Wireless Volume/Playback Controller--is it doable with RoPieee remote?

Audio Gear Talk RoPieee
1

I got my RoPieee remote working with the Flirc dongle and an old Apple TV remote I had lying around. Huzzah!

And then I saw the various dial-on-a-desktop projects that work through RooExtend: RooDial, Roo6d, and RooNuimo. And I realized that would be killer. But not killer enough to justify setting up a RooExtend box and purchasing a $170 mouse.

This thread shows that a Vaydeer USB controller does the things I’d like to do, but only through wired USB:

Has anybody figured out a way to implement a tabletop volume (and preferably playback) controller that can communicate with RoPieee either through a 2.4 Ghz or Bluetooth USB dongle, or by sending Media Key presses through the Flirc dongle?

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As long as it supports the USB HID standard (like with the Vaydeer and many other remote controllers) RoPieee will support it out of the box.

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Sadly, whether a given device implements USB HID is seldom featured in product descriptions. Manufacturers want to make it sound like their devices are special, and “adheres to standard” makes them sound like mere commodities.

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100% true.

Would be great if we can build up a list of ‘devices known to work’.

5

Have you considered this?

It’s not quite what you’re asking for, as it isn’t particularly linked to RoPieee, but it is WiFi based and installs via Roon Extension Manager, if you have a device to host this. I’ve found it very reliable, other than the fairly short battery life.

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Agreed. A list of known good HID devices would be an excellent complement to your existing list of known good USB dongles.

If I do find something that fits the bill, I will let you know.

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I was completely ignorant of this project’s existence. Looks promising. Short battery life isn’t a big deal. If it works, I can just leave it plugged in. I don’t need wireless power, just wireless control.

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8

Here you go…

Obviously you need the version with the 2.4 GHz dongle. It is very simple, and it isn’t perfect. There is no indication of battery charge, but it goes forever on a charge. The “push” knob is mute, not play/pause, and since it is for computer display the scroll functionality (push knob and rotate) basically does nothing.

But… The volume up/down dial works great!

I really love it, it is a bit small, but well made. I just plugged the dongle into my Pi and it worked.

In the USA they are sold on Amazon, but they seem to be shipped worldwide from China.

Good Luck!

9

I have an update on my criticisms of the Anticater VK-01. After my post I looked at the documentation again. I had assumed the download was just drivers, but it turns out the software is a function programing tool! I downloaded the software (yeah, I know…) and in less than 5 minutes had the controller doing exactly what I wanted:

  • rotate left - volume down
  • rotate right - volume up
  • press the knob - play/pause
  • press and hold to rotate left - previous track
  • press and hold to rotate right - next track

So for U$D 25 plus shipping this is a really great wireless audio controller that works with Ropieee and we don’t need to beg Harry to program in something else to make it better!

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Can you send me feedback?

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Oh, man, if I had just read this post a couple of days ago. Before I went another direction.

This is what I was looking for. And I think a lot of people want this, even if they don’t know it yet.

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The setup in Ropieee was the same as any other USB HID controller, I just plugged the dongle into the Pi and it showed up as a “Generic USB HID” in the Remote tab.

The volume up/down and mute functions worked right out of the box, but I had to download the software onto my laptop and connect the dial with a USB cable to reprogram it and get all 5 functions as I wanted. The manufacture’s YouTube video below shows the process with the software in Chinese and it is a bit confusing, but the software I got was in English and the process fairly straight forward. The 5 functions I mapped are now what the dial does with every device I connect it to, my computer, phone and of course my Ropieee Pi!

Here is a link to a video of the VK-01 controlling Roon through Ropieee:

With the work you did last year to add the USB HID feature and this cheap device I think we have all the functionality of the rooDial with a lot less complexity and cost!

Any other questions just ask!

-Ron

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Awesome!

Can you hit the ‘send feedback’ option on the advanced tab?
I can then add the identifier in RoPieee so that it shows up with an identification other than ‘generic USB HID device’. Doesn’t add/change anything on a functional level, but is nice to show in the dialog.

Thanks

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I already went to the trouble of getting my handheld remote working through the Flirc IR dongle. So I’m not going to just abandon that.

But this knob-based, 2.4 GHz USB HID solution is really calling to me. Loudly.

Harry, can Ropieee detect more than one remote dongle? The web interface suggests that the answer is No, but it can’t hurt to ask.

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As requested!

b2c02ecfc28aff98

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If it makes you feel any better Matthew, I refuse to admit on a public forum how many different controllers I bought or how much time and money went into it!

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Thanks!

With the next release it will read ‘ANTICATER VK-01’ in this dialog.

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That does help. :zany_face:

And even if I don’t end up doing this, at least for a while, we’ve discovered a way to implement a tabletop dial that doesn’t require setting up a new Rpi box. Everybody wins.