My Fire TV is part of a set-up consisting of itself, TV (duh), A/V Receiver, and a couple of other HDMI devices that go into the receiver. TV, A/V receiver and others are controlled via Infrared remotes, while Fire TV remote is Bluetooth, if I understand correctly. I'd like to consolidate all the different controls into one universal remote and was wondering if someone had any ideas on how to go about that.
I've previously owned a Logitech Harmony remote that worked well, but I really don't want to shell out $250+ for those.
I've confirmed that RF-type mini keyboards with a USB receiver work. Now I need to find a similar one with IR and learning functionality. I've been looking at Amazon and it looks like something like this might work.
If anyone has recommendations, I'd be very grateful.
You can just use the Flirc IR to USB receiver. Search Amazon for FLIRC, its $30. Then use that with your current universal remote, if you have one.
I can't post link, too new, but here is the XBMC thread confirming its functionality.
ht tp://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=191109&pid=1674861
Spelvin said:
You can just use the Flirc IR to USB receiver. Search Amazon for FLIRC, its $30. Then use that with your current universal remote, if you have one.
I can't post link, too new, but here is the XBMC thread confirming its functionality.
ht tp://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=191109&pid=1674861
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Thanks for the Flirc suggestion, I'll look into it. Unfortunately I don't own a universal remote any more. My old Logitech Harmony 880 died a few years ago, and I've been making do with a Sony Google TV remote (comes with a couple of IR blasters.)
a lot of people seem to like the ortek/mce remote but it only has a mousepad-thingy and no kdb. then again spamazon has it for USD12.55, so that's almost worth getting just to have a spare remote.
the remote you linked, Chahk, seems quite useful (although who chose the button colors it is so ugly
the keyboard/mouse side looks like the standard Rii type - I have one of the most basic Rii for my ouya, except in BT rather than RF. the touchpad is kinda sketchy and takes some finesse, but it works well enough. the keyboard works well enough.
my favorite is still the PS3 / BD remote. but it only has 2 IR modes (tv, and amp/receiver) and it sounds like you have 3-4 IR devices?
(and the IR modes are only of the "pick a number out of the hat" variety, not custom programmable or learning or anything.)
it works great with ouya bluetooth, but there are at least 2 problems in regard to firetv:
- either amazon has to expand BT settings to generic HID, or we will need root to edit some config files.
- it is a pinless device. for android up to 4.1.x there is a consistent workaround. but not for android 4.2 and higher. (but again editing config file would probably be enough)
Is there an remote app from the market you can use to control the Fire TV?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
scottsdca said:
I can confirm that the Ortek-Windows-Infrared-Receiver-Ultimate I purchased from Amazon does indeed work with my Harmony One and the Fire TV.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
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Do the "Home" and "Menu" buttons work with the Ortek remote?
I have a similar MCE remote (LINK) which mostly works but not these two buttons.
kociubin said:
Do the "Home" and "Menu" buttons work with the Ortek remote?
I have a similar MCE remote which mostly works but not these two buttons.
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All the buttons show there work, including "Home" and "Back", however there is no button on the remote to bring up a context menu
google "fire tv tips" there is a key map that shows what buttons do what on a google tv forum
Remote/keyboard app
Is there a remote app from the market you can use to control the Fire TV?
scottsdca said:
Is there a remote app from the market you can use to control the Fire TV?
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Not an official one. Able Remote works well for Google TV, but requires a companion app to be installed on the TV. The developer will have to come up with a Fire TV specific version.
Well, I went ahead and ordered this ugly monstrosity. It's coming from Singapore, so it'll be a few weeks before it get here.
Chahk said:
Well, I went ahead and ordered this ugly monstrosity. It's coming from Singapore, so it'll be a few weeks before it get here.
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It's here, and it does a fine job at controlling the Fire TV. unfortunately it does a piss-poor job of controlling pretty much anything else. Contrary to the description, it has no "IR learning" functionality, but a simple list of codes instead. The list is quite limited, and only supports half of my devices. I'm done with cheap Chinese knock-offs, and will be ordering a Logitech Harmony remote instead.
[Update]:
Harmony Ultimate is here, and it controls everything I have except Fire TV. Aaaaarrrghhh! I'm ready to pull my hair out over here.
Last chance. I'm ordering one of those cheap USB IR receivers that people over at AVS Forums are saying work well with Fire TV, and teaching my Harmony the basic buttons (left, right, up, down, select, back, home.) If that doesn't work - all of it is going back to their respective manufacturers until they learn how to play nice with each other.
UPDATE 2:
Victory! After hooking up the IR receiver from the MCE remote to Fire TV, and teaching Harmony the basic keys, I can now control everything in my setup with a single remote. Of course the voice input from the Fire TV remote is missing, and since Harmony Ultimate has no keyboard, I'm stuck doing text entry letter-by-letter via the clunky mid-90's interface. It'll do for now, until I figure out a way to either bring QWERTY to Harmony, or get a USB hub for Fire TV so that I can use my RF micro-keyboard.
Now I need to do some wire management to take care of the spaghetti wiring from all these devices.
UPDATE 3:
Got a simple unpowered 4-port USB hub, plugged in both the IR receiver and an RF receiver, so now I can also use a micro-keyboard for doing text input. The living room is now wife-approved!
Here's another "All-In-One" universal remote option that will work for both standard IR devices and BT devices:
Blu-Link Universal Remote
This remotes can:
1. Act like a normal IR remote (i.e. it has a slew four digit codes to program the remote to work with your IR components)
2. Act like a BT remote (has a built in BT transmitter in it to work with BT devices such as gaming consoles, media boxes (Roku/Fire TV/Apple TV)
3. Has a learning functionality so that any button on your remote can be learned by the Blu-Link remote
(The user guide for the remote can be found here)
The best part is that the remote is only $27.
My only issue now is that I lose the speech recognition ability of the Fire TV remote, but I have yet to find any universal remote setup that can do that.
smithmal
I ended up with this BT/IR kbd+touchpad +8 IR keys, and it's not bad so far ... aside from being a little flimsy and the IR is not super-strong and the battery is only 250mah.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=59103175&postcount=8
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00M32PBXO/
but I still almost wish for having one of the singapore monstrosities, simply for how wonderfully unbelievably ugly it is.
smithmal said:
Here's another "All-In-One" universal remote option that will work for both standard IR devices and BT devices:
Blu-Link Universal Remote
This remotes can:
1. Act like a normal IR remote (i.e. it has a slew four digit codes to program the remote to work with your IR components)
2. Act like a BT remote (has a built in BT transmitter in it to work with BT devices such as gaming consoles, media boxes (Roku/Fire TV/Apple TV)
3. Has a learning functionality so that any button on your remote can be learned by the Blu-Link remote
(The user guide for the remote can be found here)
The best part is that the remote is only $27.
My only issue now is that I lose the speech recognition ability of the Fire TV remote, but I have yet to find any universal remote setup that can do that.
smithmal
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Click to collapse
That remote sounds interesting. Does it work well with Fire TV? Like all the basic fire tv buttons are available? And are you using bluetooth or IR with a usb receiver?
smithmal said:
Here's another "All-In-One" universal remote option that will work for both standard IR devices and BT devices:
Blu-Link Universal Remote
This remotes can:
1. Act like a normal IR remote (i.e. it has a slew four digit codes to program the remote to work with your IR components)
2. Act like a BT remote (has a built in BT transmitter in it to work with BT devices such as gaming consoles, media boxes (Roku/Fire TV/Apple TV)
3. Has a learning functionality so that any button on your remote can be learned by the Blu-Link remote
(The user guide for the remote can be found here)
The best part is that the remote is only $27.
My only issue now is that I lose the speech recognition ability of the Fire TV remote, but I have yet to find any universal remote setup that can do that.
smithmal
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Click to collapse
Did you actually manage to get the remote to show up? Every time I tried to pair it, nothing showed up. Also tried it on my nexus player without any luck...
Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk
I did not. My initial understanding of the remote's capability was based off of erroneous information posted by an Amazon reviewer in the Q&A section for the product. Once obtaining the product I found out that the BT commands for the remote are specific only to the PS3 (i.e. the remote has no ability to "learn" new BT commands). Also, as you mentioned, the FireTV does not recognize it in pairing mode. For this reason, the remote would not work as I had hoped and I updated the Q&A product section on Amazon and sent it back.
My solution was to purchase a FLIRC dongle, download the FLIRC software to my PC, manually force the FLIRC to update its firmware (which is important as the firmware that originally installed with the software would not allow me to properly program the "back", "home" and "menu" buttons; this is done by downloading the latest firmware (which I believe is now v3.5) by following the instructions posted here), program the dongle with my IR remote (I settled on using the standard universal remote that comes with my TV) and then plug in the FLIRC dongle into the USB port of the FireTV.
After that, I had a "All-In-One" universal remote solution that would allow me to operate both my TV and FireTV with one remote.
smithmal
I know the known issue list says IR blaster is not working on older nightlys but I have been reading that people are saying it is working. I'm running the latest nightly June 3rd build and I get nothing. This is the only issue I am having as everything else is working like a top. Didn't know if there was something special I have to do to get it working?
The last I heard, the IR blaster works with various IR programs in the Play Store, but not the HTC TV app. Have you tried other IR apps?
I have tried IR Universal Remote and HTC IR - Universal Remote and neither of them work with my TV or with my IR receiver on my computer. Eventghost does not recognize any inputs from my phone.
http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Known_Issues_page_for_m8
I have installed several Infra Red apps, and my TV never reacts. It's a classic Samsung TV.
Either I did not understand how to use IR apps, or my IR hardware is broken.
When doing IR on computer, softs allow recording IR frames from other remotes.
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Also looking for ways to print over IR, and do IR transfer with other devices.
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Also looking for NFC apps, if you can recommend a good one.
doublehp said:
I have installed several Infra Red apps, and my TV never reacts. It's a classic Samsung TV.
Either I did not understand how to use IR apps, or my IR hardware is broken.
When doing IR on computer, softs allow recording IR frames from other remotes.
***
Also looking for ways to print over IR, and do IR transfer with other devices.
***
Also looking for NFC apps, if you can recommend a good one.
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Click to collapse
I had the same trouble when i first got my phone too.... tried all apps but couldnt work on my LG or Samsung TVs.
after i reset to factory defaults, it worked!
My default app for the remote picks up everything. I work in a pawn shop and I am able to connect to tvs , stereos, etc, almost everything with an infrared receptor. So I assume your phone is rooted and that might be the problem. Before the ONE M8 I've used a note 2 rooted so I had to flash something in order to communicate with my TV. Might be the same issue although not 100% sure.
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using XDA Free mobile app
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2726278
I have used the stock HTC Sense TV app; my TV did not react to any auto detect, but manual record/replay of frames worked. I will have to do it the hard way. Later. I am just happy my phone is not faulty; I will dig later.
In the end ...
the phone includes a TV Application on stock rom that works fine. Just, it starts by asking question about ADSL, TV, region ... but after answering those unrelated questions (and by the way, it forgets to ask if the TV can be controlled by LAN, Wifi ... ), you end up in an IR interface.
The IR configuration tool failed 2d ago. Since then, I have updated to 4.4.3. And rebooted several times.
The issue is that I have installed many IR apps; and after trying to use some, the IR get stuck. So, in short, the solution is: if an IR software does not work, you need to reboot before trying an other one.
Once you have identified a bunch of apps that work, you can switch between them. But, if you ever use a non working one, then, IR will never work again ... untill reboot.
Don't understand why; and don't want to know. Just reporting my experience.
With very similar interfaces: HTC IR universal works fine, Samsung IR does not.
Working for me:
- stock TV app
- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.htc.sample.ir
- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jw.ir.remote.control
- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.castreal.remote
- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.samremote.view
Broken:
- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=remote.control.samsung
- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.PinnacleLabs.TvRemote