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Feature Request: Alter Harmony Profile


atlasgrudge

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Just wanted to say thanks for a great product. My apologies for the long post.  This is kind of a feature request/bug report of sorts.  More than anything I'm sure the problem lies with the myharmony app, but I'm hoping you find this worth reading and can come up with a solution.

 

I have run into an issue that I thought should be brought to your attention.  I recently purchased a Flirc and a Harmony 650 for use with an HTPC running XBMC.  The biggest motivation for me in purchasing these products was that I have an older tv that has some HDMI handshake issues with my AVR.  Everything works, but only if I turn it all on in a certain order (htpc first, then avr).  If I turn the avr on before the htpc, then my screen will basically flicker between on and standby every 5-10 seconds.  For that reason, I purchased a Harmony 650 with the intention of using its activities to make powering everything up in the right order as simple as possible (especially for my girlfriend).  While trying to set this up, I noticed an odd issue.  After setting up my remote with flirc for use with xbmc, and even getting so far as to configure fully functioning buttons for putting my htpc to sleep and wake it, I then went to create the activity to turn everything on in order.  I selected the flirc and my avr as the two devices to be used in this activity and instructed the myharmony app which input I wanted the receiver set to.  Upon completing the creation of the activity, I tested it out and it didn't work.  It turned the avr on, but not my htpc.  I then went to customize the activity to see if there was something I could change to get the functionality I wanted and that's when I noticed it:  in the table showing the activity startup commands, the only thing being listed as being turned on was the avr (the flirc was nowhere to be seen).  Of course, I could add the flirc and the command that I had bound to wake the htpc up from sleep...but only after turning the avr on (the activity startup commmands has a default order of execution that can't be edited or reordered).  This was the exact opposite functionality that I needed from this in order to avoid the hdmi handshake issues I mentioned.  I then went and loaded one of the Panasonic TV profiles and configured all of the buttons manually with flirc, essentially following all of the same steps as before.  But this time when I made the activity the myharmony app listed turning on the Panasonic TV (my htpc in this case) first and then turning on the avr.  This was exactly what I was hoping to achieve.  However, I much preferred how the htpc responded to controls from the flirc profile than from the Panasonic TV profile in regards to delays etc.  I noticed that the flirc profile didn't actually have a command titled "Power On" and thought that might have something to do with it.  So I grabbed an old remote and used it to teach an IR signal to my Harmony 650 with the intention of using it as a "Power On" signal.  However, the original behavior where the receiver was listed as the first (and only) device to be turned on repeated itself.  I've included screen caps of the flirc and Panasonic profile activity startup command tables so you can see what I'm talking about.  Is there something inherently different about the myharmony Flirc profile as compared to the Panasonic TV profile that is preventing me from using it how I'm wanting to?  Would it be possible for any changes to be made to the Flirc profile so that it behaves like the Panasonic profile does so it can get listed as the first device to be turned on? 

 

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Edited by atlasgrudge
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This is definitely a good point and I only have a narrow connection with Logitech. Let me see if they can help.

However, I think you can work around this.

Why don't you add a Panasonic (or other tv device that you don't physically own) and then pair only the Panasonic power up button with your wake key.

Then go to the harmony software and power on the Panasonic first (which will send a key only Flirc understands) and wakes up your machine. Then make the tv power up button next.

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  • 7 months later...

I've been using a harmony since kodi was xbmp (that's not a typo, it later changed to xbmc). I had it matched with an xbox IR receiver which to this day does not seem to have a match. Since moving off the xbox, I've had the harmony paired against an HP MCE receiver, buttons mapped from a corresponding remote. It's worked well but the range/accuracy was always sub par to the xbox receiver, I was hoping flirc was the answer.

 

It's actually been more frustrating to set up than I would have expected. Since the flirc is a learning receiver, and expects you to use its own software to define keys, having a flirc harmony profile, with Commands defined that should represent concrete actions is simply not a good idea.

 

What do the actions in the profile mean? Zoom+? is that mapped to an MCE command code? does flirc's built in profile somehow translate that into something xbmc / kodi understands? even if so, if Kodi changes its keys - now what? the profile is out of date! This is what I and many others have experienced.

 

I believe, the best idea, is simply to have a harmony flirc profile that has commands named the same as the remote buttons - UpArrow is the UpArrow flirc command with some arbitrary remote scan/hex code. Then you go into the flirc software and record that UpArrwow command / UpArrow button with whatever you want - never requiring a flirc profile update! furthermore, it will save time for people because they won't waste time mapping and wondering why kodi / xbmc isn't responding to some commands and then having to map them again manually anyway.

 

This essentially means that the flirc firmware and logitech profile simply have a notion of command codes that are mapped to known harmony buttons, given that a flirc does not have a remote and thus a specific set of buttons.

 

Does this make sense?

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You can over-ride any keys you would like. Simply load the harmony profile, and record them again (even though they are already mapped). This is intentional.

There are a lot of problems with the current profile, and I'm very aware of them.

I'm in touch with logitech, and we are cleaning it up and working on new profiles.

I don't have a timeline, but will definitely make an announcement on the blog.

Thanks Duren.

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