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Long shot question... MCE?


vogelap

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I know this is a long shot...

In my quest to find a wife-acceptable replacement for the long-in-the-tooth-and-no-longer-developed Beyond TV (which I have used happily since it was introduced), I've tried several other PVR solutions... Front-runner was SageTV until Google made it go bye-bye. Then I've been considering For The Record (4therecord.eu) along with MediaPortal with XBMC as the frontend, but have been slowed by the complexity of getting it all working together (guide schedules, commercial skipping, etc.)... I've been gnashing my teeth.

Then I realized that my copy of Windows 7 (64-bit) came with a copy of Windows Media Center! I am embarassed that I've forgotten that it was there for so long.

So, this past weekend, I tried to configure it but got stuck/stumped by the IR dongle that MCE did not detect. I've got a Vista MCE Remote with dongle that Windows recognizes, but not MCE.

I know this is a long shot, but:

1. Does Flirc address this problem (or could it be made to)?

2. Does anyone know a way around this issue?

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Sorry I wasn't clear...

MCE's configuration routine looks for an IR receiver to be plugged into the computer. Even with (what I believe is) a compatible IR dongle plugged in (and recognized by Windows), MCE does not recognize the IR during configuration, and I cannot continue. It's a well-known problem on the web (google "windows media center windows 7 doesn't find ir receiver"), but solutions for my configuration (Win 7, 64-bit) aren't there...

I've got a friend who used to work at Microsoft and is friends with the MCE project lead. I'm going to reach out to him tomorrow and maybe -- hopefully -- get an authoritative answer.

I guess my questions for this forum are these:

1. Has anyone else here encountered and (hopefully) overcome this issue?

2. Can FLIRC help solve this issue? I haven't tried it yet...

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I honestly haven't gone through the setup. I've opened the application with success, but haven't done much with it.

Windows media center wont detect flirc, it's just a keyboard. Assuming you can get passed that window (which it sounds like it is 'stuck' on), then flirc should just work if you paired it already. I might be missing the question, I'm sure someone with more experience with Windows Media Center will chime in.

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Thanks for the reply, Jason. You answered my question -- "Windows media center wont detect flirc".

Hopefully, one of the MCE users here will chime in with a solution... Or maybe the Microsoft guy will come through.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've configured MCE dozens of times over the years and I've never had it refuse to continue because I didn't have an IR receiver. Something isn't right here - are you sure you can't just skip that step? You can control MCE with a keyboard, I know that, so FLIRC should work fine with it.

Edit: Wait, are you trying to do this with analog capture/set top boxes by chance? I.e. not with a tuner?

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I've configured MCE dozens of times over the years and I've never had it refuse to continue because I didn't have an IR receiver. Something isn't right here - are you sure you can't just skip that step? You can control MCE with a keyboard, I know that, so FLIRC should work fine with it.

Edit: Wait, are you trying to do this with analog capture/set top boxes by chance? I.e. not with a tuner?

Hi ixian. Thanks for your reply.

I've looked carefully and there is no option to skip the IR step in Media Center setup.

My setup is as follows:

I own a Windows Vista MCE Remote & dongle, but it is not attached.

Please let me know of any questions. I hope this helps to diagnose the issue I'm facing!

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Found this online (although you said you couldn't get past the first stage - so may not help):

http://helpdeskgeek.com/windows-vista-tips/setting-up-windows-media-center-without-ir-hardware-on-windows-vista/

The problem is that Windows media player is very tricky to setup, because it asks for many things that you have no clue about it. One of those settings I got stuck with was “IR hardware not found“ after doing a quick research about it on Google I learned that IR is a device windows media center needs to control the channels with its remote control instead of the top cable box remote control.

You will assume this would be optional but after clicking on cancel the process finish without saving anything. After playing for awhile with the settings I made it bypass the IR hardware not found error by doing the following:

Open Windows Media Center and go to Task>Settings>TV>Setup TV Signal click yes to whatever question come up. Click the default settings on the wizard until you get to the option where it asks if you want to setup your signal automatically or manually choose I Will Manually Configure My TV Signal selectAntenna-it does not matter where you have your TV tuner plugged in. choose Analog Only Antennaafter you go trough this return to TV Settings and click Finish.

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stupid Mcsoft :(

only they are capable of doing something like this, did a bit of reading - don't use MCE my self - to see

what people are saying.

1. It would seam that it is easier to bypass this problem on x86 win

2. some people report that after initial setup MCE works fine without IR - so if you can

get your hands on one of those (from a frend...) you can give it a try

3. as far as I understand problem is that mce wants to control you topbox,

people are reporting that it can be done - by selecting manual config...

you should check out link Chris! gave you, here is a nother , basically same thing, but

maybe there is some detail you can use.

I have been "playing" with windows since 2.1 and one thing they never have been is flexible, 64x version of win 7

is very "fragile" when it comes to drivers - so don't be suprised if you never see a virtual driver for 64 version.

I haven't used MediaPortal with XBMC but I belive when you say it is hard to configure, but once configured all of

​configuration files can easily be copied to backup location, and if needed (after fresh intall of win or changing your hw)

simply copied back - that is why I love XBMC - i re installed win numerus times and use 3 different machines but,

never had to configure my xbmc from start ;)

I am sorry but did not find anything bether.

PS. there is something else you can try - Install x86 win7 - not the best solution but possibility

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I'm pretty sure you mean 32 bit windows. Windows on another architecture would be impressive (not counting windows 8 & onwards)!

@vogelap - I'm thinking this is not going happen :(

Yes Chris X86 stands for 32 bit OS - it is easier to do something like this on 32 rather then 64 bit windows

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