I lost ability to control WMC via IR!

[JonDeutsch]

I posted this on a sub-group under hardware, but maybe someone in the general forums is smart enough to help me with this vexing issue:

I've recently been trying to contol my WMC machine via HDMI-CEC with the Pulse-Eight device. It's not working out so well. Without getting into the details of why and how, what has happened is that about a day after I started adding in the Pulse-Eight drivers and software (including EventGhost, where I added WMC plug-ins as well), my normal IR receiver stopped working!

It had been working alongside all this stuff yesterday, but starting this morning, WMC simply won't respond to IR commands anymore.

I've removed EventGhost, but that actually left an EG service running (altWMC-infrared service) alive in my HD and processes), so I manually deleted that, removed it from RAM and rebooted.

Still, I am unable to control WMC via IR anymore. I've disabled and re-enabled the IR device in Device Manager, and I've plugged the IR receiver into a new USB port (which the PC identifies just fine -- there's no errors with the device itself).

Any ideas or suggestions? I'm kind of freaking out right now because I can't control WMC for the first time in like 7 years!
Thx.
Jon

[joecrow]

Do you have any possibility to check your IR receiver and remote on another PC, just in case it has failed (batteries/hardware etc.).?

I doubt that is the problem but it would be a good starting point to eliminate thr IR receiver from the troubleshooting, BTW what make is it?

It sounds much more like EG has installed a driver or something that is blocking or otherwise screwing up your IR receiver, check in Control Panal for "auvisio VRC1100" (not sure of the exact wording) if installed uninstall it or if you have a restore point or backup to return you system back to when it was working, please try that.

I have used the Pulse Eight for a couple of years on WMC in conjunction with the HDMI CEC Tray, info here https://sites.google.com/site/chir21/home/CEC-Tray download here https://sourceforge.net/projects/hdmicectray/
This worked very well for me and does not requiure EG which for other things always gave me problems, mostly on resume from sleep. I can't say how current the CEC Tray software is but prior to my upgrade to Win 10 and Media Portal last summer it was still fine with Win 7 and WMC. I am aware that Pulse Eight do now offer the EG package for WMC but I have no experience of it (Media Portal has its own plugin for a CEC remote), maybe someone else here can give you some tips if you wish to continue in that direction.

[JonDeutsch]

Thanks so much for this info. Two followup questions:

How can I install HDMI cec tray? It's just source files... No exe file?

Why does EG install things that do not uninstall? That's very bad behavior! Are there uninstall tools that can find app scraps? Thx!
Jon

[joecrow]

Thanks so much for this info. Two followup questions:

How can I install HDMI cec tray? It's just source files... No exe file?

Hmm, not sure, the download used to be available from the the Pulse Eight support forum, which has since closed so maybe that is why the move to Sourceforge, but stange it does not include a .exe, maybe try Googling it.

Why does EG install things that do not uninstall? That's very bad behavior! Are there uninstall tools that can find app scraps? Thx!
Jon

I don't think so but to the best of my knowledge if EG requires any additional drivers, like the one mentioned in the previous post, it does ask you for permission first, easy to miss but.... I am no a fan of EG so
I will try and PM you as I may have some further help, look out for it.

[JonDeutsch]

Thanks so much for this info. Two followup questions:

How can I install HDMI cec tray? It's just source files... No exe file?

Hmm, not sure, the download used to be available from the the Pulse Eight support forum, which has since closed so maybe that is why the move to Sourceforge, but stange it does not include a .exe, maybe try Googling it.

If you have the exe on your PC, could you share that with me?

[JonDeutsch]

Do you have any possibility to check your IR receiver and remote on another PC, just in case it has failed (batteries/hardware etc.).?

I doubt that is the problem but it would be a good starting point to eliminate thr IR receiver from the troubleshooting, BTW what make is it?

It sounds much more like EG has installed a driver or something that is blocking or otherwise screwing up your IR receiver, check in Control Panal for "auvisio VRC1100" (not sure of the exact wording) if installed uninstall it or if you have a restore point or backup to return you system back to when it was working, please try that.

I am unable to locate anything that looks like "auvisio VRC1100" - but I'm not sure I'm looking in the right places either. I would assume it'd be under Services or Devices... but I couldn't find anything. Yet, I think you're right - I bet EventGhost left a ghost in my system. I still don't know what to do to get IR functionality back!

[joecrow]

The auvisio VRC 1100 driver appears as a program which can be deinstalled via the Control Panel/Programs/uninstall a program. It is required by EG for a specific type of remote, again can you let me know what remote you are using. Depending on your answer we should be able to look further or discount it!
Also again do you have a backup or restore point from when it was last working?

[JonDeutsch]

The auvisio VRC 1100 driver appears as a program which can be deinstalled via the Control Panel/Programs/uninstall a program. It is required by EG for a specific type of remote, again can you let me know what remote you are using. Depending on your answer we should be able to look further or discount it!
Also again do you have a backup or restore point from when it was last working?

I looked at my installed apps, and nothing like that is in the list of recently installed apps. However, I will say that that AlternateMceIrService was installed as an EV plug-in and it remained on the PC after I uninstalled EG. I installed other plug-ins, too, including the Pulse-Eight EG plug-in.

Yes, I have a restore point. I'm hesitant to use it because it will undo all the progress I've made finally getting the Pulse-Eight to actually work! When I first installed it, none of my transport keys would work. Then, the next day, when my normal IR remote stopped working, the transport keys for the Pulse-Eight started working!

Odd, yeah? Or expected?

So, I found the HDMI CEC Tray app you mentioned, and installed it. it does not appear to work for me. No commands from my TV remote are controlling my WMC. When I close it out and open up Pulse-Eight's CEC Tray app, it works again.

Ugh!

[joecrow]

With the EG apps removed is your MCE remote working again?

Yes, I have a restore point. I'm hesitant to use it because it will undo all the progress I've made finally getting the Pulse-Eight to actually work! When I first installed it, none of my transport keys would work. Then, the next day, when my normal IR remote stopped working, the transport keys for the Pulse-Eight started working!

Odd, yeah? Or expected?

Sorry I had assummed you wanted to retain the use of your WMC remote but if you are looking to fully utilise the TV remote it is probably to be expected.

So, I found the HDMI CEC Tray app you mentioned, and installed it. it does not appear to work for me. No commands from my TV remote are controlling my WMC. When I close it out and open up Pulse-Eight's CEC Tray app, it works again.

Ugh!

The HDMI CEC Tray should allow you to control WMC navigation from the TV remote but it will not change the WMC TV channel or volume, but your MCE remote still will be fully operational.

[JonDeutsch]

With the EG apps removed is your MCE remote working again?

Yes, I have a restore point. I'm hesitant to use it because it will undo all the progress I've made finally getting the Pulse-Eight to actually work! When I first installed it, none of my transport keys would work. Then, the next day, when my normal IR remote stopped working, the transport keys for the Pulse-Eight started working!

Odd, yeah? Or expected?

Sorry I had assummed you wanted to retain the use of your WMC remote but if you are looking to fully utilise the TV remote it is probably to be expected.

So, I found the HDMI CEC Tray app you mentioned, and installed it. it does not appear to work for me. No commands from my TV remote are controlling my WMC. When I close it out and open up Pulse-Eight's CEC Tray app, it works again.

Ugh!

The HDMI CEC Tray should allow you to control WMC navigation from the TV remote but it will not change the WMC TV channel or volume, but your MCE remote still will be fully operational.

Well, I have no idea how I got to where I am now, but it looks like my regular IR receiver/WMC remote will work as long as I have EventGhost running (with the WMC Plug-In installed). So, it's like EG is holding me hostage at this point. As soon as I shut down EG, no more IR remote! Clearly, EG did something somewhere that intercepts normal IR remote behavior. Perhaps I need to find an EG expert.

Further, the HDMI CEC Tray app I found (from the 3rd party Chrisr), does seem to work. And it seems to work rather well. However, it disconnects by itself and won't reconnect unless I manually close it down and re-open it. Do you ever have that problem?

So, now I'm back to the Pulse-Eight CEC Tray App + EventGhost and now it looks like I have almost everything I want working: Normal IR remote is working (as long as EG is running) and CEC remote is working via Pulse-Eight's tray app.

So, big improvement from this morning! I just wish I knew why.

[JonDeutsch]

Sorry I had assummed you wanted to retain the use of your WMC remote but if you are looking to fully utilise the TV remote it is probably to be expected.

You assumed correctly! So, here's what I'm trying to accomplish:

My new Sony TV has AndroidTV built into it, which is great. The only two OSs I use now are Android TV (which is the TV's native OS) and WMC. But because AndroidTV is native and not an external box, it kind of overlays WMC or any other content playing on the TV. As a result, I don't want to switch between two different modes on my universal remote to control AndroidTV and WMC. I want one unified remote experience that controls both Android TV and WMC.

With CEC, this is possible! Because as soon as my TV displays HDMI 3 (WMC input), my TV remote can now control WMC. This means that a single remote "state" can control both OS environments without having to select an "activity" for TV or WMC.

I'm very excited to get this working reliably. I'm at a point this afternoon where it's working, but not reliably. The CEC controls aren't 100% -- sometimes there's no response. Sometimes the app crashes. Sometimes the app (the 3rd party tray app specifically) loses a connection. I need this to be a reliable setup. Not there yet.

[joecrow]

Understood! It looks like you are now well on the way to getting it working.
Good luck with any remaining issues.

[JonDeutsch]

Understood! It looks like you are now well on the way to getting it working.
Good luck with any remaining issues.

Yes, I'm much closer now. However, I'm still being held hostage by EventGhost. But as long as it doesn't bother me, I won't bother it. #truce

[JonDeutsch]

Understood! It looks like you are now well on the way to getting it working.
Good luck with any remaining issues.

Yes, I'm much closer now. However, I'm still being held hostage by EventGhost. But as long as it doesn't bother me, I won't bother it. #truce

So, due to other externalities, I needed to go to a restore point in Windows... like you originally suggested.

That actually got me back prior to installing Pulse-Eight and EventGhost. The result? I now no longer need EG running for things to work!

However, there have been a few times when the Pulse-Eight Tray app stops working. Needs to be closed down and re-opened -- not good for an HTPC experience.

Are there any tricks that would allow me to effortlessly do a macro (close app, re-launch app) via IR code for when this happens?

Thx!
Jon

[tamorgen]

I want to apologize if I'm hijacking a dormant thread, but this seems to be the one I've found.

Yesterday I just received my Pulse-Eight USB-CEC. I downloaded and installed the libCEC 3.0.0 Windows driver from their website, installed the driver, and hooked up the USB-CEC to my HTPC via USB, and then the HDMI passing through it.

Here is my setup:

Samsung UN55KS9500 TV
HTPC running Win7 Home Premium x64, w/Ceton InfiniTV 4, MyMovies5
Yamaha RX-A760 A/V Receiver

Even before the USB-CEC, my Samsung remote controls volume on my A/V receiver. It will turn off the receiver when the TV is turned off, but will not turn it back on

I like the little Samsung remote, and would like to use it for most everyday tasks. I have a Leveno Multimedia Remote that has a full keyboard and cursor that I have been using, and I will still need to use if I need to type. It is not IR, but wireless 2.4 MHz. It works well for most things, but the mouse action isn't the smoothest, and the using the cursor and volume on the Samsung remote would be easier. The Leveno also does not control the volume on the receiver, and it will not turn the system on or off. I also have a Harmony remote, but it doesn't exactly play nice with the HTPC and has been a big disappointment overall. The only thing I use it for is for volume, and turn the system on and off, which it doesn't even do that well all the time.

All that being said is why I purchased the Pulse-eight USB-CEC. I want to pretty much use the Samsung remote for my TV viewing and WMC control. If I want to type, I'll have to revert to the Leveno, and I'm good with that. My problem is, it isn't working with WMC. The libCEC install program installed several launchers, and the only one that seems to get the remote to respond in WMC is their command line test program. Their tray utility does not control WMC, or anything else that I can see, at least from my remote. It does run, and I can configure it, but if I shut down my HTPC, it looses it's coinfiguration and can't figure out which COM port to connect to. I end up having to unplug the USB device, and plug it back in, just to get the tray utility to come back up.

It hasn't been the smoothest roll out so far. Any advice?

[JonDeutsch]

Sounds less than ideal (as is my Pulse-Eight situation, which I can't even use right now due a to bug). I would suggest emailing their support. They do get back to you in a couple of days.

[tamorgen]

Sounds less than ideal (as is my Pulse-Eight situation, which I can't even use right now due a to bug). I would suggest emailing their support. They do get back to you in a couple of days.

Yeah, I have emailed them this morning, and they responded with a very short, unhelpful reply. Part of the problem is that they are in the UK, so unless I'm off on a weekday, emailing back and forth with troubleshooting is going to take a while to solve my problem.

In the mean time, I have an unhappy wife because she now "hates the new TV" due to the issues with the remote.

[JonDeutsch]

To solve the unhappy wife problem, I strongly suggest investing in a Logitech universal remote:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/logitech-ha ... oCdETw_wcB

With the activity buttons, it makes it much easier to "train" a non-techy to "press this button, wait 5 seconds, and you're good to go!" Not as ideal as using the existing remotes to your point, but if making the wife happy is a priority...I would not rely on Pulse-Eight, sorry.

Jon

Sounds less than ideal (as is my Pulse-Eight situation, which I can't even use right now due a to bug). I would suggest emailing their support. They do get back to you in a couple of days.

Yeah, I have emailed them this morning, and they responded with a very short, unhelpful reply. Part of the problem is that they are in the UK, so unless I'm off on a weekday, emailing back and forth with troubleshooting is going to take a while to solve my problem.

In the mean time, I have an unhappy wife because she now "hates the new TV" due to the issues with the remote.

[tamorgen]

To solve the unhappy wife problem, I strongly suggest investing in a Logitech universal remote:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/logitech-ha ... oCdETw_wcB

With the activity buttons, it makes it much easier to "train" a non-techy to "press this button, wait 5 seconds, and you're good to go!" Not as ideal as using the existing remotes to your point, but if making the wife happy is a priority...I would not rely on Pulse-Eight, sorry.

Jon

Sounds less than ideal (as is my Pulse-Eight situation, which I can't even use right now due a to bug). I would suggest emailing their support. They do get back to you in a couple of days.

Yeah, I have emailed them this morning, and they responded with a very short, unhelpful reply. Part of the problem is that they are in the UK, so unless I'm off on a weekday, emailing back and forth with troubleshooting is going to take a while to solve my problem.

In the mean time, I have an unhappy wife because she now "hates the new TV" due to the issues with the remote.

Jon,
I do have a Logitech (Harmony) remote. It frankly sucks, and so does their support. My model is an older one (Harmony 880), but it was their top of the line at the time, and I've yet to get it to fully work with Windows properly. If you could get it to play nice, you'd have to get support to assist, which in my experience has been less than useless. The main issue I've had with it, is that whenever a key is pressed that should do something in Windows, I get a never ending loop of inputs that won't let me do anything until I restart the computer.

I've contemplated upgrading to a newer remote, but based upon my experiences with the 880, and their support, I'm leary to drop any more money on their products.

[JonDeutsch]

Jon,
I do have a Logitech (Harmony) remote. It frankly sucks, and so does their support. My model is an older one (Harmony 880), but it was their top of the line at the time, and I've yet to get it to fully work with Windows properly. If you could get it to play nice, you'd have to get support to assist, which in my experience has been less than useless. The main issue I've had with it, is that whenever a key is pressed that should do something in Windows, I get a never ending loop of inputs that won't let me do anything until I restart the computer.

I've contemplated upgrading to a newer remote, but based upon my experiences with the 880, and their support, I'm leary to drop any more money on their products.

I actually have 3 880's and I love them and never want to give them up! That said, I do NOT use my Harmony 880's to control Windows. Why do you need the 880 to control Windows if you're looking to make it wife-friendly? Or are you saying that you can't get it to control WMC? Mine controls WMC perfectly; never had an issue in the 5 years or so I've had them.