Making your Targus Bluetooth Presenter actually usable

2011-03-08

[Updated 10.10.2014]

Here's a tip that will come in useful if you'd like to use a Targus Bluetooth Presenter (AMP11US or AMP11EU) with your Mac.

It seems that the Targus wireless presenter remote (an otherwise nice device) was designed by a committee of morons, none of which actually ever gave any Keynote presentations.

Apparently someone at Targus said that the buttons are supposed to be for "Next Slide" and "Previous Slide", which other people took literally, so the buttons just jump over to the next slide, skipping any builds or transitions that you might have in place. All you can have is flat slides. Goodbye builds, goodbye special effects, goodbye bullet points, goodbye movies. The buttons generate "Shift-CursorDown" and "Shift-CursorUp", forcibly skipping over anything that isn't a full slide.

Am I being unnecessarily harsh calling the designers "morons"? I don't think so. If you design a device whose only purpose is to facilitate presenting, and then you create a version specifically for the Mac (I quote from the Targus web page: "the only wireless presenter dedicated to Mac users") to be used with Keynote — is it too much to ask that you design it so that the two keys on the device actually perform useful functions? I mean, seriously — two keys, next step and previous step, how hard is that?

It's also rather clear that most "reviews" that you can find online are junk and the "reviewers" haven't actually used the device to perform presentations.

Fortunately, there is a solution. There is a small, free utility called KeyRemap4Macbook. (UPDATE 10.10.2014: the utility has since been renamed to Karabiner). Download it, install it (requires a restart), then go into your Mac OS X Preferences, access the KeyRemapper panel, and from within its last settings pane access the private.xml file that stores custom key mappings.

Once you get there, enter the following:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<root>
<list>
<item>
<name>Targus Wireless Presenter Keynote Fix</name>
<identifier>private.targus_wireless_presenter_keynote_fix</identifier>
<autogen>--KeyToKey-- KeyCode::CURSOR_DOWN, VK_SHIFT, KeyCode::CURSOR_RIGHT</autogen>
<autogen>--KeyToKey-- KeyCode::CURSOR_UP, VK_SHIFT, KeyCode::CURSOR_LEFT</autogen>
</item>
</list>
</root>

Save the file, go back to the first pane of the KeyRemap configuration and click "Reload XML". You might also want to check the box that says "Don't remap an internal keyboard".

And there you go — what this does is remaps the useless key combinations that the Targus Presenter generates to simple "cursor right" and "cursor left", which do the right thing in Keynote.

Enjoy!

Comments

Hi Jan,

Thanks a lot for your instructions. One problem though: After opening the KeyRemap4MacBook.version 5.1.0 I got stuck. Where can I find this 'last settings pane' and 'private.xml file that stores custom key mappings' that you refer to?

Ko van Dun2011-06-20

Ko: I'm using KeyRemap4MacBook version 7.0.0 now. In my Preferences I click the "KeyRemap4MacBook" icon, then select the last ("Misc&Uninstall") pane. I then click the "Open private.xml" button.

Jan Rychter2011-06-22

Thank you so much for these helpful instructions! I cannot believe that they designed the device to skip all of the builds. I appreciate the time you took to help me get mine working well with Keynote.

Stacey2011-09-15

Thanks a bunch for this great solution to the problem created by moronic designers!

Matt2011-11-23

I only had this problem when I upgraded to Keynote 09 (the previous version of Keynote worked fine with my Targus Bluetooth Presenter), so Apple are the culprits too! Anyway this fix using KeyRemap4Macbook did the trick, so thanks a million.

Paul Ruffle2011-12-16

Works Like A Charm!!!! Thanks a million, Jan...

NeoSentra2011-12-26

Do you have a solution for powerpoint on mac. the morons can't get any of the software right.
My next and previous slide while on powerpoint do not work at all!

PJ2011-12-27

PJ: sorry, I never used powerpoint — but you should be able to work something out using KeyRemap4Macbook. Find out what keys (as in keyboard keys) PowerPoint uses for next/prev point and then enter them in KeyRemap4Macbook. Good luck!

Jan Rychter2012-01-09

PJ: It also work with PowerPoint... I did exactly that JR said and it work!!!
un millon de gracias JR!!!

AH2012-04-06

HI Jan, I should have know when the Targus pointer only cost $7 on Amazon that it was to good to be true. I am having problems with the last step which is to find this 'last settings pane' and 'private.xml file that stores custom key mappings' that you refer to. Could you please help me with that?

Berglind Gisladottir2012-05-01

Hi again,
Forget the last question, I figured that out but I can't open the private XML file, any Idea why??

Berglind2012-05-01

I'm sorry, maybe I'm an idiot. What application do you use to open the private XML file? And what do you save it as?

Dave Story2013-09-04

Hi again, :) also forget about the last question. Thank you so much for your help. This is now $7 dollars very well spent.

Berglind2012-05-02

This kind of bluetooth modified accessory is really helpful. It will make you look more professional during the entire presentation.

Bluetooth / Mobile Accessories2012-05-06

Many thanks

The fix works for powerpoint 2011 on my macbook pro running os/x 10.7.4 without having to fiddle with the remapping. However it didn't work at first. I found that, when you return to the initial preferences pane, there is an entry under remapping (at the top of the list) with a box. This was initially unchecked. I found that if I checked it and hit "reload/XML", the presenter worked as advertised.

I would replace the term "moron" with "incompetent" and point out that, where I come from, the goods you sell must be "fit for purpose". The presenter (however cheap) clearly is not so appears to break UK consumer law.

Thanks again...

Jeremy2012-07-16

Hi Jeremy, can you post your "working" XML file for PowerPoint please? I can't seem to get this working at all.

Thanks,
Anthony

Anthony2013-06-24

In fact, sorry Jeremy, ignore me, I followed what you said about not changing anything and just hitting the reload/XML and it sparked into life! Thanks very much.

The only slight issue I have now is that the "blank screen" button no longer works on the remote. Not a major problem but it would be good if this was something that someone can offer a suggestion with.

When I hit the button the screen flickers very slightly, but then the presentation reappears. :-(

Anthony2013-06-24

I'd rather keep calling them "morons". Bunch of stupid programmers. It's very obvious anyone would buy this crap expecting it to work just like after the remapping since the beggining. Thanks a lot!

João2012-07-31

THANK YOU!! You totally saved me having thought I bought a useless product. REally appreciate you sharing this info!

Ryan C2012-08-08

Hey Jan,

I just realized the new mapping doesn't allow the screen to be blanked out. Do you know what can be added to the code to keep the screen blank button working properly?

Thanks!
Ryan

Ryan C2012-08-08

Worked great. Thanks.

Andrew2012-11-27

Thanks Jan,
Total lifesaver - I'm running a number of sessions teaching beekeeping here in the UK and bought the Targus device cheaply on Amazon. It's the day before the next lesson and I was about to throw the thing out the window when a combination of Google and your site saved the day!

Works perfectly - Thanks so much!

Simon

simon cavill2013-02-24

Thanks so much, finally I could use my device...
It's so frustrating to buy a crappy device like this one.

Mauricio2013-10-25

Hi
for the buttons 5 and 6? ?actually I can not change them
because the button generates many characters together

Gigi2013-11-05

Thanks a ton for this fix......I am using this presenter with Powerpoint 2011 for mac and it works fine now...... however, key 5 for blank isnt working now. Any ideas.... Earlier before using this fix it used to work..... any fix suggested.....

Prasad2014-01-21

Jan, you rock.

Thanks a bunch for your time and guidance. Crisp, clear, and working.

A short note: in OS 10.9 there is no need to restart the machien, and KeyRemap4Macbook is not actually a control panel.
Access to the xml is through the Misc tab.

Thanks a bunch.

PS - yes, they are a bunch of morons. You were gentle with them :-)

badolina2014-04-13

Thanks, Jan. it is working nice. it is good that you showed us how resolve a problem of a crappy device

Jolivo2014-04-18

Hey JR just wanna say that you are a genius!!! Thanks much for figuring out how to fix the problem... I almost freaked out cause i just got my amp11 and its not working on presentation mode... You are a life saver my friend! KUDOS!!!

Rye Tams2014-08-07

This is awesome, you just made my day thank you for this solution I hope all the people with issues on this product will find this solution I was really frustrated

Jonathan Casarrubias2014-09-25

Thanks for all the kind words. As it turns out, it is definitely worth it to write pages like this, "for future Google searches", as they help so many people over the years.

Jan Rychter2014-10-10

You are amazing!!!! I have just purchased this product for an interview presentation and thought it was a waste of money and was not going to have enough time to buy a new one! I followed your easy steps and also needed to check the box that someone mentioned in another thread and it works perfectly in PowerPoint! A great thread....especially as the driver is unavailable for download too so I could programme the other buttons to do this job .....thank again :-)

Gems2015-02-14

Hi hoping someone can help. I can't for the life of me get this to work.

EventViewer tells me my device is sending:

CURSORDOWN, SHIFTL

But the code above uses:

CURSORDOWN, VKSHIFT

If i swap SHIFT_L into the code i get an error saying 'Unknown symbol'. I don't understand why.

Stephen Crowther2015-04-27