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Using Flirc with Amazon fireTV


tonyski

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**** EDIT ****

Hey guys, Jason here. Be sure to check out the bottom of this post for additional information that I made

 

***************

 

**** DOUBLE EDIT ****

Official Amazon firetv support added to the latest release candidate. It's very stable, and will probably go public: Is now in the stable firmware

 

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Using Flirc with Amazon's fireTV.

After finding bits and pieces of helpful info in various threads, I thought it might be helpful to start a new thread that combines what I've learned with a place for others to share their experiences.

First, you wouldn't be here if you weren't frustrated with fireTV's Bluetooth remote control. The fact that they omitted an IR path to remote control is a major omission for AV enthusiasts who have labored to combine control of all their devices into one remote control.

Enter Flirc.

This little device is amazing. By using the Flirc and its software, it basically take whatever IR command your remote sends it and uses it as a trigger to send out whatever command you associated with it.
For example: You could program it to send an Up command whenever you push the "1" button on your remote. Or you could program it to send a play command whenever you push the guide button on your remote. Of course it makes much more sense to program remote bottons that correspond to the actual command desired, but Flirc doesn't care!

I’m using a Windows 8.1 desktop machine. I have no knowledge or access to a Mac or Linux.

I have a URC MX980 remote. When I added a device for fireTV, I told the remote that it was a Panasonic DVD player and assigned commands from the Panasonic Remote to my MX980's keys. It really makes no difference what device you assign as long as your remote sends an IR signal when the desired key is pressed. Those signals become the trigger signals for Flirc.

As it turned out, whenever I pressed up, down, left, or right, I got double key pushes on the fireTV. I tried changing the inter-key delay from the Flirc GUI - File > Advanced, but that didn’t help. So I assigned the arrow keys from an Apple TV remote to my MX980 and that fixed the problem.

So far I have almost everything working. Obviously, the voice command feature isn’t a player. I still haven’t found a Home Key in the Flirc GUI that performs the Home function of the fireTV remote. The best that I have been able to do is a back command. From what I can tell, the play button alternates between play and pause. Separate pause and stop commands don’t work. I haven’t been able to test the skip+ and skip- commands so the jury is still out.

Programming the menu key requires use of the windows command line program. There seems to be some confusion in the forums about reference to the command line app. It is not part of Flirc or the Flirc GUI, but part of windows. Now my level of knowledge pales in comparison to many of the members here, but this is what I was able to decipher.

I  found this page to help me learn about the command line commands:

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1723&page=2

As I mentioned, the command line program     cmd.exe   Is part of Windows.     You can get to it and number of ways depending on your version of Windows.

Use it to navigate to:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Flirc  for 64 bit OS
or
C:\Program Files\Flirc    for 32 bit OS

then type:

flirc_util.exe record_api 0 101

It will then ask you to point the remote and press the button you want mapped just like the GUI.
Once you do that it will tell you that you were successful.

Here is how I mapped my remote to the Flirc commands. The Controllers column refers to the Controllers menu in the Flirc GUI. There are several choices there and you will need 3 of them to duplicate what I have done. I don’t know if there is a difference between similar keys in the Media Center and Media Keys layouts. I did not take the time to test it. Maybe someone can post that info if they know. If they are the same, it would simplify things.



ScreenShot002.jpg

       

Thanks to the other members who’s posts led me down this path to success
If I missed something or made a typo, pls feel free to correct it!

 

**** EDIT ****

Hey guys, it's Jason hijacking Tony's post. The select button marked as 'enter' above which is in the GUI, is actually not correct. It must be 'return'. Do this with the commandline:

flirc_util record return

 

Just a heads up that I'm going to make life so much easier, I'm going to update the GUI with an official FireTV window. Hopefully I can do this by the weekend. Attached an image.

****************

post-1-0-69047800-1410564337_thumb.png

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Hi,

 

Not that I'm aware of. I can't imagine how I could send you what I've done since it is ultimately based on the signals that my remote is putting out.

 

I think you will find that it is pretty easy to do with the info above.

 

Don't get bogged down with the stuff about the menu key. I'm not sure how much that is actually used.

 

If anyone knows of a way for me to share what I've done in a useful way, please let me know.

 

Tony

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Thanks for the gifts you sent! Really not necessary!

 

As I mentioned, I haven't found a good solution to the "Home" command for fireTV. Anything that I tried, either doesn't work or works like a "Back" command.

 

LMK if I can help, and thanks again,

Tony

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...
Sort of got this working.  Still need to do Menu via CMD.EXE.  Rew, Play/Pause, FF don't work for me using "Media Keys".  I am using a RokuXD remote to learn IR commands to Flirc and my Harmony One.  I'll keep plugging away.  This is good stuff.  You would think it would set Flirc on "fire". to support it.

 

success%20w%20f12.jpg

 

Please let me know if there are any errors

Tony

Edited by schneid
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It is pretty easy to do once you understand the convoluted process.  Some Tips (or more confusion):

 

Tonyski has it figured out.  Use his chart.

 

Flirc needs a "forced update" of its firmware in its options.  No do, no work.

 

The confusing part is the Remotes.  My goal was to get my Harmony One to run a FireTV Activity, i.e., turn everything on and switch everything to the correct settings.  For me that is TV on, HDMI 1; Soundbar on, Optical on; Video switcher On, Output 3; FireTV Home, Audio Optical.

 

The Harmony One has an canned profile for Flirc, XBMC.  I started with that.

 

Next, I needed ANY old IR remote laying around to learn the Flirc commands in Tonyski's great chart.  I used an old MSMC remote and used the Flirc GUI to teach its keys the Flirc commands from the chart.  I used matching buttons where possible for intuitiveness but it makes no difference.  Use all numbers if you want.

 

For some reason you cannot program the Menu key with the GUI.  You must use the old DOS commands.  In current versions of Windows you do that by running CMD.exe.  You can type cmd in the search window or do a Win + R and enter cmd.exe.  Enter the commands from the C:\ prompt Tonyski has listed.  Push a key on the "old" remote you want to be Menu.

 

Next, I went into my Harmony One GUI and had it "learn" the commands from the "old" remote to its FlircXBMC device profile.  I then setup an Activity to do everything when I selected FireTV.

 

If I helped, great.  If not, sorry.  It ain't easy.  Flirc should write a canned profile for us.

 

Maybe of interest, my old MS Entertainment Keyboard and Mouse 7000 will also talk to FireTV.  I think it will also take files from a USB drive.  I've ordered a cheap hub from Amazon to see if I connect Flirc(Harmony One remote), the MS KB/Mouse and a USB drive with files, music and photos and see what happens.  It is supposed to work.  Moral, don't throw away old electronics.  It can live again.

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Well done schneid!

 

I think your post will be very helpful to anyone trying to work through this!

 

Between your post and mine, I think there is enough info to get the job done. Could it be easire, sure. But can it be done, Absolutely!

 

Mine has worked perfectly since I figured it out and I've really enjoyed the firetv.

 

Best of luck to all who try!

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Very frustrated in trying to program my Harmony 650 with Flirc. I followed schneid's and tonyski's instructions above but cannot seem to get the Flirc GUI to recognize the key presses from an old Toshiba HD-DVD remote. The key in the GUI keeps blinking no matter how long I press the corresponding key on the remote. I even tried it with the 4-in-1 remote that came with my Toshiba TV. Would love to return it to Amazon and go back to my K400 keyboard.

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Very frustrated in trying to program my Harmony 650 with Flirc. I followed schneid's and tonyski's instructions above but cannot seem to get the Flirc GUI to recognize the key presses from an old Toshiba HD-DVD remote. The key in the GUI keeps blinking no matter how long I press the corresponding key on the remote. I even tried it with the 4-in-1 remote that came with my Toshiba TV. Would love to return it to Amazon and go back to my K400 keyboard.

Try the new beta firmware: 

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Thanks Jason. I have made strides in configuring my Harmony 650 for my FireTV using the rc4 fw.

 

I am unable to record the Menu button via the command line. When I execute flirc_util record_api 0 101 from the command line, I do not get a prompt to press a key on my remote. It just ends without recording anything. I am using v1.2.7-rc.4  Thanks

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