as a newbe, i need some help mapping/assigning/learing specific hard key funtions, such as volume up/down and channel up down, to a specific device, such as DVD player. said another way; when i am in the DVD device mode, i want the volume up and down to work accordingly. right now, i must select main AV receiver to adjust the volume on the hard keys. make sense?

if possible, can someone walk me through the steps please.

That's easy - stay out of Device mode. Device mode should only be used for rarely used commands or troubleshooting.

Set up and use activities. E.g. your watch DVD activity will turn on the DVD player, Receiver and TV and set them to the appropriate inputs. Then you can customize the buttons in the Activity so the transport buttons control the DVD player, volume controls the AV receiver and others control the TV. In activity mode you have access to all commands from all devices simultaneously.

Each activity and each device has it's own button layout.

thank you for the reply. I will assume it is not possible then.
I just thought I could use the learning function to assign a specific hard button like volume or channel within a device mode.

Yes, it's possible, but why complicate your life? If you insist, you can teach any command from any device (by using its original remote) to any other device.

I must insist for now until I get this thing figure out. How would one do that ? I am able to teach the function ( from the orig remote) into the database, but how do I get it from the database to a specific hard button on the Harmony?

p.s. it also has to do with the seperate remote for zone 2 and 3 including both video and audio that I am trying to program.

You learn the command for the DVD player device using the AV Receiver remote (don't forget to assign it a new label). Then you go into the Device options and customize buttons and you can map the new command to any button (hard or soft).

Activity > Customize Buttons
Device > Settings > Customize Buttons

thank you very much. that was easy. Now to tackle zone 2 set up. I have 2 yamaha receivers rxv1600 and rxv 995 and the harmony is operating both.

any ideas on how to keep them seperate?

Just set them up as two different devices.

I think he means both AV Receivers share the same IR dataset. If that is the case, then check (in its manual) if one of the 2 AV Receivers support an alternate IR address. If so, then set that AV Receiver and its original remote to its alternate IR address. Then on the Harmony user interface, do a Device > Settings > Confirm infrared commands (for that AVR device). It will ask you to send a few commands from the original remote to find the alternate IR dataset, or ask you the teach it the alternate set of commands.

correct jlet. thank you, I will try it tonight... well maybe not :)
I may just end up using another amp (other than a yamaha) for zone 2 and 3.