Using an Xbox 360 controller and 360 media remote with WMC

[animeman59]

Hello All,

I have a living room PC that I use for Steam Big Picture, and Netflix, but now I'm thinking about using WMC for Windows 8.

My question is, how do I get to use my Xbox 360 controller, or 360 media remote, to navigate Windows Media Center? It would be very convenient to use either of these two devices to browse the system, instead of using my small keyboard/mouse trackpad.

I've tried looking for an answer to this on other sites, and even posted the same question. But the only answers I get are for media extenders concerning the Xbox 360 console. I DO NOT OWN an Xbox 360, so please do not give answers or solutions regarding that system. I'm merely looking for answers regarding using the 360 controller or media remote with Windows Media Center.

Thank you for any help you can provide.

[mdavej]

Follow the procedure here to change the Remote Control ID in the registry (skip the first few steps about holding remote buttons). I think you need command set 8 for an Xbox remote.
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/astebner/archiv ... 86961.aspx

In any case you'll have to at least buy an MCE (RC6) IR dongle for your PC, or Flirc if you prefer. With Flirc, no registry changes are needed. Here's the kicker though, most any MCE IR dongle will come with its own remote anyway which will work better than the average Xbox remote (newer Xbox remotes are missing a few important WMC functions).

I think using an Xbox controller for WMC is a bad idea, but that can also be done with a cheap USB receiver (got mine on Amazon for less than $20) and probably quite a bit more registry surgery. Works fine on PC games though.

Have you considered using a smartphone app or universal remote? Those would work better. An app would also give you full keyboard/mouse control. And a universal remote would also control your TV and AVR. The Inteset INT-422 would be an excellent choice.

[animeman59]

I'm having some trouble finding that post that you made a year ago.

Could you provide me with a link? I'd appreciate it.

[animeman59]

Ah, I see that you changed your post from before. Thanks for the other link.

So the Xbox 360 controller can't be used for navigation, unless I change some registry settings? If it's easy to do, then I might try it.

Push come to shove, I think I'll try out a remote instead. Will Flirc allow any remote to be used with WMC, or should I focus on an actual WMC remote?

[mdavej]

Controller for navigation is uncharted territory as far as I know. You'd be forging the trail I'm afraid. I was only speculating about the registry. Could be a lot more to it. I really have no idea where to start on that front. How exactly would you use the controller anyway since it has virtually none of the functions used in WMC besides arrows?

Flirc allows any remote to be used for anything, WMC included, but requires a lot more work to set up. An actual WMC or universal remote would work out of the box. I think Flirc dongles are half price on Amazon at the moment, if you want to experiment. Your Xbox media remote will also work with that one registry change and a genuine MCE dongle (there are many fakes and many incompatible models, like Diamond, Chinavision, Ortek, Adesso and Sanoxy). Probably best to post your choice here before pulling the trigger so we can confirm it's compatible.

EDIT: Found out how to use the controller with WMC. Check out this video about "JoyToKey": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-hxeZ3_ONg

[animeman59]

Thanks a lot! You've been an immense help. I have an idea on what I should do now in choosing what devices I need to complete my HTPC setup.

Again, thanks for the help.

[LuckyDay]

You can use a 360 pad for navigation with a program called Joy2Key or XPadder.

Both allow you to map keyboard controls to the pad (WMC uses keyboard strokes for the controls, even with a remote).

*edit* somoene beat me to it. Joy2Key works perfectly fine with a 360 controller, try it out.

[newfiend]

to the OP..
I use Steam as well in WMC using Big Picture Mode. I also last year went on a hunt to be able to do the exact same thing you are trying to accomplish I believe.
I wanted the ability to grab the Xbox 360 controller for Windows and launch WMC, Navigate the WMC menu and Launch Steam Big Picture from the WMC Main Menu.
While Joy2Key works great, It does have one issue...
When you launch Steam Big Picture Mode from WMC using Joy2Key it continues to run in the background (system tray). When it's still running the Windows Media Center - Xbox 360 Controller.cfg it messes up navigation in Steam Big Picture. You will notice that trying to navigate the menu in Steam that it is jumpy and will skip around and you will not be able to navigate Steam (or your Games) correctly. (Try moving the stick on the 360 controller left and right to select Store, Library, *Steam user name* on the main Steam menu, you will notice that it jumps over library pretty easily and it's difficult to get it to select library at all. Disable Joy2key and try to navigate the menu again and it responds as it should.)

After Steam Launches you will need to shutdown (close) Joy2Key or it will conflict with Steam and Game navigation. I am sure there is a way to disable this when steam launches and re-enable it after it closes, but I do not know how to write code (or scripts) needed to accomplish this.
Maybe someone could help out with this if they have the time/talent and can point me in the right direction.

It may be possible to somehow map a button on the 360 controller to close/open joy2key?? I haven't looked into it much yet.

I did find a way to get this working with Pinnacle Game Profiler: http://pinnaclegameprofiler.com/
and the WMC Profile here: http://pinnaclegameprofiler.com/pc-cont ... dia-center

There is an Exclusion list option in the settings in Pinnacle that will automatically disable the WMC profile above when Steam Launches and re-enables it when Steam Closes. You have to add your Steam.exe and all your game .exe's to the Exclusion list so when you launch Steam or a Game in Steam it then disables the WMC profile otherwise it interferes with your Steam & Game navigation and controls.
It's not a elegant solution but it does work, but each time you add a new game to steam you have to add that new games .exe to the exclusion list in Pinnacle settings.
newfiend~

[Cryofax]

FYI regarding the joy2key problem as you move between programs... XPadder has profiles that change your gamepad keyboard layout automatically with whatever program is loaded or has focus. You can even make a blank one if there is a program you don't want sending keystrokes at all via gamepad.

[newfiend]

Here is another option that's currently in the works.. This looks very intriguing http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/f ... =374720908