Remote buttons stop working

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leina

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Remote buttons stop working

#1

Post by leina » Wed Apr 19, 2017 6:43 pm

I've been having problems with my remote for the past several days. For example, if I push any button a few times in a row it will work fine the first 2 or 3 times but then stop functioning. I can then use a different button once or twice but then it, and every other button on the remote, will stop functioning. The light on the receiver does turn on every time I push a button.

I have Windows 7 and the same remote and receiver that came with the computer years ago. I do not have an Xbox or any other thing that "should" affect/access the remote.

About a week before the problems began, my daughter downloaded the Subway Surfer game (which uses the Bluestacks app). I suspected it was related to that even though the timing was a bit off, but uninstalling Bluestacks had no effect. That was the only game we've ever had on the machine.

With some Internet searching, I found several potential fixes but none of them worked. I have:
Replaced the batteries to the remote
Checked all the settings to ensure that Chrome and iTunes cannot run in the background
Rolled back the updates (to Adobe Reader and Flash) that were done during the relevant time period
Performed a system restore (however, the set point was only a couple days ago, so may not have been far enough in the past)
Confirmed that the Device Manager can still see all the relevant "eHome" pieces and that it reports they are working OK
Unplugged the USB for the receiver and tried a new one after a few minutes

Fixes suggested in various posts that I have not tried:
Shorting out the remote--seemed drastic and my hunch is that it's not the remote itself but whatever is translating the remote's instructions that is causing the problems
Uninstalling all the "eHome" pieces--but that post was from several years ago and didn't describe how to reinstall them, plus, given the age of the system I wasn't sure I'd be able to find suitable downloads
Changing the keyboard mapping--could not understand all the instructions so didn't attempt

Do you have any ideas for me? This has taken ton of time to investigate, especially since my computer is very slow when it comes to shutting down/restarting.

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Crash2009

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#2

Post by Crash2009 » Thu Apr 20, 2017 7:45 am

Check your USB drivers

or....

Buy a new remote....$15 bucks....does the problem still exist with the new one?

Dkeyguy1

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#3

Post by Dkeyguy1 » Fri Apr 21, 2017 7:03 pm

A long time ago, far far away,(about 2 miles), I was trying to use Recorded TV HD, had to look it up,....
a little time would pass with everything working fine, then all of a sudden the remote would start working erratically.
Unplugging the MC IR reciever and plugging it back in was the quick fix; corrupted drivers.
Several attempts with several versions, always the same. Too much else going on to investigate further.
Sorry I don't have more info.

dmagerl

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#4

Post by dmagerl » Fri Apr 21, 2017 7:39 pm

That's the classic "almost dead battery" symptom. When mine works for a few times in a row and then stops, I change the batteries. I use rechargeable batteries in mine.

But you say you did that already... If you use Nimh in your remote perhaps try testing with regular alkaline batteries. Those few extra tenths of a volt from alkaline batteries might make it work.

BTW, I use the classic Microsoft RC6 remote.

DanH

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#5

Post by DanH » Fri Apr 21, 2017 9:40 pm

Definitely try the shorting trick. You do it without batteries in the remote, so there is no power to the unit. I don't remember the reason I had to do it, but it did work for me at the time.
Was Danh_HP_m376n

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Crash2009

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#6

Post by Crash2009 » Sat Apr 22, 2017 12:06 am

DanH wrote:Definitely try the shorting trick. You do it without batteries in the remote, so there is no power to the unit.
I never heard about that one. Is it similar to discharge residual power, during a cold boot of a PC?

leina

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#7

Post by leina » Sun Apr 23, 2017 6:49 am

Thanks for your help! As it turns out, I should have suspected the usual culprit: pesky children.

After re-checking that all the drivers were up-to-date, switching in regular instead of rechargeable batteries (which allowed me a few more clicks before the thing went dead), I resigned myself to try shorting out the remote and Googled again to find the page where I'd originally found that suggestion. What popped up instead was some very long post from a guy who works on all kinds of remote controls and while it did talk about shorting out the remote, he also said that the buttons can sometimes just get gummed up. So I took the remote apart and (surprise!) found some gunky purple candy-like substance blobbed over a small section of the inner workings. Cleaned it up and it works fine. So--children have a few more chores this weekend and a stricter "no eating on the couch" rule forever.

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