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User

16.12.2006 23:26:03

Any hope for KeyPoint support?

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This posting is older than 6 months and can contain outdated information.

Macally has stated that they will not be supporting, nor will they be writing Intel drivers for, their KeyPoint remote. Information about it can still be seen here:
<http://www.macally.com/spec/usb/input_device/keypoint.html>

USB Overdrive doesn't support all the buttons on the KeyPoint. Nothing I've found will work. Is there any hope for me with Remote Buddy?

Thanks for your time either way.

Last edited: 16.12.2006 23:27:07

These entries from the FAQ may be relevant to this topic:

Driver

What is the task of the driver and what do I need it for? (FAQ015E0177)
The Setup Wizard already contains a summary on how the driver does help Remote Buddy to provide additional features and hardware support. If that summary was too short, here's some more info on each of the points:
- fix for Apple® Remote driver problems in OS X
  Since OS X 10.4.9 (that includes 10.4.10/10.4.11/10.5.x/..) many users have been experiencing that one button press on their remote does now trigger two reactions - once from any currently running application that supports the Apple® Remote, once the default system action. So, this problem is not specific to Remote Buddy. The driver provides a clean, system conform fix to this problem using only documented APIs.
- enabling of all features of built-in IR receivers
  Only with the Remote Buddy driver do you gain support for arbitrary length button presses for the Play and Menu buttons as well as minimized reaction times for all buttons. While this may sound like unimportant technical details, they actually do have a strong practical impact. If, for example, you want to map a function to the Play or Menu button, that you want to see executed for as long as you press that button, this was previously simply impossible to achieve. This limitation still applies to all other applications. It does not for Remote Buddy with the driver loaded.
- the emulation of a virtual Apple® Remote
  Control applications that have support for and listen to an Apple® Remote - with any remote control of your choice supported by Remote Buddy. And on any Mac®. This allows you to f.ex. use iAlertU side by side with Remote Buddy or accessing special functions and modes inside applications that would otherwise require these apps to have full control over the built-in IR receiver of your Mac® - and that your Mac® actually came with one.
- support for Bluetooth® remotes and external receivers
  It's not possible to reliably operate many Bluetooth® based remotes, like for example the Wii® Remote with a Mac® purely from userspace due to limitations in the operating system. The situation for many external receivers is similiar: some of their features - or the entire device - can only be supported with the help of a driver.

Hardware - Apple® Remote

After uninstalling/quitting Remote Buddy, my Mac® no longer reacts to the Apple® Remote. (FAQ015E0241)
To enable you to use all capabilities of the IR Receiver of your Mac®, Remote Buddy is using its own driver. In contrast, all other applications with integrated Apple® Remote support usually use the OS X Apple® Remote subsystem.

As long as you're running Remote Buddy, Remote Buddy and its driver are responsible for turning the received button presses into actions. As soon as you quit Remote Buddy, this task is again handled by the OS X Apple® Remote subsystem.

If other applications don't use the interface to the OS X Apple® Remote subsystem correctly, this can lead to the effect that nothing happens when you press a button on your Apple® Remote. For as long as you're running Remote Buddy, issues like this are covered by Remote Buddy and it's driver and are therefore not visible to you. However, as soon as you quit Remote Buddy, the OS X Apple® Remote subsystem is back in control and any issues caused in it by other applications become visible.

Therefore Remote Buddy is neither the cause of the issue nor is it responsible for it. Instead, the cause of the issue exists independently of Remote Buddy. It's located elsewhere and can also only be solved there.

Although our products can't cause any such issues, we're regularly contacted about such issues and asked for help. In order to make locating and fixing the cause of such issues as easy and efficient as possible, we've developed a free diagnostics tool: Remote Control Diagnostics. It can locate issues with a single click and will provide you with information about the issue as well as with instructions on how you can fix it.

User

18.12.2006 15:12:02

Re: Any hope for KeyPoint support?

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This posting is older than 6 months and can contain outdated information.

Hello Brenton,

thanks for asking.

I've had a look at their website and from the information I can
gather from it, there a strong hints that adding support for at least
the buttons is probably not that big of a deal.

Problem is, I don't have one in my possession and a quick research
did not turn up any supply for that hardware either. However, if it
is working the way I think it is, a release not so far away (but not
the next release for sure) might allow you to use Remote Buddy with
it after spending a couple of minutes with configuring the device for
use with Remote Buddy.

Best regards,
Felix

User

19.12.2006 04:33:32

Re: Any hope for KeyPoint support?

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This posting is older than 6 months and can contain outdated information.

Hello Felix,

I'm excited by the possibility of support for the KeyPoint. I thought that it might help you to tell you what happens when I try to use the KeyPoint without installing any driver. (As I am not a developer, forgive me if the following info doesn't help at all.)

When I first plugged in the remote receiver, I think a window came up saying something about the Mac not being able to identify the keyboard that was just plugged in. I should have taken note what it said, because I dismissed it, and it no longer appears when I plug in the receiver.

The cursor movement pad and the left-click, right-click, volume up, volume down, and power buttons on the KeyPoint all work immediately. Because of the "unidentified keyboard" window I saw, I thought to bring up the Keyboard Viewer, and found out the other six buttons are mapped to keyboard keys:

KeyPoint Button - Corresponding Keyboard Key
---------------------------------------
Rewind - page up
Play - F5
Fast Forward - page down

Beginning - home
Stop - escape
End - end

The only button that does nothing is the "Menu" button on the KeyPoint (upper-most middle button).

I hope this will be useful to you. Thanks again.

Yours truly,
-Brent

User

22.12.2006 23:44:01

Re: Re: Any hope for KeyPoint support?

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This posting is older than 6 months and can contain outdated information.

Hello Brenton,

thanks for the info. It's in fact very useful and the KeyPoint seems
to work exactly the way that I already thought it would. I'm now sure
that the planned feature I previously hinted at should also cover that.

In the meantime, you may want to try customizing the HotKey Remote's
keymaps to cover the key presses simulated by your KeyPoint remote
control. Many Behaviours should work, but others won't, as they send
keypresses as well and will interfere with what the KeyPoint is sending.

Best regards,
Felix

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