Suppressing remote commands to SageMC while using external player

[petereader]

Is there a way to keep Sage (ver6.0.18) from receiving remote commands while it's in sleep mode?

I'm using a Harmony 670 remote+usbuirt+girder to control WinDVD7, which I have set up as my external DVD player on SageMC(ver6.3.2a). Every time I close WinDVD Sage processes all of the remote commands I had sent to WinDVD all at once. Is there any way to keep this from happening? I've already attempted to incorporate Sage into Girder, although I can control Sage just fine without it, hoping that would solve my problem, but no luck. I have to admit, I am a bit of a n00b when it comes to Girder, so it's possible I may just not have configured it correctly. But if someone could at least tell me whether I could accomplish this through Girder, then perhaps I can investigate that avenue further.

I should also mention that I programmed my Harmony remote to control Sage within the same activity (Watch a Movie) that controls WinDVD in order to be able to scroll through my movie list in Sage.

Does anyone have any suggestions or can someone point me in the right direction? I'm all out of ideas.

[dflachbart]

Originally Posted by petereader

I have to admit, I am a bit of a n00b when it comes to Girder, so it's possible I may just not have configured it correctly. But if someone could at least tell me whether I could accomplish this through Girder, then perhaps I can investigate that avenue further.

Yep, you can do this with Girder. You'll need to set up separate button configurations for WindDVD and Sage in the Girder definition file. All commands for WindDVD need a 'Window conditional' that only processes the events if WinDVD is in the foreground, and all commands for SageTV need a 'Window Conditional' checking for SageTV in the foreground. This is how I have set it up on my machine, and it works fine.

I am just a little confused as you state that all commands seem to get 'buffered' and then sent at once to Sage once WinDVD closes. I would expect those commands to execute in SageTV right away...

Dirk

[petereader]

Thanks Dirk,
I'll try this tomorrow. There's quite a learning curve for me between the Harmony software and Girder and I've been trying to get a grasp of both of them at the same time. Now that the Harmony is all set up, I can focus on Girder via your suggestion.

Originally Posted by flachbar

I am just a little confused as you state that all commands seem to get 'buffered' and then sent at once to Sage once WinDVD closes. I would expect those commands to execute in SageTV right away...

This was rather surprising for me as well. I had this same setup working with a streamzap remote (controlling Sage and WinDVD) and would not get this effect.

Just to elaborate (I'm not always very good at describing what I see on the screen), I'll play a movie from my imported movies folder which opens up WinDVD and puts Sage to sleep (I'm assuming that's the state it's in) in the background. When I exit WinDVD, every remote command I used in WinDVD is executed in Sage, one right after the other (very quickly).

I hope that makes sense.

Thanks again for the quick reply

[mickp]

Hey there,

I haven't upgraded my copy of girder for a while so it may now be easier to setup different profiles depending upon which app has focus. If not there's a post here that describes the process in the version that I'm still running.

Mick.

[petereader]

Thanks to both of you for your thorough responses. I may have to wait until next weekend (the roommate will be out of town: most of you have a WAF, I have a RAF) before I take a crack at this, but I will post back here and let you know how it went.

[bbig119]

I don't have a harmony remote, so this may not apply, but are you using the same IR signals for Sage and WinDVD? In my case, I have assigned entirely separate IR signals for each program as if they were stand alone devices. That way I never have any overlap unless I want it(I could in theory, setup Girder to process two different IR signals for the same command).

[petereader]

bbig119,
Thanks for the suggestion, but unfortunately I essentially need the DVD activity in the remote to control Sage as well as WinDVD so that I can select movies within the SageUI (as well as look at movie info, etc), so remote commands inevitably overlap. I also need to make it as transparent as possible so my roommate and others can use it fairly easily. This wouldn't be possible using different buttons within the same activity.

[petereader]

OK,
Just to follow up, I solved the problem...and introduced another

I have Girder set up to control both WinDVD and Sage through keyboard actions. Even with window conditionals I couldn't prevent Sage from buffering commands. I finally realized that I had linked both the raw commands from Harmony as well as the keyboard commands for each respective event within Sage. Once I removed the raw commands the buffering ceased.

But now when I press a button on the remote, Sage will repeat the respective event several times, even with just a short press of the button. I've tried everything Girder has available to minimize repeat:
-anti-repeat
-tried all combinations of the modifiers
-typematic settings on event mapping
-IR Event Reception setting on the USB-UIRT Config

I also adjusted these settings in the Sage.properties file:
-infrared_receive_repeat_delay=250
-infrared_receive_repeat_period=150

None of this had any effect.

The most interesting thing to me is that Girder's log only picks up one command per event. It appears as though Sage is taking the single command and repeating it several times. Yet, when I actually use my keyboard to control Sage it reacts just fine.

I'll post this issue in the Girder forum, but I also wanted to update this thread with where I am with all of this in case there is a setting in Sage I'm missing (or if someone here has experienced this behavior with Girder before).

I'm certainly open to any ideas, and thanks to everyone who has replied so far.

[dflachbart]

Originally Posted by petereader

OK,
Just to follow up, I solved the problem...and introduced another

I have Girder set up to control both WinDVD and Sage through keyboard actions. Even with window conditionals I couldn't prevent Sage from buffering commands. I finally realized that I had linked both the raw commands from Harmony as well as the keyboard commands for each respective event within Sage. Once I removed the raw commands the buffering ceased.

But now when I press a button on the remote, Sage will repeat the respective event several times, even with just a short press of the button. I've tried everything Girder has available to minimize repeat:
-anti-repeat
-tried all combinations of the modifiers
-typematic settings on event mapping
-IR Event Reception setting on the USB-UIRT Config

I also adjusted these settings in the Sage.properties file:
-infrared_receive_repeat_delay=250
-infrared_receive_repeat_period=150

None of this had any effect.

The most interesting thing to me is that Girder's log only picks up one command per event. It appears as though Sage is taking the single command and repeating it several times. Yet, when I actually use my keyboard to control Sage it reacts just fine.

I'll post this issue in the Girder forum, but I also wanted to update this thread with where I am with all of this in case there is a setting in Sage I'm missing (or if someone here has experienced this behavior with Girder before).

I'm certainly open to any ideas, and thanks to everyone who has replied so far.

Did you ever try to set up Girder with "SendMessage" commands ? This is how I have it set up on my machine, and it works like a charme. Not sure if it will help in your case, but it might be worth a try.

Dirk

[petereader]

Perhaps I have some learning to do this weekend.

[bbig119]

Originally Posted by petereader

Perhaps I have some learning to do this weekend.

There are several existing Sage GML files available for download from promixis's website. I downloaded every one I could get and tried them out. I think most of them use SendMessage like Dirk was suggesting. In fact, I think most of the one's I have could be just altered versions of each other. This should get you setup with 95+% of the commands you want. With the others you'll have to setup your own commands using sendmessage or find another way, but in my case this was mostly having Sage go to sleep when I press 'off' and restore when I press 'on' so it was mostly windows stuff not Sage.

Hope that helps. Also, I can't recall if I am currently using an older Sage version 2 gml file from girder version 3, but definitely download older files and test them too because they may work as well or better. I've found that some of the newer gml files aren't as responsive as the older ones for some unknown reason.

Hope that helps. If you'd like I can send you a copy of my sage gml file.

[bbig119]

Oh, I guess while I have you two here, I have a somewhat related question...

Why are you using an external program for DVDs? I have Zoom installed and setup on my computer.... I was using it exclusively for DVD playback until I discovered how cool and convenient it is to have portions of my DVD library ripped to the hard drive and integrated using dvdprofiler in SageMC. I'm now using Sage to browse and watch these DVDs.

If I select external playback of DVDs for zoomplayer, will Sage play the ripped dvds in the video library in Sage or Zoom? I've been meaning to try this, but I've been busy getting HDHR setup properly.

Even if it would playback in zoom, I'm not sure its worth it or not for me, as I've been happy with playback in Sage. I'd like to test it out though.

[petereader]

bbig119,
Sorry for the delayed response. I've been experimenting with my setup .

I use WinDVD simply because I like the quality it produces for my DVD's without having to mess with it too much. I've actually been using WinDVD longer than Sage, so when I added Sage to my repertoire, I was very happy to find an STV that would allow me to continue using it. I compared WinDVD with the internal Sage player and was simply happier with WinDVD. That being said, I haven't tried Sage for playing DVDs in almost three years. Now that I know more about Sage my opinion may change.

As far as your other question goes, I'm not quite sure what you're asking, you can definitely store and browse your DVD library within SageMC then have it launch an external player when you choose one you would like to play. Unfortunately I don't know enough about ZoomPlayer to say whether or not you could do this the oter way around (is that what you're asking?). Sorry I tend to confuse more than clarify when trying to answer a question

[petereader]

So you say there are several SageTV GML files in the Girder forum? I only found one:
http://www.promixis.com/forums/showp...56&postcount=7
But I think I may have only been looking in the Girder 4 forum. I've been trying to get my head around Girder and sendmessage (command capture) but I seem to be having a problem targeting my Sage window because nothing works. I tried using the above linked SageTV.gml that uses legacy sendmessage as well as creating my own with command capture, but have not been able to get either working. I believe I may be having a problem targeting the Sage window due to the fact that I'm using this on a Sage client.

I guess the three questions I have at this time are:

If I use one of the older gmls with legacy sendmessage is it the script at the bottom of the tree that takes care of targeting?

If so what is it that I have to change in that script to get it to work with a Sage client?

If I use command capture, following this great example below provided by Dirk,
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...81&postcount=2
what do I need to change in order to get this to work with the client. I've already tried using the "Drag Me to a Window" option with no success.

EDIT: Just found the SageTV client GML in the Sage Wiki. I'll try that and post back the results here.

[bbig119]

Originally Posted by petereader

So you say there are several SageTV GML files in the Girder forum? I only found one:
http://www.promixis.com/forums/showp...56&postcount=7
But I think I may have only been looking in the Girder 4 forum. I've been trying to get my head around Girder and sendmessage (command capture) but I seem to be having a problem targeting my Sage window because nothing works. I tried using the above linked SageTV.gml that uses legacy sendmessage as well as creating my own with command capture, but have not been able to get either working. I believe I may be having a problem targeting the Sage window due to the fact that I'm using this on a Sage client.

I guess the three questions I have at this time are:

If I use one of the older gmls with legacy sendmessage is it the script at the bottom of the tree that takes care of targeting?

If so what is it that I have to change in that script to get it to work with a Sage client?

If I use command capture, following this great example below provided by Dirk,
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...81&postcount=2
what do I need to change in order to get this to work with the client. I've already tried using the "Drag Me to a Window" option with no success.

EDIT: Just found the SageTV client GML in the Sage Wiki. I'll try that and post back the results here.

Pete,

I'm no expert in Girder, but I've messed with it enough to get it to do what I want. I'm sure Dirk knows it much much better. For my part, I found files and got them to working to my satisfaction. I use a URC MX-700 and have an IRTrans module where I have a separate set of IR signals for each program I use. I then combine macros in the remote software with simple events in girder to get what I need done. I think its more a mess of a bunch of simple things I've got working together rather than a simple elegant solution. But I guess that's what having a computer programmable learning remote bought me.

I'd be happy to send you copies of my GML files if you'd like. It works, but I could certainly spend a ton of time getting it better, but I've been preoccupied with other things dealing with the HTPC setup-- the never ending list of things.

As far as my previous post, I'm just not sure if Sage and SageMC recognize the difference between an imported DVD in the video library and a recorded program or downloaded video. If I set an external DVD player in Sage, will it launch said DVD player when I select a ripped dvd to play from my imported video library?

[dflachbart]

Originally Posted by bbig119

As far as my previous post, I'm just not sure if Sage and SageMC recognize the difference between an imported DVD in the video library and a recorded program or downloaded video. If I set an external DVD player in Sage, will it launch said DVD player when I select a ripped dvd to play from my imported video library?

Hi bbig119,

yes, SageMC will use the external DVD player also for ripped DVDs. I am using Zoomplayer for my DVD files myself, and the integration works pretty seamlessly. Why do I prefer Zoomplayer to the built-in one ? Well, first of all I often get those annoying "Playback exceptions" when trying to skip or calling the root menu on ripped DVDs with the internal player, but not with Zoomplayer. And even more important, Zoomplayer gives me the functionality to resume a DVD from the last play position, and this even works with DVDs that contain multiple episodes.

Dirk

[petereader]

Thanks for the offer bbig, but I finally got it working, Finally!!!

The SageTV client GML file I found in the wiki did the trick for me. I just finished getting Girder tweaked so my remote works just the way I want it to (the machines will do my bidding...even if I don't know what I'm doing). Girder really is a powerful tool. Which has me wondering, what other trouble can I get into with this thing?

BTW, your setup sounds just like mine; "more a mess of a bunch of simple things I've got working together rather than a simple elegant solution". But the operative word there is working.

Thanks to you, Dirk, and everyone who responded. Now, I can finally sit back, turn on my new projector with my remote, and watch The Prestige (Just bought it).