[bodhi]

Hi

I currently have this setup with a Harmony 555 and it all works great.

One problem though is that each time I change an activity (away from xbmc) then the pc is put to sleep when i would prefer it to stay on because I am using it for other things.

I'm sure it's something simple in my set up i need to tweak! Hope someone can help!

thanks

Win 7 x64!

This is because the default behavior for Harmony activity is to turn off unused devices. So when you switch activity, the PC is treated as not used any more, so it was turned off (i.e. put to sleep in this case). To avoid this, in each activity, go to Settings, select Change Options, and then check the button "Leave On" in the setting for "Turn Off Unused Devices".

This setting will result in the behavior that any device once turned ON, will stay ON. When you shutdown the system using the Power Off, all devices that have been ON will be turned OFF at once.

[johnmerrick]

thanks for your help that's great.

Is it possible though, just to keep the pc on when exiting?

for example: if i am using xbmc and switch everything off (power off) everything turns off but the pc stays on (used for downloading and streaming in other rooms via ps3 media server etc).

another example: If i switch activity to the ps3 (to use ps3 media server on the same pc, my son prefers this) then the pc is kept on.

I'd like to be able to dictate when the pc is turned on or off whether exiting the activity or powering down.

thanks

[bodhi]

thanks for your help that's great.

Is it possible though, just to keep the pc on when exiting?

for example: if i am using xbmc and switch everything off (power off) everything turns off but the pc stays on (used for downloading and streaming in other rooms via ps3 media server etc).

another example: If i switch activity to the ps3 (to use ps3 media server on the same pc, my son prefers this) then the pc is kept on.

I'd like to be able to dictate when the pc is turned on or off whether exiting the activity or powering down.

thanks

Yes, it's possible to keep the PC on all the time. This is done through the power option "my device does not have power button". So the choices are :

- No power button - power on/off is initiated outside Harmony activity sequence.
- Power button - leave on all the time
- Power button - turn off when it's not in use.

There are also other tricks like adding more commands to the device (NOT ACTIVITY) power on/off. But this is getting too complicated to set up.

For your preference, I would set it to "No power button", and leave it on all the time (because you need the PC to be ON outside any activity). Then add the PC power toggle command to be a soft button on the LCD screen (either on the first page or the last page of the XBMC activity). This way you can always turn it on/off (i.e. sleep/wake) whenever needed.

You might also want to add the same PC power toggle command to the first page on the LCD of the PC Device. This is in case you're on another activity (for example PS3) and for some reason you need to turn on/off the PC. Press Devices to navigate to the PC device, press power toggle to turn it on/off, and then press Activity twice to go back to the PS3 activity).

[johnmerrick]

many thanks for your help. Much appreciated. will try it all tonight.

[ormo]

I too had issues with the remote not waking the PC from sleep. I had to go to the power settings in Windows 7 and then edit the power profile settings. From here go to the advanced settings then "USB Settings" and disable "USB selective suspend setting".

I don't really know in detail what this does but I guess it somehow kills the USB IR receiver while the computer is asleep. Hope it helps!

[Torroa]

I have chosen to go to channel "toggle power on/off" when I start the activity which include XBMC. That way the remote sends the command two times.

Also, I am only using the "Windows Media Center SE" and not the MCE Keyboard as device. This profile has discrete power on and off, but it does not work with my cheap HP receiver from Honk Kong. The Logitech software chooses "One button for ON and another for OFF" as default, and I have to to manually change it to "this device has one button for ON and OFF."

The "Windows Media Center SE" profile has the big advantage of being a lot more responsive and handles rapid input commands in series much better. My IR receiver was also very picky on the signals when I tried the MCE Keyboard profile. Now I can point the remote in any direction and the right commands are still picked up.

[Sheezwack]

Hey guys,

I noticed the HP Recievers you can buy from ebay come with an IR Emitter as well.

What would you use that for? Doesn't the remote just work with the reciever?

[vanOert]

Could you give a link? The remote works just fine with the receiver...

[Sheezwack]

Could you give a link? The remote works just fine with the receiver...

Sure here you go:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/HP-MCE-KIT-REMOTE...1e60bb35e4

All of the HP ones listed seem to have it. Looks like it's seperate from the remote and reciever. Not quite sure what you plug it into?

[vanOert]

Oh that... I just thought that might be an extension for the receiver, for example if you have a tv bench with doors, so you can extend the receiver via the cord and hide the end somewhere in an unsuspicious space so you have remote control but dont have to see the receiver all the time. Might be wrong though.

My receiver has 2 ports for this, but I didnt get the cable.

[bodhi]

Oh that... I just thought that might be an extension for the receiver, for example if you have a tv bench with doors, so you can extend the receiver via the cord and hide the end somewhere in an unsuspicious space so you have remote control but dont have to see the receiver all the time. Might be wrong though.

My receiver has 2 ports for this, but I didnt get the cable.

That's what it is. Extension of the signal that the receiver received. Usually you'd stick it to the Ir sensor of a hard-to-reach A/V receiver, DVD,... that is hidden inside cabinet or in other room. No need to use it if you don't have the problem.

[johnny87au]

hey buddy where do you get the remote? Off ebay?? Also does the remote work with say the AEON Showmix SKIN fine ? Also could you link me a remote + receiver need one asap

[johnmerrick]

Yes, it's possible to keep the PC on all the time. This is done through the power option "my device does not have power button". So the choices are :

- No power button - power on/off is initiated outside Harmony activity sequence.
- Power button - leave on all the time
- Power button - turn off when it's not in use.

There are also other tricks like adding more commands to the device (NOT ACTIVITY) power on/off. But this is getting too complicated to set up.

For your preference, I would set it to "No power button", and leave it on all the time (because you need the PC to be ON outside any activity). Then add the PC power toggle command to be a soft button on the LCD screen (either on the first page or the last page of the XBMC activity). This way you can always turn it on/off (i.e. sleep/wake) whenever needed.

You might also want to add the same PC power toggle command to the first page on the LCD of the PC Device. This is in case you're on another activity (for example PS3) and for some reason you need to turn on/off the PC. Press Devices to navigate to the PC device, press power toggle to turn it on/off, and then press Activity twice to go back to the PS3 activity).

Got it working thanks.

The only difference from your description was I had to 'leave this device on all the time' for both mce keyboard and mce remote.

[Sheezwack]

That's what it is. Extension of the signal that the receiver received. Usually you'd stick it to the Ir sensor of a hard-to-reach A/V receiver, DVD,... that is hidden inside cabinet or in other room. No need to use it if you don't have the problem.

Hmm so it plugs into the reciever and just sends the signal again? I guess this is only useful if you are using a remote that needs to signal things other than the HTPC, so could be useful for the harmony setup?

[neomits]

I'm hoping you guys can help me. I've got my Revo setup with my IR receiver and Harmony One remote where everything is working nearly perfectly. I've got one last tweak that I'd like to make and some of the discussion that the last few posts have been having have been after what I'm attempting.

The way my HTPC and Remote are set up now is that the PC will stay on all the time. This is fine, but I'd like to adjust it to where it can go into standby if no activity takes place after a set amount of time, but if the activity to start the HTPC is selected, a command is sent to the wake it from sleep. I was able to accomplish this, but the issue I'm having is that the command that is being sent is PwrToggle. So if it so happens that the HTPC is not actually sleeping, pwrtoggle is sent to it when I turn on the activity and it is sent into sleep.

Ideally I'd like for there to be just a "wake" command sent to the HTPC when the activity is started. That way, it's not turned off or put into sleep by pressing the power button, and it can go to sleep on its own. Then whether its asleep or not, when the activity is selected, it'll either already be on, or be told to wake.

Is there any way to do this automatically without having to set a "additional button" for pwrtoggle for WAF?

I realize my request is very niche, but if anyone has any suggestions I'd love to try them. If it can wake some way other than "pwrtoggle" or if there is just a "power on" command, those would probably fix my situation. Or maybe if there is a way to tell the PC not to sleep when pwrtoggle is sent, but to still wake when it is sent.