Flirc SE + Harmony Elite with hub working

[Brigitte]

Hi,

Just wanted to share my problems getting Flirc to work with a Harmony Elite and hub/blasters. Maybe it can save someone from countless hours of fiddling, which is what I had to do.

Setup:
- Windows 10 Pro
- Flirc Streacom edition
- Streacom case in a cupboard
- Harmony Elite with hub and blasters
- Flirc/Kodi profile in the Harmony software

Problem:
First, I checked the mapping of the Harmony keys in the Harmony software (they keys were based on Flirc Media Player). Out of the box the Flirc software didn't respond to the Harmony key presses so I had to record the keys. This is odd in itself, I believe. It then turned out that the Harmony sent multiple (and I mean up to four!) different signals for each key. I tried recording the second (and third and fourth) presses in the Flirc software, but that didn't work as the signals got mixed up (e.g. pause was space three times and P the fourth). However, in the command line (flirc_utils keys) all key presses had different codes.  I tried noise cancellation on and off, a different profile in the Harmony software (media center PC) and other remotes (MCE, TV) with no success. As the Flirc is built into the case, it was too much of a hassle to try it with another PC. I also assigned the particular blaster to the activity in the Harmony software, didn't work either and even tried it with the cupboard open.

Solution:
Yet another remote (OPPO bluray) proved the solution. Using the full keyboard in Flirc, I programmed the buttons with the OPPO remote and I then proceeded to teach the keypresses of the OPPO to the Harmony using the Harmony software. Setting the Inter Key Delay in the Flirc software to 2 or 3 made navigation run smoothly.

It's a ridiculously complicated procedure, which I'm convinced is due to the Harmony or blaster as Flirc is now running fine.