theboomr

Completely off-topic, but nice username, @ytsejam1138 :)

Considering that this is kinda more of an issue with smart TV OSes being set up to only support separate play/pause buttons, I think a future Skip remote should just include separate buttons. If you're using a device that does properly support a toggle/combined button then you can just use one of them, but otherwise it's better to just have both in case you need them, the way Harmony remotes did. I can't see a particularly good solution existing for the current Skip remote...if it simply toggles between play and pause codes with each press, that leaves way too much room for sometimes getting out of sync with whatever media is playing...how does the remote know I've started watching something, so the next press should be pause? Etc. Maybe best option is just the idea of assigning a different code to long press. That would be a bit annoying, but would at least work consistently. (For the record this doesn't necessarily apply to me since I'm using a flirc plugged into a Chromecast with Google TV, and that does support a single code for proper play/pause toggling, but it would be good for this to be worked out on future Skip remote hardware because I'm sure I won't necessarily be sticking with Google TV forever...)

I am also experiencing this issue unfortunately, after starting to attempt to update the firmware to a much newer version, my remote got stuck where all it does is flash red 3 times, whether with batteries in or no batteries and plugged into computer. When plugged into computer (Windows), it is not detected in Device Manager at all, and the usual USB chimes do not happen when plugging/unplugging. It was working fine before this point, albeit having to replace the batteries at least once a week (I was using rechargeables to mitigate this, although I know Jason has mentioned not to use rechargeables). @jason and/or @Nathan, any chance I can get a replacement unit? I already PM'ed Jason about this but wanted to tag both of you here just for visibility in case Jason is too bogged down dealing with other stuff currently. Honestly I'd be okay with paying for a new Skip remote myself if I have to, since I really like almost everything about it aside from the battery drain, and now it being bricked.

I'm not sure if there's some other fix coming, but I use rechargeable batteries and I've found that when this is occurring, swapping out for freshly charged batteries mitigates the issue.

I think what @LouP is saying is that if you have an activity already setup on the remote with, let's say, a TV, and an A/V receiver, for example, but then later you realize you want to add another device to that same activity, like an Xbox or streaming stick or something, the only way to add another device is to go back into the wizard, but then once you've selected the new device and continued through the steps of the wizard, any custom button mappings you had set up (like assigning rare misc functions to number keys or something like that) get reset to their default mappings. I have experienced this several times as well while fiddling and tweaking my setup.

Personally I would love to see a second-gen Skip remote (Skip 2S?) have separate play/pause buttons the same way Logitech's Harmony remotes did. There certainly seems to be room on the current button layout to just tack on another button right beneath the current play/pause one, at least externally. Not sure what it looks like internally. Probably would be nice to have as an elongated "rocker" style of button shape so you can easily feel each part of it without looking. But I know that's getting far ahead of where development is currently at :)

I think this is mostly the right solution (I have an LG C1 but I use a Chromecast with Google TV instead of the LG apps). The only issue I expect would be that in some apps, if you've moved to highlight some UI button other than the play/pause button while something is playing, then let the UI fade out, then click the Skip's Play/Pause button, it might click whatever button you had highlighted instead of just doing a play or a pause. Depends if the app keeps other buttons selected after the UI fades out.

Yeah, I am aware of the voltage difference so definitely considered that that could be causing the issue, I just haven't had issues with them in other devices (including lots of other remotes) thus far, so was hoping the Skip remote wouldn't be the first device to give me trouble with them. But if I find some disposable AAA batteries somewhere I'll make sure to try testing them in the Skip.

So status update for me, in regular usage of the remote the last few days since upgrading the firmware to 4.12.10, I've noticed that after the remote is idle for a while, it takes 2 button presses initially to "wake" it up. Doesn't make it unusable, but definitely a little annoying. Not sure if this is actually a bug in the firmware/settings, or if it's related to me now using rechargeable AAAs (high quality Eneloop ones, though) in the remote vs the disposable ones that shipped with it. I do not have any non-rechargeable batteries to test this theory unfortunately.

Ah, yep that was my issue, I was only messing with the slider on the LEDs tab not the Preferences tab

Ok I put some new batteries in and yeah, that fixed the issue with constant power reset on every button press. Thanks! @jason In response to your question, I currently am not really using the color wheel buttons for anything. I have had ideas about what to use them for but haven't tried using it at all yet while in this sort of troubleshooting mode with it. Once I'm getting a more stable experience I'll definitely be giving it a try. I also did set my brightness down to 25%. Doesn't seem like I can visually tell the difference on the remote between 25% and 100% brightness setting? Is that still expected, or should the different brightness levels actually be noticeably different now?

This firmware did fix it somewhat for me, since it retains which activity I had selected if it does the power reset thing. But, it's still doing that power reset with almost every single button press, so I still can't quickly scroll through lists or hold the volume keys.

Alrighty, wasn't able to sync from the Skip app even though it did stay connected, so I tried the updater again with 4.12.8 and this time it completed successfully to 100%, and now the remote is behaving normally again, I think. Haven't had a chance to test it much yet so we'll see if I run into the same issues the others were having with it becoming nonresponsive after some time.

Ok, I force closed the updater app then unplugged my remote. Seemed entirely nonfunctional, no lights at all when pressing buttons or activity buttons, so I took out the batteries for a minute then replaced them. When I would press buttons, the ring light would flash red repeatedly as long as I hold any button down. Now I've plugged it back in to my PC and opened the Skip app, which still detected it and connected fine, and now if I press buttons it does a slower flash of red 3 times. Will try reloading my profiles now.

I just downloaded the updater and the bin file, connected my remote, and tried the upgrade to 4.12.8. The updater is now frozen at 15%, and has gone to that grayed out state when an app is totally frozen in windows. Not sure what to do, is it safe to unplug my remote?