Remote control depressing SHIFT, CTRL, ALT and other keys

[matthers]

Hi
I have been using a Gyration RF remote control for quite some time now with my Win7 x64 MC, but lately I have been experiencing some weird signals being sent from it causing the SHIFT, CTRL, ALT and sometimes the Windows key to become locked on the PC. I can see they're locked by bringing up the on-screen keyboard. Often clicking the mouse on the depressed keys will unlock them, but as the PC thinks they're locked, other remote signals are impacted as they believe these keys are being held down. I also need to find if it's the right or left key which is being locked down.
The remote control is programmable and has 4 profiles you can set up. I have recorded a profile for my Samsung TV to allow for volume, channel and power commands to be sent. I have noticed that if I am watching the media center, and i switch to change the TV volume down, the SHIFT/CTRL keys sometimes get stuck. I can see the TV volume changing as the OSD shows this, so it appears that I am sending a TV signal which then affects the PC??? Am guessing CDC over HDMI could be playing a role here, but I don't even know how you'd go about trying to lock these keys from the RC if you even wanted to. When they're locked, the minimise/restore/maximise icons dissapear in Media Center from the top right hand corner. Navigation now is extremely difficult and the best solution I have found is to try and resend the same command to unlock it, which I can manage sometimes. Otherwise I have to remote into the desktop from another machine which clears it, and then return focus to the TV (which I have a shortcut to do from the taskbar to kill the remote session which is handy. To unlock it, I switch to TV profile on the remote, hold volume down and then at the same time, point the RC away from the IR receiver on the TV.

Does anyone have any idea as to what might be happening here, and how a TV signal could lock keyboard keys down on the HTPC? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Crash2009]

Sounds similar to the Chrome problem. Sometimes Chrome re-maps the keyboard incorrectly.

[matthers]

Interesting. I have just deleted 2 reg keys at [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\HidIr\Remotes\745a17a0-74d3-11d0-b6fe-00a0c90f57d.. One had the RemoteName of Samsung MCE Remote and the other called QuatroPulse MCE Remote. The latter could well be a default with Windows, but don't know where the Samsung one came from. Anyway, have been trying to make it fail within MC and it's better - though maybe time will tell it's exactly the same.
As for Chrome remapping, interesting you should mention that. I use the ReLaunch tool to fire up certain URLs into Chrome from the MC interface. Was just on a webpage, changed to TV remote profile and hit volume up. LSHIFT, LCTRL, LALT, Windows Key, RSHIFT, RALT, RCTRL all became completely locked down. Hitting keys on the keyboard (which BTW is an RF Gyration keyboard) did nothing. Remoting in again free'd it up

[Crash2009]

Stop the Chrome Service for a minute or 2 and see if the problem goes away.

I think I read about the Chrome thing here somewhere. Somebody had a fix for that.

Here it is http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/vie ... 721#p83721

[matthers]

Have checked Chrome's settings and the box to continue running applications in the background is unchecked. I do however have Hola running in the system tray as well as as a chrome extension. I guess if I'm experiencing problems when in Chrome then there's no solution as I need to use Chrome for Relaunch. I don't understand how Chrome can cause these keys to get locked. It would have to be CEC related as these are Samsung TV IR signals affecting the PC.
Have just tested this theory using the actual TV remote and whilst in Chrome, volume up on the TV remote has now locked the Shift + Alt keys. Ok, where next?

[matthers]

SOLVED! I once heard somewhere this story about a manager who would have people approach him in search of an answer about something. He'd tell them to go away and write it down and the answer would come to them. Amazing what posting this issue has done to find the problem after 12 months!
So, was about 12 months ago I had enabled my Onkyo amp to allow me to direct IR commands sent to the Samsung TV (namely the volume up and down control) so I could point the RC at the TV instead of pointing it at the amp which was in the corner. It also gave me the benefit of seeing the amp's volume OSD on the TV.
This is the setting which I have changed back to Disable and it has completely resolved it. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/942 ... ssThru.JPG

Still odd that this issue has even occurred in the first place, but resorting back to pointing my remote control back at the amp to fix it is definitely something i can live with. Well for now anyway

Thanks all!

[matthers]

Looks like i got way too excited. It does appear to have made a difference not sending TV IR signals to the TV and just sending amp IR signals I'd stored in the RC to the amp, but am still seeing Shift, Ctrl, Windows key get locked down when sending the amp IR signals with the TV picking them up at the same time. The only thing I use the TV IR receiver for is powering off the TV, so maybe I should look at disabling or blocking off the IR receiver on the TV altogether.
The other thing I enabled, which can be seen from the previous image, is the power control of the amp. So when I turn off or on the TV, the amp powers itself off or on at the same time. Disabling this feature may be worth a shot too.

[Crash2009]

http://www.instructables.com/id/IR-Remo ... alization/

Sounds like a lot of work, just to see what's going on.

http://www.compendiumarcana.com/irwidget/

IR Scope looks like fun.

http://www.davehouston.net/learn.htm

IR-RF Capture

This is all beyond my PEG Rate, might get you some hits though.

[mdavej]

Didn't see exactly what IR dongle you have on your PC, but I can tell you that some (like Diamond Multimedia and other integrated IR sensors) use the NEC1 protocol instead of MCE or Ortek. Your Onkyo also uses the NEC1 protocol. Samsung TVs use NEC1 and NEC2. So I do see the possibility of interference from Onkyo and Samsung commands. If I were you, I'd get a genuine MCE (RC6) or Ortek protocol dongle (and remote if you don't have a universal).

I have an IR Widget and use IR Scope. I highly recommend them. But it may be simpler to just get a cheap JP1 remote and interface cable. I don't think any of that is necessary in this case since all the signals and protocols are known.

[matthers]

Thanks Crash for the links. It does look like a bit of a project but not too far out there.

mdavej - Am just using the RF dongle which comes with the Gyration RF remote - no IR dongle at all. The remote is a learning remote which can learn and then send IR codes, so the IR receivers are just the ones on the TV and the amp. CEC must be interpreting some of these IR codes and locking the keys on the media center. I confirmed that just using the normal TV IR remote caused the keys on the media center to lock up. Now I've turned off pass through from the TV to the amp, its certainly improved the situation. Next I'll need to look at disabling the power pass through also. I had read somewhere that the power consumed by the amp massively increases when you set it up like this which is very weird.

[mdavej]

I'm sorry, but you completely lost me. Gyration is an air mouse, right? It moves a pointer and sends L/R clicks. And PCs can't do CEC without special hardware/software (do you have a PluseEight adapter?). So it's impossible for any IR or CEC commands to have any effect at all. How are you controlling your PC besides moving the air mouse and clicking things? If the special keys are stuck, some accessibility options probably got enabled accidentally or L/R click are getting stuck. I'd try a different mouse for a while (touchpad maybe) and see if the problem goes away. You can use your smartphone as an air mouse and keyboard and HTPC remote using the app MobileMouse.

Pass thru has nothing to do with it. But it does make sense that power consumption would go up since the amp can't be turned completely off with it enabled.

[matthers]

The Gyration remote is an RF remote which comes with it's own dongle. It also comes with a driver which is installed on the PC. It also can learn and retransmit IR codes as well. It's dedicated to be a Media center remote and I'm on my second one now as the previous one fell to pieces in the end. It has all the buttons of a MC remote and can launch Pictures/Videos/Recorded TV/Live TV all with the touch of separate buttons. No one stocks these anymore and I haven't found anything else equivalent which can do everything this can do over RF. So, knowing that it can transmit IR codes, you can now understand about the CEC over HDMI. I don't use the IR codes to do CEC over HDMI, but sadly it appears to be a side effect as the only IR codes I'm sending are for the TV/amp. Again, using the original Samsung TV remote causes the same problem on the Media Center due to CEC. Make sense?

[Crash2009]

I found a Good video describing/selling the Gyration Remote (gyroscopic subsystem ). Wave the remote up-down-left-right the mouse pointer moves.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... No=5608195 Strangely similar to a Wii. Looks like they sold the technology, eliminated back stock, and were erased from the map.

Similar to the accelerometer in our phones now.

[holidayboy]

I have a Gyration remote and really like it for the rare occasions when I need to use a mouse for something on the main HTPC.

[mdavej]

I used to have a gyration too. I just can't fathom the IR and CEC thing. Mine had no buttons besides L/R click and a few middle buttons, and no IR. CEC is also impossible without Pulse Eight. So what you describe still sounds impossible. Maybe a picture of one would clarify things.

Mine looked like this:

[holidayboy]

This is the US version, the UK one had teletext keys.

http://www.amazon.com/Gyration-GYR3101U ... B000O7IHOK

[mdavej]

Thanks. That makes a lot more sense. My guess is stuck buttons are the culprit. Again, I don't see how IR or CEC could possibly come into play in this case. You can prove this to yourself by covering the IR transmitter and disconnecting HDMI from the PC and using VGA temporarily instead. I'll bet you'll still have the problem.

[matthers]

I have the GYR4101 - http://www.amazon.com/Gyration-GYR4101U ... B0018DH696
I don't use the iTunes/WMP integration much, but it's a great remote except the only downside is it doesn't do macros. Having RF controls for all media center options is great, and then it can also learn IR commands too, so best of both worlds.

On my older Samsung 40" TV which isn't smart and about 4 years old now, I have a RaspberryPi connected to the network running OpenELEC connected in on HDMI and powered by the USB maintenance port on the back of the TV, and I can control all of this using the standard RC without anything extra. It may be using the built-in AnyNet+ to make this work, but I have no other hardware other than the TV and the Pi connected on HDMI.

On the Smart 55" Samsung TV the buttons being stuck down on the RF RC or keyboard can't be the problem if I can use the standard TV remote to cause keys on the media center to remain depressed. This is only happening when using the TV to accept IR commands for the amp. Being more clear on this, I send a TV volume up IR control to the TV, and this is passed through to the amp which in turn turns up the volume on the amp itself. For this action to affect keys on the PC itself I'd have thought that the only way this could happen would be via CEC? Your comment about conflicts between the Onkyo amp and Samsung TV seem to explain how that could happen.

[mdavej]

I understand the TV sending vol via CEC to the AMP. What puzzles me is that PC's, as far as I know, have no CEC capabilities whatsoever. So it's impossible for that to have any effect. If your PC had some kind of IR receiver, maybe an internal one you've never noticed before, then I can see IR possibly causing the issue. Other than that, I'm stumped.

[matthers]

Isn't the Raspberry Pi running Linux the same situation as this?