Post by geebo on Jan 3, 2014 7:55:54 GMT -5
When I got my wife an XMC-1 XSP-1 at Emofest last year I came across a little snafu of sorts when trying to incorporate it's use in some activities with my Harmony 900 remote. (I've since added the Ultimate and it's procedure is below). I'm going to make the assumption that we all know how to set up various activities but I'm going to cover a feature that some may not be aware of. As mentioned, I'm using a Harmony 900 and these tips apply to that model and it's associated software. Other Harmony remotes may or may not use the same procedure but should be similar.
The problem I came across was when using an activity the required the Home Theater Bypass feature of the XSP. HT Bypass is not an input you can select when setting up the activity so the command must be issued another way. Now the HT Bypass is really a toggle that remembers it's last state when the XSP is turned off. There are no separate remote commands for HT Bypass On and HT Bypass Off. So you add a command to an activity to turn on HT Bypass and it seems to work fine. Until you start another activity. If that activity also uses HT Bypass, when the command is sent for HT Bypass, it really just toggles if off because it was turned on during the last activity and remained that way until you unwittingly turn it off by sending another HT Bypass command. So you manually toggle it back on and everything works fine until you start an activity again. And if that activity does not use HT Bypass then no command is sent to activate it so it remains in it's last state (On), and you must manually toggle it off. What happened is that the Bypass toggle would never be in the state I wanted when beginning an activity.
See the problem?
Well a neat feature of the Harmony remotes is the ability to send additional commands not only at the start of an activity, but also when leaving one. To take advantage of this feature, first set up your activity and don't worry about the HT Bypass yet. When you're all done, go to the activity you just set up under the Activities tab and select "Settings". On the next screen select "Review the settings for this Activity" then click on "Next" at the lower right. On the next screen, choose "Yes, but I want to add more control of options and devices for this Activity" and again click on "Next". At the next screen, select "Save". Then you'll be presented with a series of screens where you can change the settings of the activity you created. You will just select the defaults by clicking next on each of these screens until you get to a screen that says "Custom Actions" and "Please review the actions for your XYZ Activity: " (The name of your activity will show up in place of XYZ). You should also see two sections labeled "Start Action" and "Leave Action". This is where we will add our additional commands. At the bottom of the "Start Action" section, you should see "Add Action for" with a drop down box. From the drop down choose the XSP-1 then click "Add". The next screen will offer a few options and we will want to select "Send this infrared Command:" then from the drop down choose HTBypass. Select "Next" and you'll be taken back to the previous screen. Now do exactly the same for the "Leave Action" section and when you come back to this screen, select "Save, Next, Done, Done". You should now be back at the main Activities screen where you should choose to "Update Remote". What will happen now when you use this activity is that, when the activity is finished, it will send a HT Bypass command then when you shut everything down or start a new activity, the remote will first send another HT Bypass command which acts to return it to the state it was in before beginning the activity.
I welcome others to add any differences that might exist between the Harmony 900 and other models. Any variations some may have are welcome as well.
I just got a Harmony Ultimate to try out and thought I'd include the procedure for that remote as well.
The Ultimate, along with the Touch and the Smart Control use an online app that's even easier to use than the the older program running in Windows. It copied all devices and activities from my 900 so I was up and running in little time. Anyway, adding commands after an activity concludes and again before that activity is exited is pretty easy with the new online method. Just log into your new Harmony account, select your remote from the main screen. Choose Activities on the left of the screen then select the activity you'll be working with. Choose Customize this Activity. You'll now be at a screen where you can choose between Activity Startup Commands and Activity Shutdown Commands. Choose one or the other then select Add Step and the rest is self explanatory. You and also reorder commands and adjust delays in this same screen.
The problem I came across was when using an activity the required the Home Theater Bypass feature of the XSP. HT Bypass is not an input you can select when setting up the activity so the command must be issued another way. Now the HT Bypass is really a toggle that remembers it's last state when the XSP is turned off. There are no separate remote commands for HT Bypass On and HT Bypass Off. So you add a command to an activity to turn on HT Bypass and it seems to work fine. Until you start another activity. If that activity also uses HT Bypass, when the command is sent for HT Bypass, it really just toggles if off because it was turned on during the last activity and remained that way until you unwittingly turn it off by sending another HT Bypass command. So you manually toggle it back on and everything works fine until you start an activity again. And if that activity does not use HT Bypass then no command is sent to activate it so it remains in it's last state (On), and you must manually toggle it off. What happened is that the Bypass toggle would never be in the state I wanted when beginning an activity.
See the problem?
Well a neat feature of the Harmony remotes is the ability to send additional commands not only at the start of an activity, but also when leaving one. To take advantage of this feature, first set up your activity and don't worry about the HT Bypass yet. When you're all done, go to the activity you just set up under the Activities tab and select "Settings". On the next screen select "Review the settings for this Activity" then click on "Next" at the lower right. On the next screen, choose "Yes, but I want to add more control of options and devices for this Activity" and again click on "Next". At the next screen, select "Save". Then you'll be presented with a series of screens where you can change the settings of the activity you created. You will just select the defaults by clicking next on each of these screens until you get to a screen that says "Custom Actions" and "Please review the actions for your XYZ Activity: " (The name of your activity will show up in place of XYZ). You should also see two sections labeled "Start Action" and "Leave Action". This is where we will add our additional commands. At the bottom of the "Start Action" section, you should see "Add Action for" with a drop down box. From the drop down choose the XSP-1 then click "Add". The next screen will offer a few options and we will want to select "Send this infrared Command:" then from the drop down choose HTBypass. Select "Next" and you'll be taken back to the previous screen. Now do exactly the same for the "Leave Action" section and when you come back to this screen, select "Save, Next, Done, Done". You should now be back at the main Activities screen where you should choose to "Update Remote". What will happen now when you use this activity is that, when the activity is finished, it will send a HT Bypass command then when you shut everything down or start a new activity, the remote will first send another HT Bypass command which acts to return it to the state it was in before beginning the activity.
I welcome others to add any differences that might exist between the Harmony 900 and other models. Any variations some may have are welcome as well.
I just got a Harmony Ultimate to try out and thought I'd include the procedure for that remote as well.
The Ultimate, along with the Touch and the Smart Control use an online app that's even easier to use than the the older program running in Windows. It copied all devices and activities from my 900 so I was up and running in little time. Anyway, adding commands after an activity concludes and again before that activity is exited is pretty easy with the new online method. Just log into your new Harmony account, select your remote from the main screen. Choose Activities on the left of the screen then select the activity you'll be working with. Choose Customize this Activity. You'll now be at a screen where you can choose between Activity Startup Commands and Activity Shutdown Commands. Choose one or the other then select Add Step and the rest is self explanatory. You and also reorder commands and adjust delays in this same screen.
Corrected. I think I have XMC-1 on the brain syndrome... 
