Logitechs Keyboards and Mouse gadjets use the Logitech SetPoint software as driver and setup tool for the special functions of the hardware. This means e. g. to redefine the function of a special key on the keyboard you can start SetPoint and assign another usage.

The screenshot example shows how to setup the “Media” button. This button is allowed to be redefined to start any app you want. Maybe you can see, that only three of all sixteen(!) available extra buttons like Play, Stop, Record and – our target here – the “Green Button” aka Media Center Button in the lower, right corner of your diNovo Mini Keyboard are available. Furthermore the other two buttons even do offer less options to redefine them. How can we modify this gratuitous constraints?

Caution! Backup your existing XML files before any change is made! You do all changes on your own risk!

Close Logitech SetPoint Software in the Systemtray if it is running.

Backup our target files:
C:\Dokumente und Einstellungen\USERNAME\Anwendungsdaten\Logitech\SetPoint\user.xml
C:\Dokumente und Einstellungen\All Users\Anwendungsdaten\Logitech\SetPoint\Devices\Keyboard\2000060\2000060.xml

This value 200060 is the hex value of the modell number of your device found in the user.xml
<Device DisplayName=”diNovo Mini” Class=”KeyboardDevice” Model=”33554528″ NumberOfButtons=”16″ ConnectionID=”">”

The 200060 is the diNovo Mini keyboard model id.

Check that you use at least version 4.70 of the Logitech Setpoint software. This is the one i used to modify my XMLs with success.

You may download the changed XMLs at the end of this article.

This files decide which keys can be remapped and in which manner this can be done. Logitech uses so called “HandlerSets” to define what a key may handle.

I did not try to find out all whistles and bells that Logitech has and hides in it’s products. I show only how to map any app you want to your Media Center / Green Button on your diNovo Mini keyboard. If you can follow this changes then you are smart enough to find out more by yourself (-:

Open 200060.xml in your favorite texteditor (Notepad++ is an excellent and free choice for XML files, google it). Find the original entry for the button name “MEDIA Center” on the end of the file. Replace the entry with:

<!– Button Name => MEDIA Center –>
<Button Number=”12320781″ Name=”Media”>
<PARAM Type=”HOTKEY” IconLoc=”Devices\\Keyboard\\CommonIcons\\mediacenter” />
<Trigger Class=”ButtonPress”>
<PARAM Button=”12320781″ />
<TriggerState Name=”ButtonDownUp” HandlerSet=”MediaPlayer” HandlerSetGroup=”HotKeysMediaGroupMini” />
</Trigger>
</Button>
</Buttons>

The “IconLoc” parameter changes the icon displayed in the button list in SetPoint. See the directory “C:\Dokumente und Einstellungen\All Users\Anwendungsdaten\Logitech\SetPoint\Devices\Keyboard\CommonIcons” for all available icons.

The “HandlerSetGroup” decides which options SetPoint will present to assign to a button (3. Choose Function in the Logitech SetPoint key assign dialog).

After saving your changes (you made a backup before, didn’t you?) open the user.xml and search for the button “Media” at the end of the file. Replace the complete button section with:

<Button Number=”12320781″ Name=”Media”>
<Param IconLoc=”Devices\Keyboard\CommonIcons\mediacenter” Type=”HOTKEY”/>
<Trigger Class=”ButtonPress”>
<Param Button=”12320781″ FirstRepeatDelay=”0″ RepeatDelay=”0″ Silent=”0″ Type=”0″/>
<TriggerState Name=”ButtonDownUp” HandlerSet=”LaunchProgram”>
<Handler Class=”FileLauncher”>
<Param BrowseType=”1″ FileName=”C:/Meedio/Meedio Ultimate/Meedio.exe” LookupPath=”0″ Name=”Meedio” Parameters=”" ShowUIDlg=”1″ Title=”Programm wählen”/>
</Handler>
</TriggerState>
</Trigger>
</Button>

Save your changes and restart the SetPoint software. Now you should find a new entry with a windows icon for your Media Center button:

These changes can be done with any of the 16 keys in on your diNovo Mini. They may work for sure with other Logitech products also.

I do not understand why Logitech does not implement something like a “Pro-Config-Mode” to let the experienced user decide what he wants to do with his expensive gadjets.

Download: XML diNovo

Update 08.01.2009
I’ve updated the XMLs. The new version contains an assignment for the “Record” key. I don’t use that key so it will now send “Esc” keystroke to the forground application. If you hold down the “Record” key for 3 seconds it sends an ALT + F4 to the forground application to close it.

Download the Zip file and copy the two XML files to the Logitech dirs on your pc (s. article for details).

Download:
Update 08.01.2009

Update 03.08.2010
I’ve changed my Meedio Ultimate Media-Center to MediaPortal. Now i need some of the function keys (F1, F2, F3 etc. pp.). The diNovo Mini Keyboard does not have these function keys. I’ve made a little workaround: a smal Autohotkey script. This Script musst be running in the background on the Media PC. It remaps the number keys together with the blue “Fn” on your keyboard to F1 – F9 function keys.

If you need the Keys F10 – F12 as well, you may add them by remapping other keys. To run the script you must install the smal autohotkey scripting software. You may download that here.

Download:
Map Funktions keys on diNovo Mini Keyboard

We are using mediacenter software for years. Regardsless of the vendor (Sceneo, Microsoft, Yahoo) or free of charge (MediaPortal, Meedio, MeediOS etc.) there is always a tool or function missing.

Maybe you have unstable services, problems with drivers or addons. You need to automate steps, close and or start programs etc.

To solve a few of this issues we’ve created a smal tool to assist in these cases. It’s not only worth a view for media center users…

WARNING:

If you have read this and still no clue what it can do for you – leave it alone

If you have no knowledge about processes and what a kill of a process can cause – leave it alone

Ergo: Use it at your own risk or leave it alone

You’ve been warned…

Requirements

It’s tested and approved for Windows XP only. May run with 2000/2003/Vista/2008 also. May need admin rights to close/kill a process not owned by the user

What is it good for?

CKS-Tool (Close, Kill Start Tool (-; can start and stop/kill apps/processes in a given order. If an app or process can not be closed it will be killed (tried to (:You may find CKS-Tool convenient if

- You need to close kill a set of processes or apps by one click with your remote control software

- You need to start or stop services but without the ugly cmd window

- You can define all your sets of apps to close or/and start in one ini-file

- You can call each set from the commandline

- You can supress any output (flawless/invisible integration in your mediacenter)

- You need to start an app but you don’t wanna see a black commandline window (hidden start)

- You need to start a few apps with waits between starts

- You need to start a few depending programs, links etc. in a well defined order

- You need to close processes or applications that have no programm window by script or on demand

- You need to start apps after closing others (e.g. close process that lock files and start your backup tool)

- You need to restart unstable software insistence on one ore more processes and/or services

- You need to start a process and send a few keystrokes to the app window after initialize

- You need to end/kill tasks that reinstalls itself everytime in the Windows autostarts (MS ActiveSync e. g.)

- You can debug your settings with a progress dialog

- You need a freeware tool for that

How does it work?

You can define sections in the ini-file of the CKS-Tool.exe The ini-file is expected to be in the same directory as the exe. Each section in the ini can have it’s own set of nine entries per services, per processes to kill and per processes to start. The number of sections is not limited (maybe by windows, we don’t care ).

CKS-Tool first always tries to close (wm_close is send to it) an app or process. Only if that fails, it tries to kill it. Services will be startet and stopped via the service process manager.

Furthermore you can define how long CKS-Tool waits before a kill is send to the process, after it has had no success to close it gently.

If you start CKS-Tool with the section name which you’ve created (e.g. "CKS-Tool.exe testsection" see below) the following happens:

1.) Each process named in the item "StopServiceX" (X in 1..9) will be closed by using the stop service via service handler. Than all processes in items "StopProcessX" receive a wm_close message in the order of the numbering

2.) CKS-Tool then waits the specified number of seconds defined in item "WaitBeforeKill"

3.) Then it checks if any of the processes (not services!) in 1.) is still alive. If so, it kills them if possible (e. g. a system process may deny such an attempt)

After that CKS-Tool checks if further items for starting programs are defined in the ini file. Each entry for a program / app / process start can consist of 6 entries:

; set if items for one process (out of max. 9 per section) app to start

WaitBeforeStartX=

OptionsX=

WorkDirX=

StartProcessX=

WaitBeforeSendKeysX=

SendKeysX=

X can be a number from 1 to 9. The item set will execute in the order from 1 to 9. This makes it possible to define starts and delayed starts for depending applications. An example entry:

; ‘Testsection’ (without the quotes) has to be the

; command line option when starting CKS-Tool.exe

; to execute the content of this section

[TestSection]

ProgressDlg=on

WaitBeforeKill=5

EndProcess1=WellKnownTask.exe

EndProcess2=notepad.exe

WaitBeforeStart1=5

Options1=max

WorkDir1=c:\windows\system32

StartProcess1=notepad.exe c:\boot.ini

WaitBeforeStart2=10

Options2=

WorkDir2=c:\windows\system32

StartProcess2=services.msc

4.) Wait 5 Seconds

5.) Start notpad.exe and open c:\boot.ini

6.) Wait 10 Seconds (WaitbeforeStart2=10) and run service manager console

CKS-Tool displays a progress dialogbox with information on whats going on. If you don’t wan’t that dialog you can disable it in your section in the ini file. Default is on. This is a per section option.

ProgressDlg=off

WaitBeforeSendKeysX waits the given number of seconds after starting the application / process.

SendKeysX sends the given Keys to the forground window (hopefully your started application (:

The syntax for the Keys is analog to Autohotkey’s syntax: http://www.autohotkey.com/docs/commands/Send.htm

No syntax checks will be done. CKS-Tool sends the hole string according to the autohotkey syntax to your program. You have got to take care of it yourself. An Example of that powerful function is inside the ini file.

Firefox example

Firefox lags the option to start in Fullscreen or kiosk mode by using a command line option. This is possible by hitting F11 after the start of the browser. This makes sense especially, if you wann use a great and skinned browser with your mediacenter, but you don’t wanna show menues or other windows like design.

[StartFirefoxFullScreen]

ProgressDlg=off

;nothing to close or kill

WaitBeforeKill=0

; go right away

WaitBeforeStart1=0

;maximize firefox win on start

Options1=max

;workdir

WorkDir1=C:\Programme\Firefox

;exe to start

StartProcess1=firefox.exe

;starts are always asyncronus, so we have to give Firefox a few seconds to initialize

WaitBeforeSendKeys1=4

;send F11 Key for fullscreen view of firefox

SendKeys1={F11}

Use "chs-tool.exe StartFirefoxFullScreen" from a command menue. This starts the browser without showing any window (e.g. cmd window) and sends "F11" key to firefox after it is initalised.

Software updatet on 27.03.2008. Please see the readme and the ini file inside the archive for more detailed examples and informations.

Download: CKS-Tool