Video Asylum

TVs, VCRs, DVD players, Home Theater systems and more.

Use this form to submit comments directly to the Asylum moderators for this forum. We're particularly interested in truly outstanding posts that might be added to our FAQs.
You may also use this form to provide feedback or to call attention to messages that may be in violation of our content rules.

You must login to use this feature.

Inmate Login

By default, logging in will set a session cookie that disappears when you close your browser. Clicking on the 'Remember my Moniker & Password' below will cause a permanent 'Login Cookie' to be set.

Moniker/Username: The Name that you picked or by default, your email. Forgot Moniker?	Examples "Rapper", "Bob W", "joe@aol.com".
Password:	Forgot Password?
	Remember my Moniker & Password ( What's this?)

If you don't have an Asylum Account, you can create one by clicking Here.

Our privacy policy can be reviewed by clicking Here.

Inmate Comments

From:
Your Email:
Subject:

Message Comments

Original Message

RE: Need remote with keypad for Youtube surfing

Posted by bassbinotoko on July 12, 2013 at 00:30:27:
Some media players support generic HID (Human Interface Devices) on USB ports. I can plug a USB keyboard into my WDTV Live and enter text or duplicate most of the remote's functions. Presumably a HID wireless keyboard should also work with the WDTV, but I don't have one to try.

Try plugging a USB keyboard into the Blu-ray player's USB port, and see if does anything. If so, try a wireless USB keyboard that comes with a USB dongle (but not a Blutooth model). And, if that works, there's some really small wireless keyboards available... try eBay for generic ones. IOgear makes some that have built-in trackballs if you also need a pointing device (or just want something that's more flexible).

If it doesn't support a USB HID keyboard, check some universal remote database like Logitech Harmony to see if that model supports any kind of QWERTY remote. Maybe you can emulate a remote using a tablet or PDA, if you don't have a sufficiently fancy universal remote.

If someone was really desperate and had a lot of time on their hands, they could buy a basic model like the Harmony 200 (as little as $15 on sale), then Frankenstein the guts of it into a salvaged keyboard... one with real mechanical switches from the '70s or '80s might be easiest. Then, just program the keys appropriately.