winlirc / remote wonder

[doubleJ]

Hello...
I've been trying to get winlirc working with bsplayer. One step in the right direction is completed. I unchecked the "don't use winlirc" option. I currently can control bsplayer with an ir remote/receiver.
The whole intention of this was to try and get the remote wonder working fully with bsplayer (IE...able to use the volume buttons for volume control, etc...). Also, I have tried the bsplayer plugin for ATi's remote software, but there is little actual functionality (albeit more than without any plugin).
My next step was using the winlirc plugin for ATi's remote software, thinking that if it would just straight emulate an ir remote, then I could bind the buttons as I would with winlirc, within bsplayer.
My problem is that it isn't working. Now, I won't go to the exageration that nothing works, as I haven't fully tested, but it seems like some of the buttons don't even register with bsplayer (volume + for instance doesn't even show that a button is pushed). With that, some of the buttons do register with bsplayer that it was pushed, but when I go back to the main window, the button doesn't work.
The steps that I've done thusfar are...
Install bsplayer plugin for ATi software - works.
Install winlirc, ir remote/receiver, configure bsplayer - works.
Install winlirc plugin for ATi software - could not start server error
If I close winlirc then the plugin doesn't error. Likewise, if I close the winlirc plugin, winlirc doesn't error. I assume it's because they are both using the same tcp port. Does that mean that you neither need an ir receiver nor the winlirc software for the winlirc plugin to work?
Also, does the winlirc plugin for the ATi software not allow you to use some buttons, like the volume?
Sorry that this is kind of a lengthy post, but I'm really getting confused about this, and there seems to be very little documentation.
For what it's worth, it seems like girder is probably the best way to go for full functionality, and I've tried playing with it, maybe I just need to really spend the weekend with it and make it work.
Also, there is the remain plugin for ATi's software that can set the volume/channel, etc... but it seems that you can only use alphanumeric keys (no up arrow or ctrl-f5).
JJ