NVIDIA Shield remote - anyone use custom button mappings?

[podonnell 47]

I'm using an NVIDIA Shield for most of my watching, but I find a few missing buttons that I would really like.

I've used a third party Button mapper program to bind 'Emby' to the 'netflix' button, which launches that for me.
I've also bound 'stop' to holding down the netflix button, since there is only 'back' on the remote.

Two that I have not been able to get to work:
Both 'next track' and 'previous track' don't seem to work, and there is no skip button on the remote. So when I don't want to watch a trailer, or move ahead in a shuffle, I have to press multiple buttons to skip.

'Home' is something I really wish I had, because sometimes I'm very deep in the menus, like looking at a cast member within a specific season of a series. This takes 5+ 'back' presses to get where I want to be. Or I could go to the left side of the screen, but sometimes that is a bunch of presses as well.

 

Any tips on how I can get this functionality on my remote? I've actually made a voice command that calls Emby API for most of these, but I'd love to get them on a remote if I can.

[GrimReaper 4739]

1 hour ago, podonnell said:

'Home' is something I really wish I had, because sometimes I'm very deep in the menus, like looking at a cast member within a specific season of a series. This takes 5+ 'back' presses to get where I want to be. Or I could go to the left side of the screen, but sometimes that is a bunch of presses as well.

Long-press Back button. 

[podonnell 47]

On 9/26/2024 at 6:07 PM, GrimReaper said:

Long-press Back button. 

Awesome, this worked for Home.

If anyone comes up with a way for skip track, that would be super helpful. I started using trailers and it's a bit awkward when I want to skip into my movie by having to navigate to up next and then choose the movie again.

[ebr 16169]

18 hours ago, podonnell said:

and it's a bit awkward when I want to skip into my movie by having to navigate to up next and then choose the movie again.

Hi.  There is a skip to next track button on the OSD...

[podonnell 47]

22 hours ago, ebr said:

Hi.  There is a skip to next track button on the OSD...

Is that hidden when the setting to hide playback controls is enabled?

When I've used that, it takes multiple button presses to get down to it. When I have multiple pre-roll trailers, or generally watching music content on shuffle, a single button press is highly preferred.

[ebr 16169]

1 hour ago, podonnell said:

Is that hidden when the setting to hide playback controls is enabled?

Yes, it would be as it is a playback control.

1 hour ago, podonnell said:

a single button press is highly preferred

Unfortunately, most of the remotes today do not have that button anymore.

[podonnell 47]

2 minutes ago, ebr said:

Yes, it would be as it is a playback control.

Unfortunately, most of the remotes today do not have that button anymore.

Ah yeah then that is why I am not seeing it.
I have to go down to 'up next' and then choose the movie when I want to skip my trailers.

Yeah sadly a lot of the remotes are super minimalistic nowadays.

The button mapper program was very promising as it had a mapping for 'next track', but that doesn't seem to map to what Emby uses.

If someone else has a working method with a remote, let me know.

On 9/26/2024 at 6:07 PM, GrimReaper said:

Long-press Back button. 

To save making a new post -- do you know if there is any such functionality on the LG app? The long press there quits the application.

[GrimReaper 4739]

5 minutes ago, podonnell said:

do you know if there is any such functionality on the LG app? The long press there quits the application.

Don't know as I'm not/never was an LG user, but considering that said shortcut was AndroidTV app feature ported to Universal Android app as part of feature-parity (item no 7. in below topic), wild guess would be that LG client app does not share same functionality?

 

[Gilgamesh_48 1240]

i have just recently restarted using my Shield for Emby. (I am using live TV more than I used to) I have found that live TV functionality on my Roku is lacking quite a bit but, on my Shield it is a lot more stable and faster.

I quickly rediscovered that the supplied remote is woefully lacking to the point of being nearly unusable for me. However I tried pairing some other remotes and I found that an old (a year or two old) Fire TV remote would pair and provided all the functionality i need. With that remote every key i use is both available and in a good position for me.
The Fire remote is not ideal but it is quite workable. I have a few other Bluetooth remotes and I have been able to pair most of them but they either do no work correctly or the buttons are badly misplaced. 

The Fire remote is MUCH better than the Shield's remote for me.

I am going to investigate some other Bluetooth remotes and, since my Shield is again connected to my Harmony hub the Harmony Android app also works and with a little tweaking I suspect that all buttons will work correctly on it as well. 

This post was intended to give a few alternatives and alternative ideas to the Shield's remote not as a strong recommendation for any other remote. I am still still experimenting with remotes but, it seems to me, that some universal Bluetooth remotes might work a lot better than the Shield's.

I even have checked "Remote Central" but their discussions often tend to be a bit obtuse and hard to understand so I may end up resorting to making a list of remotes that "might" be better for me and ordering them one at a time and testing and returning until I find one that is "right" for me. I do not like to do that but, in this case, it may be very hard for me to find a remote for everyday use without testing and I cannot afford to buy a bunch of remotes just to end up with most of them in a drawer somewhere. 

[Q-Droid 989]

Mine is a Harmony Hub + Smart Remote (not Companion) set that I use with the Shield and TV. I'm dreading the day this thing dies on me because I can't find anything that's close to equal that could replace it.

Has anyone tried Sofabaton? I like the design but don't know how well they work.

 

 

[podonnell 47]

On 10/12/2024 at 2:45 PM, Q-Droid said:

Mine is a Harmony Hub + Smart Remote (not Companion) set that I use with the Shield and TV. I'm dreading the day this thing dies on me because I can't find anything that's close to equal that could replace it.

Has anyone tried Sofabaton? I like the design but don't know how well they work.

 

 

Ooh, I have a Harmony too. Do you have this remote?
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71n+GfXPWDL.jpg

Are you just pairing it with your SHIELD, or in Emby directly?
I tried this with my TV but it was a bit stiff, but it does have a lot more buttons.

On 10/12/2024 at 2:21 PM, Gilgamesh_48 said:

i have just recently restarted using my Shield for Emby. (I am using live TV more than I used to) I have found that live TV functionality on my Roku is lacking quite a bit but, on my Shield it is a lot more stable and faster.

I quickly rediscovered that the supplied remote is woefully lacking to the point of being nearly unusable for me. However I tried pairing some other remotes and I found that an old (a year or two old) Fire TV remote would pair and provided all the functionality i need. With that remote every key i use is both available and in a good position for me.
The Fire remote is not ideal but it is quite workable. I have a few other Bluetooth remotes and I have been able to pair most of them but they either do no work correctly or the buttons are badly misplaced. 

The Fire remote is MUCH better than the Shield's remote for me.

I am going to investigate some other Bluetooth remotes and, since my Shield is again connected to my Harmony hub the Harmony Android app also works and with a little tweaking I suspect that all buttons will work correctly on it as well. 

This post was intended to give a few alternatives and alternative ideas to the Shield's remote not as a strong recommendation for any other remote. I am still still experimenting with remotes but, it seems to me, that some universal Bluetooth remotes might work a lot better than the Shield's.

I even have checked "Remote Central" but their discussions often tend to be a bit obtuse and hard to understand so I may end up resorting to making a list of remotes that "might" be better for me and ordering them one at a time and testing and returning until I find one that is "right" for me. I do not like to do that but, in this case, it may be very hard for me to find a remote for everyday use without testing and I cannot afford to buy a bunch of remotes just to end up with most of them in a drawer somewhere. 

Damn, I just threw out an older Fire remote I had a few months ago. Is that this one? It does look like it has some useful buttons.

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/shopping?q=tbn:ANd9GcSOT9tEjEschGrwe-IYZtdv0IwtTkhnYOQYxbDhXGzXOSK6hXcU8ruxrpfRcvtnqWtrOZ2OKA3LnRRJFt18f90W0pTWzDB6XoYG3dUx3GXbYI84JXQbZpOvJA

[Q-Droid 989]

33 minutes ago, podonnell said:

Ooh, I have a Harmony too. Do you have this remote?
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71n+GfXPWDL.jpg

Are you just pairing it with your SHIELD, or in Emby directly?

Yep, one of those paired with the Shield. Remapped a few buttons and I can't think of any other remote I'd rather use. I don't like large remotes or ones with displays or using phone as a remote. The battery in this one lasts well over a year and the hub takes care of IR for the TV.

 

[Gilgamesh_48 1240]

2 hours ago, podonnell said:

Damn, I just threw out an older Fire remote I had a few months ago. Is that this one? It does look like it has some useful buttons.

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/shopping?q=tbn:ANd9GcSOT9tEjEschGrwe-IYZtdv0IwtTkhnYOQYxbDhXGzXOSK6hXcU8ruxrpfRcvtnqWtrOZ2OKA3LnRRJFt18f90W0pTWzDB6XoYG3dUx3GXbYI84JXQbZpOvJA

Yes, that is (by appearance alone) the Fire remote I use. I have found another slight negative about it. It seems that if you pair it to your shield and use it for a while and then leave it idle for a while it becomes partially unpaired and, to get it working again, you have to press and hold the "home" button for about 15 seconds until the little light flashes like it is trying to pair but you need to do no more than that as it pairs without any action on the Shield at all. I mostly use my Harmony hub remote now. It took some work to get the keys programmed correctly but, mostly, after a little work the Harmony works exactly (almost) the same on all my devices. 

One little note: If you want to use any advanced programmable remote with the Shield you need to be prepared to fiddle with it for a couple of days. For some reason every programable remote I have tried maps several keys VERY badly. But that is completely fixable with a little time and effort.

What i said about the Harmony remote is even more true about their app. By default the app's buttons are badly placed or missing until you go through and set everything the way it should be. 
But, once you do get things programmed correctly, the Harmony is the best I have used for all my devices. Fire TV, Shield TV, Roku, Apple TV (I do not actually have that hooked up now as it is a piece of crap) and a couple of others. The Harmony, with hub, is absolutely the best for my use. However I have heard that the one I use is discontinued and I also have heard that newer Harmony remotes are not nearly as good as the one I have. I can do everything totally manually without a lot of trouble but I like having everything together in one remote. 

I hope that helps a bit. 

Edit to add: Every Fire remote i have tested works great with the Shield. Even the very old one from the first Fire TV works quite well, albeit it is missing a few buttons.

Edited October 15, 2024 by Gilgamesh_48

[daldana 122]

I love my Harmony 650 with Flirc on my Shield.