Multimedia Keyboard OSD

Im sure many of you out there have a multimedia keyboard with all those fun buttons on them that to so many useless things, right? or those who cant get iTunes to work with their keyboards?

my situation was as follows: my keyboard worked with iTunes with the multiPlugin. but with the latest release, it didnt always work... so i thought to myself, i can fix this...

Multimedia Keyboard OSD is an on screen display program that also has the capability to run a program when a key or sequence of keys are pressed.

the difference between this program and ones that create system wide keyboard shortcuts is that it will recognize most if not all of your media keys.

when a specified key sequence is pressed, the image that is associated with that sequence will show centered on the screen (much like some OSX functions like eject, etc [the inspiration for the OSD part]).

iTunes_Controller.exe is included as a small utility app for those of you who use iTunes. it can be called with command arguments to pause, play, stop, next song, prev song with iTunes. look at config.xml for examples of how to invoke these actions.

Keyboard Code Viewer.exe is included as a solution to a question that many of you might have at this point: "how do i tie keys to actions?". this small utility program will show you all the info you should need to program your keyboard to do exactly what you want. the only piece of information you will need from this is key code, but i figured id include data and value while im at it.

my keyboard (SK-7100, dont know the brand) software to use the multimedia keys is pretty useless. and unfortunately not all the keys send a code to the operating system (so they cant be programmed with Multimedia OSD unfortunately). if you experience this too, i cant do anything about it. sorry.

Multimedia Keyboard OSD core functionality depends on a low-level keyboard hook. it works similar to a keyboard logger, but it doesnt log. just looks for sequences of keys that you have defined to take specific actions. this also means that if you map a known shortcut key (like control-C, it will still work as it did before).

its 3 AM, and i cant think about anything else that needs to be said about this app. simple, and functional... the best kind. any bugs report to gmgyssl at ilstu dot edu

p.s. Launcher 2.0 is still sitting around for a rainy day so i can get back to it... i wish i had time to devote to all the projects i have going at the moment. (im also trying to figure out an expose clone and an automatic ftp transfer program thats in development. and am thinking about becoming a more major part of pantherXP depending on time).

Download Link ( you can always use this link to download the latest version of the app)

Enjoy

MManson132

#301332

this looks like a nifty little prog, thx. i am having a bit of trouble getting it to work, though. using the code viewer, i have modded the xml file thusly:

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='us-ascii'?>

<settings>

	<177="MediaPreviousTrack" action="iTunes_Controller.exe prev" image="prev.png"/>

	<179="MediaPlayPause" action="iTunes_Controller.exe pauseplay" image="play.png"/>

	<178="MediaStop" action="iTunes_Controller.exe stop" image="stop.png"/>

	<176="MediaNextTrack" action="iTunes_Controller.exe next" image="next.png"/>

	<key code="LControlKey+Enter" action="iTunes_Controller.exe pauseplay" image="play.png"/>

</settings>

but am not sure what's supposed to go in the last line. actually, as i re-read the code, it appears to be an alternate method of play/pause, yes? ctrl+whatever-i-want, yes?

at this point, osd or not, nothing happens when i hit my multimedia keys. so i tried manually registering the dll, and got this error:

interop.ituneslib.dll was loaded, but the DllRegisterServer entry point was not found. This file cannot be registered.

can you offer any advice on what might be going on?

thx!

#301401

yea, sorry, i should have explained the xml some i suppose. the portions of the xml file you change are the values, not the keys, so dont change 'code' to '177'

my keyboard sends the following key codes:

MediaPreviousTrack

MediaPlayPause

MediaStop

MediaNextTrack

which is more than likely different than what your keyboard is sending. so those are the values that need to change.

just as another example, if you wanted the same scheme as iTunes shortcut keys with the addition of say the alt key (for whatever reason, the code for the left alt key is LMenu), the xml file would look something like this:

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='us-ascii'?>
<settings>
	<key code="LMenu+Left" action="iTunes_Controller.exe prev" image="prev.png"/>
	<key code="LMenu+Space" action="iTunes_Controller.exe pauseplay" image="play.png"/>
	<key code="LMenu+Escape" action="iTunes_Controller.exe stop" image="stop.png"/>
	<key code="LMenu+Right" action="iTunes_Controller.exe next" image="next.png"/>
</settings>

this config doesnt make a whole lot of sense because the left, space, and right will do things based on what app your running... so dont use this, just an example. you want to pick key sequences that will not have any actions already defined for them... like a lot of the F keys.

another example (a bit more logical, but harder to remember):

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='us-ascii'?>
<settings>
	<key code="F9" action="iTunes_Controller.exe prev" image="prev.png"/>
	<key code="F10" action="iTunes_Controller.exe pauseplay" image="play.png"/>
	<key code="F11" action="iTunes_Controller.exe stop" image="stop.png"/>
	<key code="F12" action="iTunes_Controller.exe next" image="next.png"/>
</settings>

understand now? basically the only thing you want to change are the values of the codes.

but whats nice is you can define your own actions.

if you just wanted a picture to come up when you press a sequence of keys, you could do:

<key code="F10" action="" image="myFavoritePicture.png"/>

it just has to be a png image (with transparency)

or if you wanted to launch say notepad with ctrl+shift+N, you could do:

<key code="LControlKey+LShiftKey+N" action="notepad.exe" image=""/>

and i just found a bug, it wont popup notepad in the foreground, so ill fix that and repost soon.

so you see that the possibilities are pretty much endless of what you can do with this program, the xml enables you to define your own key functions that you want to do. you could have 500 different sequences if you wanted (and it should work).

if you still dont understand, then repost and ill try to help out more.

i have also noticed a few other small bugs, but if you come across any, please let me know either through email or just post here.

is anyone able to get the app working yet? i didnt do any beta testers, just got it working for me and decided to release it. please post your success/failure stories

Thanks!

#301437

oh, well, damn! in that case, i restored the xml to the default and it works perfectly. damn! thx! cool! awesome! thx! damn!

edit: hmmm...it just inexplicably stopped working until i stopped and restarted osd. will see if i can narrow down what i was doing...

edit2: can you hip me to how to have the play/pause icon toggle to display correctly? it only shows play regardless of what state it's in.

#301439

yeah it seems to just stop working for me to sometimes, cant figure it out quite yet... its not consistent... ill keep on looking

if you want a seperate image for pause and play, then use 'pause' and 'play' instead of 'pauseplay' (2 lines in xml file)

Edit: i may have fixed the problem where it stops working, redownload. the download link is going to be a persistent link from my site.

Download link

#301447

perhaps i should have mentioned (i assume it's relevent): i have just one play/pause button which sends MediaPlayPause regardless of state. so i modded the xml to

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='us-ascii'?>

<settings>

	<key code="MediaPreviousTrack" action="iTunes_Controller.exe prev" image="prev.png"/>

	<key code="MediaPlayPause" action="iTunes_Controller.exe play" image="play.png"/>

	<key code="MediaPlayPause" action="iTunes_Controller.exe pause" image="pause.png"/>

	<key code="MediaStop" action="iTunes_Controller.exe stop" image="stop.png"/>

	<key code="MediaNextTrack" action="iTunes_Controller.exe next" image="next.png"/>

</settings>

which, as you can probably guess, isn't working (it works, but still only shows 'play'). because of the just one button, is this doable? and btw, thx for the personalized help!

edit: after dl'ing the update, with the above code, it now shows pause, and only pause, and no longer controls the app. fun stuff, huh?

#301450

if your using the above code, then it probably wont work, change the codes again...

i have a keyboard that only has a play/pause button too... right now there is no way to figure out what state iTunes is in, since its not tied into the OSD app... perhaps ill look into just having a sequence that toggles between two keys... not the absolute best way to do it, but it may work.

and yeah, its not always working still... damn thing. ill post when i think i have it fixed yet again

Edit: with your above configuration running here, it will show the pause button, and then quickly start and pause iTunes... so it may be working, you just cant tell...

Edit: ok, trying a new solution to the problem where it stops working... youll have a second to press the sequence of keys (only matters if there are more than 2 keys for a sequence). ill try it out for a while before posting it...

Edit: ok, try it again and let me know the outcome. thanks for the help

#301456

okay, i changed back to default and it seems to be working like a champ (excepting the whole toggle thing). of course, when it does stop, it seems to be random (seems being the key word here), so i guess it could stop again. but, i just came out of hibernation and it's working, so that's a good sign.

#301510

hi there, mmanson132. just wondering if any prgress has been made on this. i really dig it, but it still dies for no discernable reason. i'd really love to have this in my permanent arsenal...

#302970

no unfortunately no progress has been made in the last few days, i have reignited the flame under launcher 2, so im working furiously on recoding everything. i have had MKOSD up and running for several days and have yet to have it not work. are you sure you have the lastest download? get it from the first post to make sure. ill try to get some kind of debugging going so you can test why its not working... weird though.

#303017

no, i dont! i'm using the one from 1:33pm. there's one from 3:11pm that i did not try. i'll let you know. thx!

#303019

ok, there is an update to try and fix the shadow problem.

if there isnt much (or any increase) in this app, then ill probably just releasea different version for iTunes that will detect if its playing or not, as per your request. we will see. ill probably contact a news poster eventually...

#304147

thx for the update. i suppose i should have mentioned: i'm running at 1280x1024. could you possibly nudge that pup a bit more...?

edit: NVM. don't ask me why or how, but the phantom window has now moved off-screen all by itself. so, again, thx for this and nvm.

#304222

Hey guys, what if i want to turn off the OSD, at least the volume display, i want that the volume still going up and down, but i hate that green and red display...

Hope you can help me! greetings

#519655

Hey guys, what if i want to turn off the OSD, at least the volume display, i want that the volume still going up and down, but i hate that green and red display...

Hope you can help me! greetings

Could you upload the Multimedia Keyboard OSD, because the original site doesnt exist anymore?

#519976

Here´s my screenshot, sorry im late LOL, hope you can help me!

and here´s my keyboard

http://acteck.com/images/C/at-500_cnegro.jpg

#520157

Here´s my screenshot, sorry im late LOL, hope you can help me!

and here´s my keyboard

http://acteck.com/images/C/at-500_cnegro.jpg

How did you manage to download it for me the links are dead?

#520293

How did you manage to download it for me the links are dead?

That´s my stock keyboard OSD, it´s not the one they are posting, i wanna get rid of that awful display, but talking about your problem I think there must be some plugins you can use, i found one for winamp that also works for itunes.

If its that you are looking for let me know and i´ll post the link

#520337

That´s my stock keyboard OSD

Seems to be a little offtopic, don't you think?

Never seen actdeck keyboards, but I think you should uninstall bundled software.

#520497

Seems to be a little offtopic, don't you think?

Never seen actdeck keyboards, but I think you should uninstall bundled software.

Sorry you are right about the off-topic, but thanks for the reply, and yes i always can uninstall the software, but my multimedia keys wont work, that´s why....

Thanks anyway! greetings

#520499