4 days ago we sent 2 techs to do a new customer install which
included a HR44 Genie + 3 C41 clients & an H25.

Install went ok with exception to getting Genie to recognize clients &
getting the remotes programmed on clients + Genie. After an extra hour & a half,
including 2 calls to tech support, the guys were able to get everything working
properly except programming the remote to work in RF for the Genie. In the Genie Remote Programming menus, the choice to program the remote to RF was GRAYED OUT & thus not selectable. Not knowing what to do the guys left for there next job & told customer we would get back to them the next day with a resolution.

The next day the tech & I called tech support from our office & was speaking to a rep that was going thru her trouble shooting guide but saw no mention of what to do to program Genie to work with RF remote. She bumped us up to Tier 2 tech who suggested we try forcing a software download on the Genie.

Later that day tech went back to customer to try a software download
but without a 2nd Genie because were out of stock. Still not able to get it to
work after software download, he called ISS from customer house. The ISS rep thought the Genie was defective & advised tech to replace it.

Before returning to replace the Genie I did a Google search on programming
Genie for RF remote & did not get anything specific. After reading blurbs that
the Genie will only work RF with a RC71 & how to program a RC71, I pieced
together a plan of attack & scheduled an appointment.

I walked into house with RC71 in hand. Without going into the menus. IE
watching the current channel on screen. I press & hold the MUTE & ENTER buttons. [NOT MUTE & SELECT which is buttons used to program white remotes]
After a few seconds, a message pops up on screen "configuring RF remote"
followed shortly after by a message stating that remote (RC71) is programmed to
RF. In less than 2 minutes total!

Hopefully this helps another installer that has never seen this issue & stumped.

This has got to be very helpful, and thanks!

I sure wish DirecTV had an actual instruction sheet for the remote, though, because the thing they call instructions is a one-page illustration just naming the individual functions of the buttons. And I say individual because Mute + Select is NOT a function of an individual button.

I went off on a tangent about this remote, so I put it in another thread: [Link: remotecentral.com]

Wish I had login info for this site:

http://satinstalltraining.com/

Would probably answer all your questions Ernie...

That's such a good idea. Unfortunately my password doesn't work any more.

UPDATE ON THIS.....

Want every one to know a cole more facts about the RC71 & the newest model Genie = HR44

These are:
RC71/HR44 RF frequency is different from the White DirecTV remotes & all previous models of HD-HDDVR rec'rs.

Also, the HR44 is the 1st model rec'r that will do IR & RF at same time. Thus, you can have an RC71 in RF controlling the rec'r and at same time have an IR emitter on front controlling it too from a custom remote.

Because HR44 will do both IR & RF at same time; in the remote menus the option for program IR/RF is grated out. AND will never change from being grated out.

Finally, the IR coding is the same on a RC71/HR44 as the white remotes & older models & thus are interchangable when controlling by RF

typos above:

Want everyone to know a couple ...

grated out is supposed to be grayed out.

last line is supposed to end = when controlling by IR

Sorry getting late & can't keep eyes open to proof read

Yes and you don't have to be in settings to do this...hold the buttons until the red led flashes 4 times that is how you know it grabbed the RF

I just read this thread again and something jumped out at me. THE ORIGINAL POSTER DID NOT TELL US WHAT MODEL REMOTE HE COULD NOT PROGRAM.  MODEL NUMBERS PLEASE, DAMMIT!

If you had included the model numbers in the first post, someone would have pointed out that you needed RC71s for this system. More on the idea "system" below.....


This is not true, but it doesn't matter. Just let me take a moment to bitch about how DirecTV did a crappy job of taking over receiver manufacture:
ALL the receivers that did RF, before the DirecTV labeled ones, did both RF and IR at the same time. This would be Sony, Hughes, Samsung, RCA, and ones I'm probably forgetting.

Edmund made a comment in another thread that the RC71 cannot be programmed to control A/V receivers.  He's right but it's not exactly that simple.  A DirecTV SYSTEM composed of a Genie, clients, and RC71s can be programmed to control A/V receivers.  And just as with the older remotes, you can't program the remote to control an A/V piece without first programming it to control a TV.

A DirecTV installer showed the process to me recently.  We had a projector, not a TV, so he enabled the SYSYEM to control an A/V piece by programming the remote to control some random TV; then he could program to control the Yamaha AVR.  (As always, DirecTV remotes can only control volume on the Yamahas, not power.)

What I said was the rc71 remote will not control the Power of a av receiver, it will control the volume and mute.

edmund, you're right. You said


I misread this and came away thinking you meant they couldn't be controlled, when you meant just power couldn't be controlled. Thanks for the clarification.

Ernie says: "THE ORIGINAL POSTER DID NOT TELL US WHAT MODEL REMOTE HE COULD NOT PROGRAM. MODEL NUMBERS PLEASE, DAMMIT!" ???????????????




HR44 = the newest model # of the Genie
C41 = the newest model # of the clients
H25 = the model # of a regular HD box

Next time I will spell out that these are model #s.

Also, I still have an old Sony SATA2 in service in my house. It will NOT do IR & RF at same time. Ever time a remotes batteries die, I am reminded that its one or the other when I reprogram it after changing batteries. The choice is IR OR RF.
Same holds true for the old RCAs & HUGHESes. Did so many that I would bet dollars on it and I rarely gamble for money.

My big capital letters ask for the model number of the remote and you missed it again. We know it now, but you've just made my point again, that somehow you missed the remote's model numbers. You've got to look at and write down EACH item's part number.

I had the new remote # in the body of the post. "the Genie will only work RF with a RC71 & how to program a RC71". RC71 is the # of the new DirecTV RF remote.

Any way want to move beyond this because Ernie is probably 1 of the smartest people on this forum and this is not worth wasting his time.

Chuch jr,

Bless your soul! I have spent two days running up (TV upstairs) and down stairs (our receiver and RF box are in a lower level furnace room) using the receiver itself to navigate through the menus and running back up to the TV to check the next selection option. Great exercise but beyond frustrating.

I used Direct TV online trouble shooting to figure out what was wrong with the remote and I was told to reprogram the remote for the TV. I did and all it did was allow me to control the volume. When I realized I couldn't select the IR/RF option, there was nothing to be found via customer support on this. I was just getting ready to call a tech out (my very very last resort) and decided, like you, to google "Grayed out IR/RF on Genie remote RC71". Your thread popped up and like you said, in less than one minute, the remote was working again. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!