This is a problem with Mac OS 10.6.0, 10.6.1 and 10.7.0 - please update to the newest version of your OS as Apple has fixed this issue in Mac OS 10.6.2 and Mac OS 10.7.1 long ago.

If you are seeing this problem with an updated OS after running Hulu Desktop, be aware that application has a bug which causes Mira and other programs to lose their exclusive access to the Apple built-in receiver. You should update to Mira 1.4.5 or newer for our workaround. You should also send an email to the developers at Hulu.com asking them for a fix and the ability to turn off support for the Apple remote in their app.

Mira will work with a supported IR Receiver on any Mac with USB and Mac OS X 10.4 or newer, including all models with built-in IR from 2006+.

Mac models without a built-in Apple IR Receiver require an external receiver that connects to an available USB port.

You can buy the Twisted Melon Manta TR1 receiver from our web site.

Mira supports the following IR receivers (Bold = Recommended):

• Manta TR1 IR Transceiver (from Twisted Melon for use with any Mac)
• Apple Built-In IR Receiver (found in most new Mac models)
• MCE/eHome 2005 IR Receiver (used with some Windows MCE systems)
• MCE/eHome 2005 IR Transceiver (used with most Windows MCE systems)
• Keyspan DMR IR Receiver (UIA-11 series, except "-11F")
• Keyspan Express IR Receiver (UIA-11 series, except "-11F")

External receivers should be plugged directly into a USB port on the computer or an external powered USB hub. They should not be plugged into an Apple Keyboard or other unpowered hub as they may operate poorly or not at all.

Older MCE receivers (2003) and some newer "Vista" receivers are not supported.

With Mira, your old Keyspan IR receiver can be used with the Apple Remote on any Mac with USB.

You must UNINSTALL the original Keyspan software completely before the receiver can be used by Mira. Once this is done, simply plug the receiver into a powered USB port and it is ready for use with Mira.

Open the Mira preference pane and select the Options tab. If you only have one supported receiver, it should already be listed in the pop-up menu next to "Use this receiver."

Select the Buttons tab and ensure each of the on-screen remote buttons lights up in blue when you press buttons on the Apple Remote.

The Apple Remote only works with IR receivers, therefore it is not compatible with the "RF Presenter" nor "RF Remote" receiver models. Mira uses the Apple Remote exclusively with the above receivers. There is no suport for the original remote controls that shipped with these receivers in Mira at this time.

Using an external USB receiver with Mira will provide you with the same user experience as someone with a newer Mac using the built-in receiver. You can control the same applications and pair a specific remote to your Mac.

The USB Manta TR1 Transceiver has a number of advantages as well:

• Position the receiver anywhere, even if your Mac itself is hidden
• Use repeating actions with the Play and Menu buttons
• A small LED on Manta TR1 blinks whenever it receives a command
• Expandable for IR transmitting/blasting (not used in Mira at this time)
• Saves you the price of a new Mac
• Puts some money in our bank account so we can continue developing great products

Manta TR1:

Twisted Melon recommends the Manta TR1, available directly from the shop page. It can be bought seperately or bundled with Mira for a special price.

Mira is designed to work with Apple remote IR commands.

You can use a genuine Apple Remote, SiK Rex or a universal remote with the proper setup. In some cases you may have to teach the universal remote the Apple remote commands yourself.

We have provided commands below in a number of common formats for the Philips Pronto series of remotes. Many other remotes feature import options for such commands/files, including Logitech Harmony and Universal Remote Control Complete Control series. Using these commands, you do not need to own or use a physical Apple remote yourself.

Some universal remotes can be programmed from a computer while others must learn directly from an original remote, so any codes we provide may only be suitable for some products. The commands are presented below in both condensed and RAW Philips Pronto Formats.

For Philips Pronto series products: Cut and paste codes below into the appropriate panels in your remote layout, or download the CCF files below to directly import the commands into your configuration.

For Logitech Harmony series products: We have added a clean capture of all six buttons as well as the Pair command to the Harmony database. From the Harmony web-based remote configuration:

• Choose Add a Device
• Select the Computer device type
• Select Apple as the manufacturer
• Enter MacBook Pro when asked for model
• Press Save when asked
• If asked if you have a remote for this device, select No
• Create an Activity with this device (Custom/Generic Activity works best)
• Select Update Remote

You may or may not need to adjust the amount of "repeat" (using the Troubleshoot option for the device) depending on your specific Harmony remote and whether or not the web configuration has altered these values from what we submitted.

Note that this (and other) devices containing Apple Remote codes may contain extra buttons that are not valid Apple Remote button codes. Ignore those. The Apple Remote only has 6 valid button codes plus the special Pair code.

If you have any issues selecting this device or using the commands with your Harmony remote, contact Logitech/Harmony customer support and forward them a copy of the Pronto Raw codes below.

For URC Complete Control, Custom Control and Home Theater Master series products: Download the CCF files below and using the MXEditor (or newer) software, Import the CCF to copy its commands to buttons on your remote.

For JP1 (One4All, RCA, RadioShack) products: See the JP1 forums at www.hifi-remote.com to find out how you can update your remote to send the appropriate commands.
You should link back to this page if you paste the Pronto Hex codes included below.

Other remotes: Visit the forums at Remote Central for discussions about other remote products and how to convert Pronto codes into a suitable format for them.

The command codes for the Apple Remote vary depending on the current unique Pair-ID, so you may find codes posted elsewhere differing from these. We have provided codes using two different ID settings for your convenience.

Mira is a software-only product and does not come with an Apple Remote. Twisted Melon also does not currently sell Apple Remotes.

Apple remotes can be bought online from the Apple Store in the iPod accessories section or Amazon.com. They should also be available from local Apple stores or other authorized Apple resellers.

You can also purchase and use a SiK Rex remote which is fully compatible with Mira as well as Manta TR1.

Ignore any notices on the Apple product page claiming the remote requires an iPod and dock. It requires only a Mac with USB, Mira and a supported IR receiver.

The Apple Remote transmits at 38kHz, a widely used carrier frequency for IR products.

Mira can be used to create personalized remote settings for any application on your Mac. In other words, it can pretty much support every aplication.

To start you off, there are pre-defined settings for the following applications (which can be used as-is or as the basis for your own personal creations):

Multimedia & Video

Boxee Media Center (Boxee Project et al.)
DistantDVD (Tom Carrington)
DVD Player (Apple)
Final Cut Pro (Apple)
Front Row (Apple)
MediaCentral (equinux)
Mezzanine (Mezzanine)
Movie Time (SansWorks)
MPlayer (MPlayer Project)
Netflix (FullScreen Safari & Firefox) (Netflix)
NicePlayer (Tuley & Chin)
Plex Media Center (Plex Project et al.)
QuickTime Player (Apple) - Download profile for QuickTime Player 7
QuickTime X (Apple)
SlingPlayer (Sling Media)
VLC Media Player (VideoLAN)
XBMC (XBMC)

TV

AlchemyTV (Miglia/Meilenstein)
EvolutionTV (Miglia/Meilenstein)
EyeTV (ElGato)
Hulu Desktop (Hulu)

Music

AirFoil (Rogue Amoeba)
CoverFlow (Steel Skies)
GarageBand (Apple)
iTunes (Apple)
Krix (Monsterkodi)
Live (Ableton)
netTunes (Shirt Pocket)
Reason (Propellerhead)
Sonos Desktop Controller (Sonos)

Photo & Graphics

Aperture (Apple)
Capture One (Phase One)
iPhoto (Apple)
Freak Show (Tempus Dictum)
GraphicConverter (Lemke Software)
Photo Booth (Apple)
PhotoPresenter (Arizona Software)
Preview (Apple)
Xee Image Viewer (Dag Ågren)

Presentation

Keynote (Apple)
NeoOffice (Luby & Peterlin)
PowerPoint (Microsoft)

Document Browsers

Acrobat (Adobe)
Adobe Reader (Adobe)
NeoOffice (Luby & Peterlin)
OpenOffice (OpenOffice.org)
Word (Microsoft)

Timers, Calendars & Scheduling

Aurora (Jonas Witt)
Awaken (Embraceware)
FlexTime (Red Sweater)
iCal (Apple)
Stapler (Blue:Tec)

Collecting

Books (Aetherial)
Delicious Library (Delicious Monster)

Mapping

Google Earth (Google)

Games

Bloxter (Norbyte)
Bub and Bob 2 (McSebi)
Frozen Bubble (Guillaume Cottenceau)
GLTron (Andreas Umbach)
iColumns (Brian Webster)
MacSwear (Dag Ågren?)
Minesweeper (Mindquirk)
Pac The Man (McSebi)
Quinn (Simon Härtel)

Internet Applications

Mail (Apple)
NetNewsWire (NewsGator)
NetNewsWire Lite (NewsGator)
NewsMac Pro (ThinkMac)
Unison (Panic)
Vienna (Vienna Project)

Web Browsers

Camino (The Camino Project)
Firefox (Mozilla Foundation)
Flock (Flock)
iCab (Alexander Clauss)
OmniWeb (Omni Group)
Opera (Opera Software)
Safari (Apple)
Shiira (Shiira Project)

To use QuickTime Player 7 (the legacy QuickTime Player) you must update Mira's existing QuickTime Player profile by downloading and then importing the QuickTime Player 7 Profile. After downloading the zip file, open it to extract the contained profile, then double-click the profile to import it into Mira, replacing the previous QuickTime Player profile.

You will be able to have both QuickTime 7 Player and QuickTime X profiles and applications active at the same time if you desire.

Of course! You can create Keystroke Actions for any profile and direct them to any running application. AppleScripts can also be used to target specific applications from the Open Item Action or Launch Menu.

Mira uses the same repeat rate as you have set for your keyboard. This may be changed in the Keyboard and Mouse pane of System Preferences.

You can adjust the delay until repeat starts as well as the rate of the repeating itself.

We do not recommend setting both the rate and delay to their fastest settings as you may fire multiple actions by accident. Keep the settings just one tick from the fastest which still provides the desired speed with higher control.

Yes it does. A number of long press commands are built-in for popular applications, they can be found in the Action Menu's DuoPress Action submenu.

The DuoPress Action type does support this functionality and it's currently being used for a couple of built-in profiles. However, at this time Mira does not have a built-in “macro” editing UI to allow the customer to chain together multiple actions on a single button.

Similar results can also be achieved by creating an AppleScript with the functions you want and then using the Open Item action or Launch Menu to activate that AppleScript.

You can learn more about AppleScript by visiting Apple.com and Developer.Apple.com

O'Reilly also publishes a very good book, AppleScript: The Definitive Guide.

Mira uses the icon that is currently attached to an item — the same icon that appears in the Finder. To use your own icons, select the item in the Finder and press CMD-i on the keyboard for "Get Info." In the Get Info window the current icon is displayed in the top left corner. Simply paste a new icon/image into this location to replace the current one, and press the Refresh button in the Mira Launch Menu Tab.

The default icon can be restored at any time by selecting the icon in the Get Info window again and pressing the Backspace or Delete key on the keyboard.

Absolutely, we'd love to hear directly from developers about which settings they'd recommend as defaults for use with Mira. We can also provide information on our extremely versatile DuoPress Action file format for nearly unlimited custom possibilities. Please contact us for additional details.

Just select the Restore Built-in Profiles command from the Profile Options menu and then select one or more profiles to restore.

As a convenience your Mac will accept commands from any Apple Remote by default. This isn't desired in all situations, such as when multiple Macs are being used together, because commands intended for one computer may be recognized by any other. It also means someone with a remote can interrupt your important presentations.

The Pair feature in the Options tab will create a link between your Mac and one remote, any other remote will simply be ignored. Every Apple Remote has a unique ID and the Pairing process sets the Mac to listen to a specific ID value.

The Apple Remote uses Infrared (IR) light and contains a fairly powerful transmitter. With direct line of sight you can easily send commands from 33 feet (10 meters) away from the computer.

Because of its powerful transmitter you will also find that the invisible beam can bounce off furniture, walls and ceilings, so you don't usually have to point directly at the computer.

Performance is affected by battery power, so if you notice your remote is not as responsive anymore, it likely means your battery is getting low. Mira will display a low battery warning once the power drops below a certain level.

Yes, Mira currently supports a number of different languages which will automatically be enabled when you choose your language preference in the Mac OS International preference pane.

Please see the Mira Features page for a list of supported languages. If you'd like to help translate the application and help files into an additional language, please contact us.

You may purchase Mira directly from this site using the Buy Online link to the right. A personal license file will be created for you and sent in an email. Opening the license file from your email will automatically register Mira.

You should store your .miralicense file away for safe keeping, perhaps by archiving or keeping a copy of your original license email. You will need the license file again if you ever need to re-install Mira after a system crash or having previously uninstalled it.

If Mira has not yet been installed, install it now before continuing.

Using most email programs, such as Apple Mail, you should be able to double-click on the .miralicense file attached to your registration email to open/launch it, otherwise you may save it to your desktop and double-click it from there. When you do this Mira will receive the information it needs to complete your registration and pop up a small confirmation window.

You should store your .miralicense file away for safe keeping, perhaps by archiving or keeping a copy of your original license email. You will need the license file again if you ever need to re-install Mira after a system crash or having previously uninstalled it.

If for any reason you've lost your license file, please contact us by email and we'll gladly send you your original license email again.

The most likely problem is that the license file has been saved with the incorrect filename, specifically the extension, the portion of the filename after the period.

If the file was saved from a webmail site, either the site or your browser may have changed the filename to end in ".xml" for example. This will prevent the license from opening properly once it's been downloaded to your Mac, because Mac OS will try to open it with the wrong application.

Mira must first be installed, then please follow the steps below.

• Copy/download, the license file from your email to your desktop temporarily
• Rename the file so that the extension is ".miralicense"
• Verify the filename is "Your Name.miralicense"
• Double-click the license file on the desktop to launch it
• You're done - Mira should prompt you for authentication

If when you double-click the file it doesn't open through Mira, it's possible the file association also needs to be adjusted. An association is how Mac OS deals with files of a specific extension or type. If Mira is installed, then please just do the following:

• Select the license file on your desktop and press Command-i on your keyboard
• In the Get Info window that should have a appeared you will see a section called "Open With"
• In the pop-up menu under the "Open With" heading, make sure to select "miraRCD"
• Press the "Change All" button directly underneath the pop-up
• Close the Get Info window by pressing Command-w
• Double-click the license file on the desktop to launch it

You should now delete the license file from the desktop. This loss of file association is something that can happen in Mac OS from time to time to any file type.

Mira is licensed for unlimited use on a single computer. That means anyone who uses your computer is free to use Mira, with single or multiple user accounts.

However, if you require the use of Mira on multiple computers, within the same household or otherwise, you must purchase a Mira license for each of those installations.

We have a special Mira Family Pack available which allows installation on 3 computers within the same household for a special price.

Right-click (or CTRL-click) the Mira icon in System Preferences and select the Remove "Mira" Preference Pane option.

Then restart your computer to make sure Mira is cleared from memory.

The Mira application is contained in a single Preference Pane application which stores both user and system preferences

Mira PrefPane: /Library/PreferencePanes/mira.prefpane

System-wide Preferences: /Library/Preferences/mira/

User-specific Preferences: ~/Library/Preferences/mira/
(~ is the user name - a Mira folder will exist for each user that has run Mira)

System Login Item: (One entry created in) /Library/Preferences/loginwindow.plist

Manually deleting (or moving to trash) the Mira prefpane and preferences and removing the single entry for miraRCD inside loginwindow.plist will wipe all traces of Mira from your system.

You should log out and log back in (not fast user switch) or restart to make sure Mac OS clears miraRCD from memory and updates any of its caches.

At this point Mira will be completely removed from your system.

All updates and releases within each major version of Mira will always be FREE. That means if you buy any 1.x version you will receive all updates to any other 1.x version completely free of charge. When a new major version is released (2.x) we reserve the right to set an upgrade price — but there's no need to worry about that for now as we have plenty of 1.x updates planned with many new features.

Support is also free for all customers forever, even if you're not using the latest major version. You can contact us by email.