QuickPlay Button Remapper - configure your QuickPlay buttons the way you want them!

Due to the lack of such an utility, i decided to write one. This little piece of software will map the QuickPlay media keys such as QuickPlay, MediaSmart, DVD, Info Center and Calculator (where available) to any application of your choice.



Detailed info can be found in the readme file, but i don't think you'll need any explanation. Please report any bugs or feature requests you may have.

Extract to a folder of your choice and run QPRemapper.exe. It should work with all QuickPlay laptops, i have tested it on my DV9700 and DV5 and it works perfectly. A friend of mine confirmed it works on a Compaq CQ45 too. Since version 1.2 also supports more keys and will work with older series like nx9000. v1.3 works with DV7 too. If it doesn't work with yours let me know.

New feature in v1.3 - Volume control speed hack! If you felt that the volume bar is too slow for your taste, this is the option for you. Make your volume bar between 2 and 6 times faster, depending on your liking. Have fun!

Download: http://www.quickplay.hostzi.com/QPRemapper.zip

 

Program updated! Some cosmetic improvements, and it now has its own website! Check it out at http://www.quickplay.hostzi.com !

 

That's a great app!

I know this is made for consumer laptops like the DV series, but I just tried it on my HP nx9420 business laptop, which has three software (Quick Launch) buttons:

Info center button - has no function without software, QPRemapper doesn't work.
Presentation Mode button - has no function without software, works in QPRemapper as the QuickPlay key.
Calculator button - starts calc.exe, works out of the box with retail Windows, needs no extra software.

Maybe you can add those extra buttons for the business models? Just tell me if you need any data from my laptop.

Here are the drivers for the Quick Launch buttons.

 

I get "Website Under Review"

 

Word up G. Yes your website is down. Does this work on other laptops?

 

Who cares about the website, just download it!

Just try it and you'll see, that's pretty much the only way to know.
As you can see it worked with one button on my laptop which is totally different than the OP's.

 

Site is up here atm. I think you got that message because my free host checked the files for any illegal activity, as you know free webhosts are often abused for illegal purposes. Actually, going to 000webhost.com itself pops up a fraud warning in Opera!

@ Mats, i don't need the drivers, i simply map the keycodes directly. I'll whip up a quick script to detect the keycodes. You just have to run it, press the keys on your laptop, and tell me its output. Please unload QPKeys.exe before running this script.

Edit: Here you go. File is attached.

 

Question(s):

1) Does QuickPlay have to be installed (I had such trouble with QuickPlay, I ununstalled it - HPDV9500T's).

2) Please explain if I need to use detect keys (or what it does).

3) Any chance of any open sourcing or source code availability?

Thanks!

Joe

 

Joe:

1 - No. Try it, it works great! No installing.

2 - I guess you only have to do it if your laptop have keys that aren't already present in the app.

Code:

VK  SC	Type	Up/Dn	Elapsed	Key		Comment		
---------------------------------------------------------------------
FF  159	 	d	5.88	not found      	Info Center		
FF  159	 	u	0.16	not found      	

FF  108	 	d	1.39	7              	Presentation Mode
FF  108	 	u	0.19	7              	

AD  120	 	d	0.70	D              	Toggle Audio
AD  120	 	u	0.16	D              	

AE  12E	 	d	0.48	C              	Volume Down
AE  12E	 	u	0.17	C              	

AF  130	 	d	0.42	B              	Volume Up
AF  130	 	u	0.16	B              	

B7  121	 	d	0.58	F              	
B7  121	 	u	0.17	F              	Calculator

74  03F	 	d	3.56	F5             

I only had to press F5 just once after I pushed all the buttons. .

 

JoeCHecht, here's some answers for you:

1) NO. Read the readme, that's why this app was born. I knew you can reassign the QuickPlay key with QP installed, by editing the registry, but why all the hassle?

2) It uses an internal function in AutoHotkey to retrieve the key codes of any pressed keys including special ones like QP keys, so i can use them with the program. I wrote it for Mats so my program can support the extra keys on his notebook.

3) As far as i'm still actively developing it, no source code. Writing stuff like this in AutoHotkey isn't hard anyway... I just don't want people bundling any nasties or making money out of my software. Scripting languages are pretty popular between malware authors, for their simplicity. Again, check the readme file and it's all explained there.

Mats, thanks for the info. I'll get to it right away. I'll only add code for the Info Center and Calculator buttons, as i assume most people still need the volume controls and such. At least i do.

Edit: Done. (First post updated with link). The Calculator key could be trouble, being a system key it could also launch Calculator besides the app you choose. If that happens let me know.

Known bug in this version: If copied over the old version with existing Remap.ini, the program will display "ERROR" in the two new fields. But don't worry, simply ignore the message and select the application, it will work. The reason is that the program does not find the sections when it reads the ini upon startup, so it returns "ERROR". But it writes them anyway when a program is selected and you will not see the message again. This will get fixed in the official release.

Other info: There are two other known bugs in the GUI, that have been there since the first version. Tell me if you spot them. There have been some minor modifications to the GUI, obviously two extra fields, but it was also made wider to allow displaying apps' path in full.

If all is well i'll release it officially on the site.

 

Exactly my thought, but actually no!
When I configured the calculator button it only started what I had choosed, not the calculator too.
After disabling it the button became useless, but after a reboot it launched calculator again.
In other words, it worked well! Thanks again!

The Quick Launch buttons I have are present on lots of HP business laptops, at least five generations,
including the first generation Pentium M laptops. It's usually the 17" models only that have the calculator button.

 

Real nice then. I'll update the app to fix that "ERROR" message and it's going for an official release i guess.

Edit: Updated.

 

A bit offtopic, is it possible to disable the quick launch buttons from turning on the computer? ie: pressing "dvd" when the computer is off turns it on..

maybe bios edit?

 

Yes, BIOS editing is pretty much the only way it could be done. But since i don't mind it, i won't take the risk. A couple extra power buttons are never a bad thing.

 

Gonna try this on my HDX Dragon (it has a whole long row of these buttons). I'm especially interested in getting the DVD eject button working again - it stopped working once QuickPlay was removed.

I'll report back.

 

Wait, so you mean there is no eject button on the DVD drive itself? This program is only meant to enable launching of other applications (executables) using the QuickPlay keys, it can't do system functions such as eject. Of course, i remember there was an exe that ejected the DVD drive...

Anyway, if you need the eject functionality i will try and add it.

 

There is a mechanical eject button on the drive itself of course but there's also a nicely lit soft button on the HP laptop itself. It only worked when QuickPlay was installed (so I suspect they map that button to a little executable). I'd like to be able to use that soft button (along with the DVD controls) that controlled QuickPlay. Since I'm now using Windows Media Center (far superior to QP in W7 RTM), I'm hoping to map those functions across somehow. Does this make sense?

 

Yes it does. Please see this post and if any keys happen to be different on your model and not work with the current version of QPRemapper, then please run that program, press the keys and post the output, obviously along with info about what key produces what code.

AutoHotkey can perform the system eject function so it won't be a problem adding it.

 

Super... I'll get those keycodes back to you tomorrow!

 

Well it appears that the buttons I want to program aren't part of the Function keyset (i.e. touching them didn't generate any codes). The only keys that generated codes were the CTRL/Function keys. Perhaps that's because the HP Quickkeys software was intercepting the rest.

 

Uninstall the HP Quick Launch Buttons software and try again.

 

Unique, first sorry about my poor english.
I just bought an HP DV7 1285DX, and there is no QuickPlay button, the button is called "MediaSmart", I runned ur script and got the following output:

VK SC Type Up/Dn Elapsed Key Window
---------------------------------------------------------------
FF 142 d 7.60 not found C:\detectkeys.exe
FF 142 u 0.00 not found
FF 114 d 0.02 T
FF 114 u 0.02 T

(FF 114 appears after every touch button that I press, dunno if it is ok)

I want remap it to load a software that turn off the notebook display (I already found the software and it works like a charm).
Can you help me on it pretty please?
PS: My windows instalation is fresh... and i got all the others quick buttons (volume, play, pause, etc) working fine.
Thanks in advance.

 

Your english is alright, don't worry. I'll update the program today. Edit: Try this. http://quickplay.hostzi.com/beta/QPRemapper.zip

If you wish, please try out the new volume control speed boost feature. I'm curious if it even works on any laptops other than mine. HP did not use the standard multimedia keycodes for the volume keys.

 

The beta version is working ;D

MediaSmart and Volume Control Speed Boost, both working on DV7 1285DX!

Do you plan to release any version not beta around today or tomorrow? Becouse I didn't install it on start up, and maybe I wait for "final" release.

Thank you very much

 

I'm using my notebook as a desktop, so it gonna be on 24/7... Since there is no button to turn off the display, I mapped my MediaSmart button to load this software: http://www.manumohan.com/#moff
I hope it helps someone else ^_^

 

Yes, the final will be available tomorrow. I was mainly waiting for your confirmation, there are only a few minor quirks to be fixed so you shouldn't worry about running this beta version, but a definitive 1.3 will be done tomorrow.

 

Thanks

BTW, the Volume Control Speed Boost is very useful.

 

Glad it's of use. A couple months ago someone pointed out that the volume control is faster with the HP software than without it. I didn't give it much thought since the HP on-screen display tends to lag things a lot, and it might be mistaken for speedy volume controls since if you keep swiping it'll suddenly go from near zero down to full volume. However, it seems i wasn't totally right.

On my DV5 it's fast enough, but since i've been using my DV9000 exclusively this month, i found myself swiping my finger across the volume bar 5-6 times to get it from low to loud or the other way around. If i was working on QPRemapper anyway due to your request, i thought speeding up the volume controls would be a nice addition.

 

v1.3 final released.

Changelog:

- Rewrote some silly code used to fix the "ERROR" text bug in v1.2
- Fixed a stupid typo that caused the startup icon to show as blank since v1.1 (whoops!)
- More speed improvements for QPKeys (not that it was slow, but this should improve volume control response in games)
- Changed volume hack label for a better description
- Still not fixed the Cancel button bug (it's not a bug, it's a FEATURE! )

Download at the usual location. Enjoy.

 

v1.3.1 released. All INI bugs ironed out... This is a purely bugfix release, no new features added.

Btw, i stumbled upon something interesting. The button to disable/enable the touchpad also produces keycodes. Two at that... I happened to stumble upon it after i updated QPRemapper on my DV9000 - i was still running 1.1 for daily use as that had everything i needed, but i updated it anyway. When playing GTAIV i connected a mouse and disabled the touchpad. However in certain things (such as driving a car) i do better with the touchpad, so i re-enabled it. That's when things got funny - an error popped up from QPKeys, that it can't run the "ERROR" program assigned to the Info Center key. I disregarded it at first, but when it happened again i gave it a second thought - wait, i don't have an info center key, but that "ERROR" thing is a bug of my own (because of 1.3 with ini file from 1.1). So why is it coming up?

I opened up the key detection program and what do i get... Two codes for the touchpad switch, and coincidentally the enable one overlapped with the Info Center key i implemented for Mats's nx9000 series laptop. I was always under the impression that the touchpad switch wasn't software-dependent... I fixed all the ERROR bugs but then thought about something.

It would probably be stupid to have an application (much less two!) assigned to your touchpad switch, but if you want it i can do it. If you are always using your touchpad you could double-tap the switch to launch the application.

If anyone else thinks it isn't that silly of an idea, i'll implement it. Waiting to hear from you.

 

I am sure you are aware that this program will need admin privileges if it is installed to the Program Files directory.

I think I'm the only person I know of that installs ALL his programs into the Program Files directory.

Edit:

Something I do is make sure programs will run on a Standard User account.
If you are like me and run a standard user account all the time, there is a quick fix.

Assuming you installed the program to "\Program Files(x86)\QuickPlay Remapper"


run an elevated command prompt (Window Key, type cmd, then press Ctrl+Shift+Enter)
type cd "\Program Files (x86)\QuickPlay Remapper"
Type Move Remap.ini "%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\QuickPlay Remapper"
type mklink /h Remap.ini "%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\QuickPlay Remapper"

That should allow you to run the program without Admin privileges. It basically, moves the ini file to Program Data(this is where Microsoft suggest Programs store written INIs) and then makes a Link to the files in the directory that redirects the QuickPlay Remapper to the moved INI file.

 

Well, anything installed to Program Files requires admin privileges, this is the very reason that my little piece of software does not have an install program. We have enough programs writing to the registry when they don't need to, so it is up to the user to decide where he wants to put it. I'm as transparent as it gets when it comes to my programs, what i say they do is exactly what they do. The reason i don't give source code is simple - anyone that gives it a bit of thought can code something similar. As long as i have time to work on it, i keep it for myself.

I install most of my stuff in Program Files too, but not games. Those go on drive D.

 

I having a little problem with your program. I have a Dv5t and after a lot of hassle i managed to instal hp mediasmart instead of quickplay. Now problem is that my quickplay button doesn't work. I want to link the quickplay button to the Mediasmart Menu.. how can i do that using your program? Also is there any registry hack to do this as it would mean 1 less program to load at start up.. i got a lot of them and the comp lags.. but if you can help me with this i will go ahead use your program.. someone mentioned a registry hack but it doesn't seem to work. Thanks.

 

I see in your other thread that you got it solved already. But anyway, my program loads really fast and uses no CPU time when it's idle. I don't like having lots of background programs either, but this one does its job.

And who said you have to start up in the first place - there's sleep mode you know.

 

Just a heads up for you - major rewrite coming soon! Someone just e-mailed me about a dv7 where all the keycodes are different compared to what's implemented in QPRemapper right now. The interface would be getting out of hand with all those extra fields, so i am going to put a dialog at first start to choose your notebook model, and then present only the options available on each model. That basically means designing a separate GUI section for each model, as the visual GUI designer for AutoHotkey is a third-party utility that isn't too bright, so i prefer coding the positions myself.

For that i need your help - anyone on this forum that uses this program but has not posted in this thread, please post your notebook model and the QuickPlay keys that it has, and which of them can be remapped using the current version of my software. I hope that each series (dv5 dv6 etc) has the same codes, but given what i've seen, i can't be so sure. So i need any help i can get.

 

i wish i had found this earlier - my dv7 doesn't have the quickplay/dvd buttons, just mute/volume/play controls/wifi

 

thats it with my DV6t.. i wonder how your controls look like, could someone find a pic? thanks

 

Hi Th3_uN1Qu3,

I just installed Windos 7 on my dv7 1190eg and wanted to change the Quickplay button to open the application I want to. But unfortunately it doesn't work and I don't know why. I also used your detectkey program but it couldn't detect my Quicklaunch button

Is there already a new version where you can pick your notebook type and then reprogram your Quicklaunch buttons?

Thank you!

 

Hmm, are you the one who e-mailed me? Well anyway... Try running the detectkeys program in safe mode. If it doesn't work there either, there is something with the DV7 series that prevents AutoHotkey (the scripting language my program is written in) to detect the quickplay button. So far it's worked on only one DV7 out of 4 reports.

I'm afraid this is out of my control, i'll have to e-mail the Autohotkey team to see what can be done about it. And no, the new version isn't yet done... It will be released next week but i don't know how much will it help you.

 

Thank you very much for your answer. No I didn't email you. I will try the safe mode workaround, maybe that will help. I will report if it worked or not.

Or maybe the Autohotkey team knows something... or I will find another solution...

 

I'm experiencing the same problem as furchenfratze. I have a hp dv6408nr with Windows 7 Enterprise 32-bit. The quickplay and dvd button won't work. I was able to get the buttons detected in safe mode with the following values:

VK SC Type Up/Dn Elapsed Key
-----------------------------------------------
FF 108 d 6.10 7
FF 108 u 0.02 7
FF 10E d 0.50
FF 10E u 0.02
Press [F5] to refresh.

The first one is the quickplay button and the second one is the dvd button.

For clarification, the dvd button had a square with a circle in the middle of it under the "key" column. It changed when I copy and pasted it.

 

If you were able to get them detected in safe mode that's good. However 108 and 10E sound familiar to me. Do you mind holding on a second while i look through the code?

Edit: Eh, in v. 1.3.2 available for download from the site, 108 is the QuickPlay key, and 10E is the DVD key. If Quickplay Remapper can't take control of the keys, uninstall HP QuickPlay, QuickTouch, Quick whateva' and try again. It should work then.

- Yer drunk developer

 

Thanks, uninstalling that Quickcrap did the trick!

 

mark wait for my laptop and try this!

 

Ok I tried the detectkey in safe mode, but it didn't show me the code for my QuickPlay button I also uninstalled the HP button drivers, but that didn't work either.

Maybe someone has another idea or has the same problem with a dv7 notebook?

 

graet job on this program

 

Awesome work on this program Th3_uN1Qu3. Not to rush you of course, but any news on your new 1.32 build? 1.31 is the latest one I see on your site and I have a dilemma with my HP tx2510US tablet laptop (I'm on Windows 7):

If I install your program , I am able to configure my Quick Launch buttons, but there is no option to enable the button to flip the screen in Tablet mode. (Which Quickplay does support, just not every other button)

Also, are you planning on supporting configuration of the media play buttons (mines located on the side of my screen) that come with some models? I know its possible to do with a program called KeyTweak, but that program does not pick up the Quick Launch buttons and I don't want that many programs running at once.

Sorry if any of this has been brought up before and thanks for any help provided.

 

This stuff looks cool - I'm having a related issue. I have a dv8t and the play/rewind/ffwd/stop buttons have never worked. I'm also having trouble launching Media Player as the default ".mp3" player - don't know if that's related. I suspect it has something to do with uninstalling Quickplay as soon as I opened the box. Any chance we can get a dv8t GUI for Button Remapper?

The dv8t's codes are as follows:

Button/VK/SC/Key

MediaSmart/FF/142/not found
Rewind/B1/110/Q
Play-pause/B3/122/G
FastFwd/B0/119/P
Stop/B2/124/J
Eject - n/a
Mute/AD/120/not found
Vol down/AE/12E/C
Vol up/AF/130/B
Treble-bass down/FF/13F/not found
Treble-bass-up/FF/13E/not found
Wireless-bluetooth - n/a

Thanks,
-Falesi

 

Will this work on the new models such as the DV6T?

 

First of all sorry for not replying anymore, i've been really busy. But now i'm done with exams and everything so i will spend some time improving this program.

@ caribpapi - 1.32 beta was sent out to several people who contacted me via email. But each of the betas sent out was model specific so i don't know whether it will help you. As for the tablet flip button, can you get me the codes like Falesi did? The media player buttons, yes, i can do that. I just thought it wasn't needed so i didn't bother.

@ Falesi - It'll be getting done in a few days.

@ Galactic2 - Post me the output of the detectkeys program and we will see.