I picked up a Harmony 1000, and I'm pretty pleased with the unit so far. My goal was to have something that someone unfamiliar with my system and the remote could pick up and use easily, and it passed the girlfriend test. There were a couple of non-ideal things, but I've been able to come up with workarounds for everything I've hit so far.

While I'm impressed with the remote itself, the software for it is terrible. I'm sure the baby-stepping wizard is good for some people and makes the remote more accessible to a mass market audience, I find using it painful. I accept that it will take a long time for the software to reprogram the remote, but it's terrible that it takes me so long to navigate through interminable menus to make one little change.

I searched through the forums, but please forgive me if I didn't do so well enough and this has been asked and answered. Is there any better way to program the Harmony 1000? Is there a software package aimed at power users? Is there a hidden "advanced mode" that I've been unable to find?

I feel your pain. It's too bad Logitech/Harmony does not provide an "advanced mode". They did provide a Mickey Mouse advanced mode a while back but removed it. I did not try it, but you may want to try this site when it supports the 1000: [Link: phildev.net]

I downloaded that file but I was unable to open it. What do I need to open it?

Same here...I even checked their forum, no luck.

This is not for the faint-hearted. First you need to uncompress the downloaded bz2 file, then de-archived the resulting tar file. You can do both with 7-Zip (extract here function). You will get a folder named "concordance-0.20". In this folder, you will see a file named "INSTALL.windows". Rename it to "INSTALL.windows.rtf" so that you can read its content. It describes the procedures to build the Software. You will also need one of these Development Platforms to build the Software:
a) Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0 with Service Pack 6 (SP6)
b) Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 (8.0)
c) Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 (9.0) - Express Edition

Jlet...what are you a Genius!!! No wonder I couldn't find anything within their forum or faq. Thanks for the explanation.

Also, note that this isn't for the 1000. They may be able to make it work with that in the future. Thanks for the link, jlet. I'll have to keep an eye on that and see if they're able to get it working for the 1000.

For anyone who's tried it: how is it?

This painful problem has arisen before, but I still don't see how it is a problem.
What are these "interminable" menus?
How long is the time that is "long....for the software to reprogram the remote"?
We're not talking about the control panel for a nuclear reactor, with a vast number of possibilities.
We're talking about a device for sending a limited number of specific commands by IR.
I have done a lot of "tweaking" to my One, almost all of it done with Customise Buttons which is in effect a simple spreadsheet, not a baby-stepping wizard.
The power and input adjustments are easily accessible too. What other refinements are required?
Also as before, I'm the first to say the software has many small faults which should never have been allowed through development, but this "problem" isn't one of them.

I guess it's just a difference of opinion. I don't like the software and would like a lot more out of it. Clearly a number of other people feel the same way, given that folks are writing their own programmer for it. I'm glad that it works well for you and that you're happy with it.

It does work for me, but that's as far as I'm prepared to go in its favour.
I wouldn't say I'm happy with it, and I don't much like it.
On those points I'm with you, and with those others here and elsewhere.
What I'm interested in is to get some detail that might turn opinion into something more substantial and then into agreement.
I asked about the interminable menus and the long time to reprogram, which are not in my experience, and am interested also in what is this "more" that even could be got out of it.
Customise buttons, set inputs; what else is there to do with a remote control, as opposed to a nuclear reactor control panel?:-)

Ah, I'm sorry, I misread your tone. I'm delighted to be more specific.

With the remote itself, there are a number of pre-defined screens for different kinds of activities. I'd like a greater degree of configurability. Two specific requests there:

1. I'd like to be able to select to create a new activity without specifying a type. Then, I'd like to have the full array of those existing screens available to be so I can pick which one would best meet my needs.

2. Some screens have buttons on one or both sides. I'd like this to be configurable with all screens, to fill in the ones I want and leave out ones I don't need.

I have significantly more wishes with the software that programs the remote. I'll hit a couple of the key things I'd like to see, though this is by no means an exhaustive list.

3. Moving from screen to screen within the editor takes a while. Frequently part of the screen loads, it hangs for a bit, and then the rest loads. I believe this is because it's basically a web interface, and most of the work is being done on a Logitech server (please correct me if I'm wrong). I don't want that. Having access to lots of codes is great, but I'm happy to have to download an update periodically. As it is, I'm not getting value added by it being online, but it does take longer.

4. There are things I've wanted to change, and I've been forced to go all the way through a wizard to get to the setting I want to change. An example would be adding additional commands that fire when an activity starts.

5. I'd like to be able to save multiple configurations. There have been times I've tried out some changes and decided I didn't like them. Instead of just reverting to the previous version, I had to manually change it back (and remember what exactly I'd done).

6. This is nitpicky, but I wish copy and past weren't disabled in the configuration program.

Note: The "Generic" (custom/typeless) activity is under the "Utility" activity type.

That's OK, and thanks for giving the detail.

1a. You ARE able to do that - Logi call this sort of thing a "utility" Activity.
It doesn't really matter all that much which of their selection of types you chose anyway; you can always add devices and juggle around button allocations.

1b and 2. These seem to be specific to the 1000 so I can't comment.

3. You're right about the way it's done, but I don't recognise at all the delays you experience. Here the whole thing just works like linking through any web site, with no noticeable delays at all.

4. Going through the pages here again takes almost no time at all. To reach "Add commands when Activity starts" needs six rapid-fire clicks, which may sound a lot but really isn't any hassle.

5. I agree, though I suspect there's a way of doing it.

6. I agree, and I noticed and complained about it at any early stage!

There are numerous minor faults like 6, that make it look as if it had been designed by an amateur, or at least someone who didn't understand English.
My complaint about the faults is that they must be misleading to newcomers, rather than that they cause serious problems to established users - I soon learned to live with them:-)

1. I wasn't clear enough. I don't want to create the blank utility activity with the ugly buttons. I want to create an activity and then, based on my desires rather than what Logitech thinks would be best, choose the buttons that will go on there. They have a bunch of nice button templates, and I bet I haven't seen all of them. At some point, when I have time, I'm going to slog through a bunch more and see if there are some templates that are better than what I'm using now for a couple of my activities.

The fact that I'm not able to see the whole array of options or easily get to them is, in my opinion, a bad design choice on Logitech's part. Yes, have the wizards for new users. But give people a way to avoid that and more easily harness the full power of the device.

3. There are significant delays for me. It generally takes several seconds for a new page to load. Part of why it bothers me so much is that it's pointless. Having it be a web tool rather than software running wholly on my computer adds zero value for me. It's a bad design choice.

4. That's a difference of opinion. I believe that clicking several times through unnecessary extra screens in a wizard is bad user interface design. I'm sure this is colored by how long it takes each screen to load.


Overall, I think the problem is that the programming interface was designed as an afterthought. They clearly put plenty of effort into designing the remote itself, and it's an excellent piece of hardware. The software on it certainly has some room to improve, but overall it's very solid, and there isn't anything meaningful to complain about. The software to program it is amateurish like you say, and I suspect it means that a large portion of the owners of these aren't getting all they could be out of it.

I haven't seen a 1000 and realise now that the first point is another that I can't comment on. Very little of this arises on the One.

I have the software on two computers and neither produces any noticeable delay in loading pages. Both have modest specifications - Vista64b on Athlon 64x2 4800 and XP+SP2 on Celeron - and my broadband connection is not a particularly fast one. That is why my example of "rapid-fire" clicks is no practical problem. Having the software and data additionally on the user's computer would certainly help those who experience internet delays, and I haven't seen a reason why Logi made their choice the other way.

Again we agree that the good quality of the device contrasts with that of the software, and I've said before that their R&D people must be a strange mixture of expert and amateur.

None of that has prevented me from getting everything I have demanded from it, with no delays and not much hassle, but your suspicion could be correct, that many users are not so fortunate.