RF remote controls

From Official Kodi Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Home icon grey.png   ▶ Remote controls ▶ RF remote controls
Wiki logo.png Wiki revamp:
This page or section of the wiki undergoing a revamp. Content is still being added and organized. Please pardon the dust and anything that might not be working.

Air-mouse.pngAir-mouse2a.png
Various RF remotes that use a small USB "dongle" typically are seen as a keyboard + mouse by the computer/HTPC.
Each button on the remote sends keystroke(s) or mouse-clicks to KODI.

To link the buttons on the remote to your desired KODI actions, you will most likely need to customize your keymaps

Configuring KODI for your remote

Discovering which keystroke(s) | mouse-clicks your remote is sending

  1. Install a keyboard testing application such as KeyboardTest(Windows) or showkey (Linux) such programs will report invisible keystrokes (Alt/Esc/PgUp...etc)
    Another option is to enable Debugging in KODI, and monitor the log file created
  2. Connect the USB dongel to the PC running the keyboard testing application (Most RF remotes are PnP)
  3. Press the remote's keys, one by one, take notes about the keystrokes/mouse-clicks reported by the application. Note any modifiers Alt+F2 is not the same as F2

Modifying KODI for your remote

  1. Decide which KODI actions you wish to map to your remote buttons.
  2. For keystrokes: Following the instructions in keymaps, edit the keyboard.xml file to assign your desired KODI actions to the keystrokes sent by your remote's button.
  3. For mouse-clicks: Following the instructions in keymaps, edit the mouse.xml file to assign your desired KODI actions to your remote's button.

Special Considerations for Mouse-Clicks (available starting in version 15)

RF remotes often have an integrated Air Mouse. Most KODI users will only wish to use the left and right button of the Air-mouse
To disable the mouse-cursor place these 2 entries in mouse.xml

<mousemove>noop</mousemove>
<mousedrag>noop</mousedrag>

To properly capture a left-click, you need to place 2 entries in mouse.xml

<leftclick>Select</leftclick>
<mousedragend>Select</mousedragend>

To properly capture a right-click, you also need to place 2 entries in mouse.xml

<rightclick>Back</rightclick>
<mouserdragend>Back</mouserdragend>


Examples

A2 thumb.png MINIX NEO A2 (sample configuration available)
Nyx thumb.pngMotorola Nyxboard Hybrid
Boxee.pngBoxee remote

Customizing buttons through the GUI

Users can customize keymaps for remotes in GUI by using the community Keymap Editor add-on.