Mysterious AV system problem
June 3, 2015 8:54 AM Subscribe
I'm having a problem with my universal remote (a Logitech Harmony 650). I'm normally a good troubleshooter, but this one is confounding me.
I have programmed the Harmony remote to work my Epson Projector, my Onkyo Receiver, and a DirecTV cable box. The Receiver and Cable box are located in a media cabinet and I am using an Episode IR2X6 IR system to communicate with them. Here is what is happening:
1. When I press "Watch TV" on my Harmony, the projector and receiver turn on, but not the cable box.
2. When I press "All Off," the projector does not turn off.
3. I am able to control the cable box using the Harmony remote when I go directly to the media cabinet and point it directly at the cable box (i.e. when I don't go through the IR system).
4. I am, however, able to control the cable box via the IR system when I use the DirecTV-provided remote.
5. I am able to turn off the projector when I go into "devices" on my Harmony remote and turn it off that way.
Do you have any theory on what is causing this peculiar set of circumstances? I can't even tell where the problem is - the IR system, the remote, etc.
I have programmed the Harmony remote to work my Epson Projector, my Onkyo Receiver, and a DirecTV cable box. The Receiver and Cable box are located in a media cabinet and I am using an Episode IR2X6 IR system to communicate with them. Here is what is happening:
1. When I press "Watch TV" on my Harmony, the projector and receiver turn on, but not the cable box.
2. When I press "All Off," the projector does not turn off.
3. I am able to control the cable box using the Harmony remote when I go directly to the media cabinet and point it directly at the cable box (i.e. when I don't go through the IR system).
4. I am, however, able to control the cable box via the IR system when I use the DirecTV-provided remote.
5. I am able to turn off the projector when I go into "devices" on my Harmony remote and turn it off that way.
Do you have any theory on what is causing this peculiar set of circumstances? I can't even tell where the problem is - the IR system, the remote, etc.
In MyHarmony, under Activities -> Watch TV -> Customize this Activity, first verify that all of the "Power On" commands are listed under "Activity Startup Commands" and all of the "Power Off" commands are listed in "Activity Shutdown Commands". Click on Add Step to add them if some are missing.
If they're all there and this is still happening, add a delay before the cable box Power On command and before the projector Power Off command.
If that fixes your projector but not your cable box, go into Devices -> DirecTV Box -> Add or Fix a command and try to re-learn the power off command from your DirectTV remote.
If that doesn't work, and nobody else here is able to help, the best place to ask about this is at the Harmony Forums.
I should also note that it's essential, if you're not using a Harmony remote with the Harmony-branded hub, to continue to hold the remote directly at your gear for a pretty long time for both power on and power off. If that turns out to be the issue, you might want to invest in a higher-end Harmony with the included Hub, which does it's own IR extension via RF and works very well without the issues of having to maintain direct aim.
posted by eschatfische at 9:24 AM on June 3, 2015
If they're all there and this is still happening, add a delay before the cable box Power On command and before the projector Power Off command.
If that fixes your projector but not your cable box, go into Devices -> DirecTV Box -> Add or Fix a command and try to re-learn the power off command from your DirectTV remote.
If that doesn't work, and nobody else here is able to help, the best place to ask about this is at the Harmony Forums.
I should also note that it's essential, if you're not using a Harmony remote with the Harmony-branded hub, to continue to hold the remote directly at your gear for a pretty long time for both power on and power off. If that turns out to be the issue, you might want to invest in a higher-end Harmony with the included Hub, which does it's own IR extension via RF and works very well without the issues of having to maintain direct aim.
posted by eschatfische at 9:24 AM on June 3, 2015
With my older model of Harmony remote (the 520, which I still use), the whole "your Logitech remote learns from your other remotes" thing, where you point the remotes at each other and press buttons, never did work right - I had to set up the Logitech with the software on the computer. So if you tried to do the Auto-Magic Learning thing, I would definitely check your remote's settings via the MyHarmony software, editing if necessary.
Then, I would temporarily ditch the IR repeater and check to see if your remote controls everything correctly without it; while, y'know, having the media cabinet door open and being fairly close to all your devices - you're checking for proper basic functionality of the remote programming and whether the remote communicates with your media devices. If you're good there, add the IR repeater back in and see what happens.
Very occasionally my remote sort of "loses sync" with one or more of my devices, for no reason that I can tell, and won't turn a device on or off or switch settings as part of an Activity. This is what the "Help" button seems to mostly be for, the remote starts checking the on/off & settings status of each device one by one & asks you if each device is in its proper status, and you can tell it "yes" or "no" and the remote will reset itself for each device as you go along. This has always fixed the problems for me.
posted by soundguy99 at 5:33 PM on June 3, 2015
Then, I would temporarily ditch the IR repeater and check to see if your remote controls everything correctly without it; while, y'know, having the media cabinet door open and being fairly close to all your devices - you're checking for proper basic functionality of the remote programming and whether the remote communicates with your media devices. If you're good there, add the IR repeater back in and see what happens.
Very occasionally my remote sort of "loses sync" with one or more of my devices, for no reason that I can tell, and won't turn a device on or off or switch settings as part of an Activity. This is what the "Help" button seems to mostly be for, the remote starts checking the on/off & settings status of each device one by one & asks you if each device is in its proper status, and you can tell it "yes" or "no" and the remote will reset itself for each device as you go along. This has always fixed the problems for me.
posted by soundguy99 at 5:33 PM on June 3, 2015
Response by poster: Thanks all. I've tried all of these and I don't think any of them are fixing it. What is most confusing to me is the fact that I can control the DirecTV DVR with the Harmony when I am in the media cabinet, but not through the IR. But the DirecTV remote can control the DVR in both the media cabinet or through the IR. I can't understand why that would be. Does it have something to do with the Epson projector, which is the one device that isn't in the media cabinet?
posted by malhouse at 9:55 PM on June 3, 2015
posted by malhouse at 9:55 PM on June 3, 2015
I have 3 of that same model and when one wasn't acting as expected I went back to the MyHarmony software (or whatever it's called now that they have a standalone program instead of the older browser based programming) and discovered I had typed in the model# of my cable box incorrectly. Also, some devices have separate commands for "power off", "power on" and "toggle power" so you may want to try playing around with those settings. Adding a delay between commands or changing the order might be helpful if the Harmony is sending the commands faster than some of the devices can respond (I have a Sony home theater that takes forever to boot up and the harmony is useless for anything other than turning it on unless it was already on when I try to do something; still trying to see if I can sort that out). The software can let you customize settings to a pretty high degree so there are a lot of things to try out. Can you not control the cable box at all with the Harmony via the IR, or is it just the power on/off?
posted by TedW at 11:30 AM on June 4, 2015
posted by TedW at 11:30 AM on June 4, 2015
Is it possible that your DirecTV remote itself is communicating with the box via RF, and the IR extender is passing IR for neither the DirecTV remote or the Harmony? Some DirecTV remotes have both RF and IR communication with the box.
posted by eschatfische at 11:41 AM on June 5, 2015
posted by eschatfische at 11:41 AM on June 5, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
2. Check CEC settings on all devices and make sure it is disabled, it is often very poorly implemented and can often cause unpredictable behavior.
posted by contraption at 9:14 AM on June 3, 2015