Amazon TV Home Button Not Working with Harmony Remote

[sushi714]

I recently replaced a Roku 2 with a new (2015) Amazon Fire TV and bought Flirc so I could use my Harmony remote (Xbox 360 version). Since I still had the programming on the Harmony from the Roku 2, I just paired those buttons to Flirc like so:

Amazon Directional Buttons = Roku Directional Buttons

Amazon OK = Roku OK

Amazon Rewind, Play/Pause, Fast Forward = Roku Rewind, Play/Pause, Fast Forward

Amazon Back = Roku Back

Amazon Home = Roku Home

Amazon Menu = Roku Option (aka "*"-button)

 

I had the 3.6 Flirc firmware out of the box and, after programming, the only button that doesn't seem to work is the Home one. Just curious if this is a known issue with the Home button preset in Flirc and, if so, if there is a fix for this. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

NOTE: I have attempted the alternative fix of mapping the F12 key from the full keyboard to the button on the Harmony I wanted to use for the Fire TV Home button, however, this did not fix the issue. Unless there is some yet unreported/unknown issue assigning the command to one of the Harmony's "additional buttons" (the ones assigned to the changing display),  I can only assume that for the new Fire TV, this command to control the Home button has either been reassigned to a different keyboard key or just completely removed.

Edited October 9, 2015 by sushi714

[Paradoxic]

Hey,

I just wanted to chime in and say that I experience the same problem. It's probably the new Fire TV but I really hope that the devs can do something about it. Not having the home button functionality sucks especially when you use it for Kodi/Firestarter.

[sushi714]

Hey,

I just wanted to chime in and say that I experience the same problem. It's probably the new Fire TV but I really hope that the devs can do something about it. Not having the home button functionality sucks especially when you use it for Kodi/Firestarter.

Thanks for reporting this. I'm hoping they'll find a suitable command for this soon, or really, considering how annoying it is to repeatedly hit "Back" just to exit an app, I might just return my Flirc for the time being and wait to repurchase when this issue is resolved.

Edited October 10, 2015 by sushi714

[AverageGeek]

I ran into the same problem today with my new 2nd-Gen FireTV.   I just came up with a solution.  I connected my Media Center Keyboard to the FireTV and discovered that the media center home key returned to the Home Screen.  I then tried mapping the Home Key from the Windows media template in the Flirc app.  That didn't work for me. 

After further experimentation, here's my solution:  From the Flirc app, select 'Full Keyboard' from the controllers menu.  Select combination of Left-windows key, left-alt-key, and Enter key (illustrated in attached image) and record as usual to a button on your remote. 

 

No idea why it wouldn't accept the Home button from the media center presets, as I believe it just sends the keys I specified above. 

Edited October 11, 2015 by AverageGeek

[randyth]

+1

Thanks so much, AverageGeek.  That did the trick!

-Randy

 

[sushi714]

I ran into the same problem today with my new 2nd-Gen FireTV.   I just came up with a solution.  I connected my Media Center Keyboard to the FireTV and discovered that the media center home key returned to the Home Screen.  I then tried mapping the Home Key from the Windows media template in the Flirc app.  That didn't work for me. 

After further experimentation, here's my solution:  From the Flirc app, select 'Full Keyboard' from the controllers menu.  Select combination of Left-windows key, left-alt-key, and Enter key (illustrated in attached image) and record as usual to a button on your remote. 

 

No idea why it wouldn't accept the Home button from the media center presets, as I believe it just sends the keys I specified above. 

Awesome, I'll try this in a bit. Thanks again! :)

[nofxjmf]

This is awesome thanks! I did notice the same thing happens on the menu button, the one with the 3 lines. This is not a big deal since I doubt I need that button but just wondering if you know the windows keys for this as well?

[bmxsk81]

F12 is the home button for the Fire TV 1st gen.

[techiejohn]

F12 is the home button for the Fire TV 1st gen.

Yes, but that seems to have changed for the 2nd gen.

[jettcity]

Thanks, this worked great on my Harmony One. Is there a way to emulate the long press on the Home key to get to the mini-menu? Haven't found anything in the Harmony software yet.

Edited December 19, 2015 by jettcity

[cb9501]

Great find. I thought that the Amazon Fire TV 2 home button not working was going to be unfixable.  Thank you!

[italbar]

This thread saved me $100 as I was about to go buy a Harmony Bluetooth hub.

Just so it is clear: If you have the latest version of the Fire TV (The "All New Fire TV" with 4K support via the Power VR GX6250 graphics chip) this is the answer to getting the "home" button properly emulated with Flirc.

Nice job, AverageGeek!

Edited January 9, 2016 by italbar

[jason]

Nicely done average geek. I tried this myself and couldn't find a key combo. I've been pulling my hair out about this and reached out to Amazon. 

 

We found out the problem was on their side, they are pushing out a fix for this in the next few weeks. I will create some articles for the temporary fix you found. 

 

Awesome job 

[ED209]

Excellent - thank you guys. I'm a new FLIRC user just got my device today and came to the forum to find out why every button apart from Home button is not mapping over.

Thanks to AverageGreek the issue is solved.

One question though - are there any Mouse Toggle users out there?

Double tapping the play button on the original remote brings up the mouse. However I can't mimic this with IR remote. Wondering if anyone has managed to fix this?

[weak]

It seems this has also changed on the 1st gen Fire TV.

If you're using a Mac keyboard layout the correct combination is "Command + Enter".

[tinafici]

For every one looking for the USB Key press for Amazon Fire TV 3 Ctrl - Alt - Enter pressing for 3 seconds is the same as holding the menu button.  to close the menu pressing escape closing the menu. 

This can be assigned to any infra-red remote via Flirc Software - Keyboard - assign to key. 

 Does not work on Harmony 600/650/700 unless you create a device for power toggle leaning the select button and setting duration to 1.5 sec.

Edited May 19, 2018 by tinafici

[tinafici]

How does someone send  a byte code of 5C,00,00,00,04,05,28 to the flirc 2 for the firetv  - Ctrl + Alt + Enter for 1.5 seconds?  Works on regular InfaRed remotes not harmony.

 

Edited May 19, 2018 by tinafici