Harmony 659

[fizzasist]

I have a Harmony 659 remote and want to get it to work with XL.....I know that I need a USB IR dongle and I found a few on ebay but they say "IRDA" and am not sure that it is what I need....most of the stuff I find are MCE remotes AND the receiver but I just need a receiver.

What do I look for?

[sharp_1]

Here is what you need. xLobby has support for the USB-UIRT built-in!!!

USB-UIRT with additional 56KHz IR Sensor PRICE $55.00

[fizzasist]

Thanks! I got the usb-uirt but am having trouble getting it to talk to XL......any step-by-step guides out there?

[sharp_1]

Have you made sure you installed the drivers correctly?

Here is what you should do if you already tried to install USB-UIRT the "normal" way and it's not working.

- Uninstall USB-UIRT from Device Manager
- Deleted all the driver files from the System32 directory
- Unplug the USB-UIRT
- Reboot
- Unzip USB-UIRT driver files to your desktop
- Plug the USB-UIRT back in
- When Windows asks where the drivers were point to the temporary file on your desktop where you unzipped the driver files to.

For additional support regarding the USB-UIRT refer to the USB-UIRT support forum

Have fun!!!

[fizzasist]

Thanks for the link.....and the info. I think it will help.

I think I have the drivers installed correctly because when I go into F2, and IR Plugin, select xlobby under device, then click on SET and then LEARN, the lights blink on the USB-UIRT and it shows progress and then pulls up a number....so it seems like it is communicating ok......I just don't know if I am clicking on the buttons in the right order because I can't seem to find a step-by-step guide anywhere out there on using the IR Plugin page.....

I think my other problem is that my Harmony remote does not have the correct activity preogrammed into it and it looks like I have to have an MCE remote for it to learn from in order to setup the proper commands in XL.......

I will keep plugging away at it......

Thanks!

[sharp_1]

Step by Step:

1) Open xLobby setup module
2) Make sure IR Plugin is set to USB-UIRT
3) Create a new device with the name of the component you wish to control
4) Press the "New" button under the command list window to create a "newcommmand"
5) Under IR Command change the "newcommand" to your desired command name (i.e.: play, stop...)
6) Select the learn button then press hold your Harmony remote within about 3" of the USB-UIRT until the command is done being learned
7) Click the "set" button then hit transmit to see if it works (sometimes you will need to up the repeats to 2 or 3 in order for it to work with your component)

New custom command is now available for use with any event you would like

Here is a screenshot of one of my IR devices:


Hope it helps!!!

[fizzasist]

That does help.....thanks for the screen shot....

I have a couple of questions about your set up because maybe we are trying to do different things: From looking at your setup, I assume you are using an IR blaster to have XL control your various components?

My Harmony controls all of the components already so I just want it to control XL by moving up/down/left/right/enter etc....maybe it will not do what I am wanting....I assumed that I did not need an IR blaster but just the USB-UIRT to pickup the commands from the Harmony and pass them onto XL.

In other words, I would setup an activity thru the Logitech software for Harmony to control my Media Center PC and then setup the various commands like UP and DOWN, etc.....and then have XL get those commands thru the USB-UIRT and trigger the events.....am I off base there or can it be done like that?

I hope that made sense......

[sharp_1]

Yes...you are able to do that...just link your IR command to the navigation events and your all set.

For the small investment you now have a IR receiver/blaster that will do just about anything...well worth the investment.

[fizzasist]

I am SO close now thanks to you! Sorry to be taking up your time with this and I REALLY appreciate the help!

I did F2, Events, openup Navigation and then opened up DOWN, and then added a IR command pointing to the ones that I learned under the IR plugin page but something is still wrong.....do I have to do something to the individual pages in order for the nav to work?

Attached is a screenshot of my Event/Nav page....does it look right to you or can you tell?

[fizzasist]

One more thing: when I go to the IR Plugin page and push one of the buttons on the remote, the corresponding command is highlighted so I think the remote is talking to XL just fine....I mean I hit UP and the window showing all of the learned commands highlights the UP command so it appears to be working.....but then XL does not respond when I try to use it to navigate a page.

I must have the navigation screwed up or something.......I think I am close though!

[sharp_1]

You are soooo close.

I think I may have misdirected you a bit earlier.

You need to learn your IR code to the IR Plugin device named "(xlobby) xlobby - xlobby - xlobby" for each navigation command in xlobby with it's respective Harmony button.


Make sure your commands for each navigation event look like this:


Then select trigger events tab and associate each IR command with each navigation event:


Let me know if you need anything else.

[fizzasist]

Those last two images you imbedded for some reason did not pull up.....but here is what my corresponding screens look like:

This is the Navigation screen:

And this is the trigger screen....do they look wrong?

[sharp_1]

Looks right...now you just need to make sure your remote buttons are learned to the correct device "(xlobby) xlobby - xlobby - xlobby" commands.

[fizzasist]

I believe that they are for the correct device already....take a look:

[sharp_1]

If your commands are not working with this setup try and change the repeats to something more than 1 and see what happens...now it's just a matter of trial and error.