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taalas · 2013-02-19, 09:16

Hi,

for quite some time I am trying to read up on the matter of using Harmony Remotes with a flirc receiver to control XBMC. There are a couple of known issues (key repeat, button press lag,...) which I haven't been able to completely solve, also a number of guides and tips exists as to what device to emulate on the Harmony etc.

My question is:

Does anyone have a working setup with a Harmony (One), a flirc and is happily controlling XBMC? Smile

Would you share your settings with me?

Thanks

taalas

NoHesitation · 2013-02-20, 21:01

I have mine working with Flirc. I didn't do anything special as far as configuration. I did make sure in XBMC settings to check the "remote acts as a keyboard" box, and I chose a HTPC device on my Harmony to send the signals to Flirc. I don't recall which device, but I can look when I get hom eif you want.

i0ls · 2013-02-22, 07:08

I have mine setup using lirc and mce settings both in the harmony software and lirc. It was fairly painless actually. A couple of google searches for a harmony lircmap.xml file to base mine on and I was off and running. There's a couple of settings in the Logitech software to try and get some of the lag out the remote button presses, but its not 100%.

taalas · 2013-02-22, 13:12

Thanks for your answers!

Last time i tried I used a TV profile (because it was recommended by the flirc forum community) which supposedly had a lot of hardware buttons mapped and a reasonable key repeat for the directional keys. I will try using the HTPC device on the harmony and see if that works for me...shouldn't be a problem since the flirc doesn't really care what device I emulate Wink

Will report back asap.

thanks

PH-SYM · 2013-02-22, 14:45

I didn't have a lot of problems but I did browse the flirc forums beforehand to check for issues.
Most importantly, do NOT set up your harmony as a MCE remote but choose a regular device like a TV, preferably of a brand you don't have. There are some recommendations on the Flirc forums, one of them is a Panasonic TV that I chose and works without any real issues.

The only minor thing is that I can't wake up the computer yet. It's not a big thing for me and it is being worked on.

Cheers,
Allard.

i0ls · 2013-02-22, 15:36

(2013-02-22, 14:45)PH-SYM Wrote: I didn't have a lot of problems but I did browse the flirc forums beforehand to check for issues.
Most importantly, do NOT set up your harmony as a MCE remote but choose a regular device like a TV, preferably of a brand you don't have. There are some recommendations on the Flirc forums, one of them is a Panasonic TV that I chose and works without any real issues.

The only minor thing is that I can't wake up the computer yet. It's not a big thing for me and it is being worked on.

Cheers,
Allard.

what are the disadvantages of running mce setup on the remote? i had done that because it actually worked, unlike the other settings i had tried.

PH-SYM · 2013-02-22, 18:04

There is/has been a lot of discussion on this on the flirc forums. The RC6 protocol that the MCE remotes use introduces some weird things like double keypresses (or the opposite, the need to press every key twice before it works).
One of the threads on the flirc forum about this is http://forum.flirc.tv/index.php?/topic/9...y-presses/.
I also recommend you to read this thread: http://forum.flirc.tv/index.php?/topic/2...y-remotes/

You could add an extra activity for xbmc on your Harmony besides your current one (XBMC2), programmed with one of the tv's in the second link I gave you. That way you can keep your current MCE programming until your are have tested which solution works best for you.

Good luck,
Allard.

taalas · 2013-02-23, 11:38

@PH-SYM:

The thing is: I did exactly what you describe and used one of the 2 TV profiles that were discussed in the flirc forums (I think most of the info is from Eskro who is also very active here). It does work (although I think 2 of the hardware buttons weren't mapped in the profile). I was able to map everything I needed for XBMC control without problems, but the lag while using it made it very tedious. I know there are some solutions floating around for this, but these are often not very clear as to which delay exactly has to be adjusted for the Harmony and where (can you elaborate on this?). Also I think I have read it's a problem to have an activity with 2 TVs (one for the TV and one for XBMC)? Haven't tried using it in an activity yet, though...

PH-SYM · 2013-02-23, 17:30

I have set the following delays for the Flirc device in Harmony:
Power on delay: 8000
Inter-key delay: 0
Input delay: 500
Inter-device delay: 500

This should eliminate almost all lag.

Good luck,
Allard.

taalas · 2013-02-24, 14:29

Thanks for the details of your configuration, Allard!

If it's not too much of a hassle: which of the (2) recommended TV profiles do you use? And do you have an activity set up which includes this and your TV's profile without problems?

Thanks

Markus

**Chris!** · 2013-02-24, 17:53

Hi guys, just to let you know we're (Jason) is addressing this less than ideal use of TV profiles... keep an eye out on the blog (blog.flirc.tv) - it should be part of the next firmware release.

@taalas: this thread should help with the key repeat rate: http://forum.flirc.tv/index.php?/topic/3...g-1-11111/

Feel free to head over the forum.flirc.tv to discuss Flirc and XBMC - we're mostly XBMC users, i'm always trying to lay information out in a better way in the forum (when I have time)

taalas · 2013-02-25, 09:00

Hi Chris,

thanks for your reply Wink

I have followed most of the relevant threads in the flirc forums - many thanks for your hard work! If the next firmware version will allow me to use a non-TV profile for the flirc I will gladly wait til it's out. In general I think it would be a great idea to start some kind of Tutorial for much used combinations of devices (I guess a Harmony + flirc + XBMC is used by a couple of people). While configuring the single devices isn't that hard, I think presenting a tested and tried basic solution which works out of the box (meaning a Tutorial detailing all settings, key delays in Harmony, key delays in flirc, etc.) might be very helpful. I will gladly help if I can...

samuk · 2013-02-25, 12:51

I am too ordering my Flirc today to use with XBMC...cant wait..

taalas · 2013-02-25, 13:47

It is a great device! I have owned mine for quite some time now and I am very happy with it (wanted to make this very clear, despite the fact, that I started this problem thread Smile

)

samuk · (This post was last modified: 2013-02-25, 14:23 by samuk.)

Cool...ordered - hoping it will be here tomorrow.

is it laggy - or did the settings son the first page help?

getting all the info ready..so im ready to go as soon as it arrives..