Hardbutton remote

If you have special needs, you can customize to send whatever you want with a Remote Design. The only thing that is “fixed” per se is which button on the Virtual Remote/Action Panel corresponds to which physical button on the MFi controller. You don’t need 4.5 to do any of this just swap to Virtual Remote mode if you need to move things around.

Yes, after posting I realized that I could use the “force legacy remote” in 5.0 to see what the MFi controller was sending. So you’re saying that in the legacy remote I can customize what is being sent by the MFi controller buttons? Could you point me more specifically to that?

Thanks,

Jeff

Sorry, if I’m being dense. Is there any documentation at all on integrating an MFi controller? Or is just plug it in, start pushing buttons and what works works and what doesn’t doesn’t?

Jeff

Setting up an MFi controller is not something that happens inside the app. Once that is setup, it just works. The mapping of buttons is something that may take some tapping but is fundamentally discoverable as you noticed. Every button is mapped. Joysticks aren’t. You can customize every button if needed as noted.

So I may just be flogging a dead horse, but I think I’m missing something. When you say “You can customize every button if needed as noted”. Do you mean by changing the commands on the coresponding virtual buttons? For example, if the physical “Y” key on the controller maps to “Guide”, I can edit the comands on the virtual button that corresponds to “Guide”?

Jeff

Nothing “maps” to “Guide”. Each physical button is mapped to a location on the Virtual Remote, in other words Cursor Right is always going to map to whatever button you have at the right position of the Dpad, etc. The full list has been posted here many times, but I do not have it handy. It should be in the archives, but should also just take a few seconds to figure out by tapping.

Searching the archives again this is what I found:

Roomie introduced support for iOS 7 Game Controllers in version 2.1. This means a wide array of wired and wireless shells and controllers can be used with Roomie to provide hardbutton access to Roomie commands. All of the controls are automatically assigned. For instance the Directional Pad on an iOS 7 Game Controller is matched up to the Directional Pad on Roomie’s Virtual Remote. A, B, X, Y are matched to the corner buttons of the Directional Pad. Pause is obvious. Left Shoulder and Right Shoulder are matched to the left and right buttons of the Media Pad.

Is this what you were referring to? And I gather the mapping is based on the legacy remotes not the V5 Action Panels.

Jeff

OK! Let’s continue the flogging. It’s now clearer what’s going on based on the post I found in the archives from several years ago and my testing.

So for the legacy remotes, it’s as described in the paragraph above EXCEPT:

  1. The “A” button serves as cursor enter NOT as the lower left corner of the directional pad. This is probably more useful this way but not consistent.
  2. The “menu” button on the Nimbus does nothing.

For 5.0 Action Panels, the B, X, and Y buttons are mapped to the directional pad on the action panel. It had me very confused because the corner buttons on the directional pad are different on the action panel then they are on the legacy remote. So within an activity those buttons do different things depending on whether or not you’re forcing the legacy remote. Then for the Action Panel:

  1. The “A” button is still cursor enter.
  2. The "menu’ button now functions as pause.
  3. The shoulder buttons (L1 and R1) have no effect (don’t seem to be mapped to the Media pad).

Also, the other two buttons on the Nimbus, the lower shoulder buttons, L2 and R2, do nothing in either legacy or action panel.

So, all in all, I seem to see what’s going on and most of it seems consistent but confusing. But i think at least one part may be a bug, the failure to map the shoulder buttons for an action panel remote.

Jeff

Let me throw my hat into the ring too regarding interest in a hard-button remote. I don’t mind using an iPhone, but my wife really misses having a dedicated remote.

Is there an API to launch Activities? I might be able to create my own “remote” if so. I’d be grateful for any other suggestions.

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Good to hear.

Same here.

Before Simple-Control, if the batteries were dead in Harmony remote, she could not even watch TV (ie, an emergency).

At the moment … she still only uses Harmony to watch TV in LivingRoom, so I am forced to use both systems in parallel. Obviously, doesn’t work very well (ie syncing), and not a good long-term solution.

I’ve just noticed the documentation on the Simple Control documentation page for their API to run activities on the Simple Hub. I’m working on some alternatives, using that API. If it pans out, I’ll update this thread with details.

I’ve been working on something similar. Let me know if you want to collaborate. Would really love hard button remote.

Anything going-on in the Hard-Button-Remote area yet? And I mean something like a conventional universal remote or just a $75 Harmony.

And for anyone that hasn’t seen it yet, @Will_Price and his team added Control-4 to the Compare matrix …

https://www.simplecontrol.com/the-simple-comparison/