Your MCE Remote receiver is often a transmitter or IR blaster. It can be used to learn IR codes from the original remotes of your home devices (Television, DVD player, Home Cinema etc...). Once the IR codes are learned, the MCE transmitter can send these codes toward your home devices (through the help of the little IR bugs bundled with the MCE Remote receiver). With LM Remote KeyMap you can programatically send these IR codes through the MCE IR Blaster and controls all your IR home devices from your PC (by using your PC remote control, this can be the MCE remote itself or any LM Remote KeyMap supported remote).
I - Install LM Remote KeyMap
If not already done, download LM Remote KeyMap and install it.
II - Choose to use your MCE Blaster in LM Remote KeyMap
Open LM Remote KeyMap and in the main window choose "Learn IR Codes"
Choose to use your MCE Blaster, for this click on the "Choose another IR blaster" link to open the blaster selection screen (it may be already open if this is the first time you use LM Remote KeyMap) and use the arrow buttons to flip throught the blaster LM Remote KeyMap supports until you get the MCE Blaster. Click on the MCE Blaster image to select it.
III - Create the IR device you want control
LM Remote KeyMap let you regroups logically the learned IR codes into a IR device. So the first thing to do before learning IR codes is to create the IR device. For doing this click on the "Add" button. You have to choices :
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New IR Device : you'll add a blank IR devices and learn all the IR codes of the buttons you can find on the device original remote.
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IR Device from Online Database : you'll be able to search a collection of devices submitted by other LM Remote KeyMap users. This can save you from learning the IR codes.
If you choose to add a blank IR device, you'll have to describe the device you are adding with fields like :
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The device name : a friendly name for you, it will be easy then to use the device. If you are adding a TV set, type "TV" etc...
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The device icon : select the icon that match the best your device
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The device model : type the exact model number if you can find it
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The device manufacturer : type the exact manufacturer / brand name if you know it (this field and the previous one is useful if you decide later to share your IR device with other LM Remote KeyMap users)
IV - Learn the IR codes
To learn the IR codes add a button in the IR device you just created. Clik on the "Add" button in the buttons list. This will display the new button dialog.
Type the name of the button, usually use the same name as the label used on your original remote, then click on the "Learn IR Codes >" button. This will start the learning process.
Proceed with the learning as instructed: put your remote on a flat surface close to the MCE Receiver (if your MCE Receiver is integrated into your PC you may have to search it) and press and release the button of your original remote (just as if you where really using the remote). If the learning is successfull, you should see this:
Click on the "Next >" button to repeat the learning process another time. If you can't learn, you might want to contact our techical support team or consult the logs files produced by LM Remote KeyMap. These logs files are in the Config & Log folder that you can open from the LM Remote KeyMap taskbar notification icon. You can also review these log files directly with the LM Remote KeyMap Live Trace Viewer that you can open from the LM Remote KeyMap taskbar icon. The Live Trace Viewer will show you in real time what is happening inside LM Remote KeyMap.
Note: for the learning process to work, the LM Remote KeyMap blaster service must be running. So the first thing to check is that the blaster service is running. Some MCE receiver doesn't have a learning port, so you will not be able to learn, but you will be able to download IR codes from the online database.
V - Test the learned IR codes
Once you have learned all your IR codes you can test them directly from the LM Remote KeyMap interface. To test the learned IR codes click on the test button as in the picture below:
You should do the test more than one time to be sure that the IR code was learned correctly (test the IR code two or three times in a row, each time your device must respond to the IR code, otherwise learn your IR code again).
Note: if the test is not successfull, you'll have to relearn the IR codes. Click on the button in the buttons list to relearn its codes. This time press a little longer on the remote button before releasing it.
VI - Blast the learned IR codes
Now you have learned and tested all your IR codes for the IR devices. You can use LM Remote KeyMap to control your IR devices. LM Remote KeyMap offer four different ways to blast the IR codes:
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With a channel change plugin for a PVR application : you'll use this to change the channels on a set top box when your PVR application needs to change channel on it (for viewing live TV or begining a scheduled recording).
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With the SageTV OnScreen Remote plugin : while using SageTV for viewing Live TV you can bring up the LM Remote KeyMap OnScreen Remote (wether you are using SageTV, a SageTV client or PlaceShifter) to control your set top box. This can be very handy if you have to dismiss a set top box message that disrupt your Live TV viewing or to control the set top box.
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With the LM Remote KeyMap COM objects : with the COM objects you can blast your IR codes from any application or languages that can use COM. The most easy way to use the COM objects is with a little VBScript.
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By using the Blast action from within an application profile : LM Remote KeyMap main purpose is to respond to your PC remote. When you press on a button on your PC remote (for instance a MCE remote), you can ask LM Remote KeyMap to change the native button response and fire LM Remote KeyMap actions. One of these actions is the Blast action. The Blast action do simply blast one of the IR codes you learned. So for instance you can use the "Power" button on your MCE remote to blast a "Power On/Off" to your TV.
VII - Using the blast action in an application profile
If you want to mimic a learned remote from your PC remote. You'll have first to create an application profile in LM Remote KeyMap in order to remap the buttons of your PC remote so as most of them will blast the IR codes you learned.
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Choose what remote you want to use with LM Remote KeyMap : from the main LM Remote KeyMap window, choose "Customize your remote" then select the remote you want to use (click on the "Choose another remote" link if needed)
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Create a new application profile. Usually an application profile purpose is to change the remote behavior for a specific application, here you'll create a profile that doesn't target an application but that will be forced to be used when you choose to. Give this profile the name of your IR device (it will be easier to spot it in the profiles list).
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Choose a button on your PC remote that you will use for reverting to the normal usage of your remote. For instance choose the "Back" button on the MCE Remote. Add a "Change Profile" action for this button, and select the default profile for this "Change Profile" action. This action will make sure that when you press the "Back" button on your MCE remote you remote will no longer use this profile but will revert to the default one.
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For all other buttons you need to, add a "Blast" action :
Select the IR device you have created and learned the IR codes, and select the button you want to blast.
Now each time you'll press the button you are customizing on your MCE remote, your MCE blaster will blast the IR code you selected.
If you want you can add more that one "Blast" action per MCE remote button, and separate each of these "Blast" action with a "Pause" action. This way you can create IR macros. -
Now edit the default profile for the MCE remote. Choose a button you want to use for switching your MCE remote to the usual PC mode, to the "blast" mode. For instance choose the "Red" button. For this button, remove any actions alread assigned and add a "Change Profile" action, choose the "IR Device" profile you created in step 2. You can also add a "Display OSD" action to display a message saying that you just selected the "IR Device" profile. When you'll press the "Red" button on your MCE remote, it will now blast the IR codes of your IR device until you press the "Back" button, thus turning your MCE remote into a universal remote..
Note: you can install LM Remote KeyMap on another PC and make use of the MCE blaster across your network. So you can control your home devices from any PC on your network. On the PC where the MCE Blaster is not installed, you can still use it: from the main LM Remote KeyMap window choose "Learn IR Codes", click on "Choose another blaster" if the blaster list is not already expanded, and use the arrows buttons to flip through the blaster until you see your MCE blaster installed on the other PC.