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Controlling an iMac via Infinity Touchscreen?


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Hey all,

New here, getting a C4 system installed in my condo in the next couple weeks and very much looking forward to it! I have a question regarding XMBC integration on an iMac. In my main theatre room I will be running a HC-300 to control a Mac Mini running XBMC (actually Plex, but same issues apply), no worries there using Alan's driver and having the mini hooked up to my Kuro as several of you seem to be doing something similar?

However, in my master bedroom, I run a 27" wall mounted iMac (again running a Plex front-end) in lieu of a TV -- IPTV and such has allowed me to cut cable. If I connected an HC-200 to the iMac, that should give me control of the iMac and all Plex content via the Infinity TS installed in the master bedroom, right? Right now I just use an Apple remote and the only purpose of that iMac is to run Plex, but I'm just trying to figure out the best way to include it in my C4 ecosystem and control the media on it through the TS as well. Thoughts on the best way to accomplish this?

Thanks.

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Plex wont work with the XBMC driver, I tried it already.

Yes an infinity touchscreen will control your iMac running XBMC, but I dont see how it will be that user friendly. For example, constantly looking back and forth at the wall and the tv to see what your inputs are doing would prove annoying. Just get an SR-250 remote for your master or an iPad with C4 app.

You don't need an HC-200 to control the iMac because it is controlled via IP and not IR.

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Plex wont work with the XBMC driver, I tried it already.

Yes an infinity touchscreen will control your iMac running XBMC, but I dont see how it will be that user friendly. For example, constantly looking back and forth at the wall and the tv to see what your inputs are doing would prove annoying. Just get an SR-250 remote for your master or an iPad with C4 app.

You don't need an HC-200 to control the iMac because it is controlled via IP and not IR.

Hi well_armed,

I thought it did per Alan's comments here?

my latest driver was modified to support the plex http api (which is the main reason why the up, down, left, right commands were changed).

Perhaps that was from the old version of Plex? I don't want to navigate controls on the TS, as I can see how that would be way too cumbersome, what I would like to do is be able to touch a movie poster on the TS and have it play in the bedroom, like it will in the media room via the driver? Am I mistaken in thinking this was possible?

Also, and sorry for the newbie questions, IP commands will still work over wifi, or do they need to be hardwired (Mac Mini is hardwired, iMac uses Wifi).

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Plex wont work with the XBMC driver' date=' I tried it already.

Yes an infinity touchscreen will control your iMac running XBMC, but I dont see how it will be that user friendly. For example, constantly looking back and forth at the wall and the tv to see what your inputs are doing would prove annoying. Just get an SR-250 remote for your master or an iPad with C4 app.

You don't need an HC-200 to control the iMac because it is controlled via IP and not IR.[/quote']

Hi well_armed,

I thought it did per Alan's comments here?

my latest driver was modified to support the plex http api (which is the main reason why the up, down, left, right commands were changed).

Perhaps that was from the old version of Plex? I don't want to navigate controls on the TS, as I can see how that would be way too cumbersome, what I would like to do is be able to touch a movie poster on the TS and have it play in the bedroom, like it will in the media room via the driver? Am I mistaken in thinking this was possible?

Also, and sorry for the newbie questions, IP commands will still work over wifi, or do they need to be hardwired (Mac Mini is hardwired, iMac uses Wifi).

The latest XBMC driver build was not done by Alan, but a member of this board. I have tested this driver against the latest Plex build and they do NOT work.

But yes, if you touch a movie file on your touch screen it will send a command to your iMac to play that file. However, the location of that file needs to be a networked drive and mapped within C4 (for media file management). Most people have a NAS for all their media files and that is mapped in C4, as it is more stable to have a dedicated media server that always talks to the Director and all networked computers can access for playback.

As long as your computer is on your home network (wifi or ethernet), the C4 XBMC driver will talk to it (make sure within XBMC you have control enabled and the same Ports o both sides).

Additionally, (depending on the file size) wireless playback from a network drive will probably prove to be too slow. So if your content lives on the Mac Mini, playback to the iMac wirelessly will prove to be too slow IMHO (and vice versa).

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Thanks for all your replies.

I use a DAS (Drobo) rather than a NAS for content storage, which shows up as a volume on the Mac Mini that is always on. This plays 1080P over wifi w/ no issues, though I do have a couple Airport Expresses to act as repeaters and strengthen the signal. Knock on wood, its been rock solid.

Is the current XBMC driver on the dealer forums the one I should be using?

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Thanks for all your replies.

I use a DAS (Drobo) rather than a NAS for content storage, which shows up as a volume on the Mac Mini that is always on. This plays 1080P over wifi w/ no issues, though I do have a couple Airport Expresses to act as repeaters and strengthen the signal. Knock on wood, its been rock solid.

Is the current XBMC driver on the dealer forums the one I should be using?

Than you should be set to go.

Not sure what driver you are talking about in the dealer section until I "see" the version number (but most likely it is).

The latest one is built to work with the Dharma build.

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Thanks for all your replies.

I use a DAS (Drobo) rather than a NAS for content storage' date=' which shows up as a volume on the Mac Mini that is always on. This plays 1080P over wifi w/ no issues, though I do have a couple Airport Expresses to act as repeaters and strengthen the signal. Knock on wood, its been rock solid.

Is the current XBMC driver on the dealer forums the one I should be using?[/quote']

Than you should be set to go.

Not sure what driver you are talking about in the dealer section until I "see" the version number (but most likely it is).

The latest one is built to work with the Dharma build.

Can you let me know the version number of the one you're using? I'll pass it along to my dealer.

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