XMC-1 and Harmony Remotes - The New Command Set

[AudioHTIT]

I decided to start a new thread on this because it is a significant change for XMC-1 Harmony users. However, I realize there are multiple threads that relate to this already, I’ll link to those threads below, and I will link them here for those who stumble upon one or the other and want to follow ‘the rest of the story’. The technical changes will be discussed in the next post in this thread, what follows are a few details of how we got here, and links to the other XMC-1 Harmony and IR threads.

A couple weeks ago I mentioned in a thread that I thought the IR command set for the XMC-1 was lacking. KeithL replied that it was actually quite extensive, but that they hadn’t all been revealed, he posted a new IR and IP command set. I felt this was significant and following Keith’s cue took it upon myself to get those new commands into the Harmony database for the XMC-1.

First I used an obscure method (listed elsewhere) to load the Pronto codes into my extra Harmony 900, and then tested them with my XMC-1; with only a couple Zone 2 exceptions they worked perfectly. I then taught some of the commands to my Harmony Ultimate Home to include in Activities, they also worked as expected.

At that point I started scouring the Harmony site for some standard / approved method for submitting codes; not finding anything definitive I just opened a ticket with support. After a few back and forths I convinced front line that I didn’t just want these added to my Harmony account (not to be confused with MyHarmony), but rather wanted this to be the ‘official’ entry in the Harmony remote database for the XMC-1. I sent them a link to Keith’s post so that they could download the codes directly. They escalated the ticket to ‘Advanced’ support, and although front line did try to close it a couple times, I persisted that the issue was not yet resolved.

Last night I got an eMail from my original front line technician (also Bruce), who informed me the XMC-1 entry in the Harmony database had been updated with the new codes. I was quite pleased and told him I would test them today.

- Bruce

Other related threads
XMC-1 & Harmony
XMC-1 & Harmony One
XMC-1 IR Codes

Original Post with new codes
New Code Post

EDIT: New post with new codes (2020/04/07)
Note: As of this date (to my knowledge) no new information has been sent to Logitech, nor have the Harmony codes been updated.
emotivalounge.proboards.com/post/1027423

[AudioHTIT]

Here are the details of what has changed. First, if you are happy with the way your Harmony remote works with the XMC-1 you don’t need to do anything, in fact you don’t want to do anything. As long as you don’t delete your XMC-1 Device, your command set will continue to work the way it works now, you can add other Devices, and Activities, or change the way your current Activities work, just don’t delete your XMC-1 device.

If however you would like to take advantage of the additional commands available in the new command set, you must first delete the XMC-1 Device in your setup. I not only deleted the XMC-1 Device, but ALL of my Activities (about 10); this was because the XMC-1 is part of all of them, and I felt it would be best to get rid of any remnants of the old commands. I don’t think you have to delete the Activities, but I didn’t mind recreating them and it made me feel better. Edit: This was actually wrong, you don’t need to delete the old Device, you can rename it, load the new Device and change your Activities to use the new Device. That way if you want to go back to the ‘limited” driver you can.

So it may becoming clear that the ‘old’ command set is no longer available, once you delete your XMC-1 Device and then re-add it, you will only have the new command set. What’s different in the ‘new’ command set? The most significant change is that all of the physical inputs are now directly accessible via an IR command. Previously, you could only select a physical input by assigning it to one of the ‘virtual’ Inputs 1-7, and then sending the command for that virtual input. To be clear, that method still works, this command set includes all of the previous commands. If you want to set your system up that way, or continue to use it that way, it still works fine (albeit there is an extra step). If however you need more control of the physical inputs - or (as I did) have more than 7 devices or configurations, then the new commands will be of benefit to you.

The biggest difference you will notice is when creating a new Activity, when it asks which input your XMC-1 needs to be on you will be presented with the (24?) Physical Inputs. These names should be familiar: HDMI 1, HDMI 2, Optical 1, COAXIAL 1, Analog 1, USB, etc. If most of your setup is HDMI it will work exactly the same except you won’t have to bother to assign the ‘Input 1’ button to HDMI 1 in the XMC setup. However you can still do that and it will still work fine.

The only ‘trick’ I’ve had to play is for my Mac where I currently have the Video on HDMI 4 and the audio on Optical 1. I assign this to Input 4 and send an additional ‘Input 4’ command in the Activity sequence, after the Harmony has already sent the HDMI 4 command. It sounds harder than it is, it truly took 30 seconds. The takeaway here is that the Harmony knows all the Physical inputs, but it no longer considers the Virtual Inputs ‘inputs’, they are just commands available to send when necessary. I understand this may be confusing to some and maybe even undesirable, but this new method is MUCH more powerful.

As you can see I can go on about this, but I’ll stop here and see if anyone is interested. If not, this change is documented, if so then this thread can continue on how Harmony users can setup (or resetup) their remotes with the new command set. I made all of the changes that I described above in an hour or two, including testing, and resyncing my Ultimate Remote, Hub, iPad, and iPhone. I made all the changes in the MyHarmony app on my Windows laptop, but they all synced out to my iPad where I could also tweak it.

All of this only affects Harmony users, other leaning and universal remotes will have to go through their individual methods to include the new commands. Hopefully the IP commands are helping the developers enhance their Apps as well.

- Bruce

[AudioHTIT]

I should also mention that Harmony also created a new XMC-1 (Zone 2) Device. I added it to my system, but haven't tried it yet. I know geebo uses this in his activities.

[LCSeminole]

Thanks for the hard work Bruce. While I did have the old XMC-1 device codes in my Harmony 650 and still getting used to the Harmony "Way" of doing things, I figured why not go with your submitted complete set. Yes you are right, there are 24 direct inputs that are offered and now an actual 25 pages of commands for the XMC-1. I've actually deleted all of the devices and activities and started from scratch, and now all of the activities work as I want them to. I'm sure I'll have questions in the future, so I'll be following this thread closely.

[geebo]

Sept 9, 2015 19:02:54 GMT -5 LCSeminole said:

Thanks for the hard work Bruce. While I did have the old XMC-1 device codes in my Harmony 650 and still getting used to the Harmony "Way" of doing things, I figured why not go with your submitted complete set. Yes you are right, there are 24 direct inputs that are offered and now an actual 25 pages of commands for the XMC-1. I've actually deleted all of the devices and activities and started from scratch, and now all of the activities work as I want them to. I'm sure I'll have questions in the future, so I'll be following this thread closely.

Maybe we could sticky this thread?

[geebo]

Sept 9, 2015 18:18:11 GMT -5 AudioHTIT said:

I should also mention that Harmony also created a new XMC-1 (Zone 2) Device. I added it to my system, but haven't tried it yet. I know geebo uses this in his activities.

Awesome work, Bruce. I will absolutely try the new code set this weekend. Thanks for your effort and persistence in this. Now the Harmony remotes can be better than the factory remote!

[LCSeminole]

Sept 9, 2015 19:16:22 GMT -5 geebo said:

Sept 9, 2015 19:02:54 GMT -5 LCSeminole said:

Thanks for the hard work Bruce. While I did have the old XMC-1 device codes in my Harmony 650 and still getting used to the Harmony "Way" of doing things, I figured why not go with your submitted complete set. Yes you are right, there are 24 direct inputs that are offered and now an actual 25 pages of commands for the XMC-1. I've actually deleted all of the devices and activities and started from scratch, and now all of the activities work as I want them to. I'm sure I'll have questions in the future, so I'll be following this thread closely.

Maybe we could sticky this thread?

Good idea!!! Done!

[geebo]

I just added a second XMC device and left my old one for now. I went into activities and chose one that uses the XMC to change. For devices used in the activity I added the new version of the XMC, unchecked the old one and continued through the process. I was eventually presented with the 24 XMC inputs to choose from (I use Coax 1 for this activity) and when finished I synced the remote and everything worked as it did previously. But now I can directly select modes, presets etc that I had to enter the menu for previously. So you will not have to remove activities to change to the new command set if you don't want to. Overall a worthwhile change IMHO.
Kudos to AudioHTIT

[ratmice]

Thanks for getting this done. It will make things a lot easier for my remote.

[skippy1977]

Bruce,

As a fellow Harmony remote user thank you very much for your efforts! I was a little concerned about deleting all my current XMC-1 activities but I'm going to go with geebo's process. Thanks geebo for posting that!

[geebo]

Sept 10, 2015 8:39:55 GMT -5 skippy1977 said:

Bruce,

As a fellow Harmony remote user thank you very much for your efforts! I was a little concerned about deleting all my current XMC-1 activities but I'm going to go with geebo's process. Thanks geebo for posting that!

If you have programmed any extra XMC commands at the end of the activity, you will have to re-do those. Otherwise it should go smoothly. I wouldn't try deleting the XMC in the activity without the second XMC ready to take it's place.

[AudioHTIT]

geebo and I have both now experienced the possibility that the discrete Power Off command in the new set might not work. I noticed it when I shut my system down last night. It may not have shown in my testing due to the hybrid nature of the test. If you experience this I'd suggest going to your power settings and telling the Harmony that the XMC uses 1 button to power On/Off, this should switch to the Power toggle command which I think does work. Please post your findings here. KeithL, can you confirm whether the Main Power On and Off commands work in the new set (we know Zone 2 doesn't). As a warning to those using the new set, if this turns out to be a bad command in the database and we then get it fixed, you will probably have to delete and re-add the XMC.

[geebo]

Sept 10, 2015 9:26:21 GMT -5 AudioHTIT said:

geebo and I have both now experienced the possibility that the discrete Power Off command in the new set might not work. I noticed it when I shut my system down last night. It may not have shown in my testing due to the hybrid nature of the test. If you experience this I'd suggest going to your power settings and telling the Harmony that the XMC uses 1 button to power On/Off, this should switch to the Power toggle command which I think does work. Please post your findings here. KeithL, can you confirm whether the Main Power On and Off commands work in the new set (we know Zone 2 doesn't). As a warning to those using the new set, if this turns out to be a bad command in the database and we then get it fixed, you will probably have to delete and re-add the XMC.

I can confirm the "Power Toggle" did work for me in shutting the XMC down.

[foggy1956]

The ability to toggle between reference stereo and another mode is very revelatory I think

[trevordj]

Sept 10, 2015 9:26:21 GMT -5 AudioHTIT said:

geebo and I have both now experienced the possibility that the discrete Power Off command in the new set might not work. I noticed it when I shut my system down last night. It may not have shown in my testing due to the hybrid nature of the test. If you experience this I'd suggest going to your power settings and telling the Harmony that the XMC uses 1 button to power On/Off, this should switch to the Power toggle command which I think does work. Please post your findings here. KeithL, can you confirm whether the Main Power On and Off commands work in the new set (we know Zone 2 doesn't). As a warning to those using the new set, if this turns out to be a bad command in the database and we then get it fixed, you will probably have to delete and re-add the XMC.

Thanks a million for going through all the hassle getting these codes to Harmony. I updated my harmony settings last night with the new XMC-1 and XMC-1 zone 2 devices added to my profile. I too found the discrete power power off command for the XMC-1 didn't work (power on and power toggle both worked). For Xmc-1 zone 2 discrete power on and power off didn't work, but power toggle did. I was able to re-teach the command for the regular XMC-1 device but just stuck with the power toggle command for zone 2 as there does not appear to be discrete buttons on the stock xmc-1 remote for zone 2 power on and off. Overall a minor issue, everything seems to be working great otherwise.

[AudioHTIT]

Sept 10, 2015 13:36:42 GMT -5 foggy1956 said:

The ability to toggle between reference stereo and another mode is very revelatory I think

I agree, I played a lot with the direct mode commands when I was testing. Makes me want to improve my defaults from auto.

[geebo]

Sept 10, 2015 9:26:21 GMT -5 AudioHTIT said:

geebo and I have both now experienced the possibility that the discrete Power Off command in the new set might not work. I noticed it when I shut my system down last night. It may not have shown in my testing due to the hybrid nature of the test. If you experience this I'd suggest going to your power settings and telling the Harmony that the XMC uses 1 button to power On/Off, this should switch to the Power toggle command which I think does work. Please post your findings here. KeithL, can you confirm whether the Main Power On and Off commands work in the new set (we know Zone 2 doesn't). As a warning to those using the new set, if this turns out to be a bad command in the database and we then get it fixed, you will probably have to delete and re-add the XMC.

I just fixed the Power Off command by teaching the "Standby" button from the Emotiva remote to the "Power Off" button for the XMC device in the Harmony software.

From the MyHarmony app select:
Devices
Choose your XMC device
Add or Fix Command
Fix a Command that doesn't work
Select Power Off in the list of commands
Next
Follow the prompts and then sync the remote. Now the Power Off should work fine. Power On and Power Toggle already work as they should.

[bootman]

I'll update my One this weekend to test.

[LCSeminole]

Sept 10, 2015 19:44:28 GMT -5 geebo said:

Sept 10, 2015 9:26:21 GMT -5 AudioHTIT said:

geebo and I have both now experienced the possibility that the discrete Power Off command in the new set might not work. I noticed it when I shut my system down last night. It may not have shown in my testing due to the hybrid nature of the test. If you experience this I'd suggest going to your power settings and telling the Harmony that the XMC uses 1 button to power On/Off, this should switch to the Power toggle command which I think does work. Please post your findings here. KeithL, can you confirm whether the Main Power On and Off commands work in the new set (we know Zone 2 doesn't). As a warning to those using the new set, if this turns out to be a bad command in the database and we then get it fixed, you will probably have to delete and re-add the XMC.

I just fixed the Power Off command by teaching the "Standby" button from the Emotiva remote to the "Power Off" button for the XMC device in the Harmony software.

From the MyHarmony app select:
Devices
Choose your XMC device
Add or Fix Command
Fix a Command that doesn't work
Select Power Off in the list of commands
Next
Follow the prompts and when sync to remote. Now the Power Off should work fine. Power On and Power Toggle already work as they should.

Thanks Geebo, I'm learning something every day about my Harmony. Your step by step instructions for fixing the power off command in the "My Harmony" app worked like a charm.

[novisnick]

Thank you so very much for all this work, its much appreciated.

I may have missed this and pray for my Mrs sake that it can be done.

Is there a way to have the " All Off " button on the top left of my Harmony 700 remote to turn everything off, including the XMC-1?

This is a deal breaker for the Mrs and she so loves the system but wont touch it unless this is remedied. Thanks so much!

Help me Obi One