Manual Remote Setup Printer friendly version

Customised MCE Remote Registry Setup:
It cannot get any easier than this!

***Do not be overwhelmed by the amount of information in this page, in reality its just 3 steps. Download my "configuration & Download [Keyboard.xml Optional]", apply Configuration settings and Restart. I just tried to include all the information you might require to successfully run the setup one time.***

Yes you heard it right, this is the easiest way ever to setup your mce remote and get it working in no time :)
It has most of XBMC/Kodi actions mapped and the advantage of this it will give you almost complete control over XBMC/Kodi right away out of the box No time wasting figuring out how to configure it or modify anything else, see REMAPPING OPTIONS for remapping buttons.

On a side note It's better to have the latest XBMC/Kodi release installed, your Remote installed and functional before you start. If you want to check your remote compatiblity then check this Wiki

Are you using Windows XP and you can not find/install the ehome Driver for your remote, then I can't guarantee that my setup will work for you. Actually it might not work at all!

If you can not make your setup work and you want to get help then please check out the Support page first! Do not forget to go through the troubleshooting questions as well :-)

**Human interface Devices Note:
Please check that you have "Microsoft eHome Infrared Transceiver" in Device Manager_> Human Interface Devices. if you can not find this driver then you might have a clone/cheap remote that use an incompatible "HID compliant consumer device" which is not 100% configurable, but if there's a problem then there must be always a solution or a workaround! Visit my thread for more info.

**EventGhost Note:
If you still have Eventghost installed make sure the "Disable hid Service" in EventGhost is Unchecked.

**XBMC/Kodi Note:
ENABLE "Remote Control Sends Keyboard Presses" in Settings_> System_> Input Devices

1.0 "First is First":

Any one new to this and do not know how to open the windows registry Editor, then do this:
1- Click Start & select Run [if you can't see it search for it] or press [Windows R] on your keyboard without the brackets.
2- Type in the field [regedit] without the brackets.
3- Press OK, now the Registry Editor will open. Then -

Check that you have the Registry Path as shown below:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
        SYSTEM
        CurrentControlSet
                                     Services
                                     HidIr
                                        Remotes
                                        745a17a0-74d3-11d0-b6fe-00a0c90f57da

If the above does not exist in your registry please do not continue as it will not work for you.

Note: if all good make a backup of your original registry settings just in case, also make sure you create a restore point as well before attempting this procedure.

1.1 Keyboard.xml:

Option 1 Is to keep your XBMC/Kodi Keyboard.xml. But remember that all the good additional features accessible from your remote will require you use Option 2 Sub section 1.2, GSB Home Jump feature will only work with Option 2.

Option 2 Download modified Keyboard.xml file from Here, it's the same as the one that comes with XBMC/Kodi Release but with extra code to give you these extra features right under your finger tips:

Keyboard.xml Extra Remote Features:

1- Yellow button to (Skip Next Language Track).
2- alphanumeric buttons (JumpSMS feature) to help select movies fast using alphanumeric buttons on MCE remotes.
3- Radio button Launch Playlist Menu.
4- Record Button Will add Queue Music/Videos to playlist, Will also Delete items if in Playlist window.
5- Channel Up/Down buttons While in Playlist window, they can be used to rearrange Queued items. Will work normally outside Playlist window.
6- Channel Up/Down buttons While in Full Video Screen, they can be used to Zoom video in or out to fine tune your viewing pleasure. Will work normally outside Full Video Screen.
Note: Do not forget "Enter" button which can change Aspect ratio, if that's what you are after. :-)
7- * Star button Will Update the video Library Database.
8- Green Start Button GSB Home Jump feature added. MUST download Autohotkey script as well for it to work.
9- added music playlist shuffle map one of your remote buttons to "g"
in playlist mode will be able to enable shuffle.
in Music/Library mode you will be able turn shuffle OFF.
10- Videos button will take you directly to TV Shows Window.
11- # Hash button Activates Multi-Monitor Extend/Normal commands.
12- Teletext button Activates/Deactivates SmartFocus©.

Please Copy the keyboard.xml file and paste to the location specific to your OS:

-- For windows 7 64bit navigate to:

%AppData%\XBMC\userdata\keymaps

other 32bit windows path should be the same

Note: To go directly to the location above without navigating manually you need to click on Windows button +R. Then in the Run Dialogue box type this for xbmc %AppData%\XBMC\userdata\keymaps or this for Kodi %AppData%\kodi\userdata\keymaps and hit OK.

1.2 Green Start Button:

Now Uses "Ctrl-Alt-Enter" to start XBMC/Kodi.
Rejoice! The best solution ever are here at last: Great thanks to igjunk for finaly submiting version 1.00 of the script that actually works. Now do not worry if you press the green start button 1 time or 1000 times, by using the script code provided for Windows x64 and Windows x86 it will launch XBMC/Kodi and if XBMC/Kodi ever loses focus the Green Start button will bring the focus back to XBMC/Kodi, it also can maximize XBMC/Kodi if it is minimized for some reason. Now version 1.06 can take you to home screen when XBMC/Kodi is active also has added support to multimonitor setup so you can extend to your HDTV from your remote and start XBMC/Kodi from your remote! No need to use the PC monitor any More =D. Multimonitor function can be used by mapping one of your remote buttons to "Ctrl+F11"

What is required:

Please note, with every new release of the script, just EXIT and DELETE the OLD script that you are currently running. the new one should be able to do everything the old script did. See release log for update details.

1- Install Autohotkey.
2- Download GSB_Script_AllinOne v2.38 for xbmc from here or v2.39 for Kodi from here its compatible on Windows 64bit and Windows 32bit.
3- Now place your .ahk script in your Startup folder for all users like for example as shown here for windows 7 x64 %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\ .
4- Now just double click on the script file to activate it.

DONE! :-)

I- The default location of XBMC/Kodi in the script for Win 32bit:

C:\Program Files\XBMC\XBMC.exe

C:\Program Files\Kodi\XBMC.exe

II- The default location of XBMC/Kodi in the script for Win 64bit:

C:\Program Files (x86)\XBMC\XBMC.exe

C:\Program Files (x86)\Kodi\XBMC.exe

If you use portable XBMC/Kodi or installed in a location other than the ones listed above just edit the script to your current location and save, then reload your script.

Note : All the users who used any of my Configs pre v1.25 just update to the lates Config file.

2.0 Registry Config:

Config v1.41 for XBMC/Kodi & newer releases Download from the registry file for Windows 7 from here or Windows 8 from here instead and then double click to Apply it and click yes to save your new settings. "uses the new supported Green start button method".

{Config v1.41 is still XBMC/Kodi backward compatible. To Apply it just double click on it & select "Yes" when prompted! This will automatically install it for you.}

Note If the reg file opens in note pad and you cannot see if it has .txt extension at the end then do this:

Turn "known file extensions" ON & rename file.

In any "windows explorer" window press alt on your keyboard

select Tools_> Folder Options_> View

[Untick] {Hide extensions for known file types} now you will be able to rename the .txt extension to .reg

Change log since v1.25:

1- Changed the Windows Green start button to send "Ctrl-Alt-Enter".
2- Changed the "Teletext" Button to send "Ctrl-F12" which activates/deactivates the SmartFocus© feature.

if you opt for "option 2" in subsection 1.1 then all the features listed in "Option 2" will work with the latest reg file.

for full history log click here

Config for XBMC 9.11 and previous releases Only If you still use XBMC 9.11 then Download this Config.v1.225c "uses the new supported Green start button method".
Note: Config.v1.224c is still on site if you want to use the old "ctrl-shift-W" method.

----- XBMC 9.11 Only------

If you want your mute button to work in Camelot then do this:

Please edit your keyboard.xml with XML Marker as follows:
1- in XML Marker just search for <volume_mute>Mute</volume_mute>
2- please replace <volume_mute>Mute</volume_mute> with <b>Mute</b>

----- XBMC 9.11 Only------

3.0 Restart your PC :)

After doing all of the above Restart your PC and you are done.

Note: Restarting is not required if you just edit keyboard.xml. Its only required after every change or apply of new registry data.

Enjoy :)