Spotify Keyboard Shortcuts.pdf

Thank you!

Don't have a Skip yet but would love to test out a few configurations before deciding.

Also.

When on that download for the AppImage, there's a link for "Release Notes". That link points to here: https://nathan-betzens-organization.gitbook.io/skip-remote-guide/ but is redirected to here https://skip-org.gitbook.io/skip-remote-guide yet there is no "Release Notes". In fact, try searching for them and they don't exist. No results for "Notes".

That link should probably be fixed, updated, and/or removed. :-)

Thanks!

I've recently received my Skip 1s and Flirc USB and have some ideas/suggestions/questions. For that to make sense, I'll need to write a bit about how I came to make this post.

Background story
I found out about the Skip 1s online and think it looks amazing, the Flirc USB also looks great and the feature set of both devices good (especially since it has Linux support, which is a killer feature for me, as a daily Linux user). The Harmony remote of a "friend" broke and I want to replace it, to make his/her life a lot simpler. So I went and ordered these devices and attempted to configure the Skip 1s (the Flirc USB was more a fallback option, but since I'm a techie, I wanted to check it out as well).

Skip 1s app
So I downloaded the Skip 1s app (manual Linux version, NOT the repository version). And here I was confronted with a couple of issues on my Ubuntu 23.04 system:

• installation instructions ( https://flirc.com/ubuntu-software-installation-guide )
  • they include an outdated dependency list (but that won't stop me, although I hoped the qt5 dependencies would not bite me, since qt6 is the default nowadays)
  • it mentions a file ( 99-flirc.rules ) which I eventually found the content of on this page ( https://flirc.gitbooks.io/flirc-instructions/content/linux.html ). A manual chown and chmod could do the trick as well (without udev rules in place) as a temporary workaround (did not want to fiddle with udev for now).
• running the GUI app
  • it seems to have a ldd
  • it shows a GUI, but keeps throwing errors about flirc_driver.c:
    user@host:~$ ./Flirc
    [E] lib/libflirc/flirc_driver.c fl_minor_version(498): something bad happened
    [W] gui/Flirc/src/main.cpp log_setup(131): flirc.ini not in the default location[E] lib/libflirc/flirc_driver.c fl_major_version(508): something bad happened
    [E] lib/libflirc/flirc_driver.c fl_minor_version(498): something bad happened
    [E] lib/libflirc/flirc_driver.c fl_patch_version(558): something bad happened
    [E] lib/libflirc/flirc_driver.c fl_major_version(508): something bad happened
  • That probably explains why the GUI always states it is "disconnected"
  • Going to File -> Advanced opens a new windows which is empty (all grey)
• running the flirc_util
  • it seems to have a hard dependency on libreadline.so.7 which has been superseded by libreadline.so.8 (on my system at least). That can be worked around by creating a symlink in /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu
  • running flirc_util unfortunately always gives me the same output:
    user@host:~$ ./flirc_util device_log
    device disconnected, can't run command
  • So I thought to manually compile flirc_util ( https://github.com/flirc/sdk ), but after compiling and running the binary, it gave me the same issue.
• checking out the configuration bits (trying to get a feel for it)
  • I noticed my devices are not in the database. TV: LG OLED55C21LA and soundbar: LG S90QY(26)
  • and there is no clear way to add them. I did read this forum topic:
  • I don't mind manually creating and submitting json files for those remotes, but there does not seem to be a clear way to do just that.

Ideas / suggestions / questions
So I have several ideas / suggestions / questions, based on the experience above:

• create a link on the installation page to the udev rules
• update the dependencies and fix the GUI and cli apps
• provide instructions on how to create and submit json files. Especially the bit on how to get the IR codes (can't figure how to do that with the Flirc USB)
• provide a LICENSE on all source code ( https://docs.github.com/en/repositories/managing-your-repositorys-settings-and-features/customizing-your-repository/licensing-a-repository ). Personally I strongly prefer the GPLv3 ( https://choosealicense.com/licenses/gpl-3.0/ ). I  notice that (for me personally) it motivates me to work / help an open source project, since the license means it is future proof and my own work will always be available and improved upon.
• perhaps (depending on your goals), provide the source code of everything ;-)
• use a simple wiki for documentation
  • you can use a per repo wiki (there's a tab in github for that, easy and done in a few clicks: https://docs.github.com/en/communities/documenting-your-project-with-wikis/adding-or-editing-wiki-pages )
  • or use something like Github Pages ( https://pages.github.com/ )

Apologies for creating a single forum topic with several topics in them, but it is all very intertwined. Just trying to help out here :-)

I have used and "liked" (not loved) numerous Logitech Harmony remotes and their software over the past 15 years or so.

I would have hoped Flirc staff extensively USED Harmony remotes as they developed their Skip app.

I've seen similar complaints, err, comments in the forum:

I have 3 simple activities 

-Apple TV - turn on my Yamaha A/V receivers, set to HDMI4, turn on my LG TV (it always uses HDMI1), turn on the AppleTV HD

- TiVo - turn on my Yamaha A/V, set to HDMI2, turn on the LG TV

- BluRay - turn my LG BluRay, turn on the Yamaha A/V and set to HDMI3, turn on the LG TV

----

Biggest issue I and others have is how to get my Yamaha A/V to change HDMI inputs...???

The Yamaha is a RX-V773 and from 2013.

      If is set the RX-V773 up as adding an AUDIO device I see only the RX-V1000 offered. Using those in testing does not get me the option for selecting buttons like HDMI1, HDMI2, etc. Does not work

   If I set the RX-V773 up as adding an A/V I get more choices - RX items for pre-2009, after 2011, etc. What a mess. I select "RXA/RXV Series Main Zone 2011 to present and the rest of the info vanishes off the right side of the column..." (example of interface issues). Still I don't get HDMI1, HDMI2, etc to assign to buttons.

I could rant about far more issues but if someone can point me to how to change HDMI inputs on the Yamaha then I'll come back with other needs.

   BTW - I know how to use the Button Panel to add steps to the Power button itself - but I cannot find any HDMI1,2,3,4 to drag there from my Yamaha.

thx

qb

In the buttons panel, we have 1 icon for 5 buttons. To make easier to see where a command is assigned to, I propose 5 different icons that put the button in gray, that is used for a specific command.

Any reasoning behind this at this time???

qb

If you have any further question or I have not been clear enough, please let me know. 

Thanks for your assistance. 

once pressed, it pings the remote and makes it audibly beep until it is located and a button is pressed on it.

It was an INCREDIBLY helpful feature, one that I was hoping to find on the 1s.

If there is anyway to make the remote make a sound and a way to trigger that from a smartphone or computer or SOMETHING, that would be really cool.

A feature to make it so you can find a missing remote via pressing a button on your smartphone or computer.

Would it be possible, to drag the command directly to the button, so we could save one step?

Clicking on the button would have still the same function as now.

When creating a power up macro, there are times it would be nice to wait for x seconds before doing the next step.  The example would be a tv that takes 20 seconds to power up, then select the desired hdmi input.

Edit:

Ah just found it in the Management Section... might be worth having a link to that from the button screen as well or maybe merging this with the editing.  While the Tips is nice, after a while that's just wasted space, so maybe the some of those management tools could be a presented there (have the Tips as a collapsible with the "tools" as a second item below it.

So a few thoughts:

1) With the software side, unless a update totally brakes things, that these are pushed out on a regular basis on the same day each week (e.g have a patch Tuesday), of course assuming an update is ready.

2) When patches do go out, there is a change log somewhere on what has updated and equally what has not been addressed. Maybe this needs to be central list (or a locked forum post, so its just easier to search on and monitor and lets everyone look back on what was done previous.

3) Perhaps on another fixed day say a Monday, a simple update post, to say this is what's planned for the coming week, which could also highlight whether there is a patch for Tuesday and any issues that are hopefully being looked at or addressed.

The week time period listed above is just an example, if could also be fortnightly, just needs to be happen on a regular basis, even if there is no news.  It's a great way to keep people happy.

Finally what other ways can the community help you, to help us.

For example, I don't think anyone expects you to buy and have access to every single remote, so providing the tools for us to help capture those remotes that are in the wild would be so useful (for both sides) but agree there would need to be a sign off process to confirm if things are done right.  I purchased up a usb module with my remotes for that very idea.

Just with some of this I'd hope it would make life a little easier for you to plan, and lets you most importantly manage our expectations as to when to check back, or if you need feedback when you need it by.  Then we know when to put aside time if there is something new we want to test out.  I won't go into details here, but until some aspects are added/modified, I just have two nice paperweights in there boxes.

And I truly hope this does not feel like I'm trying to "teach you to suck eggs".  Apologies if it does, just trying to offer useful ideas.