Logitech Harmony Ultimate Remote Control

setanta1984

ibFoxer wrote: »

With regard to the Harmony Ultimate, it's doing my nut a little bit here- i cannot get it to switch to the correct HDMI when starting an activity. As far as i can see i have the correct HDMI ports assigned to each activity, input settings are list with up and down keys, inputs are ordered correctly, but every time i hit watch tv it turns everything on outstays on the source it was turned off on. Any ideas?

You may need to add a delay in between turning the TV on and attempting to switch HDMI inputs. Some TVs take a while to "warm up" after switching on before they start responding to remote commands.
You could test it out by doing what you want the activity to do manually with the remote, see if there is a problem with button presses being recognised when pressed immediately after pressing the power button.

micks_address

hi folks,

apologies if this has been asked already. Long term harmony owner. I want to add a smart plug that I can switch on to power up my chromecast ultra, in one of my activities. It seems a little unclear from the internet if thhub supports any smart plugs?

Cheers,
Mick

clintondaly

Have a look here

https://support.myharmony.com/en-us/compatibility

micks_address

clintondaly wrote: »

Have a look here

https://support.myharmony.com/en-us/compatibility

Thanks has anyone actually a plug working with it? The names listed im not famillar with

Metric Tensor

I have a TP Link HS110 working with the controller but not by any direct method!

I had to use Home Assistant to broadcast the TP Link plug using an "emulated hue hub" and then let the logitech controller find the hue hub. This means the plug shows up on the controller as a light bulb but works no problem.

If you don't have Home Assistant running all the time (on a raspberry pi or similar) then this is not an option that would work for you -but if you are a Home Assistant user it's a fairly easy addition to your set up.

micks_address

Metric Tensor wrote: »

I have a TP Link HS110 working with the controller but not by any direct method!

I had to use Home Assistant to broadcast the TP Link plug using an "emulated hue hub" and then let the logitech controller find the hue hub. This means the plug shows up on the controller as a light bulb but works no problem.

If you don't have Home Assistant running all the time (on a raspberry pi or similar) then this is not an option that would work for you -but if you are a Home Assistant user it's a fairly easy addition to your set up.

Pc is always running.. Can you run home assistant on Windows 10

Metric Tensor

You can - but it's not that well supported on Windows - and it's a fairly steep learning curve for the uninitiated even when running on some sort of linux box - which is the most supported method.

Windows link:
https://home-assistant.io/docs/installation/windows/

But I'd recommend reading up on it a bit before committing. I'm lead to believe that the new Hass.io ( https://home-assistant.io/ ) is more user friendly than older versions. I'm using Hassbian myself and if you haven't some linux experience you'll have to teach yourself that first!

Not sure what your computing level is - so apologies if I caused any offence!

micks_address

Metric Tensor wrote: »

You can - but it's not that well supported on Windows - and it's a fairly steep learning curve for the uninitiated even when running on some sort of linux box - which is the most supported method.

Windows link:
https://home-assistant.io/docs/installation/windows/

But I'd recommend reading up on it a bit before committing. I'm lead to believe that the new Hass.io ( https://home-assistant.io/ ) is more user friendly than older versions. I'm using Hassbian myself and if you haven't some linux experience you'll have to teach yourself that first!

Not sure what your computing level is - so apologies if I caused any offence!

I should know a bit.. Work in IT

If I want to start with home automation would something like a raspberry pi be worth getting? Have a Google home mini so be nice to start and then add more to automation as I go..

THE ALM

micks_address wrote: »

I should know a bit.. Work in IT

If I want to start with home automation would something like a raspberry pi be worth getting? Have a Google home mini so be nice to start and then add more to automation as I go..

RPi running home assistant would be worth getting. As Metric Tensor says HA on a Win10 machine isn't ideal and better on the RPi or a Linux machine.

I originally starting playing around with HA on a pc dual booting both Win10 and Ubuntu found Ubuntu easy to set up and more stable. Once I was happy with how it worked and what I was doing I recently got a Rpi and set up Hass.io on this and was then a fairly straight forward job to copy the config files from the Ubuntu machine to the Rpi. Easy to hide the RPi out of the way and uses a lot less power if left running.

micks_address

THE ALM wrote: »

RPi running home assistant would be worth getting. As Metric Tensor says HA on a Win10 machine isn't ideal and better on the RPi or a Linux machine.

I originally starting playing around with HA on a pc dual booting both Win10 and Ubuntu found Ubuntu easy to set up and more stable. Once I was happy with how it worked and what I was doing I recently got a Rpi and set up Hass.io on this and was then a fairly straight forward job to copy the config files from the Ubuntu machine to the Rpi. Easy to hide the RPi out of the way and uses a lot less power if left running.

Any suggestions for an out of box raspberry to buy maybe with home assistant pre installed? I know half the fun is figuring out the stuff. I'm just lazy!

The high horse brigade

micks_address wrote: »

Any suggestions for an out of box raspberry to buy maybe with home assistant pre installed? I know half the fun is figuring out the stuff. I'm just lazy!

Hass.io is it pre installed in an ISO. Just use a utility to make a bootable SD. Pretty simple

THE ALM

micks_address wrote: »

Any suggestions for an out of box raspberry to buy maybe with home assistant pre installed? I know half the fun is figuring out the stuff. I'm just lazy!

a kit like this will have all you need and as High Horse Brigade says it is only a matter of loading the hass.io image onto the sd card and you are good to go. Hass.io will give you the basics and then adding all you kit and automations will be the fun bit, plenty of info and examples on the HA website so worth checking that out.

micks_address

THE ALM wrote: »

a kit like this will have all you need and as High Horse Brigade says it is only a matter of loading the hass.io image onto the sd card and you are good to go. Hass.io will give you the basics and then adding all you kit and automations will be the fun bit, plenty of info and examples on the HA website so worth checking that out.

Ordered.... Re terminal onto the pi.. Can I connect remotely or will I need screen and keyboard for initial configuration... I guess I am on the wrong thread for pi questions

THE ALM

micks_address wrote: »

Ordered.... Re terminal onto the pi.. Can I connect remotely or will I need screen and keyboard for initial configuration... I guess I am on the wrong thread for pi questions

Can connect remotely once RPi has booted into HA, Will be whatever the local IP is of the Rpi and port no. 8123 e.g. 192.168.1.1:8123

micks_address

Hi. Folks,
Trying to connect harmony hub to Google home but Logitech or. Harmony is not appearing in list of supported services under home control? I've set language to US.. Device address is Ireland though? Does that make any difference?
Thanks,
Mick

micks_address

micks_address wrote: »

Hi. Folks,
Trying to connect harmony hub to Google home but Logitech or. Harmony is not appearing in list of supported services under home control? I've set language to US.. Device address is Ireland though? Does that make any difference?
Thanks,
Mick

Sorted by asking hey Google link harmony

aaronm13

Bought one of these remotes on eBay last night but didn't read the listing properly and it doesn't come with the hub. Is the hub vital in the operation of the remote? Everything I want to control is in the one room, tv, set top box, Intel Nuc etc. The hubs are pretty expensive on their own so was looking at alternative's like the Xiaomi for example. Do these do the same thing? I'm not bothered about voice control or anything like that.

The high horse brigade

aaronm13 wrote: »

Bought one of these remotes on eBay last night but didn't read the listing properly and it doesn't come with the hub. Is the hub vital in the operation of the remote? Everything I want to control is in the one room, tv, set top box, Intel Nuc etc. The hubs are pretty expensive on their own so was looking at alternative's like the Xiaomi for example. Do these do the same thing? I'm not bothered about voice control or anything like that.

It's pretty useless without the hub which adds WiFi and Bluetooth

aaronm13

The high horse brigade wrote: »

It's pretty useless without the hub which adds WiFi and Bluetooth

I don't need WiFi or Bluetooth at the minute as everything is IR. I can look to add the hub down the road if needs be.

mossym

i'm pretty sure as long as everything is line of site to the remote you'll be fine. the hub is handy for running ir blasters to anything that is behind doors/in another room, but if you don't need that the software has a setting asking where you want to send the commands from, you;ll just select remote only

micks_address

mossym wrote: »

i'm pretty sure as long as everything is line of site to the remote you'll be fine. the hub is handy for running ir blasters to anything that is behind doors/in another room, but if you don't need that the software has a setting asking where you want to send the commands from, you;ll just select remote only

i actually think the remote is wifi based... and not infrared at all... the hub sends infrared commands to your devices.. you don't have to hve line of sight at all with the remote.. and the hub seems to be pretty flexible in its positioning.. it blasts a pretty wide angle of infrared

mossym

the ultimate is wifi and IR. it controls my oppo 93 directly from the remote, which the hub cannot see, the details for using the IR on teh remote only are given here:
https://support.myharmony.com/en-us/control-devices-from-the-harmony-ultimate-remote-and-not-from-the-hub

the lower end remotes don;t have blasters and need the hub (from the link The Harmony Companion and Harmony Smart Control remotes do not have IR emitters and rely on the hub and IR mini blaster(s) for all IR control.)


however, there is a worrying line for aaronm13 in that, it says
The Harmony remote must still remain within range of the hub, regardless of if all devices are configured to be controlled by the remote.

now, i'm not sure that means if a hub is in place you need to be in range of it, or you need to be in range of one no matter what.

aaronm13

Thanks everyone for your replies. Looks like I might have made a bit of a mistake so. Conflicting opinions on weather it'll work so I guess I see in a few days when it arrives.

thecivvie

I have a Harmony Hub and love it. I use it with a combined saorview and satellite receiver.

Is there a way to tell the Harmony that the box has both inputs. When setting it up I can either set it up as saorview or satellite. I know I can create 2 recipes and go that way. But would prefer to just have one

Double C

Sorry if this has been asked and answered already. I am trying to order my favorite channels numerically but I can't. They are in no particular order and its not very helpful. Is there a way of doing this? On the desktop app when I go to select favorite channels, the page gets stuck on a loading screen and ultimately crashes.

clintondaly

Double C wrote: »

Sorry if this has been asked and answered already. I am trying to order my favorite channels numerically but I can't. They are in no particular order and its not very helpful. Is there a way of doing this? On the desktop app when I go to select favorite channels, the page gets stuck on a loading screen and ultimately crashes.

You can re-edit the order they appear both through the app and within the remote itself
Maybe reinstall the desktop version

clintondaly

Logitech Remote forum link below

https://community.logitech.com/s/topic/0TO31000000UKNpGAO/remotes-and-smart-home

flangemeistro

I've set up over 30 favourite channels through the Harmony Android app but when I go into Alexa and select discover new scenes and devices it finds nothing.

I go back into the Harmony app and select reset favorites and it says no favourite channels have been set up.

So I do it again and it's the same thing over and over again it feels like I'm going round in circles.

tina1040

I'm a little confused. I'm putting the tv box and android box and ps4 into a press below a wall mounted tv.

I have a google home mini so I would soon like to link heating and lighting controls.

Would the harmony companion work for this? I wouldn't want to spend more than this.

The high horse brigade

I now have 2 harmony ultimate remotes with hubs. One in the sitting room the other in the kitchen. I'd like to swap remotes as the sitting room remote has a slightly sticking menu button which I need to double press often with a Nvidia shield. Can I just pair the remotes with the other hubs? The Logitech guide says only re-pair remotes with their original hub but as they're identical hardware I can't see that being a problem. Has anyone tried this?

wonski

The high horse brigade wrote: »

I now have 2 harmony ultimate remotes with hubs. One in the sitting room the other in the kitchen. I'd like to swap remotes as the sitting room remote has a slightly sticking menu button which I need to double press often with a Nvidia shield. Can I just pair the remotes with the other hubs? The Logitech guide says only re-pair remotes with their original hub but as they're identical hardware I can't see that being a problem. Has anyone tried this?

I can't see any issues. Worst case scenario is to move both the remote and the hub to the kitchen.

Use pc or laptop to transfer the settings and this shouldn't take more than few minutes.

The high horse brigade

wonski wrote: »

I can't see any issues. Worst case scenario is to move both the remote and the hub to the kitchen.

Use pc or laptop to transfer the settings and this shouldn't take more than few minutes.

Yeah I was just hoping for the easiest route

The high horse brigade

wonski wrote: »

I can't see any issues. Worst case scenario is to move both the remote and the hub to the kitchen.

Use pc or laptop to transfer the settings and this shouldn't take more than few minutes.

Went ahead and tried but it was a bad move and refused to pair, i ended up with an error on the screen of both remotes. I ended up re-pairing remotes to their original hubs then factory resetting both and applying the settings of the other hub after. I had some trouble getting the Shield to Bluetooth pair with the new hub but got it in the end by deleting the Shield and adding it as a device using the mobile phone app instead of laptop.

wonski

I guess I was wrong...

I thought it was more straightforward tbh.

Glad to see you solved it yourself.

I generally use a laptop when things go wrong as it gives more options, especially with Hue lights setup etc.

The high horse brigade

wonski wrote: »

I generally use a laptop when things go wrong as it gives more options, especially with Hue lights setup etc.

In this case I had more options with the android app and had the option to pair with the Shield

The high horse brigade

I've just found out Google assistant is only able to link with one harmony hub, fcuk it. This is annoying and part of the reason for my investment

edit: Stringify is a good workaround. I've created flows for the activities on the other hub

jones

The high horse brigade wrote:

I've just found out Google assistant is only able to link with one harmony hub, fcuk it. This is annoying and part of the reason for my investment

I didn't know this either cheers

irelandrover

Hopefully someone here can help. I am trying to add my Hue lights to activities. IN the desktop app they do not show up as a device so i cannot add them to the activities. In the app it keeps telling me i need to be on the same wifi network, i have checked and i am. The hue bulbs show up as devices on the remote itself. The main reason i bought the control was for the hue lights so this is very frustrating.

Really not impressed with the remote so far.

The high horse brigade

irelandrover wrote: »

Hopefully someone here can help. I am trying to add my Hue lights to activities. IN the desktop app they do not show up as a device so i cannot add them to the activities. In the app it keeps telling me i need to be on the same wifi network, i have checked and i am. The hue bulbs show up as devices on the remote itself. The main reason i bought the control was for the hue lights so this is very frustrating.

Really not impressed with the remote so far.

Add the hue hub as a home automation device in the desktop app then use the phone app to make groups and activities.

If you're not impressed you mustn't have configured many activities. How many devices have you? I have at least 4 devices added to each of my hubs and have 4 activities in the kitchen, watch TV, watch Plex, watch Chromecast and listen to music. I haven't got round to adding my hue lights yet (later today). Add favourite TV channels which will add colour icons so you can one click to your most watched channels.

awec

I have a TV, Xbox One, Sky Q box and a Yamaha AV Receiver through which all of these are wired in my living room.

My issue is the AV receiver is at the back of the room while everything else is at the front. At the moment this means we need to point the AV remote at the back of the room to use it and it's quite annoying as you naturally just keep pointing at the TV.

Is this a problem the Harmony can help with?

The high horse brigade

awec wrote: »

I have a TV, Xbox One, Sky Q box and a Yamaha AV Receiver through which all of these are wired in my living room.

My issue is the AV receiver is at the back of the room while everything else is at the front. At the moment this means we need to point the AV remote at the back of the room to use it and it's quite annoying as you naturally just keep pointing at the TV.

Is this a problem the Harmony can help with?

Yes. If you buy with the hub it comes with IR blasters which you can point at your devices. You create an activity like watch TV, it changes all the sources to suit your devices and controls the volume on the device you select.

awec

The high horse brigade wrote: »

Yes. If you buy with the hub it comes with IR blasters which you can point at your devices. You create an activity like watch TV, it changes all the sources to suit your devices and controls the volume on the device you select.

I see!

So I'd put the IR blaster in front of the AV as it doesn't have line of sight. Do you have any idea how long the cable is on the blasters? I'd estimate I'd need about 6 or 7 metres to go around the outside of the room.

The high horse brigade

awec wrote: »

I see!

So I'd put the IR blaster in front of the AV as it doesn't have line of sight. Do you have any idea how long the cable is on the blasters? I'd estimate I'd need about 6 or 7 metres to go around the outside of the room.

The IR blaster connects to the hub and has a cable a few meters. It points across the room at your device. Pick a location for your hub where the blasters connected point at your devices

awec

The high horse brigade wrote: »

The IR blaster connects to the hub and has a cable a few meters. It points across the room at your device. Pick a location for your hub where the blasters connected point at your devices

I can have the IR blast come directly from the remote too, right (for the devices that I have line of sight on)?

So I would have the Harmony Hub straight in front too, under the tv on top of my sky box, and the IR blaster running around the side of the room to sit in front of the AV receiver at the back of the room.

Then everything should work when I point at the front, right?

Or am I misunderstanding how this works?

The high horse brigade

awec wrote: »

I can have the IR blast come directly from the remote too, right (for the devices that I have line of sight on)?

So I would have the Harmony Hub straight in front too, under the tv on top of my sky box, and the IR blaster running around the side of the room to sit in front of the AV receiver at the back of the room.

Then everything should work when I point at the front, right?

Or am I misunderstanding how this works?

The remote will work without pointing. It has IR but talks to the hub through WiFi (which then sends out IR through blasters). This way the Logitech harmony works with devices hidden in a press or out of view

wonski

awec wrote: »

I can have the IR blast come directly from the remote too, right (for the devices that I have line of sight on)?

So I would have the Harmony Hub straight in front too, under the tv on top of my sky box, and the IR blaster running around the side of the room to sit in front of the AV receiver at the back of the room.

Then everything should work when I point at the front, right?

Or am I misunderstanding how this works?

The hub is firing IR all over the place so no need to use remote's IR blaster, however it is possible to enable it on the remote.

The hub has a really good range and even devices at very tight angles are reached without any problems.

awec

wonski wrote: »

The hub is firing IR all over the place so no need to use remote's IR blaster, however it is possible to enable it on the remote.

The hub has a really good range and even devices at very tight angles are reached without any problems.

So does the hub need to be placed somewhere it has direct line of sight on the IR receiver for every device it needs to control?

The high horse brigade

awec wrote: »

So does the hub need to be placed somewhere it has direct line of sight on the IR receiver for every device it needs to control?

Yes, or else you can extend its range with blasters

bk

awec wrote: »

I see!

So I'd put the IR blaster in front of the AV as it doesn't have line of sight. Do you have any idea how long the cable is on the blasters? I'd estimate I'd need about 6 or 7 metres to go around the outside of the room.

Note, with a bit of fiddling with adaptors, you can greatly lengthen the cable of the blasters. I've one blaster on the end of a 30 meter extension cable.

awec wrote: »

So does the hub need to be placed somewhere it has direct line of sight on the IR receiver for every device it needs to control?

Note the hub and IR blasters are very powerful. The hub doesn't have to be pointing directly at the device, my hub is actually sitting on top of the devices it controls and the IR signal is likely bouncing off the wall on the opposite side of the room to control the device.

BTW while it is possible to activate the IR on the remote itself, it is a better if you can control all the devices either with the hub or the IR blaster extenders. By doing that you then have more freedom with the remote. You don't have to point the remote at anything to control it, which is surprisingly nice and much more user friendly then traditional remotes. It helps make the control more reliable.

THE ALM

Still waiting on mine to arrive. Was due yesterday but the latest update on UPS website says that it couldn't be delivered yesterday because the location was remote, I'm in Athlone :eek: