Hello,

I have a Mits TV, Sony Preamp and an old Sony DVP-9000es DVD player. Often when it turns on the group for the activity of watching a DVD, the DVD player won't turn on. It does reliably turn on the other two devices - it is not an angle thing as I've tried it from many angles/distances - the power on button on the 4th screen for the DVD player can ALWAYS turn on the dvd player from any angle. If I go to activities and press watch a DVD again a second or third time it still won't reliably turn on the DVD player. I press help - go through yes no no no no yes, until it turns on the DVD but it doesn't seem to work reliably no matter how many times I go through the help or how many times I say no.

I've tried changing the 500ms to 1500ms or even 2500ms - it seems completely random as to whether my DVD player will turn on.

When go to the activity of watch a DVD it brings me to a screen -
eject
chapter +
Angle
Sub Title

and on the right -
clear
chapter -
Audio

I'd like to assign the last screen button to power on - can you please tell me how?

Thanks

Nevermind, I found it under activity - I kept looking under device. I'll get the hang of this remote eventually (I think it is a good remote). Still not sure why it is so flaky though. I've noticed Sony IR codes are tempermental on some units - my old 1000es preamp will often switch surround sound modes when adjusting the volume.

First...I would click on 'Devices' and then the DVD player.

Then click 'adjust power settings'.

All Sony's I have done actually have discrete On/Off but the Harmony defaults to 'power toggle'.

Click that you have 'one button to turn it on and one to turn it off'.

When it goes to the next screen and says 'what button do you push to turn on?' click on the drop down box and select the 'Power On' option that worked well when you were in the 'Device' mode.

Select 'Power Off' from the drop down box on the next screen.

Now to answer your question:

Go to 'Activities' / Watch DVD / Change behavior of buttons.

You will get a spread sheet that crosses over through the devices used in that activity.

Scroll down to the 'Custom' area and type 'Power' in an open slot (or replace one you are not using) then move over to the DVD Player column and click on the drop down box and place the appropriate action (Power On, Power Off or Power Toggle.

But I believe my first suggestion will cure your problem.

Thanks - I gave your suggestion a try but with no luck. I did get closer to a solution for my particular dvd player by having it learn the code - I still had to go through the help for the device again but this time it turns on about 75% of the time which is about 60% more than before! I really appreciate you getting me directly to the part I needed - very helpful!

Thanks again.

My only guess is that my Sony DVD player doesn't like any other ir commands for other devices being sent in a similar time frame so it is being picky. Franky I expected my preamp to be pickier than my DVD player - I'm stoked it works without issue.

Try increasing the interdevice delay a bit for the DVD player. The power on command for the preamp could be confusing the DVD player. When you hit the power button in device mode, there is preamp power on to confuse it, which is why it works 100% of the time.

Increase it to something crazy like 5000 ms, then cut back until it stops working reliably. Then you've found the threshold.

And don't forget to post your results.

Any way to switch the order - so that the preamp and tv turn on first and then a delay and then the DVD turns on or the reverse?

I think support can do that for you, but all you can do yourself is play with the power-on delays. It usually starts the device with the longest power-on delay first to optimize start-up time.