Remote Control Diagnostics

Features

When nothing happens when you press a button on your Apple® Remote, this can have many different - and often very technical - reasons. This utility was written to greatly simplify the process of identifying the source of such issues and provides you with useful tips on how to address them. Remote Control Diagnostics is a free download.

Diagnostics

Checks your system for common error sources and provides results in issue/potential issue/informal categories. Remote Control Diagsnotics works strictly in a read-only fashion and doesn't change any settings or system files.

Actionable Results

Remote Control Diagnostics provides you with information on how to address issues and potential issues that it has found, but never takes action itself.

Battery Check

Visual check of your remote control's signal. Requires a web cam supported by macOS.

Apple Remote only

Remote Control Diagnostics inspects the Apple Remote subsystem of macOS and can checks Macs with a built-in or emulated Apple IR Receiver.

Included Checks

This is a non-exhaustive list of issues and potential issues RCD can detect:

The IR Receiver is paired with a particular remote
The IR Receiver was disabled in system preferences
Built-in macOS functionality has not been loaded
Applications currently accessing the IR Receiver exclusively
Potential incompatibilities of applications with outdated Apple® Remote support code with macOS 10.6.2 and later
Apple® IR Receiver driver has been unloaded or not been loaded
Currently active virtual machines accessing the Apple® IR Receiver directly
The IR Receiver hasn't been detected by macOS due to a common, USB-related SMC issue
The Mac® doesn't have a built-in IR Receiver
..