How To - Use your Packard Bell Fast Media Remote on a modern PC

From Packard Bell Planet Wiki
Revision as of 21:26, 11 January 2014 by Sega Dude (Talk | contribs)

Jump to: navigation, search

These instructions will help you get your Packard Bell Fast Media Remote working on a modern PC. These instructions will with Windows 2000 up to and including Windows 8.1.

You will need:

  • Packard Bell Fast Media remote and receiver
  • A computer with a serial port or a USB to serial adapter.
  • WinLIRC 0.6.5 or older (latest version will not work.)
  • WinLIRC config file for the Packard Bell Fast Media Remote
  • Eventghost
  • Eventghost config file for Packard Bell Fast Media Remote.


1. If using a USB to serial adapter, plug it in and install the proper drivers. Then plug the Fast Media Remote receiver into the adapter. If using a computer with a serial port, simply plug in the Fast Media Remote receiver. It doesn't matter if the computer is on or not.

2. Download WinLIRC 0.6.5 from the link above. Extract the zip file.

3. Click the link for the config file above. Select all the text and paste it into Notepad. Change the save as type to "All Files(*.*) and save the file as "packard_bell.cf", making sure there is no .txt extension.

4. Open up WinLIRC 0.6.5. It will give an error telling you that it failed to initialize. Click ok.

5. Select the correct COM port from the Port drop down menu. If it is not listed, simply type the correct COM port. (e.g. COM1)

6. Click browse on the bottom of the window and browse to where you saved your "packard_bell.cf" file. Select the file.

7. Click ok. At this point the WinLIRC window should disappear.

8. Look in your system tray. You should see a grey circle. Point the remote at the receiver and press any button. The circle should turn green when you press the button. This lets you know the remote is working properly.

9. Download and install Eventghost. This is the program that will allow you to make the buttons do something.

10. Download the config file for Eventghost from the link above.

11. Open up Eventghost. Click File, Open and navigate to where you downloaded the Eventghost config file. Select this file.

12. The buttons on your Fast Media Remote should now be working. To use your Fast Media remote in the future, just open BOTH WinLIRC and Eventghost.

The button mappings are as follows: Direction pad: Mouse Emulation Volume Up: Volume Up (Increases volume by 2% with each press.) Volume Down: Volume Up (Decreases volume by 2% with each press.) Mute: Mute CD: Opens iTunes (if installed) Menu: Brings up Windows 8 charms menu (Windows 8/8.1 only) Enter: Play/Pause iTunes playback CH/Select Up: Skips to next song in iTunes CH/Select Down: Skips to previous song in iTunes