Under the hood is a 1.2-GHz Atom processor-with support for 1080p video playback-and 1GB of RAM. For such a relatively lightweight product, it takes up a fair amount of vertical space. All I need to do is switch the Mode/Device at the bottom of the remote to change which device I am controlling.Unfortunately, the awkward shape and bulkiness of the Boxee Box doesn't make it the most friendly device for stacking in your entertainment center.
This allows me to control both my TV and HTPC from the same remote. So I went through all the actions in EventGhost and reassigned them to a button on my TV’s remote.
Oddly enough the code “000” had almost all the buttons working. For most, only a few worked, and some none did. I went through all of the preset codes it can use (by entering them all manually and testing them) and found the one that the USB IR sensor would detect the most buttons on. This Toshiba remote is also programmable, meaning that it has the ability to also control your VCR, DVD player, etc. And low and behold, EventGhost could detect the signal too! I could tell because the USB sensor would light up red (showing that it received a signal) when I pressed a button on the TV remote.
An Extra SurpriseĪfter using this method for a while, I discovered that the MCE remote would detect my TV’s remote control (Pictured below). Just remember to make EventGhost start when windows does, this can be easily done by placing a shortcut to EventGhost in your User’s startup folder. You should be able to control and switch between Boxee, XBMC, and Hulu desktop all from your remote. Below is what my configured EventGhost looks like:īy now the HTPC setup should be working. You can download my EventGhost config file at the end of this article. I also made a toggle button that would change the D-Pad and OK button from arrow keys and enter to mouse movement and left click. I also added a few extra actions for raising and lowering the volume, ejecting the drive tray, and powering off the computer. Refer to the Program’s site to see what each one does. The next buttons I mapped to the remote are, I,, P, X,, , F, R, H,, and M. Hulu Desktop does not need much else or accept any other keyboard shortcuts, but Boxee and XBMC share a few. Now I went of to the program specific stuff. That takes care of most of the universal buttons that should apply across all of the programs. I assigned the D-PAD and OK buttons to the arrow keys and enter key. I also assigned a fourth button that would just kill them all, bringing me to the windows desktop. This allows me to start any of the apps from the remote and switch between them easily. When pressed, the action for the button would kill any/all running HTPC apps and then start the app that I assigned to the button. I chose a button to launch each of the HTPC apps previously mentioned. Next I started creating my EventGhost profile. This stops windows from acting on the remote and gives EventGhost complete control over it.
I set EventGhost to capture all of the remote’s input and unregister it as a HID device.
Windows 7 automatically recognized the driver for the remote and with the MCE Remote plugin I was able to have EventGhost use it as an input device. I was lucky enough to have a HP remote control and USB IR sensor from a laptop I had. EventGhost is a Windows automation tool which can preform a set of actions based on some user input, Usually a key-press, remote control, or other such device. To control all three programs I use EventGhost. There are some small hacks that can make maybe two get along, but not a complete solution. However these three media center programs do not play nice together. And Boxee does a great job of playing back other online media, such as The Daily Show, Pandora, etc.
Hulu Desktop is the complete solution to play anything from Hulu on the big screen. XMBC Is great for managing and playing back all of your local media.
I find that XBMC, Hulu Desktop, and Boxee are all essential parts of a well rounded Home Theater PC (HTPC). My previous HTPC ran Linux, but with a powerful enough computer, the ability to play games on the HTPC made me move to Windows. I chose to use a relatively new computer (Core 2 Duo 2Ghz, Nvidia GeForce GT 220) and run Windows 7. And since it was going to be hooked up to a big TV, it might as well be powerful enough to play some modern games on the big screen. I wanted a HTPC that I could use to play anything, and that could do anything.