# TIP: Harmony remote to power up/down



## jaguar325 (Dec 28, 2005)

First, thanks to the guys who told me how to program my Harmony 890 to control multiple DirecTiVo boxes independently. That was easy and works fine.

For people using Logitech Harmony remotes who haven't figured out already, I stumbled across something last night that might be useful for power management. I don't like to leave my box(es) running and put them in standby when I am not watching them. Since there is no "power" button on the TiVo (peanut) remote, conventional wisdom is to skip that step in programming the Harmony. If you do this, it really doesn't leave you with an alternative to power up/down your PVR in a preset "activity". Below, decribes how you can get around this... don't ask me how it works - it just does.

The default setting for PVRs is that there is no power button, therefore the remote thinks there is no way to power up/down in an activity. What you need to do is override the default settings. To do this, go into the "confirm IR commands" mode, which is where you have the original device remote transmit a few signals to the Harmony to tell it which code set to use. You'll either get here in the guided setup when you first install the remote, or by going back into the device settings. When you get to the point where you're instructed to point the original remote at the Harmony, the very first button it will ask you to push is the "power toggle". Since there is no power toggle on the peanut remote, you would think that you should select the menu option to "skip" this step and go on to the next button to be used in training the Harmony. INSTEAD OF SKIPPING THIS STEP, HIT THE DIRECTV BUTTON WHEN ASKED TO PRESS THE POWER TOGGLE ON YOUR ORIGINAL REMOTE.. then go on to program the next two buttons it needs to figure out which code set to use. When you are all done with confirming IR commands, go into the "adjust power settings" menu option and follow these steps: menu-1: select "turn device off when not in use", menu-2: select "I have a button for power on and a different button to power off", menu-3 (which command powers your device on): select the option to use IR command "LiveTV", menu-4 (which command powers your device off): select the option to use IR command "power toggle". 

Once you have done the above, you can program activities (e.g. "watch TiVo") to power on/off a DirecTiVo box along with your other devices.


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## ctromp (Sep 26, 2006)

Thank you so much!!! This has been driving me nuts with my 520's. I'm going to try this tonight!!


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## jed5426 (Nov 4, 2001)

excellent, this has been driving me crazy as well -- especially when the tivo is still on and you go to select an activity and it powers it off  

i'll give it a try tonight.


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## jed5426 (Nov 4, 2001)

So I did this and ever since I did, my TV powers off when switching activities. Activities that require the tv to be on. Any idea how I can resolve this?


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## JimSpence (Sep 19, 2001)

There should be a selection to only power down devices not needed for an activity. With my Harmony 628, the TV remains on when I switch from one TiVo to another or to the DVD. But, I don't put the TiVos into standby ever.


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## jed5426 (Nov 4, 2001)

thanks, I'll look for that option.

i think its more of a behvior problem, then a setup problem. 

lately i had been just turning the tv off manually (by manually i mean pushing the power button on the tv set itself) and setting down the remote, then when I want to watch tv again, i turn it on manually, then find the remote. when i'd go to change activities on the remote, the harmony thinks the tv is off, when its actually on - since i manually turned it on, so it toggles it off.

so here is what i did. turned the tv on manually, then turned it off using the harmony remote. then i chose an activity - the tv would turn on. when i go to switch activities the tv stayed on. when i am done watching tv i use the harmony to power it off, when i am ready to watch again, i just choose the activity and it powers on.

hopefully that makes sense... anyway thanks for the suggestions!


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## sluciani (Apr 21, 2003)

jaguar325 said:


> First, thanks to the guys who told me how to program my Harmony 890 to control multiple DirecTiVo boxes independently. That was easy and works fine.
> 
> For people using Logitech Harmony remotes who haven't figured out already, I stumbled across something last night that might be useful for power management. I don't like to leave my box(es) running and put them in standby when I am not watching them. Since there is no "power" button on the TiVo (peanut) remote, conventional wisdom is to skip that step in programming the Harmony. If you do this, it really doesn't leave you with an alternative to power up/down your PVR in a preset "activity". Below, decribes how you can get around this... don't ask me how it works - it just does.
> 
> ...


Sorry for seeming dense, but I am thinking about purchasing a Harmony remote and I am missing the problem you are trying to solve. Are you literally trying to "power off" the HR10? I.E., as opposed to putting it in standy? Or just the other components used when the HR10 is part of the activity? Thanks. /steve


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## rlj5242 (Dec 20, 2000)

I'm not sure what his problem is either. When I set up my HR10-250 and my GXCEBOT with my Harmony 880, it would power them down when I switched activities. I didn't want that so I made sure they both stayed running 24/7. That way I can switch back and forth between the two without having to wait for a power up sequence.

Either way, whatever your setup defaults to in the Harmony setup program, it can be changed to meet your specific needs.

-Robert


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## Anubys (Jul 16, 2004)

I've used my harmony to put my HD-Tivo in standby mode for quite some time...I strongly advise against it, though... 

two times, my Tivo (which worked perfectly otherwise) would not wake up from standby to record something...I had to cold-boot it to wake it up...since then, I decided it was not worth the risk and I leave my Tivo on all the time...


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## BruceShultes (Oct 2, 2006)

sluciani said:


> Sorry for seeming dense, but I am thinking about purchasing a Harmony remote and I am missing the problem you are trying to solve. Are you literally trying to "power off" the HR10? I.E., as opposed to putting it in standy? Or just the other components used when the HR10 is part of the activity? Thanks. /steve


Of course he is talking about putting the HR10 into standby.

The only way I know to power off the HR10 is to pull the power cord. I suppose that it might be possible to find a UPS, surge suppressor or other device that has IR codes to turn it off. If so you could probably turn off the power using the Harmony, but there is no code to power off the HR10.


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## sluciani (Apr 21, 2003)

BruceShultes said:


> Of course he is talking about putting the HR10 into standby.


He specifically said in hsi post that he does not like to use standby. I suspect this is about some anomaly with the Harmony activity function that puts the Tivo into the wrong state. Looks to me like he either likes it to come up on the menu screen or live tv, depending on the activity. I could be wrong, tho. /s


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## amoneys2k (Nov 2, 2006)

Anubys said:


> I've used my harmony to put my HD-Tivo in standby mode for quite some time...I strongly advise against it, though...
> 
> two times, my Tivo (which worked perfectly otherwise) would not wake up from standby to record something...I had to cold-boot it to wake it up...since then, I decided it was not worth the risk and I leave my Tivo on all the time...


I concur. In fact, it's funny this post popped up right now because I *just* finished reprogramming my Harmony 880 to NOT put the HR10 into standby because several times (especially in the last week), my HR10 would come out of standby and display a garbled and mostly green screen. Rebooting the HR10 would always bring it back (either by yanking the plug or going through the menus I could barely make out).

I had never put any of my TiVos into standby as it seemed pointless. It only seems to turn off the video output. Since the Harmony put it in standby by default, I just left it this way until the "wake from standby" issues started popping up.


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## cstelter (Mar 18, 2002)

sluciani said:


> He specifically said in hsi post that he does not like to use standby. I suspect this is about some anomaly with the Harmony activity function that puts the Tivo into the wrong state. Looks to me like he either likes it to come up on the menu screen or live tv, depending on the activity. I could be wrong, tho. /s


I think it's just a parsing error-- the original poster said:



jaguar325 said:


> I don't like to leave my box(es) running and put them in standby when I am not watching them.


I read this as:


> _I don't like to leave my box(es) running. I put them in standby when I am not watching them._


I suspect you read it as:


> _I don't like to leave my box(es) running and I don't like to put them in standby when I am not watching them._


Thus the source of any confusion imho...


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## desulliv (Aug 22, 2003)

jaguar325 said:


> First, thanks to the guys who told me how to program my Harmony 890 to control multiple DirecTiVo boxes independently. That was easy and works fine.


I've searched and cannot find how to control multiple DirecTiVo boxes independently. Can you point me to the thread? I actually have the 880, but I'm thinking the process may be similar.


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## rlj5242 (Dec 20, 2000)

I don't know if there is a specific thread or even instructions. It's that easy. When going through my setup with the 880, I listed two DirecTivos. When it went to find the proper codes, it asked to "see" a couple of codes from my current remotes. I pointed the peanut at the 880 and followed directions. I repeated the process for the second peanut. My 880 controls two DirecTivos now.

-Robert


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## desulliv (Aug 22, 2003)

rlj5242 said:


> I don't know if there is a specific thread or even instructions. It's that easy. When going through my setup with the 880, I listed two DirecTivos. When it went to find the proper codes, it asked to "see" a couple of codes from my current remotes. I pointed the peanut at the 880 and followed directions. I repeated the process for the second peanut. My 880 controls two DirecTivos no.
> 
> -Robert


Thanks. I'll give that a try.


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## sluciani (Apr 21, 2003)

cstelter said:


> I think it's just a parsing error--
> 
> Thus the source of any confusion imho...


You're 100% right. My bad. Apologies to Bruce and others for confusing things. /steve


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