Hello.

We have a beo vision and using beo4 remote controls and are about to buy either an appleTV or an miniMac to connect to the system.

All the devices (sat decoder, DVD player etc) are hidden in a room behind the wall where the beo vision is mounted so we dont see any of those devices.

I know it's possible to control the appleTV (and possibly Front Row or Plex on the miniMac) using a beo remote control via beo codes 4.

I was wondering how this happens... like is there a cable sending the IR signals received from the beovision to the appleTV? How does the beo4 remote control communicate with the appleTV? Do I need to put the appleTV IR receiver visible to the beo4 remote ?

I really hope there's a way I can control the appleTV or FrontRow on the miniMac via the beo4 remote control without having any device other than the beovision visible ! :)

Many thanks,

Hi Mattjakob

This is possible for sure. I myself control a Mac mini (Running Plex) with my Beo4/ Beo5. There are two ways of doing this depending of whether you have a Beo4 or Beo5. I think the Beo5 can be programmed directly to control the Mini or AppleTV through their native IR. But as you are using a Beo4 you have the possibility to connect a cable to your Tvset (depending on how old it is) and mount this cable (with an IR eye) directly on your Apple product. Then by selecting Apple Remote under STB controllers in the TV menu, you have control over your appleproduct. (however the control is not exactly the same as if you use your apple remote, because holding down buttons on your Apple remote is not possible on your B&O remote, as far as i know).

But, works very well for me and Plex on my Mac mini. You can even tell the STB controller to powerdown the Mini(standby) when you switch to another source on the Tv...

Many thanks for your reply.

Could you tell me if this cable is comprised with the beoVision? We have the latest model and using beo4 remotes.

Are you running any software on iMac (like beoPort) ?

Regards,

The cable for control is the same type that is used for DVD players etc.....an ir emitter/repeater.

Hi again

The IR cable should be provided with your Beovision as a standard supplement.

And no, I am not running any software in combination with the IR cable. The STB controller in the TV changes your Beo4 commands to Apple Remote commands, and outputs them through the IR cable to your computer.

If you have any trouble, feel free to post back.

Good luck :-)

Hi there,

I have a similiar thought - buying a Macbook Pro and would like to control it with my Beo 4 - but I am not sure the Macbook has an IR-receiver. Have talked to the people at Apple Store and checked online but cannot find any information on this.

There is an apple-remote for the Macbook to use with Frontrow but it could be working with Bluetooth - in this case I guess the B&O IR-emitter cable won't work.

Another question - where do I find the "driver" for the apple-product through the STB? I have looked on my Beovision 7-32 and there are only "drivers" for Satellite- and Digital-boxes.

Thanks for any tips on this!

SDJ

On our BV7 MK III the Apple Remote is listed under set top boxes. It was not there originally. We had to have it added by the dealer. 

I do not think the Apple remote is bluetooth.

ok - great - so I'll have to talk to my dealer then and get them to set it up.

I have digged a bit deeper on the Apple Remote online and it seems that it is IR although it is not clearly communicated.

thanks for your help!

SDJ

For Snow Leopard I had to instal a package "Candelair" which definitely states it is for IR support of the Apple Remote to give smoother scrolling ... and when I run Windows via VMWare Fusion I have to activate a connection from Windows to the MacBook's IR 

But I don't know where the receiver is on the MacBook ... which I believe you will need to find for covering by attaching the IR blaster 

I have done a number of tests of covering "likely" hiding places for the MacBook's sensor ... but the Apple Remote was still able to trigger iTunes ... perhaps it has two IR sensors ?

And so I also tried limiting the IR beam a la Beo4s in show rooms ... and as best I can determine it the MacBook's IR sensor lies behind most of the front face of the keyboard unit  

PS it is definitely not bluetooth since it was not discoverable via the MacBook bluetooth menus

I looked at the online guides on the Apple web page. For the particular model I selected there was a diagram showing where the ir receiver is located. Hopefully the guide for your specific model will show it also. On our Macbook Pro the sensor is located on the front right edge.