Flirc Media Remote

So in an effort to find a way to run XBMC on my NES Media PC box, without a keyboard and mouse. I came across Flirc. It's not an actual remote but a USB IR receiver device. The device is about the size of a thumb and is pretty easy to setup. I had a little trouble setting it up in Linux but since you can set it up on any PC I set it up on my Windows 7 PC. Then just plug it into the Linux box and it was good to go as the programming is on the chip and not the PC.

It has a custom menu that has some basic presets you can use or go as in depth with as many keys as you want to program. It works like a Harmony remote. You tell the program you want to program key X then press the key on the remote you want to perform X. I used an old Tivo remote for my setup as it has enough buttons to perform the basics in XBMC but also has a few extras. I also like the button layout on it.

Overall I would rate this little device pretty good. Allows you options in picking any IR remote. Allows you to customize the buttons the way you want and seems to have good range for operation. I do believe you want to have the device pointing out to the remote user. If your interested check out their website. http://www.flirc.tv/ 

NES Computer (The Software)

So we last left off with an all but finished HTPC built into an original NES game console case. The next step is to load up the software you want to run. A few things to take into consideration are what you want to do with the PC. For me I wanted to be able to at least do the following:

• Have a "media center" program to launch any/all movies
• Be able to play emulators
• Be able to add further video content to the box
• Not pay a fortune for all of the software

Operating System:
So what does that leave me with. Well for the OS the main choices are between Windows and Linux, or there are a couple of minimal install media center programs. I chose Linux Ubuntu for my OS because it is free and easy to install. One thing to consider before jumping into Linux is that it does require a healthy amount of command line operation, but there are a lot of support forums out on the net.

Media Center:
It could also run a media center program called XBMC which can be booted right into with Linux bypassing the need to log in and start the program. Yet I can still log into the Linux desktop to easily re-organize files or perform other maintenance. One of the other nice things about XBMC is that you can add plug-ins that provide further function like getting music videos or even running apps in Linux. This was another feature I liked because it meant I could launch Firefox or the emulators without leaving XBMC. Another bonus is that the good folks over at XBMC have developed a phone app for Android phones that allow you to control the videos played and what have you.

Emulators:
I wanted this PC to be a retro gaming machine specially NES. There are emulators for about every game console for Linux although the PC itself can not handle some of the higher end ones, I was able to get what I wanted.

Adding Future Video:
I was also able to use a program called MakeMKV to add additional video files. There are other rippers for Linux or you can install WINE and use most rippers made for windows.

Polishing and accessorizing:
It will take some time to tweak XBMC and the other programs you have to function the way that you want. There is a lot of good information out there for Ubuntu and XBMC. Once you get it working though you then can sit back and enjoy your hard work. One of the last things to think about is a wireless way to work a keyboard and mouse. (I do suggest a regular keyboard and mouse to do basic setup just for speed and ease of use) To do this there are various options you can use. You can use a full keyboard and mouse, you can use a keyboard with a mouse built in, or you can go the route I went which was a device about the size of a blackberry phone that has a full keyboard and a track pad mouse and it lights up. The device also has a rechargeable battery that charges with a USB cable, but since I use my phone 90% of the time to run the device I don't have to use it much.