Hello all, came across these forums after what must have been hours of frustration w/my new Sony RM-VL600. Not sure if it's the remote, the components, or if I'm reading the manual incorrectly. Please bear with me as the world of universal remotes is fairly new to me.

Components:
TV - Samsung TX-R2678WH
DVD/Receiver - Philips MCD908 Micro Theater System
Remote - Sony RM-VL600

Long story short, I don't like the Philips stock remote very much and purchased a Sony VL600 to remedy the situation while consolidating my remotes.

I input the code for the Samsung TV and it seems to work right away. Power on/off, etc. But I cannot program most of the buttons on the Philips device. Some of the buttons work like Play, Menu, and Volume. But any button w/a toggle related function does not work. These include mute, menu arrow keys, power on/off, subtitle, etc. They will work once but I cannot toggle them back and forth. I then noticed that the Samsung controls also had an issue. The toggle seemed to work but with a really long delay. Volume changing is not as immediate as it is w/the stock remote. Muting can be enabled but after a few second delay, then muting can be disabled again.

At this point, I'm not sure if this is by design or if it is something I am doing incorrectly.

I found this post in regards to Philips components and the issue of "toggle bits" but his solution did not work for me.

[Link: forum.videohelp.com]

Am I just stuck w/the stock remotes or is there some magical method to this madness?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

When it comes toggle bits, if the learning remote doesn't have a proper preset code, then there really isn't anything you can do.

As for the samsung, teach the volume keys from the original remote. All universal and oem remotes have that problem with samsung tv's, but it isn't a program if taught.

Right - if you're not using a preprogrammed code, then you'll want to see if there's any possibility of using that.

Otherwise, devices that use toggle bits are a problem for any learning remote. Even some computer programmable modes can't overcome this (it's database codes or nothing).

The sad part is, the requirement for toggle bits is *optional* on RC5 implementations. I have several RC5 devices that don't actually require toggle bits to work correctly (and yes, I've had some that did).

I'm fairly certain that Samsung does NOT use toggle bits, so if you're having problems there try a different preprogrammed code, or if you're learning codes ENSURE you hold down the original button until the RM-VL600 finishes learning (don't just press the button briefly).

Thanks guys for the responses thus far. I tried Edmund's suggestion on the Samsung TV and that worked like a champ. Using the perset code initailly and then programming the volume and mute keys seemed to make the responsiveness much like the stock remote. The menu keys are still kind of wacked but haven't messeed with those any further.

The dealbreaker is the Philips device though as that is the remote I wanted to replace anyway, the Samsung remote isn't too bad. Of the preset codes, there were a couple for Philips DVD devices and one of them actually works for Power, etc. But the toggle issues are still there even with the code.

So I'm back to using the two remotes for now and the Sony will have to sit on the shelf until my gear gets upgraded. Good thing I only spent $20 on the Sony and didn't opt for the expensive Logitech Harmony line of remotes.

Combo devices are often troublesome - they take a few codes from one type of device and a few codes from another. For power, try searching the audio/receiver category.

Odd that database codes were still causing toggle bit issues; they *should* work.

The Harmony almost certainly would work correctly with toggle bits.

EXACTLY what I was going to say. Chances are you've got some working codes for a Philips DVD Player, but a DVD Player doesn't have Volume. etc. I've seen cases with TV/player combos where you can use TV codes for some things and player codes for other things, and these show up as two devices on the remote. I have no idea whether this can be done with a combo DVD/Receiver.