I am a Harmony 550 n00b. I've got a few questions for more experienced people.

1- Is there a way to do button->macro stuff? I read the forum post here that had some good ideas, but wtf- a $100 remote can't do a macro?

[Link: remotecentral.com]

...the two macro's that I'd be most interested in are an activity to watch a particular channel on Cable (ie: TV=on, Cable=on, CableChannel=23), and a way to navigate to the cable box's favorites list (it's a dumb box and the "FAV" button on the remote dumps me into mute-mode for some reason).

I think maybe that I could do an activity to watch that particular channel with the existing software, but for the other, do I really need to get a separate remote? I've tried the "learn as custom / raw" stuff to get something like a macro in there, am I doing something wrong?

2- I'm using an XBox (original) as my DVD player, etc. I'm guessing I'm in the same boat as far as "no macros" in order to automatically change resolutions, navigate menus and such.

3- The software sucks muchly. The web interface is actually ~better~?!? Are there any OS projects / linux support? Is that frowned upon, or just a lack of people working on stuff.

Thanks.

--Robert

a) Manually Teaching a Macro
Teaching a sequence of commands manually (in RAW mode) is tricky. You have to be consistent because it ask twice. Two commands is easy, but more than 2 becomes very difficult unless you have nerves of steal.

b) Favourite Channel
Does the 550 support the "Favourite Channel" feature via the "Guide" button? I taught the "Guide" button on the 550 could be configured to be either a regular button or a "Media" button for the "Favourite Channel" and CD/DVD Jukebox "Media Listing" features. If not, then buy another Harmony remote that supports the "Favourite Channel" feature. Also with 2 learning remotes, it's much easier to teach macros.

c) Try all the commands in device mode
You should try all the commands in device mode to find out which ones to use for changing resolutions, navigate menus and such, then map them to the Activities hard and/or soft (LCD) keys (Activity > Customize > Change the behaviour of buttons).