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!HID User Manual - Media Control
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Some keyboards have been extended with media control buttons, such as
Play, Stop, Next, Previous, Pause, etc. Volume control may
be supported as well, either by means of an Up and Down button or
a rotary dial. Such buttons are generally classified as Consumer Control
keys.
!HID contains full support for such keys and allows a range of media
devices to be controlled. At present, !HID contains native support for
any CD drive connected to the CDFS system. Additionally you may use it
to control the buttons of !DigitalCD.
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Configuring media control
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By default !HID is setup to control the computer's internal CD player directly.
This is done by using low-level commands directly to CDFS (Compact Disc Filing System).
Most common control keys have already been assigned a suitable action in the
demonstration files that come with !HID.
!HID has now been extended to allow control of the populair !DigitalCD
program by André Timmermans. It can either control the Music Files control panel
or the CD Drive control panel. !DigitalCD offers far more features than the
native CDFS support and is freely available, so you may well want to use this option.
Open the configuration panel by selecting Choices... from the iconbar menu.
Next select the Keyboard TAB at the top row and then the Media control TAB
at the bottom. A window, similar to the one shown here, will be opened.
First select the method: either through CDFS or
via !DigitalCD.
When using CDFS control, you may want to select the option Via WIMP to allow
other programs to trap the keys. When unset, CDFS is controlled directly.
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When using !DigitalCD, you may set the initial volume and select which control
panel you would like to control. Currently you have the choice between the
Music Files control panel and the CD Drive control panel. In case you have
more than one CD drive present in your computer, you may set the unit number as
well.
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Assigning Media Control actions to keys
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Depending on the keyboard you have, you may assign any of the following control
functions to a key: Eject, Stop, Play/Pause, Next, Previous, Volume up, Volume down,
Mute on/off, Play and Pause. As the media keys are well defined within the USB
standard, most action have already been assigned to the appropriate keys in the
default example file that comes with !HID.
Please note that some keyboard have separate keys for Play and Pause, whilst
others have a combined Play/Pause button. !HID supports both these methods; you
just have to select the proper function from the menu.
If you don't have a keyboard with Media control keys, you may still use the
keyboard to control your CD. Most keyboards (even the standard keyboard of
your computer) comes with two GUI keys (also known as the Windows keys).
These keys act like a modifier, just like Control, Shift and Alt and can
be used in combination with any other key, to generate a unique key combination
that can be used by !HID to execture the desired operation. E.g. you could use,
say, GUI-P for Play and GUI-S for Stop.
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Volume control is also supported by !HID and it automatically detects
which method your keyboard supports; either by using separate Up and Down keys,
or by using a Rotary dial. In case of the former, the key will auto-repeat when
you hold it down.
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© Copyright Paul Reuvers
X-Ample Technology bv
usb@xat.nl
Last changed: Last changed: Wednesday, 07 April 2004 - 00:57 CET.
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