Using the AirCable Host XR3 to control a Multi-Room HomePC

[Julian Hays]

Hello- I just thought I would share my setup! The AirCable Host XR3 really ties the whole thing together... 

I started by purchasing a new MacMini. (later installed 16GB ram)

I then purchased a 4port hdmi-over-ethernet system from monoprice. The mac mini has two video outputs- I run one output to a primary monitor, and the second output to the hdmi-over-ethernet box. I then have cat-6 cables running all over my house, which are then converted back to hdmi and plugged into various displays. I have 3 displays- in my living room, kitchen, and basement. These are all mirroring the primary display (though you could extend the desktop if you wished). 
I used a 3.5mm audio splitter and ran 100ft 3.5mm audio cables to various speakers in each room as well. 

At first, I did not have a good way to control the machine in the other rooms (because I could not use USB devices, and bluetooth was not strong enough.) I was using the iOS app "MobileMouse" which was okay, but not ideal. Then I discovered the AirCable Host XR3!

At first I had trouble getting the device to work, but after adding a powered USB hub it works great. I can now use bluetooth mouse/keyboard/trackpad/gamepad or any BT device throughout the house to control the machine. It is really a great setup! 

I have had some great success using Nintendo Wii controllers over bluetooth with the XR3- the Sony ps3 hasn't worked so well. But I recently discovered the Dolphin wii emulator- I immediately ordered a few wireless wii sensor bars to place in my various rooms. If all works as planned- I could have several people playing wii games, in different rooms/on different screens, simultaneously, on my mac! 

All thanks to the AirCable Host XR3!

[Slade Swan]

Hi,

I am attempting a similar setup to yourself regarding the use of the Aircable Host XR3.  

However the problem I seem to be having is that the mac freezes during startup unless at least a hardwired mouse or keyboard is attached.  If the XR3 is attached to the mac usb port directly the machine will not start up at all.  Then once the machine is actually started I need to re-pair the keyboard and mouse after every restart/reboot.  I have turned off all the bluetooth advanced options (to start the Bluetooth Setup assistant if the mouse/keyboard are not detected) in case this was the problem.  When the machine is running and the devices are paired then everything works perfectly, but the reboot problems remove the benefits of bluetooth wireless keyboards/mice.

So far my experience doesn't appear as successful as yours.  I am wondering whether you experienced any similar issues and could provide any advice.

I have not raised the issue with Aircable yet as I don't get the impression the XR3 is faulty.

Regards.

[Julian Hays]

I have not experienced that exact problem- though a reboot caused difficulty for me recently, causing my bluetooth devices to "ghost pair" to the mac mini bluetooth hardware itself, and causing much difficulty getting them switched back over to the XR3. This occurred since upgrading to Mavericks.

[Juergen Kienhoefer]

Slade, did you try with a powered hub to make sure the Mac starts up correctly?

And Julian, what did you do to get the Host XR3 used on Mavericks after reboot? 

Were you able to use the Bluetooth HCI Controller Selector as suggested

here: http://www.atpeaz.com/index.php/2012/using-unsupported-bluetooth-4-0-usb-dongle-with-os-x/

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[Julian Hays]

I was forced to re-install Mac OS X. My bluetooth system preferences had become damaged (perhaps due to my own overzealous use of some sudo commands...) to the point of devices being paired, even though Mac believed there was no bluetooth hardware built-in inside the Mac Mini... yet it was auto-pairing with my devices anyway. This "ghost" pairing would always take precedence to the XR3- even if I was able to get the XR3 connected and in discovery mode, the Mac Mini's built-in bluetooth was capturing the devices before they could pair with the XR3. It was rather frustrating, but a reinstall of the OS solved it. I have not restarted my machine since installing the new OS and getting the XR3 up and running again ;) 

[Slade Swan]

Hi Juergen & Julian,

Thanks very much for the replies. I have been pretty busy with work hence the lack of response + the 16 hour time difference doesn't help.

Juergen, yes i did try powered usb hub both usb 2.0 and 3.0 in case there was some timing issue.  I have also found that the mac boot was taking a long time (even without XR3 connected) with the spinning beach ball for up to 15 minutes (before I gave up) and rebooted.  Found blog post that discussed removing the BootCache.playlist (via single user mode startup see which will rebuild on subsequent boot.  This fixed subsequent boots but the problem resurfaced once I reintroduced the XR3.  Clearly Apple are very precious about their hardware/software match marketing to the extent that they make it difficult to use different controller.  I have not upgraded to Mavericks yet and investigations continue especially around the sort of impact the info in the link you mentioned to Julian will have.

I will update with any notable success or failures as I find them.

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[Juergen Kienhoefer]

I'm a Mac guy too and remember the BootCache thing as well on one of my older Macs. At the end it turned out that the disk was going bad. Changed it and it just booted without problems, with the Host XR3 attached. On MountainLion. 

Before I eventually changed the disk I ran fsck manually at boot time, but that just helped for a day or two.