Can someone tell me if I'm misunderstanding this, because I'm getting different opinions from the same question at another forum. I'm almost ready to take this remote back.Correct me if I'm wrong, but the whole idea of this power toggle issue, and setting it up right, is so that even if the tv was to get turned off with the original samsung remote while the Harmony was in 'watch tv' mode, that the next activity that involved the tv, it would turn the tv back on, right? Perfect example.....After updating it with the proper changes, I used the watch tv activity, and it turned on the DVR and the TV, as it should. So, to test it, I turned the TV off with the Samsung remote, and then pressed the watch DVD activity on the Harmony. It turned the DVR off, turned on the AV receiver, and switched inputs, but did not turn on the TV. Shouldn't it have done that? The logitech person said that the 'smartstate' technology makes the remote remember the last 'state' it was in, so that being the case, it remembers the TV was on for the watch TV activity, so if I turned it off with the samsung remote, them pressed the watch DVD activity(which obviously involves the TV), according to this 'smartstate' thing, it would still think the TV was on, right? That would explain it not turning on with the watch DVD activity. Another person said that it should have turned on.That being said, then this remote can't "co exist" with other remotes without occasional problems???? Hate to go about this, but this has gone on for a couple days, and either people are misunderstanding me, or I'm misunderstanding them.....or??? I just want to know what's going on with this.If I'm on the right track on this, then you can't 'trick' this remote like I have been told. And, if you're wondering why I turned it off with the original samsung remote, it was for a test, because my wife likes using the samsung remote and the original directv remote(it's her choice, and I leave it at that lol), and that's how this whole thing got started. If I can't get my wife to put away the other remotes, and this remote is going to conflict with that, I may have to take it back and get an MX-900 or similar in that line, and just go through and turn on waht I want,just like I used to with my MX-500......before I got this activity based remote. Trust me, I think it's awesome, and I want to keep it, and have been told by a logitech csr and a person on another forum that it can 'co exist' with another remote, but I'm not seeing that. Thanks in advance for any feedback!

In the device Power and Input configurations (Adjust Power/Input Settings), the Harmony interface supports both the toggle/cycling and the discrete method. However, in order to use the discrete method, the device itself must also support it. Many devices support discrete commands even if they are not on the original remote. Thus, the first thing to do is to try all the commands in device mode paying attention to their behaviour (toggle/cycling vs discrete action). If the device supports the discrete PowerOn and PowerOff commands (tested in device mode), then reconfigure the power settings to use the discrete method. Same goes with the device input settings. I checked your Samsung HLP-5063 TV and its default configuration is to use the discrete method for both the power and input settings. If it does not work properly, test the discrete PowerOn and PowerOff commands in device mode. Make sure their action is discrete (not toggling) by sending each more than once.

When a device does NOT support the discrete method, then you have to use the toggle/cycling method. In this case, the Harmony Smart State will be used to track the power/input status of these devices. It can only track within the confine of its dynamic activities switching. It will not track a power/input command issued outside of this confine. Adding a power/input command using the activity startup macro is also outside of that confine. When a device goes out of sync (due to a missed command or an outside command), simply press the Help button. You can also press the same activity again. It will resend all discrete power and input commands to all devices deemed and configured to use the discrete method. As you can see, it's a lot easier to get back in sync with an Harmony remote.

Note: The device Adjust Power Settings has 3 options:
1) I want to leave this device on all the time
With this option, the activities (including the special "Off" activity button) will no longer control the power of that device. However, the activity "Help" feature will still track what the power state should be and will issue the power command when invoked.

2) I want to turn off this device when it's not in use
This is the standard option that you should use to allow the activities to control the power of that device.

3) There are no power buttons...
With this option, you will have to control the power manually or via the device mode.

Thank you! So let me ask you this(another thing I've got different reponses on........here's the same example I gave earlier, but I'm just making sure in laymen's terms.........I've turned the TV and DVR on with the Harmony with the watch TV activity button.........the TV gets turned off with the original Samsung remote........I then press the watch DVD activity, which would call on the DVD player, AV receiver, and TV to come on.........now, should the TV still come on? One person says simply 'yes' it should(it didn't in this situation), and another person said that it wouldn't come on in this situation because the 'smartstate' technology of the remote makes it think that the TV is still on from the watch TV activity, so there would be no need to turn it 'on'. Who is right? Right now the power buttons for the TV are working as discrete buttons on the harmony..........but earlier today when I first checked it, they weren't, which still puzzles me(and makes me wonder if I got a bad remote). Thanks!

First you have to figure out once and for all whether you have discrete power buttons or a toggle.

Jlet already told you how to check it - go into device mode and see if the discrete power commands work that way. If they do, then pressing poweron will turn the tv on and pressing it again won't do anything. Same with poweroff - first time powers the tv off subsequent presses don't do anything. If this doesn't work then you have a power toggle - one button that turns it off and on. Make sure the TV device power settings are correct before doing anything else.

The answer to whether the TV will turn back on after it's manually turned off depends on whether you have discrete power buttons or not. If you do, then when you switch activities the harmony will resend the powerON command (because it won't hurt anything). If you don't and you only have a power toggle then it won't resend the power toggle command because under normal circumstances that would turn the TV OFF. That's the smartstate technology.

Remember - the remote doesn't read minds. It doesn't know anything that you do manually or with a different remote. It also doesn't track manual device commands. It knows what it turned on and off via the activities. If you do anything outside of that it will be out of sync.

You have 2 options: hide the OEM remotes from your wife, or just use the HELP button when they get out of sync. It will ask questions such as "Is the TV on?" and when you say NO it will resend the power command, turn it on and that also resets the smartstate.

The 3rd option is to get a new wife, but that's usually very expensive, so I'd try the first 2.

Thanks for your help! Couple things..........I went into the TV device mode,and power on and power off both work as discrete power commands. Funny thing is, I tried the toggle, just for fun, and that also worked.........is that normal, or should it be one or the other? Lastly, the issue with turning off a device with an oem remote will screw up the next activity, if it involves the same device, and that is also normal, correct? Well, I'm not getting a new wife.........not yet anyway haha, and hiding the oem remote won't work out well, so it's down to the help button here and there until I straighten her out(lol), right? Nothing sounds defective about it, does it? Reason I ask is I only have a few days until they won't just hand me a new remote at circuit city. Thanks.

Yes, this is normal because your device support both methods. However, the discrete method is always preferred over the toggle/cycling method because it does not need to rely on its Smart State tracking. With the discrete method, it will simply resend the PowerOn command when you press the same activity again or any other activity using the TV. With the toggle method, it will NOT resend the PowerToggle command if it thinks the TV is already On (via its SmartState power/input tracking). With the toggle/cycling method, you have to use the Help button to re-sync.



Yes, but only with the toggle method. Simply press the Help button to re-sync. Blind yourself, pretend your are the remote, but you can use only the PowerToggle. What would you do? Now repeat this mental exercise but this time you are allowed to use the discrete power commands. What would you do?

Thus, since your TV supports the discrete power commands, then configure its power settings accordingly (select option: different button for each). The same concept applies to the device input settings. Use the discrete method (Method 2) if supported by the device.

And thanks again........so this leads to this question:
My harmony is configured to use discrete power commands, so if I pressed 'watch tv' activity,which turns on my tv and dvr, and the tv was to get turned off with the oem remote, and I then pressed watch dvd, which turns on the tv, dvd player, and AV receiver, and everything but the tv comes on(which is exactly what is happening now), would you say I have defective remote? Logitech tells me in this scenario that the tv would not come on because it still thinks it's on from the previous activity. I don't trust them..........reminds me of calling Directv......hit and miss. Thanks!

I just confirmed the behaviour you described with my 680. Your remote is ok. They are constantly changing the Software removing/changing handy features. A simple workaround is to press the same activity again (in your example, press Watch DVD again). Let's hope they don't change/remove that feature.

So, your tv does not come on either after having turned it off with oem remote........unless you press (whatever) activity twice??

Correct and I think the reason why they don't blindly resend the discrete PowerOn command when switching to another activity using the same device, is because they would also have to invoke the power on delay. This would slow down the activity switching considerably with devices requiring a very long power on delay. Instead, they made it an option with the "press the same activity again" feature.

Note: You can also press the Help button instead. I will resend all discrete commands and ask if this fixed the problem.

Thank you again for your ongoing help! I turned off the tv and dvr last night with this remote, and this morning, I simply pressed the watch tv activity to watch tv, which should have turned on the tv and dvr, and it didn't turn on either one. I tried it a few times, and nothing. Then I tried the watch dvd activity, and it turned on the AV receiver, the DVD player, but not the tv. So then I pressed watch tv again.....it turned off the AV receiver, DIDN'T turn off the DVD player, and DIDN'T turn on the TV. Now would you say this thing is defective or???? I just don't get it.

Just for the heck of it, I tried it again..........Everything was off, I pressed watch tv, and the dvr and tv came on, as it should. I turned the tv off with the oem remote, then pressed watch dvd, and it turned off the dvr, turned on the AV receiver, the DVD player, but not the TV, and pressing watch DVD repeatedly did absolutely nothing. It seems sporadic to me

Can you solve the problem with the Help button? If so, then increase the inter-device delay of the TV. Its PowerOn command is probably partially clobbered by the commands for the other devices.

Well, believe it or not, I (hopefully) figured out what a big part of the problem is...............when this started, a guy at the Logitech forums that has the same tv as I do offered to change the model # on my tv, because I had left the 'W' off at the end of my model #, and I didn't know how to delete devices, so I would have had to start from scratch. He was thinking that the one letter not being there might be causing some problems. Anyway, long story short, he told me If I sent him my username and password via pm, he would be glad to do it, and make sure the power commands were right.So I did, and never thought anything of it, or to doublecheck it(which is unlike me usually). I checked them a few minutes ago in the TV device settings, and the page where it asks you which command will power on your device, the "I don't have the original remote, but I know that command that is used" is selected, and 'PowerToggle' had been selected from the drop down menu. Power Off had been selected on the next page when it asked which command will power off the device, so that was o.k., but I have to assume that this is a reason for some of these problems I have been having. I'm sure it was an accident, but maybe that's what I get for not just learning it myself, and letting someone set it up for me. That particular day I was getting more frustrated than normal, and the guy offered, so I said "what the heck". I assumed everything was set up right, so when you asked me about the power commands, I said yes, it's set up that way........one of them was, at least. Anyway, I sure hope this solves some of these issues.

Just to be extra sure,could you please confirm that this is what I want on this page

and obviously likewise for PowerOff.
Thanks!I'm sure glad I checked this.Sorry for wasting some time with this.