Harmony One remote not selecting correct input on Home Theatre System

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Harmony One remote not selecting correct input on Home Theatre System

littleheaven

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#171267 11-Apr-2015 16:54

After all the great advice yesterday I purchased a Harmony Ultimate One universal remote and I must say it's a very cool piece of kit. I was expecting a few frustrations in setup, and I wasn't wrong. Generally it all seems pretty straightforward using the MyHarmony software, however my Sony HBD-N990W Home Theatre System is steadfastly refusing to play ball, although it is supported.

I've set up all my activities, and everything turns on as expected, but the Sony HTS always defaults to whatever input it was last on, regardless of the instruction in the remote, leaving me to have to manually change it to the correct setting each time. Rather frustrating - it's ruining what would otherwise be a fantastic user experience.

Anyone run across this issue, or have any idea how to tweak the settings to overcome it?

Geek girl. Freelance copywriter and editor at Unmistakable.co.nz.

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Hammered
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#1281196 11-Apr-2015 19:21

Are there dedicated input buttons on the original remote, or just one source/input button that cycles through each input in sequence?

After the Activity task is completed, are you able to select "Help" at all? Don't have this model but most Harmony models with a screen have a Help feature. You are asked a series of questions regarding expected device settings and the remote tries again as required, and usually you get everything working in the end. Eventually the remote learns what to do without needing to use "Help". Usually.

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littleheaven

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#1281211 11-Apr-2015 19:59

Thanks for your reply. There are no separate buttons for each input - there's a "function" button which I hit to display the current input and then press repeatedly to toggle through the list until I get the one I want, then I just wait for a second and the system switches to that input. I will look for Help when my sister isn't trying to watch TV :)

Edited to add: Should I be able to fast forward the PVR and change the volume on the Home Theatre without having to actually switch back and forth between devices in the remote contol menu?

Geek girl. Freelance copywriter and editor at Unmistakable.co.nz.

richms

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#1281249 11-Apr-2015 21:52

When you set it up it let you choose what to use for volume and stuff when I last had to do one.

Sony gear is pretty good about also having discrete input commands so you dont have to use the horrid menus. At least my 16+ year old reciever did when I used it with the harmony. Useful inputs like LD and VCR2 ;)

Richard rich.ms

littleheaven

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#1281256 11-Apr-2015 22:01

Thanks, the volume issue seems to have solved itself. I changed to "watch Apple TV" and while it took some tweaking of the Help button to get the home theatre onto the right input, everything else is working as it should. I've looked online for discreet commands for my system but so far no joy. Not sure how I'd get them into the remote if I found them though :) On the plus side, I'm controlling everything with one remote, niggles notwithstanding, so it's definitely an improvement on the 5-remote juggling act!

Geek girl. Freelance copywriter and editor at Unmistakable.co.nz.

numfarr

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#1281671 12-Apr-2015 23:20

Usually this is a timing problem, the receiver has to "boot up" a bit before it starts responding to commands from the remote, so it misses the input selection command.

Here's a Logitech blog entry that describes the different timing settings, though it may be out of date for the current software.

littleheaven

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#1281672 12-Apr-2015 23:35

numfarr: Usually this is a timing problem, the receiver has to "boot up" a bit before it starts responding to commands from the remote, so it misses the input selection command.

Here's a Logitech blog entry that describes the different timing settings, though it may be out of date for the current software.

Thanks! I certainly think the issue of it not moving off he last setting at start-up is timing - it can take up to 30 seconds to accept commands from the original remote after starting. I'll have a play with the settings per he blog and see if that helps. Still not sure how to tell it how to scroll to the right input when the starting point is always different, but one step at a time :)

Geek girl. Freelance copywriter and editor at Unmistakable.co.nz.

richms

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#1281674 12-Apr-2015 23:41

If I bought something and it took 30 seconds to respond after turning on it would be going straight back.

Sure there isnt an option on the sony to turn on quick startup or something? The long boot times are usuallywhen things are totally turned off to satisfy BS european laws about things standby power usage.

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littleheaven

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#1281676 12-Apr-2015 23:45

richms: If I bought something and it took 30 seconds to respond after turning on it would be going straight back.

Sure there isnt an option on the sony to turn on quick startup or something? The long boot times are usuallywhen things are totally turned off to satisfy BS european laws about things standby power usage.

It does have a "remote startup" option which means it doesn't go through the full boot sequence each time. I can easily set it back to that. Can't remember why I turned it off initially.

Geek girl. Freelance copywriter and editor at Unmistakable.co.nz.

lchiu7

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#1282940 14-Apr-2015 13:56

One way to test is as follows.

Presumably the MyRemote software found your TV? As somebody else has noted, while your remote might not have discrete codes for each input, often the TV will respond to codes for each input which are in the Harmony database and would be mapped to your remote.

Turn everything on with the Harmony and then with the remote select Devices and choose your TV. Then you will see in the display a number of functions such as input select, audio select etc. See if any of the discrete input select buttons sets your TV to the input you want. If one does, then programme that one into your turn on sequence.

Also you might want to add some delays after the power on before sending the codes for the input.

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littleheaven

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#1282976 14-Apr-2015 14:46

lchiu7: One way to test is as follows.

Presumably the MyRemote software found your TV? As somebody else has noted, while your remote might not have discrete codes for each input, often the TV will respond to codes for each input which are in the Harmony database and would be mapped to your remote.

Turn everything on with the Harmony and then with the remote select Devices and choose your TV. Then you will see in the display a number of functions such as input select, audio select etc. See if any of the discrete input select buttons sets your TV to the input you want. If one does, then programme that one into your turn on sequence.

Also you might want to add some delays after the power on before sending the codes for the input.

Thanks for your reply. The issue is with the Home Theatre System rather than the TV, but I did try that method. I selected Devices then Sony Home Theatre on the Harmony remote, but it does not bring up any input select options for HDMI1, HDMI 2, Video 1, Video 2, etc. There's an InputNext which I assume is the equivalent of the native remote's Function button. It appears this particular model has no discreet commands for the inputs.

Geek girl. Freelance copywriter and editor at Unmistakable.co.nz.

richms

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#1282988 14-Apr-2015 15:02

They have not loaded them to that remote.

Try other sony receivers and see if it responds to any of their discreet commands.

Richard rich.ms

lchiu7

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#1282993 14-Apr-2015 15:14

Alternatively what you could do is program a macro that did the following.

Bring up input select. That would bring up a list of inputs

Programme the macro to go up a number of times till it hit the top. Then program the macro to go down as many as it takes to reach the right input. Then Enter.

I used to have to do that with a JVC TV.

It would not take much experimentation to get it right. Go up as many times as it takes to hit the top from the bottom input in the list and hope that if you're 3 from the top and you go up, it just does nothing after the 4th up.

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trig42

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#1283048 14-Apr-2015 16:41

littleheaven:
lchiu7: One way to test is as follows.

Presumably the MyRemote software found your TV? As somebody else has noted, while your remote might not have discrete codes for each input, often the TV will respond to codes for each input which are in the Harmony database and would be mapped to your remote.

Turn everything on with the Harmony and then with the remote select Devices and choose your TV. Then you will see in the display a number of functions such as input select, audio select etc. See if any of the discrete input select buttons sets your TV to the input you want. If one does, then programme that one into your turn on sequence.

Also you might want to add some delays after the power on before sending the codes for the input.

Thanks for your reply. The issue is with the Home Theatre System rather than the TV, but I did try that method. I selected Devices then Sony Home Theatre on the Harmony remote, but it does not bring up any input select options for HDMI1, HDMI 2, Video 1, Video 2, etc. There's an InputNext which I assume is the equivalent of the native remote's Function button. It appears this particular model has no discreet commands for the inputs.

In the Harmony Software, you can program specific hard or soft buttons from a drop down list of all available remote functions for that device. Check in that list that there is not a specific Discrete Input code. For example for my TV there are codes for InputHDMI1, InputComponent etc., but it only puts an InputNext button on the Remote.

littleheaven

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#1283131 14-Apr-2015 18:32

Cool, thanks for the tips - I will give them a try and let you know how I get on.

Geek girl. Freelance copywriter and editor at Unmistakable.co.nz.

lchiu7

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#1283139 14-Apr-2015 18:52

trig42:

In the Harmony Software, you can program specific hard or soft buttons from a drop down list of all available remote functions for that device. Check in that list that there is not a specific Discrete Input code. For example for my TV there are codes for InputHDMI1, InputComponent etc., but it only puts an InputNext button on the Remote.

Out of interest I added the device to my Harmony system and while I found the device, there were no discrete codes for input selection.

Hence the OP's question.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

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