I have scoured the threads here for this answer and am a bit confused.

I have a 676. Let's say I have my TV, receiver, and DVR all on (this is a result of me hitting the Watch DVD button). I am recording a show on my DVR but want to shut off my TV and receiver for the night. If I hit OFF, it will shut down my DVR and recording will stop. Not good. Does anyone run into this problem?

1) Thus, what is the best way to turn off the TV and receiver but not the DVR? I would think I would just hit Device and go to the TV and hit the on/off key I labeled, then go to the Receiver and hit the on/off key I labeled.

2) But a poster here had stated that you should not use the Device keys to turn things on and off. He was discussing the 659 I believe but is that the case with the 676? I would think the 676 would remember whether something was off vs. on whether you use activity or the Device to power on and off.

Am I correct?

Thanks in advance

You have 2 main choices:

1. If you leave the DVR on all the time then set the PVR's device power settings so that it isn't ever turned off. In this case the Off button will no turn off the PVR.

2. Alternativel, set up an activity called "PVR Recording" which only includes the PVR device. Then use this activity (rather than the Off button) when you wish to turn everything off but the PVR.


You should think of the Off button as a special activity that has no devices - and which therefore turns off any devices turned on by an activity (except those that are configured to be left on).

Turning a device on/off in Device mode is not reflected in the remembered power state that is maintained by the activity smart-state.

OK, I can't do that because my DVR has to be off much of the day in order to bring in the TV Guide data.


OK, this sounds good if I don't need the TV to record on the DVR. But I often flip through the channels and find something and thus the TV needs to be on when I start recording. Thus, assume I am watching TV and decide to tape something on the DVR. I hit the PVR Recording activity that I set up but that will turn off the TV and Receiver that I am currently using. Does the situation I am describing make sense? If so, does this mean what I want to do (just turn off certain things and have the remote understand that) can't be done?



This confuses me..if I did indeed turn something off using the Device option, I would have to turn it back on using the Device in order for the remote not to be confused?

Thank you,

To have the TV and PVR on you must be in an activity that includes them both .... maybe something called "Watch PVR". So you now set the PVR recording.


Correct ..... which is exactly what you want. The PVR on and the TV off.


It is not advisable to do it via device mode ... it actually works much better if you can do it via activities so that the remote can correctly keep track of what is on and off.


Bingo ... this is exactly the problem.


When I first got my Harmony I had a situation very similar to yours where I was turning some devices off overnight. The problem was that the following day I would often forget I had turned the devices off via device mode and would have to spend some time getting the devices back in sync with the chosen activity.

Once I realized that what I was actually doing was actually running a specific activity overnight and set up the remote appropriately things worked much better - especially the following day.

No! You start the recording while in the Watch DVR activity but instead of hitting OFF when you want to turn off the TV and receiver you simply select the DVR recording activity instead. Since the TV and receiver are not in the DVR recording activity they'll be turned off but the DVR won't.

I can't believe these new DVRs can't be left on all the time. My Tivo doesn't even have a power button and the only time it gets restarted is when the power fails or it auto-restarts after a software update. It gets program guide updates and even software updates while it's running. I guess that's one of the benefits of using Linux.

Actually it's not what I want. I want to be able to watch TV at 10:30, start recording the news at 11:00, and go to bed at 11:15 at which point I want the TV and Receiver off but DVR on. The "Watch PVR" example you give won't let me do that scenario...


I am trying to do that.. it's just this one command that's driving me nutty.


Thanks

Ohhh kay.. I got it now. I will give that a shot.


I just know that when it's off, it reads EPG in the display and I can hear it running as it brings in the TV Guide data. In fact, often if I leave it on, I will find that the machine turned itself OFF so it can load the TV Guide data. I'm fearing this is going to screw up my Activities on my 676...

Many have complained of this feature on the DVR but supposedly Pioneer says there's nothing that can be done to fix it. Oh well.

OK. This is a "Watch TV" activity with your TV (and receiver?).


Now we are in the "Watch PVR" activity.


And now we are in the "PVR Recording" activity.


What is the problem that means that it doesn't work?

Is it that if you switch from the "Watch PVR" back to "Watch TV" then the PVR is switched off? You could try setting the "Watch TV" activity to leave unused devices on and see if that solves the problem.

Now I see (only my 2nd day with this..) what you are saying. Use a Watch PVR as well as PVR Recording activities. That should work. I am going to give that a shot after I try akirby's suggestion. I'll get it to work.

Thanks for your responses everyone. IT's very helpful and appreciated.

What brand of PVR do you have? I've never heard of one that cannot acquire Guide data while turned on. That's an amazingly dumb design.

It's a DVR.... Pioneer DVR-533HS 80 GB DVR/DVD Recorder.

Amazingly dumb indeed... I have read countless complaints on various sites about that flaw.... here's two examples..

[Link: pricegrabber.com]

[Link: amazon.com]

Actually there may be a much easier answer.

Most DVRs won't turn off in response to the Off command if they are currently recording, so just go ahead and hit Off.

I had already tested that theory and it DID TURN OFF even when recording, when I hit the 676 OFF button.

Oh well.

PVR's should record even if they are off. Thats how they record future programs when no one is there.

That's how mine works. Off/on whenever you want. It records regardless. That is a strange design.