Multimedia keyboards + foobar2000: A complete guide, If like me you have a multimedia keyboard, you probably want it to wor Options

[Luckz]

[Version 0.00.2b RC1, written by ZoFreX]

If, like me, you have a multimedia keyboard, you probably want it to work with foobar2000. I've divided this up into two parts:

Part 1: Making the "launch multimedia application" button on your keyboard launch foobar instead of Windows Media Player.

Step 1: Associate foobar with .cda files however you see fit (from foobar's preferences is an easy way to do it). That's it!

Testing: Press the "launch multimedia application" button on your keyboard. If foobar is open it should jump to the foreground, if not it should open. If it worked, jump to the "It worked!" section. If it didn't, try the troubleshooting section and if it still doesn't work, try the "It didn't work!" section.

Technical note: Yes, Windows determines what program should be launched when you press "AppKey 16" (media player button) by what opens .cda files. It took a while to figure this out! This can actually be changed so it matches .mp3 files or whatever, just change HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AppKey\16\Association (I give no warranty whatsoever for fiddling with this, nor have I tested doing so).


Part 2: Making the media player buttons (play, stop etc) work when foobar is minimised.



Step 1: Open preferences in foobar and go to General->Keyboard Shortcuts.

Step 2: Add a new shortcut for the function you want (in my case my keyboard has a combined play/pause button so I'm adding one for that).

Step 3: Select the function you want, in this case "Play or pause".

Step 4: Click in this box and press the button on your multimedia keyboard you want to associate with the shortcut. You should get something appearing here ending in (MM). If nothing appears, jump to the troubleshooting section.

Step 5: Check this box!

Testing: Minimise foobar, try buttons, see if they work. If they don't work, jump to the "It didn't work!" section. If they do work, jump to the "It worked!" section.

Troubleshooting:
The number one thing to check is whether or not your media buttons work in foobar when the window is selected. If foobar is open, by default the media buttons (pause etc) should work - if they do not then either your keyboard is horribly non-standard (uncommon) or something else is hooking the keyboard call first (e.g. vendor keyboard drivers). I use my keyboard and mouse without the Logitech drivers installed for maximum compatibility, you should try disabling / uninstalling vendor drivers and / or applications if that's an option and seeing if that fixes it. If you do want to have SetPoint running, see the section on that to get it working. If people start having other problems, then I might write a number two thing to check

Addendum A: Logitech SetPoint

Firstly, SetPoint is a horrible, poorly written program that I would strongly advise against having installed. However, you can get your media buttons working in foobar while it is minimised with a small alteration. Open up SetPoint's "players.ini" file, for me this is in C:\Program Files\Logitech\SetPoint\players.ini. At the bottom of the [players] list, add the line:

CODE

foobar2000=wac,foobar2000.exe,{DA7CD0DE-1602-45e6-89A1-C2CA151E008E}/1,xxx,xxx,xxx,xxx,xxx,xxx,xxx,0,1,foobar2000

Restart SetPoint (i.e. exit it, and then start it again), and your keys should work, if you're using foobar v0.9.4.1. The window class will need to be changed if you are not, or if you're using a different user interface module - e.g. for columnsui, the classid would be {E7076D1C-A7BF-4f39-B771-BCBE88F2A2A8}. The best long-term solution is for you to know how to find out that classid, so read on:

I used Spy++ to find the classid, but not all of you will have Visual Studio installed so I checked out some of the free options. WinID was the easiest to use:




Step 1: Download, install and run WinID http://www.dennisbabkin.com/php/download.php?what=WinID

Step 2: With foobar2000 visible on screen and WinID in the foreground, mouse over foobar's title and press shift.

Step 3: WinID will now have taken a snapshot, click the "1" in the top left corner to view your snapshot.

Step 4: Copy the class from here into the players.ini line for foobar.

Step 5: Exit and re-open SetPoint. Your multimedia keys should now work for foobar when it's minimised!

If you want the media button to launch foobar then use the SetPoint software to bind that.

It didn't work!
So you've followed the instructions, tried the troubleshooting steps, and it still doesn't work. No worries. Post:

• What didn't work
• Whether the media keys work in foobar when it's focused
• Your version of Windows
• Your version of Foobar
• What keyboard you're using
• What drivers / software you have installed for your keyboard
• Anything else you think might be relevant

It worked!
Great! If you have a Windows / foobar version different to one in the "Tried & Tested" section, post so I can confirm it on that.


Tried & tested on:
Windows XP SP2
Vista build 5744 (Part 1: setting file associations from inside Foobar on non-administrator account fails hard, setting .cda assocation to foobar through Windows makes the media application launch button work fine)
foobar v0.9.4.1

This post has been edited by Luckz: Nov 12 2006, 16:53

[CIBERUS]

thanks a lot dude...

[kanak]

Thank you so much. It worked great on my Dell E1505 laptop (using the media direct keys). thanks a lot.

[int]

Cheers for this man, i've managed to get the play/stop/next/previous buttons working ages ago but never got the media button to open foobar instead :]

[DijiDiji]

Just a note:

There is a known issue with Opera intercepting multimedia keys when the browser has focus. The Opera Devs are aware and working on a fix.

Something to keep in mind if you're having button issues...

[Special.O]

This trick works on my Logitech Desktop (MX3100) with Foobar2000 v0.9.4.1 and Win XP Pro 64-bit SP1 when Logitech's SetPoint sw is closed.

When SetPoint is running is foobar is minimized, this trick does not work. I don't want to miss the features of SetPoint (+ uberOptions) and still want to be able to contol other media players using my MM buttons.

Any idea how to accomplish that?

Thanks in advance

This post has been edited by Special.O: Nov 11 2006, 23:34

[Luckz]

This trick works on my Logitech Desktop (MX3100) with Foobar2000 v0.9.4.1 and Win XP Pro 64-bit SP1 when Logitech's SetPoint sw is closed.

When SetPoint is running is foobar is minimized, this trick does not work. I don't want to miss the features of SetPoint (+ uberOptions) and still want to be able to contol other media players using my MM buttons.

Any idea how to accomplish that?

Thanks in advance

ZoFreX says:
Special.O, I installed SetPoint (which was a horrible, horrible experience) just for you! <3 Anyway, I updated the original post with a section on SetPoint, it's a little complicated but hopefully it'll work - let me know

[Laughing Man]

I'm trying it now. LX700 Keyboard with setpoint and uberoptions. Foobar v0.9.4.1 with WinXP SP2. Did what you said and it doesn't work. It does work when it's on screen but not when it's minimized. Setpoint also doesn't recognize foobar2000 in the media player button options. It only lists Winamp, WMP, WMP10. I can manually set it to launch foobar.

It may be uberoptions. Though that just adds more abilities to Setpoint.

[olmari]

Works!

I use 2k3 x64 and SetPoint with Überoptions and your instructions worked as a charm

DiNovo Laser keyboard

This post has been edited by olmari: Nov 13 2006, 09:04

[Luckz]

I'm trying it now. LX700 Keyboard with setpoint and uberoptions. Foobar v0.9.4.1 with WinXP SP2. Did what you said and it doesn't work. It does work when it's on screen but not when it's minimized. Setpoint also doesn't recognize foobar2000 in the media player button options. It only lists Winamp, WMP, WMP10. I can manually set it to launch foobar.

It may be uberoptions. Though that just adds more abilities to Setpoint.

"I just re-installed SetPoint and installed UberOptions, and I haven't been able to recreate your problem (except foobar not showing in the drop-down list; that can be done but there's no real point). Please verify that you're using the correct ClassID using WinID, let me know how it goes!"

This post has been edited by Luckz: Nov 14 2006, 20:14

[Laughing Man]

foobar2000=wac,foobar2000.exe,{E7076D1C-A7BF-4f39-B771-BCBE88F2A2A8}/1,xxx,xxx,xxx,xxx,xxx,xxx,xxx,0,1,foobar2000

Pretty sure, I'm using ColumnsUI and plus the WinID matches.

[ZoFreX]

Yay, my account is active! Thanks to everyone for their feedback so far

Laughing man, I've just realised what's wrong - the ID for Foobar sans ColumnsUI is "{DA7CD0DE-1602-45e6-89A1-C2CA151E008E}/1", the ID for Foobar with ColumnsUI is "{E7076D1C-A7BF-4f39-B771-BCBE88F2A2A8}" - the "/1" is part of the ID for Foobar, it shouldn't be there for ColumnsUI. Hope that helps!

[Laughing Man]

It works! Thank you!

[Jon_MM]

Thanks - the good news mean, I got the 'play/pause' button working in foobar at last The bad news is the 'volume' buttons on the keyboard seem tied to adjusting Windows volume control and not foobar's volume...and I can't get the play/pause to work when foobar's minimised. Anyway, here's the requested info - any suggestions appreciated:

* What didn't work - nothing when foobar minimised, volume controls control windows volume control not foobar.
* Whether the media keys work in foobar when it's focused - play/pause does
* Your version of Windows - XP Pro
* Your version of Foobar - 0.9.2
* What keyboard you're using - microsoft natural ergo 4000
* What drivers / software you have installed for your keyboard - MS intellitype

[ZoFreX]

Intellitype? K. You'll have to hold while I find a Microsoft keyboard...

[Jon_MM]

Intellitype? K. You'll have to hold while I find a Microsoft keyboard...

Thanks - let me know if you figure anything out. I really like the MS natural keyboards as hardware, but the software sucks (MS is very inflexible in what you can programme the multimedia keys to do )

One more thought - you *can* programme some keys to load a particular file - would there be a way to program a macro to press the appropriate key combo to pause/play foobar, adjust its volume, etc? You can also set keys to run one of a list of commands, but nothing to do with foobar appears in the list.

[ZoFreX]

If you can program keys to run a command you could program them to do things like

CODE

"C:\Program Files\foobar2000\foobar2000.exe" /playpause

[Jon_MM]

If you can program keys to run a command you could program them to do things like

CODE

"C:\Program Files\foobar2000\foobar2000.exe" /playpause

Works great, thanks Now, if you know the codes for volume +/-, and skipping tracks, that'd be really handy.

[amonrei]

Step 4: Click in this box and press the button on your multimedia keyboard you want to associate with the shortcut. You should get something appearing here ending in (MM). If nothing appears, jump to the troubleshooting section.

Lol so this is where i've done wrong. Finally got my G15 MM button working for foobar. Thanks a lot.

[Funkstar De Luxe]

What a great guide! Can I ask a question though... How the tell do I change what my Multimedia Volume Control does? Currently it's set to the wrong sound card, so is of little use. Foobar calls the control ('Volume up (MM)' and 'Volume down (MM)')
This would be great to find out because I've searched the internet for months looking for this info...

[ZoFreX]

What a great guide! Can I ask a question though... How the tell do I change what my Multimedia Volume Control does? Currently it's set to the wrong sound card, so is of little use. Foobar calls the control ('Volume up (MM)' and 'Volume down (MM)')
This would be great to find out because I've searched the internet for months looking for this info...

What keyboard / software / soundcards are you using?

To everyone who's wondering things: I managed to brick my computer with a bios update (go Asus!) hence the lack of updates - posting this from my dad's, who I'm visiting for the weekend. Hopefully I'll be up and running again soon!

[Funkstar De Luxe]

Hi,

Its a standard wireless Dell keyboard, no software. My sound card is an EMU 1820M.

[Smitty2k1]

Cheers! Works great with a wired Microsoft Natural Multimedia Keyboard!

[Meddler]

Thanks - let me know if you figure anything out. I really like the MS natural keyboards as hardware, but the software sucks (MS is very inflexible in what you can programme the multimedia keys to do )

I had the same problem. Intellitype really sucks

Then I had a brainwave, or more likely a seizure. Remove Intellitype.

Sure enough the standard keys still work (this is on XP SP2) and now the media keys work when foobar is minimized. I don't have volume keys on this version of the keyboard so can't help there.

Bit late in the day, but it might help.


Meddler

[PredUK]

I have a wireless HP keyboard that came with the computer. There doesn't appear to be any software to configure keys.

The keys work when foobar is in focus, but without configuring it. No multimedia button presses are recognised by foobar in the shortcut configuration box.

I'm using Windows XP SP2, with foobar v0.9.4.2.