my apologies, i did not have autostart on.
now i have autostart on, i am able to take a picture using the usb remote while in alt mode, however, now the camera does not switch to playback mode!
so:
if i do not have the camera in autostart mode: i start the script with the shutter button, the usb remote takes the picture, the camera switches to playback mode, waits, and switches back.
if i do have the camera in autostart mode: i do not have to start the script with the shutter button, the usb remote will take the picture straight away, but then the camera does not switch to playback mode.
so close...