and running with SageTV client. So next is to get a remote working.

The case comes with a SoundGraph IR sensor built into a SoundGraph LCD display. The IR shows up in device manager under USB devices as "SG Remote Control Device" but I don't see such a device to configure from within SageTV. Has anybody gotten this type of IR reciever to work with SageTV and if so with what sort of remote control? Is this just a MCE reciever? Can I make it work with one of my existing non MCE remotes?

Thanks in advance.

Ill try to get that SageMCEDisplay App to work with my LCD next.

[kricker]

The Antec website says it is a MCE compatible IR reciever. I have the older fusion which had the LCD die within 2 weeks of getting it. I pulled it out and put the USBUirt in its place. Now I wish I could get the new LCD/IR module and put it in there...that's be nice. Anyone know where I could get just the LCD/IR module? I asked Antec support if i could just RMA my old LCD and pay for an upgrade, they gave me the run around.

[Humanzee]

I didn't find that on the website, but yes, I borrowed an MCE remote from a friend today and it seems to work. At least a the navigation buttons do. The buttons like guide and tv throw an error in Vista, I have disabled MCE so I think its confused, Ill have to read more about configuring it the way I like.

Funny you should mention about the display, mine wigged out the other day and its got me nervous. It was showing all sorts of garbage on the screen. Turns out there wasn't enough space around the case in my TV stand to let air in to cool it. I'm guessing it got really hot. A shutdown cooldown and reboot solved the problem. I still need to find a better place to put the case.

Antec has been sort of responsive, there is an extra set of wires in the case. Says M/B PWR with black and red. I figured it was to supply some power to the LCD or IR. but they said it is a way to wake or start the motherboard with a remote control. I imagine it would go in place of or in parallel with the power button jumpers but the didn't say how or where to hook it up. No mention of it in the manual.

[kricker]

That is exactly what mine did, and I thought it might be due to overheating (I had my fusion tightly placed in an entertainment center). I might need to re-try it, maybe it still works after all. I have sinced moved the fusion to a better air flow friendly spot. But putting the LCD back in means loosing my internal IR functionality.....dang I wish I could get the new LCD/IR.

[PJL]

Guys,

I have an Antec Fusion V2 (the silver case) and I have the same issues. I want to use an MCE controller, using the IR receiver that comes with the case. I could just put some tape over the Fusion supplied IR receiver and do some case mods to incorporate my Microsoft MCE IR receiver, which works just fine, but I am trying real hard to get it to work using the Antec supplied IR receiver first.

Firstly, the Antec receiver is supplied by SoundGraph. It is the OEM model of the standard IMON VFD and IR Receiver (with volume knob). The IMON VFD software supplied by Antec seems to be different to the standard IMON Manager. Antec also supply a .imo file named XPMediaCenter.imo, but this seems to be specifically to make the MCE controller compatible with MCE2005 and not SageTV.

I haven't yet been able to figure out how to make the MCE controller control SageTV direct. Like Humanzee it works for some of the buttons but not the rest.

I also haven't been able to figure out how the VFD.exe program supplied by Antec maps the .imo file... can't find anything in the manual, the setup, or the registry.

If any of you guys figure it out let me know... meantime I am going to try and remap the MCE controller using the IMON manager downloaded from the SoundGraph site to see if I can use that.

BTW Kricker If you want to buy the VFD/IR that is in the fusion box you could probably get it direct from Soundgraph and fit it yourself...

http://www.soundgraph.com/Eng_/Produ...=1&leftMenu=42

regards
Pete

[PJL]

Update.

I have been over to the Soundgraph forum and asked the question re my V2 and the VFD/IR receiver.

see this post
http://www.soundgraph.com/Eng_/Forum...writingLevel=8

as you can see, apparently the Fusion V2 VFD/IR was only ever designed to run with MCE, so MCE compatible really means only works with MCE.

so I either go back to MCE (unlikely) or rip out the VFD/IR and replace with a SageTV friendly one

I guess I bought a lemon!!!!

[kricker]

Well, if that is truely the case, then Antec really f#$Ked it up good. They had a chance to make a perfect HTPC case and blew it. What a shame. I really like my V1 Fusion case except for lack of a built in IR. If I upgrade it will be to one with a proper IR built in, not some half ass IR, so I guess the V2 is out of the running.

[Humanzee]

I got my VFD or rather LCD to work with Sage via the External Status Monitor and SageMCEDisplay plugin.

It works fine however, the LCD itself is flakey when you shut down the computer. I have to cycle the switch on the power supply to get it to wake up correctly.

As far as the IR, I am going to try this MCE Remote Replacement Driver for Vista and see if it works. I'll need to find a copy of Girder though.

Otherwise, I have another USBUIRT that I got for some home automation stuff, I could use it for IR and keep the LCD at least. I don't know if the existing IR receiver would cause any problems with the USBUIRT or not. I imagine not as you could disable the device in device manager and can configure sage to use USBUIRT expressly. The problem would be if vista keeps throwing the errors when using an MCE remote. But with the USBUIRT I could use any remote.

Ill update if I find anything.

[Humanzee]

I could not get the replacement driver to install. I guess because the SG devices are not recognized as regular USB MCE IR recievers. No, Joy, I guess its USBUIRT time.

[kricker]

Originally Posted by Humanzee

I could not get the replacement driver to install. I guess because the SG devices are not recognized as regular USB MCE IR recievers. No, Joy, I guess its USBUIRT time.

You could try something like Eventghost. Similar to Girder, but IMHO much easier to use. Check the forums, maybe someone has written a soundgraph plugin or it might already be included in the newest betas you can get from the forums.

[Humanzee]

hmmm, looks interesting, my question, will event ghost take over the IR port so that the native windows MCE command will not respond? I don't see this Sound Graph device supported explicitly but it might work with their MCE remote support, or the irMon which I think is SG made. Ill have to try it out when I have time.

[kricker]

I don't know, but would be interested in your results if you try it. I use Evenghost with my usbuirt and I love it. Every time I play with it I learn how much more powerful it is than I originally thought.

[Humanzee]

EG wants the same replacement driver for the MCE remotes before it will work. Looking some more, it looks like the Myth TV peolpe are noticing differences with these devices too. I guess its a waiting game to see if support will come later. So I guess its USBUIRT and black tape over the chasis ir reciever.

http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php...n_Antec_Fusion

[kricker]

Dumbasses over at Soundgraph......How sad.

[dgbruce]

I purchased the Antec Fusion Black last Friday for a new SageTV server I'm building... figuring that it would be similar enough to the original Antec Fusion case that I am currently using (and being for a server, it wouldn't need a remote control anyways). Boy was I wrong... I couldn't get the display to work with SageTV at all...

The Old case i'm currently using is setup with the external display monitor and LCDsmartie. But the new case would not work with the existing LCDsmartie driver.

So I tried the SageMCEdisplay program and.... NOTHING!!! Maybe due to the fact I'm running XP Pro...

Anyways... I did some searching and found a site (http://imonapi.tripod.com/download.htm) where someone named "Ralph Y" has done some disassembly and experimenting and has documented the API specifications for the LCD portion of the device. He also Provided so example code.

So.. Since I use LCDsmartie.. I took the specifications and coded up a driver... it is available at http://forums.lcdsmartie.org/viewtopic.php?t=1460

Regarding the "imo" files that control how the remote functions... There is an editor for the remote functions built into the Soundgraph iMON software... but the iMon software will not run on a machine that has an Antec SG device in it... The solution is to install the iMON software on a machine that does not have an SG device. The software will give an message that there is no hardware installed, but it will run and you can edit the "imo" file.

[Humanzee]

interesting,

I got my LCD to work with SageMCEDisplay and the external status monitor. However, the remote was still a problem. I abandoned it and started using a hauppauge 45 button remote with my USBUIRT. Evem after that switch, I still got conflicts as the SG receiver kept seeing the commands from the Hauppauge and would freak out. I just put black tape over my ir receiver the other day, now this.

What does LCDSmartie do for your that VFD.exe and the SageMCEDisplay wouldn't?

I couldn't get at your new driver, do you have to be a member at lcdsmartie.org to see it? can you post your progress here too?

What about the volume knob? would the replacement driver mess with that?

I guess more details, is what I'm interested in.

[dgbruce]

As I mentioned, I could not get the SageMCEdisplay program to work with the LCD... or with the VFD either for that matter... So I don't know what LCDsmartie gives me that SageMCEdisplay doesn't. VFD.exe, nice as it is for a generic status and information display, is utterly useless for displaying SageTV status (IMHO).

I use LCDsmartie with the external status monitor and the MizookLCD SageTV status plugin for LCDsmartie. LCDsmartie show an idle display (clock) when SageTV is idle, cycles through the status of each of my recording device when they are active and displays the playback status of the currently playing media file.

As for the volume knob... I installed VFD.exe and configured it to "NEVER" run. Configured like this, VFD.exe does not open the sg_vfd.dll, and does not control the display, but does read the volume knob. You can then use any other program/driver to control the display. Since I just got the Antec Black case with the IR receiver built in, I haven't yet had the chance to experiment with it yet, but looking at the SG_IR.dll that comes with VFD.exe... it exports a funtion (iMONRC_MakeGirderPacket) that leads me to believe that a driver for girder to manage the remote should be easily constructed... (The Girder plugin released by Soundgraph last year does not seem to be available anymore).

As for the driver... yes you need to have an account with LCDsmartie to download it there... sorry... it slipped my mind at the time... I have attached an updated driver to this post for your convienience... This version fixes a bug (line 2 of the display does not update on a static screen) and adds custom character support.

[Humanzee]

DGBruce,
Thanks, for the driver and please keep us updated on your progress. Sometimes, I'd like to just have a clock instead of all the stuff the the VFD displays over and over again. It sounds like LCDSmartie is more configurable.

Will these drivers work under Vista?

I've started using the USBUIRT, but if a replacement driver for the IR can also be create and customized, that would be great for everyone that has this case.

Is the LCDSmartie website a good place to follow this progress and get the step by step "how-to"'s for changing the drivers out etc? It seems like there are a bunch of hoops to jump through.

[dgbruce]

Ok... I have a solution for the remote... and it doesn't require any additional programs other than the VFD program supplied by Antec.

The file attached contains instructions and all the files required for using a MCE remote with SageTV (both server and client).

[Humanzee]

So to get this straight, I shut down VFD.exe load up your package and restart VFD.exe. At which point MCE remotes should work with Sage given the correct keystroke map in Sage. If at that point I want to use LCDSmartie or some other LCD controller I shut down VFD.exe again and the IR and Volume knob will continue to work. Otherwise, with VFD running it will only show the Antec Factory AutoMode stuff? Then maybe I can continue to use SageMCEDisplay since it is supposed to mimic what MCE would push to any MCE compatible display.