PlayStation 3 Bluetooth Remote

[jitterjames]

It seems a lot of people are having problems with the ps3 remote because they are using out of date versions of the plugin. The newest version of the plugin is on page 4 of this thread. It is the 4th item on that page, posted by CHeitkamp.
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=640&start=45

Is there some way to create a sticky to this post? Maybe we should just start a new thread for this new version of the plugin. Also, this version of the plugin seems to be working very well, so shouldn't it be included as part of the standard EG installation?

Jitter

Here an almost complete rewrite of the PS3 BD Remote plugin.
It's not fully compatible to the old version.

Its tested with EventGhost Version: 0.3.7.r1194

Changes:

• Uses the new eg.WinApi.HID class for the HID stuff.
• Shows only the HID entries with matching VID+PID
• Timer-based enduring events replaced with eg.TriggerEnduringEvent
• Events are now PS3.Button.XXX, to be "compatible" to the default HID plugin
• Some buttons needed to be renamed to make multi-button easier
• Multiple button presses are now fully decoded e.g. PS3.Button.L1+R1+Enter (remark: only the following keys are multi-button compatible: L1..L3, R1..R3, PS, Enter, Triangle, Circle, Cross, Square, Select, Start, Top, Right, Down and Left
• A new action for getting the battery level of the remote. Level: 0 (emtpy) - 5 (full). (remark: to get the battery level at least one key must be received.
• This plugin version works, even if the battery is not completly full
• The plugin warns if the battery level is < 2 (=almost empty)
• Zone events are no longer avaible, because they were not fully compatible with the multiple keypress detection
• The sniff-mode is not implemented, now. I'll do it in one of the next releases.
• The parser does some plausibility checks on the received data, because sometimes the data gets trashed. E.g. on connection loss or reconnect.

[Bartman]

I edited the first post and added a link to the posting.

[brand10]

install the latest version of the plugin

That works, thanks!
I thought the newest version is part of the eventghost installer...

However, theres a statement in the release notes, that sniff-mode will be implemented in the future. This note is from last Year. Is the Development of this Plugin still active?

P.S.: Sry for my bad english.

[jitterjames]

no, I don't think you could describe the development as "active"

...but you never know when someone might step up to the plate and make some improvements. It's possible that CHeitkamp just lost interest, or maybe he/she wasn't able to figure the sniff mode out.

I know with the old version the sniff mode only worked with the widcomm stack anyway.

Someone else has come up with a program that is not a plugin at all, but at the moment it is still flawed. Check it out on page 5 or 6 of this thread.

As a last resort you can always build a switch into your remote. That is what I did. It's kind of ugly and you have to remember to use it, but it does the trick. If you want, I could probably post some photos at some point.

[brand10]

no, I don't think you could describe the development as "active"

Oh, what a pity

I know with the old version the sniff mode only worked with the widcomm stack anyway.

I ask myself how other devices handle this problem. Blutooth Headsets for example. Most of them dont have a power-switch. I can't believe their drivers (IF they have a driver) have routines for each Bluetooth Stack out there... Widcomm, Microsoft, Bluesoleil, BlueFritz!, Toshiba, and so on...

Someone else has come up with a program that is not a plugin at all, but at the moment it is still flawed. Check it out on page 5 or 6 of this thread.

Jep, ill try that. But it would be much more elegant if this would be part of the PS3 plugin.

As a last resort you can always build a switch into your remote. That is what I did.

Thats a solution, but i dont want to tinker on my remote controller More possible is, that i learn Python and build in the sniff-mode by myself

[jitterjames]

I ask myself how other devices handle this problem. Blutooth Headsets for example. Most of them dont have a power-switch. I can't believe their drivers (IF they have a driver) have routines for each Bluetooth Stack out there... Widcomm, Microsoft, Bluesoleil, BlueFritz!, Toshiba, and so on...

I think the problem is that this device is designed to work with a PS3. I assume that sony has figured it out and the remote goes to sleep just fine when it's connect to a PS3. the fact that this remote works at all (extremely well IMHO) with a pc is big bonus.

Thats a solution, but i dont want to tinker on my remote controller More possible is, that i learn Python and build in the sniff-mode by myself

go for it. I agree it would be best. I would like to see it working with the microsoft (default) stack. Unfortunately, I haven't the foggiest idea of how this stuff works internally (bluetooth stacks etc). I could probably figure out the python part, but not the rest. It's not like Sony is publishing tutorials on how to communicate with their BD remote through a pc...

[brand10]

Short Question: Whats the difference between "trigger enduring events" activated and deactivated? With my remote it ends up with the same result

[jitterjames]

actions like "autorepeat current macro" and "jump if long press" will not work unless you have enduring events triggered.

[CHeitkamp]

no, I don't think you could describe the development as "active" ... It's possible that CHeitkamp just lost interest, or maybe he/she wasn't able to figure the sniff mode out.

I'm sorry - up to now, I didn't find a way how to use the sniff mode. The only thing a can do now is trying to re-implement the sniff mode code from the old plugin. At the moment I only have a Win 7 (x86) system for development and testing - so I need to install an old PC with XP first.

I know with the old version the sniff mode only worked with the widcomm stack anyway.

It seems to be compatible with the Widcomm stack v5 only (used on Win 2K / XP). The Broadcom/Widcomm stack v6 seems to be not fully compatible to the "old" sniff mode - because the new stack is only an addon, based on the Microsoft stack and drivers. Microsoft mentions the sniff mode in some windows 7 news - possibly it is handled automatically/internally. Fortunally there is no real documentation from MS and Broadcom, which I can use.

Maybe superarcan can share his knowledge, how to activate the sniff mode on newer Windows systems. Or maybe he can compile his BDRemotePowerManager as a DLL, which can be integrated with the plugin.

[jitterjames]

It seems to be compatible with the Widcomm stack v5 only (used on Win 2K / XP). The Broadcom/Widcomm stack v6 seems to be not fully compatible to the "old" sniff mode - because the new stack is only an addon, based on the Microsoft stack and drivers. Microsoft mentions the sniff mode in some windows 7 news - possibly it is handled automatically/internally. Fortunally there is no real documentation from MS and Broadcom, which I can use.

seems like a lot of work for a solution that will only benefit a small number of users.

Maybe superarcan can share his knowledge, how to activate the sniff mode on newer Windows systems. Or maybe he can compile his BDRemotePowerManager as a DLL, which can be integrated with the plugin.

I think this is the way to go. Unfortunately he is using a hack which has side effects. Still better than nothing, and if he shares his code maybe someone can help to overcome the problems. A dll would be great but even a commandline executable that could put the remote to sleep would be great. I get the feeling the wakeup part is handled by the remote and stack with no help from superarcans program. Just as if you were to hold the PS button down for 6 seconds, when you press a key it wakes up by itself.

btw, I have tested this 6 second method and it does work. Hold the PS button down for exactly 6 seconds and the current drops from 16 milliAmps to less than 1 milliAmp. If only we could fool the remote into thinking that button had been down for 6 seconds! It is hard to know how long 6 seconds is so I use the "long keypress" feature with an OSD popup to let me know when the button has been down for 6 seconds.

[brand10]

seems like a lot of work for a solution that will only benefit a small number of users.

I dont think that only a small group will benefit from this feature... If the PS3 remote would have a Charging-Station like the Logitech diNovo Edge... OK. No need for an implementation. But i dont want to change/charge my batteries every 15 days. This makes the remote nearly useless.

But again: I think the Power-Management is mostly done by the Bluetooth Device himself. As mentioned before, i cant believe, each BT Headset Driver has implementations for each Bluetooth Stack on the market.

However. I searched the Inet for a solution too, but havent found anything yet. No document, no APIs, nothing. But i wont stop yet

[jitterjames]

seems like a lot of work for a solution that will only benefit a small number of users.

I dont think that only a small group will benefit from this feature... If the PS3 remote would have a Charging-Station like the Logitech diNovo Edge... OK. No need for an implementation. But i dont want to change/charge my batteries each 15 days. This makes the remote nearly useless.

I'm not talking about the feature, I'm talking about the people who are using the ps3 remote and windows xp and are using widcomm version 5. If you are one of those people then I can see why you would feel that way... but then you are not the one doing the work.

Also, I absolutely agree that recharging the batteries every 15 days is an annoyance, and I hope that we can find a solution, but I would not agree that doing 1 minute of work every 2 weeks makes the remote "nearly useless". How long do you think it would take CHeitkamp to make the proposed modification to this plugin?

[derelict]

ok... let me chime in here for a few seconds.... i was/am following this thread for quite some time, hopeing that the powersaving issue (sniffmode) will be solved soon.... but no luck. i agree with everyone, that the sniffmode is a must have feature with a ps3 remote, because i really don't like to buy batteries every two weeks.

So i thought myself... there must be a way to solve this somehow.... so let me share on how i've got powersaving working on windows 7 64bit a few months ago:

- widcomm stack still needed (5.1.0.1100 is fine)
- create a timer trigger: start "after given duration" set to 2minutes / loops 1 (event: ps3remote.hibernate)
- install/use the latest ps3 plugin posted by jitterjames and rename the plugin install folder to ps3powersaving (this plugin still has the sniff mode code, but has disabled the thread based hibernation events which caused problems on latest eventghost releases, we'll generate them using a timer event... see bellow) = eventprefix ps3powersaving
- install/use the latest winapi based ps3 plugin posted by CHeitkamp, use this plugin for all your events and battery level checks = eventprefix whatever you want/need
- add the following macros:

this macro is triggered by the timer event and will trigger HID.Hibernate which will then trigger the sniffmode of the "old broken" ps3 plugin posted by jitterjames and in turn will put the ps3 remote into powersaving mode:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<EventGhost Version="1262">
<Macro Name="hibernate ps3" Expanded="True">
<Event Name="Timer.PS3remote.hibernate" />
<Action>
EventGhost.PythonCommand(u'eg.TriggerEvent("Hibernate", prefix = "HID")')
</Action>
</Macro>
</EventGhost>

this macro is triggered by all ps3powersaving prefixed events/keypresses (those generated by the ps3powersaving ps3 plugin) and obviously resets the timer based trigger to NOT put the ps3 into powersaving mode yet.:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<EventGhost Version="1262">
<Macro Name="reset hibernate timer" Expanded="True">
<Event Name="ps3powersaving.*" />
<Action>
Timer.TimerAction(u'Put PS3 Remote into hibernate mode', 1, 1, 1.0, u'', False, True, 1, u'00:00:00')
</Action>
</Macro>
</EventGhost>

works like a charm for me! hope this helps someone!

i can't remember if i modified the jitterjames plugin in some parts to get everything running nicely.... if there is an interested... i might post it!? but please try it yourself first.

cheers

marcel

[The_Dogg]

ok... let me chime in here for a few seconds.... i was/am following this thread for quite some time, hopeing that the powersaving issue (sniffmode) will be solved soon.... but no luck. i agree with everyone, that the sniffmode is a must have feature with a ps3 remote, because i really don't like to buy batteries every two weeks.

So i thought myself... there must be a way to solve this somehow.... so let me share on how i've got powersaving working on windows 7 64bit a few months ago:

- widcomm stack still needed (5.1.0.1100 is fine)
- create a timer trigger: start "after given duration" set to 2minutes / loops 1 (event: ps3remote.hibernate)
- install/use the latest ps3 plugin posted by jitterjames and rename the plugin install folder to ps3powersaving (this plugin still has the sniff mode code, but has disabled the thread based hibernation events which caused problems on latest eventghost releases, we'll generate them using a timer event... see bellow) = eventprefix ps3powersaving
- install/use the latest winapi based ps3 plugin posted by CHeitkamp, use this plugin for all your events and battery level checks = eventprefix whatever you want/need
- add the following macros:

this macro is triggered by the timer event and will trigger HID.Hibernate which will then trigger the sniffmode of the "old broken" ps3 plugin posted by jitterjames and in turn will put the ps3 remote into powersaving mode:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<EventGhost Version="1262">
<Macro Name="hibernate ps3" Expanded="True">
<Event Name="Timer.PS3remote.hibernate" />
<Action>
EventGhost.PythonCommand(u'eg.TriggerEvent("Hibernate", prefix = "HID")')
</Action>
</Macro>
</EventGhost>

this macro is triggered by all ps3powersaving prefixed events/keypresses (those generated by the ps3powersaving ps3 plugin) and obviously resets the timer based trigger to NOT put the ps3 into powersaving mode yet.:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<EventGhost Version="1262">
<Macro Name="reset hibernate timer" Expanded="True">
<Event Name="ps3powersaving.*" />
<Action>
Timer.TimerAction(u'Put PS3 Remote into hibernate mode', 1, 1, 1.0, u'', False, True, 1, u'00:00:00')
</Action>
</Macro>
</EventGhost>

works like a charm for me! hope this helps someone!

i can't remember if i modified the jitterjames plugin in some parts to get everything running nicely.... if there is an interested... i might post it!? but please try it yourself first.

cheers

marcel

Thanks for the info, I will definitely try this out and will post back the results

[derelict]

is there a general interest in how to do it "my way" ?

if so... i'll try to put every piece together nicely and post it!?