Logitech Harmony 785 – the pain continues

Foolishly, after recently buying a HD PVR, I decided that I would add the device to my Logitech Harmony 785 Universal Remote. This is a continuance of my earlier adventures with this remote.

Here is a record of my experience attempting to accomplish this seemingly simple task.

As I’ve previously mentioned, the Harmony 785 is a fantastic device. It would have to be to make me keep coming back to the exquisite pain that is configuring it.

On this occasion the stumbling block I encountered was with Logitech’s classification of my new Teac HDRM7250 PVR. According to them it’s not a device I can “Watch Television” or “Record Video” with. That’s right, after adding the device and attempting to add it to an activity it steadfastly refused to appear as an option in either of these activities. Very frustrating!

I then remembered (after nearly an hour of trying different methods of adding activities and having to remove partially completed activities) a technique I had stumbled upon during my initial setup of the remote. Firstly, add a device that appears in the Logitech database as the desired type of device, in this case a PVR, and then add that to the desired activity. I tried Teac’s SDR161T Twin Tuner PVR and this worked.

Now, trying to use this configuration to control the device won’t work. The remote commands are different but this can be easily overcome. After the device has been added to the desired activity change the device’s command mapping by changing the device’s setting with “Confirm infrared commands”. The configuration site should then ‘recognise’ the remote correctly and change the device configuration to what it should be but it will leave any activities that use that device in tact.

DTV Forum user Hakka notes that the creation of a non-existing device as a placeholder for the actual device also works.

As usual the configuration of this device resulted in a fair amount of pain. Tweaking the device for those last few minor settings is proving to be the worst part. This normally results in innumerable trips from my office to the lounge room and back. Each time unplugging and plugging the device back in, interrupting the TV that I’m currently watching whilst various devices get turned on or off in error or by me forgetting what state the remote thinks my devices are in.

Just as I said last time, one day I hope to get the remote configured to my satisfaction. I can’t see it happening anytime soon but one day it might just happen.

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