Go buy a Harmony Smart Control

danyulland · 19 Jun 2015 at 09:27

Psycho Sonny said:
using the stock remote is usually quicker i find, i have a harmony and never use it.

you simply cannot replace every single button on most remotes. if your simple and don't use advanced features then get a harmony. if you tweak stuff all the time then don't bother.

e.g. i use game mode on my tv a lot, i use smart tv functions on my tv, etc.

i find it's usually easier and quicker to use the 3 separate remotes than have one and have to use the toggle device button

oh and my tv controls my ps4 and my stock remote controls the tv

I'm sure you are aware Sonny but I had a few things like you which I couldn't do initially on my Harmony 650 but worked on them and now have everything working perfectly. I use Game and true cinema on my Panasonic ST50, I have created a macro for cinema mode and one for game mode and they are now on-screen buttons in the bottom right and left corners. It works great I can change between cinema and game mode with the press of one button.

I then have "power toggle" on the upper right corner which means in whatever mode im on i always have access to turning the screen off on its own as often i leave the PS4 on whilst i go start cooking etc =).

Finally the top right button is "stereo toggle" which switchs from stereo only to Dolby PLII at the touch of a button.

All of this took a bit more work and imagination to get it working exactly how i want it but now i works perfectly.

Hope this helps somebody.

RoyMi6 · 19 Jun 2015 at 10:32

oHUTCHYo said:
OK, received a Smart today.
Two issues;
(1)
I have a Revo RL70 PC running Kodi (XBMC) Isengard, along with a HP RC6 media centre receiver plugged in.

This is going to be a toughy I think as it could either be an XBMC problem or a Harmony problem.

All I can say is that I've had more trouble than with XBMC and MCE remotes/keyboards. The harmony stuff is just sending IR commands so it's hard to get it wrong and usually jsut comes down to making sure it's sending the RIGHT IR commands.

It could be that you've selected a suitably different MCE keyboard from the available list than for the one XBMC is setup to support but it's hard to tell just without massive amounts of trial and error.

oHUTCHYo said:
(2)
For reasons I won't explain, I NEED to run non-DHCP on my Virgin Superhub 2.0 and instead use static IP addresses on all of my devices.

I'd try approaching this the other way. The Harmony App does let you put in an IP address to connect to. Have you tried assigning a static IP address from the router using the MAC address then connecting to this IP from the phone App?

Raymond Lin · 24 Jul 2015 at 20:31

New Harmony update.

It now works with PS4 !!!

RoyMi6 · 24 Jul 2015 at 20:50

Raymond Lin said:
New Harmony update.

It now works with PS4 !!!

About bloody time!

Raymond Lin · 24 Jul 2015 at 20:58

RoyMi6 said:
About bloody time!

It's kinda strange but really cool when I press the Off button.

it somehow knows to exit the app, go to menu, power options and select power down to sleep mode/standby.

It does it like you are pressing all those buttons yourself.

RoyMi6 · 24 Jul 2015 at 21:41

Yeah, PS3 used to be the same - it would go through a wee sequence of button presses to turn off. You can configure the Harmony to do that with any turn on / turn off command as well. Like my projector requires you to press the power button twice.

rdb2012 · 24 Jul 2015 at 21:48

You can't power on the PS4 though can you?

RoyMi6 · 25 Jul 2015 at 16:56

rdb2012 said:
You can't power on the PS4 though can you?

Gawd damit Sony! https://support.myharmony.com/en/harmony-experience-with-playstation-4

oHUTCHYo · 18 Aug 2015 at 19:46

Guys, question;

I've just bought an(other) Xbox One, what I used to like doing with my Harmony One was NOT having the Xbox One as part of the activity, just have the TV as the only device. The advantage being I could leave the Xbox One turned on whilst watching TV, if I wanted to download or install something.

With the Smart, I tried setting up an activity to only have the TV turn one, however with just that alone it wouldn't let me specify that it starts up on HDMI3. I've had to go ahead and setup the activity with adding the Xbox One as a device and having it and the TV in an activity.

How can I just have the TV come on at HDMI3? I did consider deleting the Xbox One device from the Xbox Activity, but its telling me the activity will no longer work.

Any suggestions?

RoyMi6 · 19 Aug 2015 at 09:42

Sorry I can't test this and give you specific step by step instructions as all my AV gear is still packed up after the move but...

1) Doesn't the Xbox One download in standby mode anyway?

2) You can configure any device in the harmony setup, under power options somewhere, so that it stays on even if you change activity and only goes off when you press the off button. This will likely resolve all your issues.

Ah, wait, found the relevant information on the Harmony site for you:
https://support.myharmony.com/en/changing-when-a-device-powers-on-or-off

oHUTCHYo · 19 Aug 2015 at 12:40

RoyMi6 said:
Sorry I can't test this and give you specific step by step instructions as all my AV gear is still packed up after the move but...

1) Doesn't the Xbox One download in standby mode anyway?

2) You can configure any device in the harmony setup, under power options somewhere, so that it stays one even if you change activity and only goes off when you press the off button. This will likely resolve all your issues.

Ah, wait, found the relevant information on the Harmony site for you:
https://support.myharmony.com/en/changing-when-a-device-powers-on-or-off

Extremely helpful mate, thank you

Deathjester · 19 Aug 2015 at 13:58

What's the advantage of the Smart over the Harmony Ultimate?

oHUTCHYo · 19 Aug 2015 at 15:18

Deathjester said:
What's the advantage of the Smart over the Harmony Ultimate?

Personally for me, it was;

Wife friendly, as no touch screen, just tactile buttons
No charging cradle - so you just leave it flung anywhere D) Battery last up to a year.
I typically go for the "Premium" model within consumer tech as don't like to think I'm missing out, but the Smart doesn't feel like I've made a sacrifice, as its supposed shortcomings appeal to me more than the Ultimate's supposed benefits.

I went from a Harmony One+ to the Smart. The Smart is so much better in every way - more responsive, does not need direct line of sight, smaller, no cradle etc etc.

RoyMi6 · 19 Aug 2015 at 15:25

Deathjester said:
What's the advantage of the Smart over the Harmony Ultimate?

Ok, so my understanding of the Harmony Ultimate is that it's the touch screen version of the Harmony Smart Control...

Both come with a RF controlled "hub" but the Ultimate is able to add more devices (natively - because there's the usual harmony work around on the "Smart" version) and the Ultimate has a touch screen.

If you've got a Harmony Ultimate that looks like this:

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/OTkxWDE1MDA=/z/j2oAAOSwgQ9VuglI/$_57.JPG

Then I'm led to believe that if you DON'T have the hub, you should be able to buy it separately and do everything the Harmony Smart Control can do.

HOWEVER - I also think it's possible there are older Harmony Ultimates that you're referring to, that maybe doesn't work with the Hub. In which case updating to the new Harmony Ultimate, or Harmony Smart Control, might be a good idea.

At the centre of them both is the RF controlled Hub with built in IR blaster (and optional external one) that means your remote doesn't need line of sight to control your TV / AV devices.

I take advantage of this by putting all my AV in a cupboard.

Additionally, personal preference means I prefer the simpler Smart Control remote because it DOESN'T have a touch screen (I hate touch screens on remotes) and in turn, this also means it doesn't have a charging cradle!

Also, as a long time Harmony user, I much prefer the new range of Hub based remotes because they're much more responsive - in two ways.

First, when you press a single button no longer is there a 0.5s delay when trying to turn the volume up one click at a time.

Secondly because your remote no longer requires line of sight "activities" (that do a sequences of button presses) preform perfectly 100% of the time - and you don't have to hold out the remote out at arms length for 15 seconds while it turns everything on.

Lastly, the Hub can be controlled from the Harmony smart phone app - meaning you don't even need to use the remote. Not something I use (again, I hate touch screens for remote) but some people find appealing.

picnic · 19 Aug 2015 at 17:18

I'm with Roy I love my Smart. If I want to go Touch Screen then I can use the tablet but for day to day stuff it's the dinky controller all the time

RoyMi6 said:
Secondly because your remote no longer requires line of sight "activities" (that do a sequences of button presses) preform perfectly 100% of the time - and you don't have to hold out the remote out at arms length for 15 seconds while it turns everything on.

Almost, the hub needs IR line of sight

My problem is visitors, my kit is in the dining room except for the telly in the front room. The IR is beamed across the living room and thus is interrupted if someone is standing in the way. Perhaps I need to find a very long extension cable!

RoyMi6 · 19 Aug 2015 at 22:59

picnic said:
Almost, the hub needs IR line of sight My problem is visitors, my kit is in the dining room except for the telly in the front room. The IR is beamed across the living room and thus is interrupted if someone is standing in the way. Perhaps I need to find a very long extension cable!

You've answered your own question

Do exactly that. In my old flat I had a 5m extension hooked up to an emitter attached to my TV. The IR emitter/connections on the harmony hub are 2.5mm but I simply bought a pair of converters to allow me to run a cheap 5m long 3.5mm stereo cable as an extension - as this seems to be the cheaper wire compared to a 5m 2.5mm mono cable likely due to mass production.

All in it's about £10 for everything you need to get it fixed and enjoy your 100% activity success rate!