How to control SageTV w/o focus (mostly Hauppauge remote)

[Opus4]

It is now possible to control SageTV with the Hauppauge remote, even when it is not the active application that has Windows focus.

Edit: For the latest, see post #15.

I didn't realize until today that SageTV could be controlled with Windows messages -- I had seen comments about the Girder SendMessage plugin, but it never dawned on me that this wasn't something specific to using Girder. So, I wrote a short program to send messages to any Windows application. (There are probably plenty out there somewhere already. Oh well.) Used in conjunction with the Haupauge remote's irremote.ini file, SageTV no longer has to have focus in order to receive commands from that remote. This should be a good solution to the focus problem, at least until (if?) Hauppauge builds a general purpose SendMessage command into irremote.ini. (Done! See the 6-23-04 update in this post, below.)

For more info on the messages available, see Controlling SageTV Using Windows Messages.

Anyway... the attachment contains:

1. ReadMe.txt - instructions.
   
2. SendMessage.exe - the utility to send the messages, of course. The program can be used with any application; there is nothing in it specifically for the Hauppauge remote, so feel free to download the attachment & use it for any other programs.
   
3. irremote.ini - an updated version of a basic ini to control SageTV using messages instead of key commands. This ini retains the ability to both sleep & wake SageTV using the remote.
   
   Note: If you are using the included irremote.ini file to control SageTVClient, then you will have to edit irremote.ini and change all instances of SageApp to SageClientApp.
   
   Note: In the [Default] section of irremote.ini, you should customize the path for the location where SageTV.exe is located. Be sure to use short filenames, as names with spaces will not work.

Update: The SendMessage utility has been updated to version 2, in post #4 below. It can now send multiple messages instead of just a single message each time it is run.

Update 6-23-04: The latest Hauppauge IR software, version v2.41.22165 or later, contains a new internal SendMsg() command. That command can be used w/o having to run an external program so it has faster response. An updated irremote.ini with instructions how to use it are located in post #15 below. If you have the latest IR installation, or are willing to try installing it, I suggest that you download the file in that post instead of the one in this post.

Bug fix: Please download the latest version of hcwutl32.dll from Hauppauge, in post #6 below, in order to fix a memory leak in the remote control program when it is used to run external programs, as this new irremote.ini does. The new IR installation file contains this fixed file. See post #15, below.

Note: An ini for the newer 45-button Hauppauge remote is also in post #15.

- Andy

Edit: attachment removed. See post #15.

[justme]

Excellent work.Glad to see you added it to the FAQ. I'm sure many will love this. No more isses with focus with Hauppauge remote when SageTV is sleeped.

Disclaimer:I haven't yet tried this myself as I us a USB-UIRT/MX500.

PS:Check your PM

[Opus4]

Originally posted by justme
No more isses with focus with Hauppauge remote when SageTV is sleeped.

That reminds me... since focus is no longer important, I was _finally_ able to try watching TV while SageTV was sleeping & minimized to the sys tray. I've seen others say they could do this by using Girder with their 350s, so I just had to try with my Xcard. Sure enough, I was able to get the TV out to work. The only problem is that since the Xcard has no UI shown on the TV, I was blindly pushing buttons to start playing whatever recording I happened to come to first. I didn't try it with live TV, but that ought to work too. I'm not too sure that I _like_ this capability, but it was interesting, regardless.

- Andy

Edit: If you put SageTV to sleep via the remote's power button, you won't be able to try this. To keep the remote in SageTV mode while it is sleeping, put SageTV to sleep via the option on the main menu screen.

[Opus4]

The SendMessage utility download and discussion has been moved to another thread:

Utility: SendMessage v2.1

- Andy

[Opus4]

I think I may have found a problem using the Hauppauge remote in this manner: it seems that every time irremote.ini runs an exe, some memory is allocated that never gets released. I don't believe that this is a problem in my SendMessage.exe program because the same thing occurs when I run any other EXE via the run(SomeProgram.exe) command inside irremote.ini. And, when I run SendMessage.exe on its own, I don't see any memory problem.

I was watching the Total Commit Charge on the Performance tab of Windows Task Manager & every time ir.exe runs an exe this way in irremote.ini, the memory size increases by about 1MB & it never gets released. This afternoon, my page file was over 1.5GB after having used my remote for 3 days w/o a restart. As soon as I restarted ir.exe, the page file size popped back down to around 300MB. (My first clue was a Windows pop-up message saying it had to increase the size of the page file.)

Is anyone else using irremote.ini in the manner I described in the first post, above? If so, do you notice this happening on your system?

My only solution at the moment is to restart ir.exe periodically. You could always add the command: {run(C:\Progra~1\WinTV\Ir.exe /QUIET)} (with the appropriate path on your PC) after the command for exiting SageTV, or someplace where you want the remote to restart.

- Andy

[Opus4]

Hauppauge sent me an updated hcwutl32.dll and said there was not a problem posting it, so if you download the attachment & install this new dll, the memory leak that occurred when an external exe was run from within irremote.ini will be fixed. At least it solved the problem on my machine.

To install:

1. Exit ir.exe -- simply right click on the systray icon for the remote & select "Exit IR".
   
2. Copy the new hcwutl32.dll to your Windows\system32 directory. (You can't overwrite the file if ir.exe is still running.)
   
3. I don't know that a system reboot is needed, but I did so just in case. You might be able to simply restart ir.exe.

- Andy

[mdmint]

Just a suggestion for your readme file. You might mention that when using with Client you gotta change all instances of SageApp to SageClientApp! Took me a few but I figured it out. Looks like it's working well so far. Thanks for the work!

[Opus4]

Actually, that is mentioned in post #4 & in Frey's document that I reference regarding "Controlling SageTV Using Windows Messages". But, yes, I suppose I should have made that more clear in the ReadMe.txt file... I'll keep that in mind for future updates. Maybe I'll go back tonight & update those posts above to make that clearer. Thanks for the suggestion!

- Andy

[mdmint]

Originally posted by Opus4
Actually, that is mentioned in post #4 & in Frey's document that I reference regarding "Controlling SageTV Using Windows Messages". But, yes, I suppose I should have made that more clear in the ReadMe.txt file... I'll keep that in mind for future updates. Maybe I'll go back tonight & update those posts above to make that clearer. Thanks for the suggestion!

- Andy

Yup, that's were I found the solution after re-reading your posts! It just would have saved about an hour if it'd been in the readme, which I actually read. No biggy for me now, but could save someone else some headaches later. (and wondering what the heck they're doing wrong since seemingly following the directions)

BTW, first I confirmed the memory leak mentioned, then installed the new dll. Thanks again. Reboot not necessary. Just exit Sage, exit IR, copy over new dll (after renaming orig dll), retart IR and restart Sage. (worked for Client, pagefile quit increasing using the IR. Didn't test and won't be using it for SageTV on Server, don't need remote there.)

[Opus4]

Originally posted by mdmint
BTW, first I confirmed the memory leak mentioned, then installed the new dll. Thanks again. Reboot not necessary. Just exit Sage, exit IR, copy over new dll (after renaming orig dll), retart IR and restart Sage. (worked for Client, pagefile quit increasing using the IR. Didn't test and won't be using it for SageTV on Server, don't need remote there.)

Just a quick note -- you never have to restart SageTV when restarting the Hauppauge IR software; they are totally unrelated except for the act of sending keys/messages to SageTV when ir.exe is running.

Glad you got it all working! ... and I hope the rest of the instructions were clear enough.

I guess I'll go add a note about the client in the first post... don't feel like updating the zip file yet...

- Andy

[cmaffia]

Greetings

Can anyone give me the command line I would need to run malone's
guide, guide 2 and guide three menus if I wanted to program my Streamzap remote to bring these menus up with one push of a button?

Thanks

[Opus4]

Originally posted by cmaffia
Can anyone give me the command line I would need to run malone's
guide, guide 2 and guide three menus if I wanted to program my Streamzap remote to bring these menus up with one push of a button?

Check the Readme file with the download to see how to enter multiple event codes. Essentially, you determine the sequence of input events to get to where you want to be & use:

SendMessage.exe -C SageApp -N SageWin -m 1258 -W 0 N N N N ...

Where "N N N N ..." is whatever sequence of events you wish to enter. (For SageTVClient, use SageClientApp instead of SageApp.)

So to pick one of your requests, this will get you to the "Guide" menu on malore's "Custom Menu":

28: Home - make sure you are on the main screen.
55: Page UP - make sure you are at the top menu item
5: Down
5: Down
20: Select - choose the button for "Custom Menus"
55: Page UP - make sure you are at the top menu item
5: Down
20: Select - choose the button for "Guide"

The complete sequence would be:

SendMessage.exe -C SageApp -N SageWin -m 1258 -W 0 28 55 5 5 20 55 5 20

It isn't as pretty as having a code to go directly to the exact spot you want, but this allows you to go anywhere withing SageTV. Getting to any other places should be fairly easy now.

- Andy

[stuby]

Andy, this looks like the perfect solution to my problem but I have yet to get it to work. I have a new AMD 2500 running in a Shuttle SN42G2V2 with a fresh install (with all the latest updates) of the PVR-350 software and Sage 2.0. I'm watching through the PVR-350 TV-out.

I've installed your modifications as instructed in the Read Me text with the update to SendMessage V2.

When the computer first boots up I am able to control Sage (full screen mode) with the Hauppage remote but after a few minutes it just seems to stop receiving. I still am able to control SageTV through Remote Desktop Computer, however. I have been able to get it to work again if I

Quite Sage->Restart IR->runt WinTV->quit WinTV->Restart SageTV

Often this does not work and the only way to get the IR working again is to reboot the computer. So my questions are:

1. Does anyone else have the same problem or is it me not configuring this correctly.

2. When you say Sage is "not in focus" does this mean that other running programs boot the Hauppauge remote out of function? If so, this seems to be what is happening on my computer.

3. I'm almost ready to throw this remote out....what is the most reliable remote out there that is IR?


Thanks in advance!

Stu

[Opus4]

A simple restart of ir.exe doesn't solve it? Maybe there is some issue with the 350, a card I don't have.

If you are using the ini file I included, using the green power button when SageTV is not running will start it & put the remote in SageTV mode. Pressing it again will put SageTV to sleep & return the remote to Default mode.

By 'not in focus', I mean some other program being the top level Window on your desktop. Forcing the remote into SageTV mode & using SendMessage gets around that problem so you can use the remote to control SageTV when it doesn't have Windows focus.

- Andy

[Opus4]

June 23,2004 UPDATE: The Hauppauge remote software now supports a command within iremote.ini to send messages to other windows: SendMsg(). Usage to control SageTV:

BUTTON_NAME={findwnd(SageApp,SageWin)} {SendMsg(1258,0,MESSAGE#)}

Notes:

• To control SageTVClient, use SageClientApp instead of SageApp.
  
• BUTTON_NAME is the name of the remote button to use.
  
• MESSAGE# is the SageTV event code of the command to be sent. For a list of messages available, see Controlling SageTV Using Windows Messages.
  
• To make use of this new function, you will have to have Hauppauge's latest remote control software installed: version 2.41.22165 or later. Currently, a download for the latest installation can be found in this post. NOTE: Before installing a new version of the IR software, be sure to save a copy of your irremote.ini file (in your Windows directory), since the installation process will overwrite the existing file. Exit ir.exe before installing -- right click on the system tray icon & select Exit IR.

Files included in the attachment:

• irremote.ini - A version of the remote's ini file using the new SendMsg() command to control SageTV.
• ReadMe.txt - A brief description of how to use the new irremote.ini.
  
  Note: In the [Default] section of irremote.ini, you should customize the path for the location where SageTV.exe or SageTVClient.exe is located. Be sure to use short filenames, as names with spaces will not work.

If you still wish to download & use the SendMessage.exe utility, it can be found here. That utility can be used to send multiple messages at once and can be used by other remotes' control programs that may not have internal support for sending messages.

Also, I left the original version of irremote.ini that uses my SendMessage utility in the first post of this thread in case someone wants it instead... for some strange reason. The internal SendMsg() command works faster, but not everyone wants to reinstall the IR software.

- Andy

Oct-28-2004 Update: A basic configuration file for the new 45-button Hauppuage remote has been attached. The new zip file contains a custom irremote.ini file for that remote, a readme file, and an Excel file listing all commands, their event codes, and the button layouts for the old and new remotes. This is not an official layout from Frey, so if they release a different command layout, I'll update these files. Also attached is an image of the new remote showing the command assignments.

* insomniac's version for the 45-button remote w/the red button configured as the "delete" command for SageTV Client is in this post.

Image showing new remote's layout: New Remote Layout.jpg

[mike208]

Well call me stupid, but I am having a ton of trouble understanding all this stuff? I have tried to read the readmes and whatnot, but I can't seem to understand them. What I want to do is simple. When I start sage or when I bring it out of sleep mode, I would prefer it go straight to Live TV ratehr then to the main menu. It is my understanding -event 15 will do this, but how do I make it work. Do I create a shortcut or what?

[Opus4]

Originally posted by mike208
When I start sage or when I bring it out of sleep mode, I would prefer it go straight to Live TV ratehr then to the main menu. It is my understanding -event 15 will do this, but how do I make it work. Do I create a shortcut or what?

SageTV has to be running & not sleeping for an event code like that to work, sending it to live TV. (Or #63: LiveTV) Sending an event while it is not running does not currently start the program, & sending it an event message while it is sleeping won't accomplish anything unless you are using something like the 350's TV out, which seems to still function while it is sleeping.

You could try to set up a button that sends a series of messages: to wake SageTV & then send another message telling it to start LiveTV, but remember to have SageTV running already when you do this. If sending the messages too quickly causes it to wake, go to live tv, and then immediately return to the main menu, try using the sleep function between the messages sent in irremote.ini, something like:

{sleep(1000)}

That will cause it to pause for 1 second, since the number is the # of milliseconds to pause.

That's all I can think of as a quick solution at the moment... and now watch someone come & say there is a simple property or setting that I don't remember to make it go directly to live TV!

- Andy

[stuby]

Thanks Andy for your your timely reply. The Hauppauge still doesn't work and I've reviewed the steps several times.

I'll try removing everything and starting over to see if that works. Either that or use another remote control unit.

Thanks for all your efforts.

Stu

[Opus4]

Post #15, above, now contains a version of irremote.ini for the new 45 button Hauppauge remote. I do not have one of these remotes, so I was not able to test the results. Please let me know if there are problems.

The irremote.ini file posted above uses event codes and does not require SageTV to have Windows focus for it to work. See post #3 in link 1 in my sig lines for a version that uses key codes instead, if you prefer.

- Andy

[dwpoet]

I have a PVR-350 card and use TV out distributed to TV's, one in another room. I've downloaded and set up "haup_no_focus_irremote.zip", so the Hauppauge remote (usually) works (at the PC) when SageTV does not have focus.

However, I need a remote that will work from the other room. Will the Firefly or another RF remote work when SageTV does not have focus?

Don