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#61384 - 07/25/06 09:53 AM harmony 880 and power up to radio?
jrlouie Offline
Gunslinger

Registered: 03/05/06
Posts: 118
Loc: Missouri
Has anyone had a problem having the 990 off, utilizing a "listen to radio" activity, and when starting that activity the 990 powers up to Video1?
Every other activity I've tested powers up the 990 to the correct input automagically, but not "listen to radio".

My 880 settings are...
Outlaw Audio AV Receiver is on
Other All other devices are off
AV Receiver is set to "FM"

Similar setups for the other inputs seem to work fine, just not this one. Starting the 990 via any other activity and then running the "listen to radio" activity works fine. It is isolated to starting the 990 with this activity. Additionally, executing my custom label of AM/FM toggle, subsequent to the incorrect startup, easily switches the 990 to FM. I'm just curious about the startup.

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#61385 - 07/26/06 08:20 PM Re: harmony 880 and power up to radio?
Darth Tater Offline
Gunslinger

Registered: 05/02/06
Posts: 89
Loc: South Carolina
You need to adjust the delay on your remote..give it about 3 seconds before it starts doing commmands for that activity. I had to do the same.
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http://www.chuckamuck.com/hometheater

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#61386 - 07/26/06 10:36 PM Re: harmony 880 and power up to radio?
jrlouie Offline
Gunslinger

Registered: 03/05/06
Posts: 118
Loc: Missouri
That's confusing to me i guess, because all others work. So if I startup the 990 stating "watch DVD" it works fine and goes right to the DVD input.
Additionally, I thought the 990 didn't have to "power on" so to speak and then flip to an input. I thought the "power on" was actually started by selecting an input.
So to me, "Watch DVD" is actually sending the "InputDVD" command to start the 990 and default to the DVD input (maybe it isn't). If I go to "Devices", sending the "AmFmToggle" starts the 990 and defaults to the radio. That's kind of how the original remote operates and I would've thought it would in this situation.
Maybe the codes were just translated different over to Harmony.
I do remember a thread somewhere that people had issues where the startup tasks were all defaulting to Video1 and then an update was made to Harmony's website and it all of a sudden worked. I wonder if they missed the "Listen to Radio" activity.
http://ubb.outlawaudio.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?/ubb/get_topic/f/34/t/000141/p/1.html#000019

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#61387 - 07/26/06 11:04 PM Re: harmony 880 and power up to radio?
gonk Offline
Desperado

Registered: 03/21/01
Posts: 14054
Loc: Memphis, TN USA
An input selection will power the unit up immediately, but the Harmony may be trying to use one of those input commands (not the tuner AM/FM toggle) as a power on command and throwing off the timing. Just a guess - I haven't spent any time with the Harmony remotes.
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#61388 - 07/27/06 07:29 AM Re: harmony 880 and power up to radio?
jrlouie Offline
Gunslinger

Registered: 03/05/06
Posts: 118
Loc: Missouri
Quote:
Originally posted by gonk:
but the Harmony may be trying to use one of those input commands (not the tuner AM/FM toggle) as a power on command and throwing off the timing.
I bet this is the case and with every other scenario, it is using the input command for power-up. Like Darth said earlier, add a delay. Or I might call their tech support just because I'm curious.

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#61389 - 07/27/06 08:04 AM Re: harmony 880 and power up to radio?
gonk Offline
Desperado

Registered: 03/21/01
Posts: 14054
Loc: Memphis, TN USA
It's entirely possible that tech support can tweak the remote's behavior to resolve it - from what I've heard, they have more flexible control over the remote progamming than is available from the user's web interface.
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#61390 - 07/27/06 02:22 PM Re: harmony 880 and power up to radio?
jrlouie Offline
Gunslinger

Registered: 03/05/06
Posts: 118
Loc: Missouri
Weird, everything I read about Harmony's help is that it is awesome. It has been hit and miss for me. 2 out of 5 calls have been really really good. The other 3 were horrible. One guy even said..."they didn't teach us that in class". I'm assuming the 3 bad ones were all new people since they didn't explain anything I hadn't already done in personal troubleshooting. I'd end up just answering "okay I'll try that" even though I already had, just to get off the call.
Fortunately, this last call was reasonable. I explained the exact same thing that I explained the last time I called, and this guy said it shouldn't be doing that and needs to pass me on to tier-two support. Sweet, I'm getting somewhere.
FYI, I increased my delays to 10 seconds (a far out-there number just for the heck of it), and it didn't help. Actually, this last guy said I shouldn't have had to change any delays.
Unfortunately, their tier-two support system is down right now and they asked me to call back in one hour.
Completely fine with me. I'll be happy to get to someone that can look at the inner-workings of my account.
I'll post the results.

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#61391 - 07/28/06 01:15 PM Re: harmony 880 and power up to radio?
Darth Tater Offline
Gunslinger

Registered: 05/02/06
Posts: 89
Loc: South Carolina
You definitely shouldn't need 10 seconds, I think I added 2 seconds.
_________________________
http://www.chuckamuck.com/hometheater

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#61392 - 07/30/06 10:35 PM Re: harmony 880 and power up to radio?
jrlouie Offline
Gunslinger

Registered: 03/05/06
Posts: 118
Loc: Missouri
Well, after troubleshooting with tier-two support, power-on delays weren't the answer. Sending infrared delays on the startup of each activity was the answer. The key value for me was 3.5 seconds of delay.
Another note, the actual infrared commands being sent to the 990 from the 880 is a "InputVideo1" for startup immediately followed by the respective input for your activity, like "InputDVD". I have a hunch the original 990 remote is not doing this.
I asked the guy if my account could be changed to send simply "InputDVD" for startup and if their software had to, re-send "InputDVD" and he said they could, but he wanted to test the activity delays and by the time we were done, I just needed to get off the phone. So, I wonder what would've happened.
I'm curious, if someone else has the 880, I noticed a pattern which we fixed. I wonder if anyone else has the problem and just hasn't noticed it. Try turning on the 990 with the "Listen to Radio" activity. Turn it back off. Then do "Listen to Radio" again. I was having issues starting the 990 on an input that it was on before previously shutting it down. If I was on Video 1, turned it off, and then did "Listen to Radio", it would work.
I could go on with lots of more details, but I won't. It works now, with the 3.5 second activity delay. If I get the notion, maybe I'll call them back and ask them to update my profile to startup the 990 by actually sending the real input (rather that video1), just like the original 990 remote. I have a hunch that would remove all issues.

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#61393 - 07/31/06 12:03 AM Re: harmony 880 and power up to radio?
gonk Offline
Desperado

Registered: 03/21/01
Posts: 14054
Loc: Memphis, TN USA
You are exactly right - the original 990 remote definitely doesn't do this. The original remote lacks a single discrete "on" command at all, and instead accepts any input command as a discrete "on." I use Video2 with my MX-700 remote for my primary power-on macro because that macro also sends my MX-700 to the corresponding device screen (cable TV). I think you've got a good idea there, jrlouie - sending the real input based on the desired task could simplify your setup.

EDIT: Yike! Post #7000...
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gonk
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Reviews: Index | 990 | speakers | BDP-93

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