how to make Multimedia Keyboard work with Winamp, (almost) no plugins required!

[kidsinister]

I got this idea after working with the Logitech Keyboard plugin to make Winamp work with my Microsoft Wireless Multimedia Keyboard 1.0A. The plugin works fine for sound files, but if I pressed those darn buttons during a video, the plugin would crash! However, in its plugin setup, it lists the keyboard button ID numbers...

Note: using Winamp 5.02 and Intellitype 5.0 here.

Soooo, here's how to do it, at least for my keyboard (try installing the Logitech driver to determine your own button #'s):

1. Start up Winamp, go to Preferences
2. On the left, select Global Hotkeys and turn on Global Hotkeys.
3. Make sure the following 'Action's are listed: "Playback: Play/pause", "Playback: Stop", "Playback: Previous in play list" and "Playback: Next in play list".
4. Bind those four to some non-conflicting keys (it doesn't matter what they are, you're going to change them soon anyway).
5. Close Preferences, close Winamp.
6. Navigate to your Winamp install directory (default: C:\Program Files\Winamp)
7. Open up "Winamp.ini" with some text editor (like Notepad) and search for the following values:

action0=ghkdc play/pause
hotkey0=...
action1=ghkdc stop
hotkey1=...
action2=ghkdc prev
hotkey2=...
action3=ghkdc next
hotkey3=...
(note: the single digit just before the = sign is apparently the order in which these commands are listed in the Hotkeys menu you saw in step 3 and 4, so these may vary depending on the order you added them.)
The periods represent the binded key or keys for that command.
8. Change those values to the ones gained from the Logitech plugin. For my particular keyboard, I changed these to:

action0=ghkdc play/pause
hotkey0=179
action1=ghkdc stop
hotkey1=178
action2=ghkdc prev
hotkey2=177
action3=ghkdc next
hotkey3=176

These numbers for your model of keyboard can probably be gleaned from the same Logitech plugin. (YMMV)
9. Save the file and close it.
10. Open up Winamp and try out those keys!

I admit that I haven't tested it to much extent, but I imagine that this should work perfectly with Winamp since it's using its own plugin after all. Anything failing here would mean a defect in Winamp or its own plugin.

Oh yeah, don't forget to uninstall the old Logitech plugin when you're done!

Hehe, I went back to Preferences, and look what I found:

[kidsinister]

Okay, after a few days of bug testing, here are my results.

So far, my multimedia keyboard buttons work 100%. Every time you press them, the corresponding action in Winamp happens. I ususally run Winamp from the System Tray, and no matter how many/which windows were layered on top of Winamp, the buttons worked.

So 100% is a good thing, right? Notice how above I said no matter what programs are running, the buttons always work. For example: I'm to cheap to buy one of the DVD plugins for Winamp, so I use Windows Media Player (boo, hiss) instead. Now if I use those keyboard buttons to play/pause my movie or to change chapters, Winamp will attempt to do the same actions on whichever file it used last. It doesn't matter if Winamp is closed or not, pushing those buttons will open it up even if it's closed. I have come up with some solutions for this though.

1. buy a DVD plugin (insert smart comment here)
2. Manually tell Winamp to open some file which it doesn't support.

The idea with the second one is that if Winamp receives all those button presses and acts on them, then give it something that will jam it up instead. To unjam it, just give it some file it likes.

[CrashX]

Thanks! Worked perfectly with my Microsoft Wireless Desktop Elite keyboard.

Here are the results that I had:

Winamp closed, push Play/Pause or Media button:
Winamp will launch and all controls work

Winamp open, minimized or not:
all controls work

Winamp closed, another app in use (Windows Media Player):
The keyboard controls the other app, and DOES NOT launch Winamp

Winamp open, minimized or not, another app in use (Windows Media Player):
The keyboard controls both apps

[kidsinister]

Originally posted by CrashX
Winamp closed, another app in use (Windows Media Player):
The keyboard controls the other app, and DOES NOT launch Winamp

Winamp open, minimized or not, another app in use (Windows Media Player):
The keyboard controls both apps

Well I'll be dipped...now I get those same results! It's gremlins, I tell ya!

...or maybe it was me reading email, reading a webpage, (trying) to watch a movie, all while performing tests. I must have skipped the "WMP only, no Winamp" step.

[bravadoca]

well it worked for the most part, except that I can't get it to pause since my play and pause are the same button and in the winamp.ini there are two separate commands for play and pause, and if I set them both to the same number all it does is replay the song from the beginning instead of pausing it.

[CrashX]

Originally posted by bravadoca
well it worked for the most part, except that I can't get it to pause since my play and pause are the same button and in the winamp.ini there are two separate commands for play and pause, and if I set them both to the same number all it does is replay the song from the beginning instead of pausing it.

I had the same problem. Try this to resolve it. Worked fine for me.

Open winamp.ini, remove these two lines:

code:
action1=pause

hotkey1=[your key num here]

And replace this line:

code:
action0=ghkdc play

with this:

code:
action0=ghkdc play/pause

Save the file and reload . Good luck!

[Zippo_Of_Doom]

almost all works, except I can not find the "action0=)" line. All I get is a hotkeys list, and they are:

msg3=273
wparam3=40046
lparam3=40045
hotkey3=600

What do I do?

[kidsinister]

Originally posted by Zippo_Of_Doom
almost all works, except I can not find the "action0=)" line. All I get is a hotkeys list, and they are:

msg3=273
wparam3=40046
lparam3=40045
hotkey3=600

What do I do?

Which version of Winamp are you using?

[Zippo_Of_Doom]

when i go to the nullsoft selection on the menu, the version history says 5.01

[DJ Egg]

Winamp 5.03 whatsnew.txt

* added multimedia keyboard keys in global hotkeys default configuration

[edit]
Underlined "default"

[kidsinister]

My fix required version 5.02. Better yet...

Originally posted by DJ Egg
Winamp 5.03 whatsnew.txt

* added multimedia keyboard keys in global hotkeys default configuration

...this would work too. Get yourself an upgrade!

DJ Egg, I tried out this fix for myself as well, and it seems that the "Hotkey" box in Preferences->Global Hotkeys still doesn't detect keypresses from the multimedia keys. Are you aware of this?

[Zippo_Of_Doom]

well all works, except for my play key.
when winamp is closed, i can't launch it with the shortcut keys.
when it is open, everything works except for the play/pause button. I press it, and the icon (next to the name of the song) shows playing, but it does not play. I press it again and the icon shows pause. If I try and press play again, nothing happens. If a song was playing, the play button does not do anything.

But, the play button on teh winamp skin works fine.

[BeLGaRaTh67]

Originally posted by DJ Egg
Winamp 5.03 whatsnew.txt

* added multimedia keyboard keys in global hotkeys default configuration

[edit]
Underlined "default"

Just got myself a MM keyboard today , and have to say that I cannot find a way of getting the play/pause, stop, next, previous to be recognised with v5.03 without editing the ini file as per kidsinister's first post

Pressing the keys under the hotkey part does diddly squat

Thanks for the info on what to enter by the way kidsinister, it was enormously helpful, would never have known the key-values to enter without your help

[DJ Egg]

The key word was "default"

All I did was click the "restore defaults" button
and the hotkeys for my keyboard magically appeared all on their own

Sure, this will mean that you lose any custom keys,
so make a note of them first,
so you can add them back in afterwards.

If it doesn't work, then all I can say is 'thank god I didn't get an MS keyboard'

[Zippo_Of_Doom]

wtf? it (my play pause button) started working. All I did was remove the play pause shortcut and replace it with a play and a pause, which I put at my volume keys. They both work as play pause now...

[BahamutDK]

i installed the logitek plugin and turned on hotkeys. now it just works.

ms multimedia keyboard 1.0A with intellitype 5

[kidsinister]

Originally posted by BahamutDK
i installed the logitek plugin and turned on hotkeys. now it just works.

ms multimedia keyboard 1.0A with intellitype 5

The Logitech plugin has always "worked"...well, except for video files. That's the reason I searched out a fix in the first place. Also, with Winamp 5.03, you simply need to "Restore Defaults" to your Global Hotkeys, no Logitech plugin required!

[kidsinister]

Originally posted by Zippo_Of_Doom
wtf? it (my play pause button) started working. All I did was remove the play pause shortcut and replace it with a play and a pause, which I put at my volume keys. They both work as play pause now...

Umm, do you still need help? If so, what's your keyboard make/model? Did you upgrade to version 5.03 like DJ Egg and I recommended?

[sacri]

as soon as i deactivate the setpoint-software, the control for play pause stop next and last track are working perfectly...
but as soon as setpoint is loaded it won't work.
i've got the Logitech diNovo Media Desktop and WinAmp 5.03a.
the logitech plugin won't work, too.

since i have installed the software of the dinovo my creative remotecenter (the software for the remote control) won't work anymore. it just doesn't want to start...no messages

[chasin_h]

Just got a MS natural multimedia keyboard today, all i had to do was go into prefs, enable global hotkeys and delete all the defaults apart from play/pause, stop, next and previous track. Hey presto, it works! Using winamp 5.03 by the way.

chasin_h

[Fyta]

now all you have to do is go to preferences > global hotkeys > check the enabled box.

Now the keys on my Microsoft Keyboard Elite work.

[RoRin]

Hi I have the latest version of winamp and a isotech smart office keyboard xp ez-7000 and if tried quite alot of the things posted here but it still won't work. Restoring the globla hotkeys didn't, and I tried changing the winamp.ini file (not sure if i did it right) but that didn't work.

plz help me!

[Edit] the keyboard I use now haw the play nad pause button as one, but it's a little wierd becasue my old keyboard was the same and it worked perfect. Maybe it wasn't a multimedia keyboard or something i don't know

[allolaboete]

Ok i have a BenQ 750 keyboard ( the one designed by BMWgroup) and I had a problem with the media buttons. They were working, but everytime I pressed "next" or any media button, winamp was popping up. Also, when I was pressing my play/pause button, the song was starting back formt he beginning each time. So while trying to modify the .ini file, I used the "logitech plug-in" as linked in the first post, only to see the number of my media buttons. While trying it, the plug-in fixed my problem. I only opened the plug-in, and the buttons were working properly, even without the Q-type application ( which is very bad by the way, because you can't configure your internet shortcuts, compared to iTouch (Logitech's one)


So a big thank to kidsinister for his tool that made me happy

[stanace]

I'm on a Toshiba laptop and I seem to have difficulty setting up my multimedia hotkeys.

The crappy software that this laptop comes with does not allow me to configure the "Play/Pause", "Stop", "Next" and "Previous" buttons.

The main issue I'm having here is that since I'm running the Windows XP Media Center edition, the "Play/Pause" button automatically runs Media Center. I've been trying to find a way to prevent that from happening for a while now without much success.

I did happen to come across another forum thread describing how I could change a few file associations or registry to make it work, but this issue seems to be independent of those things. So... Does anybody have any clue how I can make the "Play/Pause" button run Winamp instead?

[Major153]

Hi,

I'm having the same problem with the "play/pause" button restarting the song from the begining. I still haven't found a way to fix this. Does anyone know how??

I noticed that if I disable my keyboard driver, the logitech plug-in works, but none of my shortcut button will work.

Is there a way, I can keep my shortcut button and make it work with winamp??

Thanks

[yama75]

Hi, this seems to be close to solve my problem, but the above written hasn't solved it completely.
My play/pause-button doesn't work when Winamp is minimized, (or it works, but only plays a millisecond of the song and the pauses again).
All other keys (stop,forard, previous) work just fine when minimized.
ALL keys works perfectly fine when Winamp is "active".

So, does anyone know how to stop a minimized winamp from pausing right after starting playback using the multimedia keys?

Winamp v.5.33
"Global Hotkeys" is "Enabled".
MS multimedia keyboard natural

[CardinalJo]

Thanks a lot for your help !!!
Just recieve a Microsoft Wireless MultiMeda 1.0A Keyboard, and with these modifs it works perfectly ;-)

So thanks you very much !!!

[yama75]

Originally posted by yama75
So, does anyone know how to stop a minimized winamp from pausing right after starting playback using the multimedia keys?

Winamp v.5.33
"Global Hotkeys" is "Enabled".
MS multimedia keyboard natural

After some further testing Ive realized lies in the fact that there are two plugins listning to the keyboard InteliType and Winamp. When Winamp is active it overules InteliType and there are no problems, but when Winamp is minimized it does as both InteliType and Winamps "global hotkeys" causing double effect (pauses right after playback and jumps two songs when pressing "next").
I can get round this if I choose Intelitype to ignore the media-keys but then other softwares dont work with the media-keys since they listen only to InteliType
And I cant find any way to have Winamp listen to only Intelitype...

[eturfboer]

Hello all,

I sort of found something that may be important to all of you. I have a Logitech diNovo keyboard which indeed does not directly behave like it should. Pressing the play/pauze button winamp is bahaving wierd. Let's cut through the crap...

I assume you have created a playlist (a list of songs to play) in your playlist editor. Select (or don't for instance on shuffle) the song you want to play and use the keyboard play/pauze button to start playback (not the software play button). There you go, your keyboard is working fine!

Greatings,
Eddie Turfboer.

[wesican]

Does anyone have any idea of a simpler way to get the hot keys to work? I feel that the solutions offered are supremely complicated.

[LordKelvan]

What kind of keyboard do you have?

[eturfboer]

Originally posted by wesican
Does anyone have any idea of a simpler way to get the hot keys to work?

Yes there is! As I said before, just start playback with the combined play/pause button of your keyboard and all will be fine (at least on my logitech diNovo keybaord).

[MaRmARk0]

I've been wondering why my Microsoft Natural Keyboard (older version but with all those multimedia buttons) does not work with Modern skin or Bento skin. I've turned Global hotkeys on and works well. Drivers are IntelliType Pro 5 running on WindowXP Pro SP2.

[Xezzy]

Well, i had the "play/pause" button problem, but ive disabled setpoint and it works now lol. Nifty but it works...
Still cant fast forward and backward though. It is possible? And why oh why winamp have such a problem with it? Its because crappy logitech software? iTunes and almost any other player works just fine with it...

[SoulessCorpse]

I cannot find that winamp.ini in my winamp folder...

[J_Darnley]

If you are using multi-user settings (the default with a fresh install of 5.5+) then the winamp.ini is found in %appdata%\Winamp. Enter that into Windows Explorer and it should be resolved to the full path.

[SoulessCorpse]

Nope, search cannot find it..

Edit
Nvm i had to reinstall it, it works fine now...donno what happened the first time.

[remieres]

ok I have no idea what you guys are doing to find out from what plug-in the numbers to go next to the 0= or in my case 12= 13= etc.

I dont understand when you say "I get this from the logitec plug-in. I mean is that some sort of interface plug in for windows somewher that tells you... ok this buttons signature is....?":

I am not illiterate for computers but I have plug ins for most programs on my computer and they just sit in the background enhancing the program. not just waiting for me to plug in a command like "whats this keyboard function mean in computer language"

so please could someone at least go over this step with me?. please because I may not even have a logitech plug in for winamp let alone my keyboard.

if I sound stupid and slow about this its because I'm not a genious like you all.

[sublimehypocrisy]

I followed the first few steps. I enabled globalkeys...and my keyboard works just fine! Logitech K350.

[DaBlackDevil]

well i don't know about you guys but my way is much easier...

go on global hotkeys... remove all the functions listed... then ,for example, add the 'playback: play/pause' from the drop down menu then click on the hotkey box...( now winamp will detect what buttons you press on your keyboard, and set it as the hotkey ) now just press the button you would like to use [i used my multimedia keyboard's play/pause button] and winamp will detect it.. then just click set ^.^


i don't know if this will work for others but it worked fine for me