It's not a focus issue - some remote buttons still work, and if MC wasn't in focus, NONE would work!

Is Yaggs looking into the remote issue when returning from HULU Desktop? (he doesn't seem to be responding to any posts on his forum) What's weird is some remote keys work! Some arrow keys (either up/down or left/right), the green button maybe.

This works in VMC and 7MC 32-bit (I don't have 64-bit but should still work).

If you're not familiar with AutoHotKey, go to their website download the app (it's free) and try it.  It's a easy, novice friendly program for writing windows apps.

Anyway here is an AutoHotKey script that I use to launch Hulu Desktop from inside Media Center:

Send, ^+s
WinMinimize, Windows Media Center
Run, C:\Users\YourUserName\Appdata\Local\HuluDesktop.exe
WinWaitActive, Hulu Desktop

#persistent
settimer, HULU, 200
settimer, Media, 200
return

HULU:
IfWinNotExist, Hulu Desktop
{
    WinActivate, Windows Media Center
    ExitApp
}
return

Media:
IfWinActive, Windows Media Center
{
    WinClose, Hulu Desktop
    ExitApp
}
return

Register the script (or the exe file created if you choose to compile the script first) or use Menu Mender to add the app to Media Center's program, extras, or start menu.  Note:  if you use Menu Mender, DO NOT select return to media center when the back or green start button is pressed.

Now, when you select the Hulu Desktop entry point you created  in Media Center, Media Center will be minimized, you will see the desktop for a few seconds (not perfectly seamless, I know), and Hulu Desktop will start.  The arrow, select (ok), and back buttons will work as Hulu meant for them to.

To get back to Media Center, press the green Media Center Start button or close Hulu Desktop wichever way is easiest for you.  Hulu Desktop will close and Media Center will Maximize as the active window.  All buttons should work as if you never left Media Center.

While in Hulu Desktop the (compiled) AutoHotKey script will be running on the taskbar and will close upon returning to Media Center.  Task manager on my atiquated Pentium 4 2.4 GHz laptop running W7 reports 0% CPU and 1,404 K memory; it almost doesn't even exist.

 I've been messing around with HuluDesktopWMC this week.  It seems pretty cool.   The only issue I have is that Hulu is kind of jerky full screen when my pc is at 1920x1080.   So when using Hulu Desktop app, I have to change graphic properties to 1280x720 (720p).

Wish there was an automatic way of doing this..

yeah, i had the same issue...after mucking about, i found that its the HW scaling thats broken in flash thats the reason its jerky,,,Basically its processor bound.  Trying to scale 640p into 1080i/p take ALLOT of processing power without hardware acceloration. I have a e8600, and its still jerky.

try boxee, it uses open G/L scaling, and its functional.

I am having great difficulty getting Hulu into my Vista Media Center. I went to SecondRun.tv and downloaded Hulu Desktop. This is where I think I am having the problem, I copied the Desktop file and I pasted it to my C drive, but I don't know how to copy it to the root of C drive. I then downloaded Hulu Desktop WMC and installed it, but it doesn't show up in the media center under program library. Hulu Desktop does work. I am running Vista Home Premium 32 bit. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

mmatheny

CW - you have to exit via the menu in Hulu desktop - the back button won't work for that.

Yes, this is my only complaint, because the Hulu desktop maps the "Back" button to get to selection screen, but MC keeps eating that button press, but all the other buttons seem to work in Hulu just fine.   I have to grab the keyboard and hit "Tab".     Everything else works fine for me.

mpatnode76

Yes, this is my only complaint, because the Hulu desktop maps the "Back" button to get to selection screen, but MC keeps eating that button press, but all the other buttons seem to work in Hulu just fine.   I have to grab the keyboard and hit "Tab".     Everything else works fine for me.

mpatnode76,

What are you using for your IR receiver? I am guessing it is an iMon setup, perhaps provided by Antec? A truly native IR receiver, that doesn't have to go through third party software to determine its mappings, works fine between Media Center and Hulu Desktop. In other words: the Back button works fine under Hulu Desktop when it is launch through Media Center.

I recently turned off my iMon receiver in favor of a little IR receiver that came with a media center remote. The functionality increase is fantastic, as everything works as it should under Media Center, the Netflix Plug-in, and Hulu Desktop. My only complaint is that the little IR receiver doesn't receive as well as the iMon did. I need to find a solution for that....

Thank you for building this extender! Very nice!

Is it me or does anyone else have issues with HuluDesktop not getting the cursor focus?

gobanjoboy

Is it me or does anyone else have issues with HuluDesktop not getting the cursor focus?

Mine has worked fine ever since I got rid of the crappy iMon IR receiver and plugged in an IR receiver that makes use of the native Windows CIR drivers. Before that I would have problems with VMC intercepting the arrow commands and popping back up to the front. I had a similar problem with Boxee, but in that case it was the transport (play, pause, ff, rw) commands; and for the Netflix plugin the transport commands wouldn't work at all.

All is fine now, but I am replacing the cheapo USB IR receiver with something a bit more powerful. Should be here in a couple of days...

BTDT

Mine has worked fine ever since I got rid of the crappy iMon IR receiver and plugged in an IR receiver that makes use of the native Windows CIR drivers. Before that I would have problems with VMC intercepting the arrow commands and popping back up to the front. I had a similar problem with Boxee, but in that case it was the transport (play, pause, ff, rw) commands; and for the Netflix plugin the transport commands wouldn't work at all.

All is fine now, but I am replacing the cheapo USB IR receiver with something a bit more powerful. Should be here in a couple of days...

I also have the iMon IR receiver and I haven't had problems using it with HuluDesktop.  I did use Menu Mender to add the ability to launch Hulu from VMC.  I don't know if that made the difference.

barnabyapp

For those of you having remote problems after you exit Hulu and go back to Media Center, I think I have the solution:
-Exit Hulu Desktop via the menu
-When the screen comes up and asks you to press back when you're finished, press the Green Button first.  This restores the functionality the Media Center.
-Then press the back button.  You should have full remote functionality.  I have tried this several times and it has worked every time.

Unfortunately this workaround does not work for me. I'm still having the problem with the frozen arrow keys on the remote when returning to Media Center, after exiting Hulu desktop. Currently I'm seeing the issue on a clean install of Media Center in Windows 7 RTM (in addition to the OS, all I've installed are Firefox, Flash Player 10, Hulu Desktop, and HuluDesktopWMC), but I had the exact same issue when I was running Vista. Also, I'm using an official Microsoft-branded MCE remote control (Model 1039). 

Does anyone have definitive information on whether this issue is specific to the HuluDesktopWMC launcher, or if users of other methods of launching Hulu Desktop are also experiencing this problem?I would LOVE to be able to get this resolved once and for all, and be able to put my keyboard away!  :-)

Yaggs - if you are still checking these forums... thanks a lot for putting this launcher together. Much appreciated!

OK, I couldn't take the annoying frozen remote keys issue... so I whipped up a quick fix. I created a small program that, when running, helps manage the transition between 7MC and Hulu Desktop. Now I can FINALLY put the keyboard away!! Essentially this little utility closes Media Center when Hulu is launched, and then re-opens Media Center when Hulu is closed. When 7MC comes back up, the remote works fine. There is also some code that ensures the windows for both 7MC and Hulu are maximized and active, whenever they are being used.

I'm happy... my wife is happy... mission accomplished. :-) 

Here's a link to the utility, if anyone else is interested: http://mpsharp.com/blog/2009/10/21

Instructions: Just download the file, unzip it, and put a copy of the program in your Startup folder in the Start Menu (to ensure it's running when the machine starts up). Reboot. Make sure the program is actually running before you try it out (you'll see a little Hulu logo in your system tray). In 7MC, launch HuluDesktopWMC. 7MC will close, and Hulu Desktop will open and be active. When you're done with Hulu, select 'exit' from the menu. It will close, and 7MC will open. Simple.  

I spent about a half hour on this, and certainly haven't done extensive testing, but I haven't run into any issues with it, yet. It works with 7MC and should work with VMC as well. Hope you like it. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. Now... if I could only figure out how to fix the mess 7MC made of my Movies collection - but that's a separate issue for another day.

------------------

[Update 10/21/09]:  Thanks to forum member mpatnode76 for offering to host my file. I added an updated URL above to link to his site. Feel free to download the file from there. If you have any questions or run into any problems with it, please send me a PM... don't bother him, he's just hosting it. ;-) Oh, and regarding my Movie collection problems - I solved everything by installing Media Browser. If you haven't used it, you should check it out. It rocks!

------------------

[Update 10/27/09]:  Based on an issue that kevm14 was running into with my utility, I made a few changes to make it a little more robust. Now the window management is handled with states, as opposed to timers. Also, pushing the Green Button while in Hulu (which was causing confusion in the program) is handled appropriately. The latest version can now be found here: http://drop.io/Orijnal