Pairing two remotes to one Mac - possible?

[LastLine]

Hey guys,

My situation at the minute is I have one room, with an AppleTV and and iMac in it, with three remotes.


I want to pair two of the remotes with my iMac so that the iMac doesn't respond to the AppleTV's remote. As it is I've paired the single remote to the Apple TV so that the AppleTV doesn't respond to others, but I noticed that by default OS X only allows you to pair a single remote to the iMac.


Is there anyway of hacking the system to allow pairing of two remotes to the system? That way we can control the AppleTV without the iMac trying to play everytime, and my wife and I can each have a remote.

 

[Heynonny]

My way of pairing two specific remotes to one specific Mac (when you've got other remotes and Macs or other devices in the same area) is very clumsy and time consuming but it's the only way I know.

Pairing is simply linking the ID# of the remote to the computer or device. If you set both remotes to the same ID# (and different than any other remotes) and pair either one of them, you're all set.

Changing the ID of the remote, over a range from 0-255 (or 1-255, I forget) is easy enough, though if the numbers start out far apart it's going to be a pain. Hold down the MENU and Play/Pause buttons for five seconds to increment the ID# by one. Release and repeat as needed.

The only way I know to find out what the IDs are to start with, and see your incrementing in progress, is with something like RemoteBuddy or iRed Lite (what I use; free). The iRed Lite docs say you have to turn your Mac on and off to get a fresh readings but I've never had to do that, though it's flaky- sometimes the ID#s read fine, sometimes you seem to have to fiddle.

Finally, pair either remote. I have read that pairing itself increments the ID# by one but that's not been my experience. You may have to check that out and if it is the case in your situation obviously you'd leave one remote at one ID# lower and pair it, after which they'd match.

Obviously this is a very tricky process with multiple Macs and multiple remotes and IR bouncing all over the place; you've got to manage your working environment (covering ports, whatever) to make sure you're changing and pairing only what you're intending to at any point in time.