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Remote Buddy Forum

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AuthorThread
User

26.06.2014 09:37:02
Re: Remote gets disconnected after some inactivity time

This posting is older than 6 months and can contain outdated information.
Thanks for asking!

the onky deviation from a standard setuo mifht be that i have Plex start by a launchD command, instead of a startup item setup. That way, Plex restarts automaticallym in case it crashes.not sure if this matters,

 
That might matter. Please verify that Plex runs under the user id of the logged in user (f.ex. via Activity Monitor). UI sessions and AppleScript under OS X are tied to a user ID and while in some cases you may still see a window on screen when an application is launched with a system user ID (f.ex. as root), this can lead to weird issues and AppleScript will not work correctly.

Remote Buddy actually uses UDP to send events to Plex, but depending on what you have set up - or what Plex does under the hood - it might still matter.

When I reboot my Mac, everything works like a charm. However, where I don't use the system for a while, my remote doesn't work. 
There are two workarounds:

1. reboot my mac, and all is fine 
2. get the remote VERY close to my Mac mini and press the Menu Button for at least several seconds,. after that, plex works again with the remote.

This is very interesting, especially the second workaround because it hints at a issue with the hardware or ambient factors. Here's why:

When the Apple Remote sends IR signals, they are received and decoded by the Apple IR Receiver in your Mac Mini. The Apple IR Receiver is not capable of providing a raw stream of IR signal input or strength information. It only relays the codes it recognized and decoded in its own hardware. That's why - from the software side - nothing is different whether your remote is near or far from the receiver.

If the signal strength makes a difference, that difference can therefore not stem from the software. Naturally, these are hot candidates to check (in that order):

1) ambient light, sun light, plasma TVs, bright or hot objects in the same room: all those can interfere with the IR signal. Please check the lighting condition when you experience this issue.

2) the receiver hardware may be faulty (f.ex. leaky capacitors (if any are used in this circuit)) and a reboot or strong signal may be sufficient to bring it back into shape for a while. Please try to control your Mac with another, non-iR remote (f.ex. AJAX Remote on an iOS device or browser) when you experience this issue - does that work?

3) If another non-IR remote works and you need to get this close to the receiver to make it work, this may also hint at an Apple Remote that runs low on power. Replacing the battery may be worth a try.

Hope that helps!

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz 

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