I hate to do this I'm sure this must have been asked and answered , but I cant find it.

I have a 620 , and everything is good, just need some small twiks.

When I press watch tv I want the remote to end on PVR , so I can control the pvr.

This is what I do most.

Now when I press watch tv the remote ends on tv, I never rellay have to mess with these settings.

also I cant seem to get it to understand that I always want to control the volume though my sound system and not the tv.

HELP

Thanks

You're thinking about it wrong. The remote doesn't "end" on any device in particular. The idea of an activity is that you have simultaneous control of ALL devices in that activity. Go into the Activity and customize the buttons. You can assign any command from any device to any activity. If you chose the right type of activity and answered the questions correctly most of the buttons should be set up for you, but you have complete control over that. e.g. You can set the channel buttons to control the PVR while the volume buttons control the sound system.

The questions for a Watch TV Activity are which device displays video, which changes channels, which controls volume. If you'd answered those correctly the PVR's and amplifier's controls would have been on the correct buttons, and there probably wouldn't have been any of the TV's controls at all as you don't need any.

I think I had the same issue with a 1000 once (if I'm understanding your post correctly). When setting up the Activity you have to make sure that you choose "Watch TV using PVR/DVR". This way the remote will know to end on the PVR control screen. If you set-up the Activity using "Watch TV using cable box" (as I had done and am guessing you probably did too), the remote doesn't know that you are using a PVR and will not end on the right screen. The rest of the process will take you through the correct set-up for the devices you have, including setting your volume control correctly.

Once again - it doesn't "end on a screen". It always ends on the Activity screen. The difference is simply how the buttons in the activity are mapped - both the hard and LCD buttons. And those can be changed at any time regardless of how the activity was created. Answering the questions correctly and picking the right activity type simply helps the harmony get you the right configuration automatically - but either way you can adjust it yourself.

I know. I was just using the OP's terminology.


Yes. But what if you want it to end on a different Activity screen than what Harmony gives you? I believe this is what the OP is talking about. It sounds as though he wants the first Activity screen to allow him to control his PVR, not his TV.


Yes, but in this case the PVR buttons could be Transport buttons, which are usually symbols. If you can't add the actual symbol button to a screen, where would you map them to?


That's why I suggested he choose "Watch TV using PVR/DVR".


Yes and no. You can't customize the page orders. This would have solved the OP's issue right away.

IMO, The OP's issue is a result of one of the biggest gripes with Harmony....the inability to move "pages" where you want them. When I was setting up a 1000, the customer was using a SA8300HD cable box. So I set-up the TV activity using "Watch TV using cable box". The device was in the database so I shouldn't have any issues, correct? Well unfortunately, after I was finished programming the remote I didn't have most of the DVR functions available. I called Tech Support and was told that I needed to set-up the activity using "Watch TV using PVR/DVR". Why would I need to do that? It's the same device I had before. The simplest set-up process would have been to choose the "Watch TV" activity, specify the devices that you use for that Activity, let the Harmony database do what it currently does, AND then allow you to say "okay, now put Page 4 where Page 1 is (and so on)". Don't confuse the user by making them wonder "Do I watch TV with a cable box?" "Do I watch TV with a DVR or a PVR?" "Do I watch with a Tivo?" Give me a break. People just want to watch TV, period. And I'm sure many customer service calls would be eliminated as well.

I understand what you're saying. Originally there was only a single "Watch TV" type activity. I think the others have been tacked on as new device types entered the picture. I agree it would be easier to keep it as a generic activity and key the button mappings off of additional questions (do you have a PVR/DVR?).

OTOH, users should be told that they can go in and modify the button mapping on both the hard buttons and LCD screen at any time for any activity. So if they don't like the defaults they can change them. That is a common misconception - they think they're stuck with whatever they get by default.

And correct me if I'm wrong here, but I think you do have control over the order of commands on the LCD within an activity, so you can set it up so "page 4" becomes "page 1" if you so desire. Again, I think the problem is the default setup and how you get to that default setup.

Then all he needs to do is to customise the PVR controls to that page - as akirby thought the screen buttons can be arranged in any order you like.
Usually though such commands are on hard buttons, not on the screen at all.

The issue is not about the screen buttons, but about the screens themselves. Obviously you can map and arrange the buttons on a screen most any way you like. But what if you want a different "default" screen? I believe this is what the OP was asking, he wants the remote to "end on PVR" (default screen). Let's use my situation as an example:
Customer uses a Scientific Atlanta 8300HD DVR cable box, and decides he wants a Harmony 1000. I set-up the activity as a "Watch TV using cable" activity (makes sense to me. After all, it's a cable box, isn't it??). When I'm done, the default screen on the remote is the TV screen (numeric keypad). Fine, except that I don't have access to any of the DVR functions for the SA8300HD. After scratching my already scratch-infected head, I finally decide to call Tech Support. I'm told that in order to have the DVR funtions I have to set-up the activity as "Watch TV using DVR". Okay, doesn't make sense to me since it's the same device anyway (apparently, the buttons that show up on the remote are not device-dependant, but activity-dependant....stupid), but I go back and do what I'm told. Great. All the DVR buttons now show up...BUT now the default screen is the Transport screen (Play, Rewind, FF, etc). If I want to maually change channels I have to switch screens. Again, another call to Tech Support. All I want is for the Numeric Keypad screen to be the default while still having access to the Transport Screen as needed. I'm told it can't be done.
If someone knows something different please let me know. But please don't tell me that I could set-up two separate Activities. Eliminating redundancy is one of the main reasons people buy universal remotes in the first place.

Please pay attention - you can put ANY command on the LCD screen in any order from any device. It doesn't matter where the remote puts them by default. You shouldn't need the transport buttons on the LCD - those should be mapped to the hard buttons.

There is no "screen" for an activity that's tied to any device. An activity has access to ALL commands from ALL devices. So just setup the custom buttons (LCD) any way you want them.

You're telling me to pay attention? Take a look at the situation I described in my posts (paying particular attention to the fact that I'm using a Harmony 1000). Now...who needs to be paying attention?

I've never seen a 1000 so I'm not sure how they work, but I've always assumed that, like any other Harmony, you can Customise the screen in any way you want. Is that not so?

We're in the same boat....the 1000 is the only Harmony I've ever worked with, so I may have spoken out of turn in giving my advice to the OP. I too didn't think it would be different, but after looking at pictures of some of the other Harmonys I see that every remote has HARD Transport buttons, EXCEPT for the 1000. That's why I didn't quite understand why everyone was telling me to "map to the HARD buttons", and I'm sure that this is also the reason no one quite understood what I was saying as well.

If you take a look at a picture of the 1000, you will see that the hard button design is minimalistic. There are no hard Transport keys, no hard numeric keys, etc. Almost all of the "hard" commands are handled via the touchscreen. It's customizable to a point, but in my opinion still leaves alot to be desired. And if you're spending $600 on a 1000 with RF base, I would think that you would expect to get the same level of customization as competing remotes. At a bare minimum, you would want it to do more than the lesser models.....didn't you just buy the "flagship"? I just believe that Logitech didn't think this one through very well, that's all.

I was referring to the OP's problem and didn't realize you were talking about your 1000. So I guess we were both paying attention but using different reference points.

LOL. I get the same results when I talk to my wife.