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User

25.05.2011 21:37:19

WANTED: Beta testers for the upcoming Remote Buddy update

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This posting is older than 6 months and can contain outdated information.

Hi everyone,

after the last PowerPC machine here quit service a few months ago, I can no longer test Remote Buddy updates on a PowerPC-based Mac personally.

Since Remote Buddy 1.17 features a re-structured driver architecture, I'd like to verify that the driver continues to work just fine on PowerPC-based Macs before releasing the update.

If you'd like to help out, here's what I'll need you to do:

1) Post your machine/OS spec to this thread:
Mac Model (f.ex. iMac G5, Mac Mini G4, iBook G3):

IR Receiver (f.ex. built-in, USB MCE receiver, USB Keyspan IR receiver):

Remote control(s) (f.ex. Apple Remote, Wii Remote, ..):

OS version in use (f.ex. OS X 10.4 Tiger, 10.5 Leopard):

2) If I choose you as a beta-tester, I'll send you a link to a pre-release of V1.17.

3) Download and install it (including the updated Remote Buddy driver it comes with).

4) Reboot and check that your receiver and remote work as before.

5) Report the result of this short test back to me.

Thanks in advance for your time and effort.

Best regards,
Felix Schwarz

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

Built-in Online Updater

How can I manually update to the latest version? (FAQ015E0203)
You can always download the latest version from http://www.iospirit.com/remotebuddy/download/.
Please download it and replace your old version with the version contained in the DMG file.

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.

General

Where can I get the last version of Remote Buddy that also runs on PowerPC™ Mac® running OS X 10.4.6 - 10.5.8? (FAQ015E0245)
Please find the last version with support for Mac® with PowerPC™ processor below.

Filename RemoteBuddy.dmg Description
Remote Buddy 1.16.6
Filesize 8,87 MB
Last modified 27.05.2011 15:59:54
Download

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.
After updating to OS X 10.6.2, my Apple® Remote is no longer available for selection in Remote Buddy. (FAQ015E0236)
Please update your copy of Remote Buddy to version 1.15 or later.

Hardware - eHome 2005

My MCE/eHome receiver is not recognized - is it supported? (FAQ015E0192)
Remote Buddy currently only supports the models as listed under "Supported Hardware".
If you own a receiver that is being advertised for with a Windows®-Logo on the packaging or that comes bundled with a remote that has a Windows®-Logo printed on it:
Please file a support inquiry with the exact name of your receiver, as well as with the USB vendor and product ID as displayed in "System Profiler" for this device. We can then check whether we may be able to add support for your receiver in a future version.

User

28.05.2011 11:09:16

Re: WANTED: Beta testers for the upcoming Remote Buddy update

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

Hi,
This version does not support PPC Mac and not installing.

Last edited: 28.05.2011 11:13:58

User

28.05.2011 13:50:01

Re: Re: WANTED: Beta testers for the upcoming Remote Buddy update

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

Thanks for asking.

Please allow me to quote the release notes regarding PPC support:
-- cut --
Important notice regarding PowerPC™ support: Our last PowerPC™ machine quit service, so we are no longer able to test new releases for compatibility with PowerPC™ machines ourselves. Since we got zero feedback when searching for beta testers via the Remote Buddy forum and Twitter, we estimate interest in PowerPC™ support to be very low, maybe even completely absent by now. So, starting with this release, we're dropping support for PowerPC™ Macs. The - as of now - last release of Remote Buddy with support for PowerPC™ CPUs can be downloaded from the Remote Buddy FAQ.

If you happen to still use a PowerPC™-based Mac® and you'd like to help out with beta testing, please get in touch. If there's enough interest and we can gather a critical mass of beta testers, PowerPC™ support may return in the next release.
-- cut --

You can get the previous release - which still has PowerPC support - at:
http://www.iospirit.com/support/faqs/remotebuddy/category/6/General/entry/245/a/

Best regards,
Felix Schwarz

User

30.05.2011 09:00:04

Re: WANTED: Beta testers for the upcoming Remote Buddy update

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

I'd like to volunteer for the beta program. Here is the requested info:

Mac Mini G4 1.25, Leopard 10.5.8, Mantra TR-1 IR receiver

Please let me know if you need any additional information.

Thanks

Tim

User

25.06.2011 07:37:37

Re: WANTED: Beta testers for the upcoming Remote Buddy update

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

I found this thread after discovering that my Remote Buddy application offers this warning after an update; "You cannot open the application "Remote Buddy" because it is not supported on this architecture. Clearly I should have been in on this beta testing before the update was released.

~mike

Mac Mini
1.5 GHz PowerPC G4
1GB DDR SDRAM

OS X 10.5.8 - Leopard

no IR receiver
Wii remote

User

25.06.2011 12:55:06

Re: WANTED: Beta testers for the upcoming Remote Buddy update

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

Thanks for your feedback. At this point, I'm no longer looking for beta testers.

As for the reasons, here's a follow-up regarding PowerPC™ support from the IOSPIRIT Blog:

-- cut --
Follow-up regarding PowerPC™ support

I had to omit PPC support in the Remote Buddy 1.17 and Candelair 1.5 releases because I no longer have access to a PowerPC™ machine for testing purposes and nobody came back to me in time in response to my public search for PPC beta testers via the Remote Buddy forum and Twitter.

In the last two weeks since the release of the update, I have received only four emails regarding the lack of PPC support - of which two offered their help (thanks!). While I appreciate these very much, it also shows that interest in continued PPC support is very low - even much lower than I would have expected.

Therefore - and I really didn't make this decision lightheartedly - the discontinuation of PPC support is now permanent. As a service to those few who still use Remote Buddy on a PPC machine, the last release with PPC support remains available for download from the Remote Buddy FAQ.
-- cut --

Best regards,
Felix Schwarz

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