XBox One & WMC Setup

[chad473]

So I have a PC running Windows Media Center plugged into the Xbox One via the hdmi in and and hdmi out going to the tv. I have a cheap USB IR receiver that I use with my Harmony 550 remote using the drivers from Logitech named ORtek-1100. For some reason this IR sensor only works with that model and when I try to plug in any variations of it for the Xbox One, it can't find anything. Wondering if anyone else has a similar setup and if they have found an IR receiver that works.

Guess my question is what kind of IR sensor is everyone using to get this to work? I see blasters and emitters linked in this thread but is there a IR receiver that can connect via USB that would work with my PC? I'm currently using a infiniTV 4 ceton cars built into the box.

I have the same setup. Harmony uses ortek-1100 codes to control my htpc. Is there a workaround for this IR receiver to allow the xbox one control a htpc? If not, if anyone can link a working USB IR receiver I'd appreciate it. I plan on having htpc>one and would like to utilize voice control for changing channels. I'm running WMC on a win7 box if that matters.

[fnords]

you can access the media center guide or anything in media center if you use a remote configured for that. You really do still need to use a media center remote, but the advantage is not having to switch inputs and being able to go from live tv, to a game, to an app like netflix almost seamlessly. And many voice commands are useful, you can just can't rely on them solely.

If you are still running windows 7 on your HTPC, the xbox netflix app is far easier to navigate and the hd quality is superior. It's like the windows 8 app, except you can configure universal remotes to control the xbox one. Same may be the case with hulu plus and other apps.

The above sounds really great. Has anyone actually configured a Harmony type remote to do the above?

I currently have my W7MC attached to my receiver in parallel to my XB1. I am thinking of attaching the W7MC to the XB1, but am worried about the wife acceptance factor. The key will be whether I can get the Harmony configured in such a way to make it at least as easy as it is now. Any ideas?

[VistaVick]

Right now, I am just using the same media center activity on my harmony to control live tv or browse the media center interface.

Because you can navigate through the rest of the xbox one interface and launch apps/games using voice commands, I haven't seen a huge need to control the xbox one with IR yet. But I imagine I will when scrolling through netflix episodes and other apps like that.

So for me, I think the easiest method would be to create two harmony activities, one to control media center as usual, and another just to control the xbox one. I assume the xbox one is in the harmony database now, or soon will be. Change the settings so nothing is turned off and on when going back and forth between the two activities.

[johny3]

Right now, I am just using the same media center activity on my harmony to control live tv or browse the media center interface.

Because you can navigate through the rest of the xbox one interface and launch apps/games using voice commands, I haven't seen a huge need to control the xbox one with IR yet. But I imagine I will when scrolling through netflix episodes and other apps like that.

So for me, I think the easiest method would be to create two harmony activities, one to control media center as usual, and another just to control the xbox one. I assume the xbox one is in the harmony database now, or soon will be. Change the settings so nothing is turned off and on when going back and forth between the two activities.

this is what I am doing except since I have not used our downstairs tv where the xbox one is now for anything but gaming. My remote seems have developed a problem with not controlling the xbox. need to fix that.

[johny3]

is anyone having trouble using their wmc remote that they used on their 360 to control the 360 since setting up their one?

I cannot seem to get it to work again despite going thru set up, etc. It works on the tv and receiver like before. Will work on it more.

[TheOsburnFamil]

Someone should be really awesome and post a video. I would love to see this in action. When you look at the guide do you see the WMC guide or xb1 guide?

I just came across this from over at the XBox Forums -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PMXn0oM ... e=youtu.be
Source: http://forums.xbox.com/xbox_forums/gene ... 91460.aspx

So, it ONLY works if the XBox 360 is set to boot directly into MediaCenter AND that MediaCenter is "tweaked" to launch LiveTV on startup of MediaCenter.

There are utilities out there that can configure your Xbox MediaCenter profiles to boot straight to livetv. I've never used them because I wouldn't have a use for it but they are out there in the googles.

The real question though is why? Maybe if your in a dorm I could see a slight use-case... but If you have to use HDMI Passthru, AND it isn't smart enough to use the WMC RecordedTV, AND it can't do DD-5.1 with this setup (the hdmi passthru will downmix to 2ch), AND the XB1 Guide isn't customizable, AND there's even ANOTHER layer in the channel changing lag.. AND...AND..AND...

The entire setup is really an XBox 361... (see what I did there?) Just Swith to HDMI2 for crying out loud.

[scyto]

It can do dd5.1 working fine on my setup.

[RyC]

Is the beta passthrough really DD5.1 or is it remixing it into surround LPCM? Not that I'd be able to hear a difference, just curious...

[TheOsburnFamil]

It can do dd5.1 working fine on my setup.

Can you confirm your setup is XBOX360 WMC LiveTV > HDMI > XBOXONE > HDMI > AV RECEIVER > HDMI > TV?
All accounts thus far have been that this setup produces a Downmix to 2ch.

[BCloud]

A possible work around for the DD 5.1 issue is to use a Audio optical cable (toslink), Either from the xbox 360, or the Xbox one directly to the TV or stereo system. this Should bypass the HDMI audio

[TheOsburnFamil]

A possible work around for the DD 5.1 issue is to use a Audio optical cable (toslink), Either from the xbox 360, or the Xbox one directly to the TV or stereo system. this Should bypass the HDMI audio

True-- but if you're doing that, then you'll have to switch your AVR between audio sources when going from TV to non-TV on the XBoxOne.

Which brings it back to why bother? If you have to switch inputs-- then just leave them unchained to begin with and save the trouble.

[scyto]

It can do dd5.1 working fine on my setup.

Can you confirm your setup is XBOX360 WMC LiveTV > HDMI > XBOXONE > HDMI > AV RECEIVER > HDMI > TV?
All accounts thus far have been that this setup produces a Downmix to 2ch.

Yup my amp shows 5.1 PCM with LFE activity (plus it sounds different with sound coming from all speakers) key was to enable the beta feature in troubleshooting. By the way this is not DD but it is an uncompressed 5.1 mix.

[TheOsburnFamil]

It can do dd5.1 working fine on my setup.

Can you confirm your setup is XBOX360 WMC LiveTV > HDMI > XBOXONE > HDMI > AV RECEIVER > HDMI > TV?
All accounts thus far have been that this setup produces a Downmix to 2ch.

Yup my amp shows 5.1 PCM with LFE activity (plus it sounds different with sound coming from all speakers) key was to enable the beta feature in troubleshooting. By the way this is not DD but it is an uncompressed 5.1 mix.

Thanks for confirming. That is good to know it's at least passing 5.1 via PCM w/o having to go the secondary optical option. Still not a fan of the setup and won't be getting an XB1 anytime soon (if ever unless they release some cablecard love and/or legacy WMC App). But it's nice to get the options out there.

[BCloud]

A possible work around for the DD 5.1 issue is to use a Audio optical cable (toslink), Either from the xbox 360, or the Xbox one directly to the TV or stereo system. this Should bypass the HDMI audio

True-- but if you're doing that, then you'll have to switch your AVR between audio sources when going from TV to non-TV on the XBoxOne.

Which brings it back to why bother? If you have to switch inputs-- then just leave them unchained to begin with and save the trouble.

Then it becomes a question of "how does the Xbox One down-mix audio?" Does it down-mix inbound audio, or outbound audio? If it only down-mix on the outbound stream, then using the toslink cable from the Xbox One to the TV would make sense to bypass the hdmi.

[scyto]

Why do you want to bypass HDMI?

[sticknutzman]

So I have a PC running Windows Media Center plugged into the Xbox One via the hdmi in and and hdmi out going to the tv. I have a cheap USB IR receiver that I use with my Harmony 550 remote using the drivers from Logitech named ORtek-1100. For some reason this IR sensor only works with that model and when I try to plug in any variations of it for the Xbox One, it can't find anything. Wondering if anyone else has a similar setup and if they have found an IR receiver that works.

Guess my question is what kind of IR sensor is everyone using to get this to work? I see blasters and emitters linked in this thread but is there a IR receiver that can connect via USB that would work with my PC? I'm currently using a infiniTV 4 ceton cars built into the box.

I have the same setup. Harmony uses ortek-1100 codes to control my HTPC. Is there a workaround for this IR receiver to allow the xbox one control a HTPC? If not, if anyone can link a working USB IR receiver I'd appreciate it. I plan on having HTPC>one and would like to utilize voice control for changing channels. I'm running WMC on a win7 box if that matters.

Just curious if anyone else has found an IR receiver that works. I currently use this one: http://www.amazon.com/SANOXY%C2%AE-Wind ... r+receiver

...but it doesn't appear to receive the signals from the Xbox One. I have the STB set as "Media Center PC" on the Xbox One, but it still doesn't work. Any confirmation for USB IR receivers that do work? Any help would be great!

[mdavej]

That's the same as Ortek, Adesso and Hama, not Media Center PC. Does the Xbox have anything choices like those? I would imagine any MCE (RC6) receiver would work, like HP, Lenovo, or Rosewill.

[chad473]

I have an RC6 Dell wmc receiver coming Wednesday. I'll update if that works, which I'm assuming it will.

[oldpueblo]

Sorry if this is rude but I'm just going to copy/paste my post from WPCentral.com forums rather than type it all out again.

Okay so I now have my HTPC hooked up directly and it's working just fine. The IR blaster is fine, I confused myself when it wasn't working with my older media center remote that has been in a box for years, which I believe is just broken. During device setup under TV settings I chose Microsoft as the brand and then had it automatically send the power command. That put my HTCP to sleep and then woke it up again, so that verified the IR blaster worked. Before I manually typed in Windows Media Center and that may have set it up to use different IR blaster codes. I saved it and then unchecked the box in the other area that said to turn off my HTPC when I say Xbox Turn Off. I then configured the final part of my Harmony 300 universal remote to do Windows Media Center commands for when I want to mess with recordings or do things the speech doesn't cover, or just manually use the remote if there are serious noise issues (I have three kids). So to summarize:

By saying Xbox On it turns on my TV and Samsung soundbar which is connected optically to the Xbone. My WMC HTPC is always running, recording TV shows, as before.
I can say Watch TV and it then shows the media center interface full screen, behind which is the usual PC desktop that I never use.
I can use OneGuide voice commands to fully channel surf as well as say play/pause/stop/ffwd/etc, and that uses IR blasting to pass through the commands.
I use my Harmony 300 universal remote configured as a windows media center remote for when I don't want to use voice or need to do DVR specific things.
When I say Xbox Turn Off it turns off my TV, soundbar, and the Xbone (standby).

Mission accomplished.

I'll add that the IR blaster I'm using is an older Windows XP media center version I think, I've had it a long time but only recently rediscovered it.



This may or may not also be it, I took the picture to be helpful and they do look the same:

http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-00-OVU4 ... im_sbs_e_3
http://www.amazon.com/Dell-OVU400307-Mi ... im_sbs_e_6
http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Control ... im_sbs_e_4

[BCloud]

Why do you want to bypass HDMI?

Because the Xbox down-mixes 5.1 audio to 2 channel audio via hdmi pass through. So if you really wanted 5.1 DD then using a toslink cable IMO would be the best way to go about getting around that issue with the Xbox one.