Well hope there are still some people reading this thread who can answer my questions...I have read 20 pages of this thread so far and have not found anwer i am looking for...

Just got a 720 as a gift and took me aobut 3 hours to setup and customize, pretty amazed by it and love it. Am running into two problems:

1. Have an older Toshiba RPTV with several source inputs, there are 2 ways to select an input:

* either i use the source input button and it cycles through every input always starting at video 1 by default (even though nothing is connected)

* or press select/OK on the navigational pad and it brings up a list of channels and source inputs but if i am at channel 25 i need to scroll down or up all the way to channel 1 get to source inputs


So basically need quite a few button presses to get where i want (one situation where 6 (source input default to video 1 - select-down-down-down-select) presses would be needed and others only 1 (source down)or 3 (select-up-select) presses if that makes any sense)

* Video 1
* Video 2
* Video 3
* Component 1
* Component 2
* Memory Card Reader
* PC


I only use component 1 and 2, the rest i run through my Onkyo AVR

Now if i want to watch a DVD it does not select the right input on tv and for the life of me i can't figure out how to get this right. I have tried many setting in the web based interface, i even saw a Toshiba TV option that mentions the issue but it it just cycles one down on which ever channel or input i'm on

Did anyone figure this out?

2. Second issue Sattelite power off delay

For some reason switching on is no problem but during activity when i want to switch everything off, my sat needs you you to hold the power off button just a second longer to switch off. Before i used my onkyo remote to learn this and it worked without problem but with the activity it doesn't work.

I have seen the power on delay options on the web interface and have double that in time but it didn't seem to work, maybe because its power on delay...

Any ideas how to fix this

Appreciate any help i can get

Hi, totally confused by your post. Your post was the only one in this thread, so you might want to refer us to the 20 page thread you refer to.

Alan

I think he was talking about the topic list, not a single topic.

For the input problem, it should work fine using method 1. First, see if the tv has an option to delete unused inputs from the list. Some do, some don't. Next, re-run the Adjust Inputs option for the TV and tell it exactly how you select the inputs and make sure the list of inputs match whatever the TV displays exactly (number and order - names don't matter). Then you tell it that you use the source button to bring up a menu and the source button cycles through the list and that it always starts on video 1 (not where it left off). If this still doesn't work, increase the inter-device delay for the TV - commands for other devices may be interfering with the TV commands. Make it something big - like 5000 ms - just to see if it works. If it does then go back and increment it slowly until it works reliably. Another clue that increasing the inter-device delay is the solution is whether Help fixes the problem or not. Help only sends commands to one device at a time so there isn't interference from other devices like you have with activity startup.

As for the power off - you need to call support and have them configure the power off command with a duration. Assuming it's not there already - did you check the Adjust Power settings?

There's a good way to solve this that has applied to many other Tosh's and probably will for you. In effect it improves on the Tosh original remote, by adding to the cycling or scrolling method of changing inputs the discrete method. Each input (Video 1, Component 1, etc) then has it own separate command, and Harmonys can handle those much better than they can any cycling method. You can find the codes which will provide this at the address below, and then Logi will add them to your account, so that you can give them a try. You will also find a whole lot of similar experiences around that address.


[Link: avforums.com]

Of course first do as jlet suggests: Devices> TV> customise buttons> under the heading Commands look all the way down the dropdown list for anything beginning with "Input".

Try all the discrete input commands in device mode. They might be there already. If they work properly, then reconfigure the adjust inputs to use the discrete method (Method 2).

Thank you for all the advice unfortunately i have had to throw in the towel and am kind of disappointed by the harmony remote. It really is a lot of work to set up, and i normally love these things, guess if you have the perfect devices it could be great

This is my first ever all in one remote and was expecting a much more precise way of being able to control my system

After trying out every suggested option and skimming through all the forums for over a week now i've come to the conclusion that it might be a great remote but it all depends on how evolved the rest of your set up is.

My TV simply does not have a dedicated button for Component 1 and after having tried to make it skip to the right input with every time delay i could think off, i gave up on that all together. It never got it right, sometimes the one before or sometimes the one after. I also don't have access to a pronto so i can upload my own hex codes to try out so no luck with that either

The other thing that really disappoints me is the activities: if all of your setup has dedicated buttons for on and off this might be great....but in my case absolutely none of my machines have that option so if i choose to switch activities i either need to switch everything off or go into every single device menu to get to the settings, there you need to tailor make ur device menu, for e.g. my Onkyo 604 AVR i needed to get to some things like surround toggle and input switching.

Then third there are no dedicated soft buttons within an activity, only for the device that is playing

FYI

Toshiba 46in RPTV
Onkyo 604 AVR
LG 1080i upscaling DVD
Helios Media Center - also DVD
Xsat sattelite receiver
UTStarcom IPTV receiver box
Nintendo Wii

I ran a couple of things over my onkyo remote and was left with 4 remotes on the table and to be honest it was a lot better and precise then this

Thanks for all the input anyway, unfortunately i can't return the thing

The link I gave you in posting #4 has discrete codes that have worked with many other Toshibas.
Could you explain more about the need to switch everything off, and the lack of soft buttons?

I don't understand these comments. Other universal remotes don't have the ability to remember power and input states (not without specialized programming) so they won't work any better with your setup than the harmony - much worse, actually since all you can do is blindly send macros.

You have a setup problem and they can be frustrating but once solved it should work every time. Did you try any of the suggestions posted? Did you call support?

There should be no need to go into the device menu regularly once the power and inputs are setup correctly. ANY button in an activity (hard or soft) can be mapped to ANY command from ANY device.

Before you give up, make sure you understand what the remote can and can't do and at least try to get some help to setup the power and inputs. Whatever problem you're having with the Harmony you'll have with other universal remotes.

Many devices support discrete power (PowerOn, PowerOff) and input commands (like InputHDMI1) even if they are not on the OEM remote. Don't use the OEM remote to configure the device power and input settings. Instead use the commands from the device dataset. The first thing to do is see what is available under the dataset by doing a device Customize Buttons. Look at the "Additional Buttons". The left name is the LCD label name, and the name on the right is the command name (the ones your are after) associated with that label. The next thing to do is to try each found discrete power and input commands IN DEVICE Mode, making sure the action is indeed discrete and not toggling/cycling. Remember that the dataset is by brand rather than by model. So your particular model may not support all the commands in its dataset.

Armed with this info, it's now time to configure the device power and input settings. If the device support the discrete method (as tested above), then choose it, else select the toggle/cycling method. The Harmony supports both methods, but some devices support only the toggle/cycling method.

In the power settings, the discrete method is chosen when you select the option "different button for each" instead of "same button for both". Do not mix them. Don't use power toggling commands with the discrete method and vice versa.

In the input settings, method 2 is the discrete method. The list of inputs are label names (not command names). The command associated with each input label is on the next page (label on the left, command on the right). The input label names are used in the activity wizard. If you have to use a cycling method (like method 1), then make sure all the label names are in the correct order, and you answered all the questions properly. When you answer the questions, tell it what the device does (not what you wish it did).

You really should let these guys help before you throw the towel in!

Akirby & jlet will make your Harmony sing if you let them, even the other guys who have tried to help will get you going!

Stick with it.

Let me try and explain of what i thought was possible if you guys still think that i am wrong - i will try the fine tuning again.

1. dedicated component 1 button - i have an older CRT RPTV - quite basic really, after reading all the forums on discreet codes, they only seem to talk about newer Regza's and some other slighty more modern RPTV's (LCos and the other one) I even looked up different manuals on the toshiba websites to check the other remote controls of more expensive models that could have that function...but no luck

So gave up on dedicated component command - then option 2 is the skipping - with a near 10 sec TV start up time - the input toggle is really quite slow and inconsistent - i would make it to Video 3 or Component 2 but never to Comp 1 - my conclusion it won't work for my setup - am i wrong???

2. Power toggle's - every one of my devices seems to have a powertoggle but no dedictated ones...so meaning i am in activity watch a dvd and after watching DVD i want to see a download from my media center - switch activities - (TV is on and switches off - Onkyo is on and switches off - Helios turns on) Having a dedicated on button sent to the TV would tell it its already on and vice versa. So now if i want to switch activities i need to go into device menu's of each component to make it work

3. While in DVD activity i can control DVD player by default but what i i want to change my onkyo to DTS surround??? Again need to go into device - onkyo - find DTS

If i am wrong and i can map all these things of various devices into one activity then pls tell me how - and for the other points pls explain to me if this is possible or not

As far as the Logitech helpdesk, well I live in Shanghai and the nearest one would be Hong Kong but that still a very pricey international call - and also i am not convinced if they would be quite as good as the Tier 2 guys in the US but pls correct me if i am wrong.

Basically yes - you're looking at it incorrectly. Let's try again.


It may not be working right now but it will most definitely work - you just need to set it up correctly. First, forget what the manuals and websites say. Just go into the TV device mode and try EVERY available command, especially those that have "Input" in the name, and see what they do. It is entirely possible that you have discrete (direct access) commands in the harmony database to get you to at least some of the inputs. Just try them and see.

IF you don't have discretes, it's still ok. You have to use the cycling method. If the TV takes 10 seconds to start up, then there's nothing you can do about that (but you only need to go through that once - switching activities will NOT turn the TV off once it's configured correctly - explained later). For cycling you first have to make sure the list of inputs in the harmony software EXACTLY matches the list in the TV menu - same number and same order, no extra inputs and none missing. The names don't matter, just the number and position. Make sure you answer all of the questions about what happens when the TV is turned off then back on, etc. All of these options are under Adjust Inputs under the TV device. It WILL work once you set it up correctly.


2 possibilities here: one is that you have power toggles but the software is setup for discrete commands, so the remote resends what it thinks is a discrete ON command but in reality it's a power toggle which turns it off. Again this is a setup problem. Go into the device's Adjust Power Settings menu and tell it you have a power toggle command. Problem solved.

OR the reason it turns off the TV is that you did not include the correct devices in the media center activity. By default, when you switch activities the remote will turn ON devices that are needed by that activity (if they're off) and turn OFF devices that aren't used (if they're on). You must include all devices needed in each activity. You can also check the activity option to "leave unused devices on" so that once the harmony turns on a device, it will leave it on whether the activity uses that device or not. It will turn off when you press the OFF button.


This is also a simple and common problem with 2 possibilities:

1 - you're going into Device mode for the DVD player after entering the DVD activity. Don't do this unless you need some obscure command from the DVD player. Device mode gives you access to all of the device commands (and only commands from that device). You can customize the commands you see in Device mode for each device including all of the hard buttons. You choose Customize Button configuration (or something like that - it's been awhile since I did it myself) in the Device options. Once you enter an activity you should stay there until you need another activity or you need some rarely used command for a device. You can map commands from any of the activity devices to the main activity buttons (see next section).

2 - you're in Activity mode but the buttons have not been configured. Go into the Activity options, Customize Button configuration and you can map any command from any participating device to any button (hard or lcd). e.g. you can have a command on your LCD for the Onkyo Find DTS command and next to it you can have a TV command, etc.

As an example, when you select Watch DVD and it uses the TV, the DVD player and the Onkyo, here is what should happen:

If the TV, DVD player and Onkyo are off, they are turned on. If they're already on they're left on.

The TV and Onkyo will be set to the appropriate inputs unless they are already on the requested input.

Any additional commands configured for Activity startup will be sent.

The remote is now in Watch DVD activity mode. The transport buttons (rew/ff/pause/play/etc), menu, info, exit, channel +/- etc will control the DVD player. The volume buttons control the Onkyo volume. You have LCD commands for the various Onkyo surround modes, turning CC on and off on the TV, etc.

Also be aware that the default settings for Activities are determined by the type of activity you setup. If you setup a Watch DVD type activity then the DVD controls should already be mapped to the activity buttons. Same for the volume controls and the Onkyo.

However - if you setup a generic activity or the wrong type of activity then you have to manually map all of the activity buttons.

Get your devices setup correctly for power and inputs, then create one activity of the correct type and customize the button configuration to your liking. Once you get the hang of it you can add your other activities.