# Harmony Ultimate-Not Controlling Roamio



## nmurphy (Nov 3, 2003)

I have tried to get this to work, and have searched the forums for solutions, but couldn't find an answer. So, apologies in advance if this is a simple solution. The Ultimate was working great with my Series 3.

I can not get my Harmony Ultimate to control my new Roamio - at all. No channel changing, no direct number entry, nothing. I have tried RF and IR. I tried teaching the Ultimate Roamio commands by beaming them at the Ultimate. Nothing. 

I also reconfigured the settings in my harmony.com to make sure the Roamio was the selected device for channels. 

Before I return the Ultimate, I thought I would see if anyone might be able to tell me what I am doing wrong.
Thank you.


----------



## eric102 (Oct 31, 2012)

Did you check that both the Roamio and Ultimate remote codes are set to 0? or whatever code you are using.


----------



## nmurphy (Nov 3, 2003)

Thans for answering. Re: remote codes: Probably not - because I don't know how to do that? Actually, I'm not sure what that means. I have been noodling with the set up, and now the Ultimate shuts off the Roamio completely. The good news is - it also now controls the channels.

So, if I can just figure out how to keep the Roamio on, this may be a keeper


----------



## eric102 (Oct 31, 2012)

Well then they are probably still set at the factory default of 0. You can change the codes of each TiVo remote and box from 0-9 so if you have multiple TiVos in one room each box will only accept commands from the remote with the correct code.


----------



## eric102 (Oct 31, 2012)

When you were teaching the Ultimate was your Roamio remote sending out IR commands? (red light on remote) or RF (yellow light).


----------



## nmurphy (Nov 3, 2003)

I used both options, and am not sure which worked. BUT, now the Ultimate is controlling the Roamio, but I had to set up the little IR thing that came with the remote. I didn't need that with the Series 3, and would like to get rid of it if possible. 

Another issue: I would like TiVo as the default device since that is the one I use the most. But the TV seems to be the default, and I have to select "Devices" then the Roamio to have that active. I went to the myharmony page, and can not re-order the Device listing.


----------



## Joe01880 (Feb 8, 2009)

When you set up the harmony remote, you need to go back into the set up screen on your computer, in the set up of the activity you want the Roamio set to always ON.
My guess is you set it to TURN ON, meaning when you switch activities or turn your tv OFF, the Roamio turns OFF too.
I noticed when setting up my Harmony One with my Roamio the Roamio can be set to OFF, the Roamio should never be set to OFF!

Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T using Tapatalk


----------



## nmurphy (Nov 3, 2003)

Joe-thank you for the tip. Setting this up has been an exercise in frustration. Sometimes it works - other times not. And sometimes there is a few second delay in the response. I think I am going to return it and go back to the TiVo remote. My setup is not all that complicated, but I thought the Ultimate would be great thing to have.

I have to return it or take a hammer to it! Probably better to bring it back.

Thanks again.


----------



## Joe01880 (Feb 8, 2009)

nmurphy said:


> Joe-thank you for the tip. Setting this up has been an exercise in frustration. Sometimes it works - other times not. And sometimes there is a few second delay in the response. I think I am going to return it and go back to the TiVo remote. My setup is not all that complicated, but I thought the Ultimate would be great thing to have.
> 
> I have to return it or take a hammer to it! Probably better to bring it back.
> 
> Thanks again.


I have not used the Ultimate. Looking at pictures of it I do not like the layout of it nor the shape and its a lot of money to pay for something you don't like.
That said, I'm not a rocket scientist but I do get off on the audio video stuff. My set-up is rather elaborate I think. The Harmony software is pretty straight forward but I have been using it for a long time. I have said before its not for everyone and if you only have 1 to three things to work the TiVo Roamio remotes may suit your needs better and save you a few bucks too.

Before you take the Harmony back though try to program it one last time, remember, you *CAN NOT *screw it up so don't be intimidated by it and if you think you have everything correct, know you do and something still isn't right hit HELP, it will fix itself if it miss's a step.
Also remember when the programs asks never hit click anything that will ever indicate the TiVo will ever turn off, it never turns off. It _WILL TURN OFF_ but for the purpose of programing your Harmony remote you don't want it to.
You never want it to anyway unless you are shutting it down to take it with you on vacations or something similar.
Good Luck!!!

You may like the Harmony ONE a lot better than the Ultimate, also, if you can find one, the peanut shaped Harmony 670. Its silver and black and shaped like the TiVo remote with almost the exact same button layout but does the Harmony thing. DO NOT buy a used one!!!! You want one new in the package if you can find it, they are hard to find. I wore mine out, numbers faded out, lcd screen light burned out, it just stopped. I loved the damn thing too. I may have mistakenly refered to it as the 650 in another thread but _*this*_ is the one I mean. 
You will like that better than the Ultimate!!!!!!!


----------



## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

Joe01880 said:


> ...You may like the Harmony ONE a lot better than the Ultimate, also, if you can find one, the peanut shaped Harmony 670. Its silver and black and shaped like the TiVo remote with almost the exact same button layout but does the Harmony thing. DO NOT buy a used one!!!! You want one new in the package if you can find it, they are hard to find. I wore mine out, numbers faded out, lcd screen light burned out, it just stopped. I loved the damn thing too. I may have mistakenly refered to it as the 650 in another thread but _*this*_ is the one I mean.
> You will like that better than the Ultimate!!!!!!!


FWIW, I like my Harmony One MUCH better than the 650 (I've had both). The shape is much better IMO, and functionality meets or beats the 650. The One has been used flawlessly with my old original S3 and now my XL4...


----------



## midas (Jun 1, 2000)

I've found the Roamio to have a pretty weak IR receiver. Using my Harmony One from the same spot as always I find it much harder to control the Roamio than it was previously with my DirecTV receiver.


----------



## nmurphy (Nov 3, 2003)

Thank you to all who responded. Joe - thanks for the pep talk! I might give it one last try. Just to be clear, do I have to use the little IR blaster than comes with theUltimate, or can I use RF?

Last night I used only the Roamio remote because I had packed up the Ultimate to be returned. I actually liked it! When I using the Ultimate I was never sure if it would actually change the channel. Plus, Logitech put bricks on both the re-charging power cable and the hub power cable. These take up a lot of space and seem so unnecessary.

It was pretty expensive - and my system is pretty basic, so it was probably overkill. But, I am a sucker for shiny new tech.


----------



## mpnret (Dec 4, 2012)

The Harmony Ultimate won't communicate directly to the Roamio using RF. It will only communicate with the base that comes with the Ultimate.
We have used a Harmony 670 and Harmony One for years now to control our setup. They are great remotes and programmable to control all of our equipment. But since the getting the Roamio with it's new RF remote the Harmony remotes have been retired. It helps that our main TV viewing setup is now simplified but if we do need to control additional equipment we pull out one of the Harmony remotes. If your setup is simple I would stick with the Roamio remote.


----------



## nmurphy (Nov 3, 2003)

mpnret said:


> The Harmony Ultimate won't communicate directly to the Roamio using RF. It will only communicate with the base that comes with the Ultimate.
> We have used a Harmony 670 and Harmony One for years now to control our setup. They are great remotes and programmable to control all of our equipment. But since the getting the Roamio with it's new RF remote the Harmony remotes have been retired. It helps that our main TV viewing setup is now simplified but if we do need to control additional equipment we pull out one of the Harmony remotes. If your setup is simple I would stick with the Roamio remote.


Thanks - I set up the base/HUB - which controlled my Series3 without the little extra IR cable supplied by Logitech. I think what you are saying is that I will need that extra IR thing plugged into the HUB in order to control the Roamio?


----------



## eric102 (Oct 31, 2012)

If the base worked with the 3 it will work with the Roamio without the extra IR eyes, assuming the Roamio is in the same spot as the 3 was.


----------



## mpnret (Dec 4, 2012)

eric102 said:


> If the base worked with the 3 it will work with the Roamio without the extra IR eyes, assuming the Roamio is in the same spot as the 3 was.


It should but just be aware that the IR sensor on the Roamio is located about 1/4" to the left of the TiVo logo. On the series 3 it's over on the right side of the unit near the push buttons. You can shine a flashlight on the units to see the sensor location.


----------



## HenryFarpolo (Dec 1, 2008)

You can assign control of the Roamio to either the Hub or mini blasters or a combination of both.

http://logitech-en-amr.custhelp.com...oduct_id/10738/tabs/1,3,2,4,5/cl/us,en#remote


----------



## nmurphy (Nov 3, 2003)

HenryFarpolo said:


> You can assign control of the Roamio to either the Hub or mini blasters or a combination of both.
> 
> http://logitech-en-amr.custhelp.com...oduct_id/10738/tabs/1,3,2,4,5/cl/us,en#remote


I had not seen that article. Why would one assign to control to an IR? Is it device capability?

Although all boxed and rear to go back, I may delay the return of the Ultimate. It seems like it "should" work.


----------



## HenryFarpolo (Dec 1, 2008)

The Ultimate worked fine with my Roamio when I tried it out last month. I would double check activities and devices to make sure all is OK.

If you like the remote, try again before you send it back.


----------



## nmurphy (Nov 3, 2003)

The Ultimate is working 100% - even without the IR blasters. Thanks to all for the suggestions. I had it all packed up to take back to the store, and even went in to the store - but left the Ultimate in the car. I checked there return policy and still had over a week, so decided to give it another try.
I reset everything back to factory, deleted all the devices, and started from scratch. That seemed to solve everything. Plus, I reordered the devices so the Roamio is first in line so is the default device controlled.
Thanks again for the suggestions and confirmation that it would work.


----------



## HenryFarpolo (Dec 1, 2008)

I am glad things worked out for you. Sometimes persistance pays off. Enjoy!!


----------



## twhiting9275 (Nov 17, 2006)

Bierboy said:


> FWIW, I like my Harmony One MUCH better than the 650 (I've had both). The shape is much better IMO, and functionality meets or beats the 650. The One has been used flawlessly with my old original S3 and now my XL4...


I have to agree, the One is just the ultimate remote. My only problem with it comes from the touchscreen, and how sensitive it was, since my first one seemed to have cracked somehow, and failed to work.

The Ultimate is just a letdown compared to the One in pretty much every way. The One controlled every device (sans PS3) no question. The Ultimate doesn't even register my 360, requires at least weekly unplugging to reconnect to wifi. It's just a mess


----------



## Joe01880 (Feb 8, 2009)

nmurphy said:


> .
> Thanks again for the suggestions and confirmation that it would work.


I love it when a plan comes together~ John "Hannibal" Smith


----------



## nmurphy (Nov 3, 2003)

Joe01880 said:


> I love it when a plan comes together~ John "Hannibal" Smith


Now if only I can figure out how to sell my Series 3, all will be right with the world!


----------



## celtic pride (Nov 8, 2005)

Great job guys! I was gonna recommend calling logitech support at 1-866-291-1505 ,I've had good luck talking to them whenever i've had a problem with my harmony one remote.


----------



## HenryFarpolo (Dec 1, 2008)

nmurphy said:


> Now if only I can figure out how to sell my Series 3, all will be right with the world!


They are getting a reasonable price on EBay if it has lifetime service. W/O lifetime you won't get much.


----------



## nmurphy (Nov 3, 2003)

I listed it in the buyer/seller forum here. It does have lifetime, but I think I overpriced it. ($250 w/ WiFi adaptor) I've never used ebay - but might try Craig's List


----------



## HenryFarpolo (Dec 1, 2008)

Your price is in the ballpark. You should get some interest particularly with the adapter thrown in.


----------

