[mythtv-users] Setting up a Logitech Harmony Smart Control remote with mythtv

Jay Foster jayf0ster at roadrunner.com
Fri Dec 15 00:45:44 UTC 2017


On 12/14/2017 4:11 PM, Greg Oliver wrote:
> On Thu, Dec 14, 2017 at 4:20 PM, Anthony Giggins 
> <seven at seven.dorksville.net <mailto:seven at seven.dorksville.net>> wrote:
>
>
>
>     On 15 December 2017 at 05:31, Greg Oliver <oliver.greg at gmail.com
>     <mailto:oliver.greg at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>         On Thu, Dec 14, 2017 at 1:23 PM, Andre Newman MythTV
>         <mythtv-list at dinkum.org.uk <mailto:mythtv-list at dinkum.org.uk>>
>         wrote:
>
>
>             > On 14 Dec 2017, at 16:53, David Engel <david at istwok.net
>             <mailto:david at istwok.net>> wrote:
>             >
>             > On Thu, Dec 14, 2017 at 12:37:02PM +0100, Andre Newman
>             MythTV wrote:
>             >>
>             >>> On 14 Dec 2017, at 00:54, Anthony Giggins
>             <seven at seven.dorksville.net
>             <mailto:seven at seven.dorksville.net>> wrote:
>             >>>
>             >>>
>             >>>
>             >>> On 14 December 2017 at 09:33, David Engel
>             <david at istwok.net <mailto:david at istwok.net>> wrote:
>             >>> On Wed, Dec 13, 2017 at 11:01:42PM +0000, Jim
>             Abernathy wrote:
>             >>>> I have 2 Harmony Smart control remotes and I love
>             them.  For controlling standard stuff it works great.  I
>             even have one mythtv frontend controlled by it.  That
>             system has a Microsoft MCE 1039 IR remote and I added the
>             Mythtv FE as a Microsoft Media PC.  That remote works on
>             Live TV, FireTV, and Mythtv.
>             >>>>
>             >>>> So now to the problem.  My newest FE uses an old
>             Vista MCE remote model VRC-1100. Using the wiki on mythtv
>             on the VRC-1100, I got my FE working fine with the
>             Microsoft Vista remote. Now I want the Harmony Smart
>             Control remote to work with it. But not sure where to
>             start.  I thought I’d check with the experts here before
>             digging much further.
>             >>>
>             >>> Chuck your IR remote and receiver and go get a ~$15
>             (or less) USB
>             >>> Bluetooth dongle. Then configure your Harmony Hub to
>             use BT instead
>             >>> of IR.  You'll get a *much* more reliable and faster
>             remote.
>             >>>
>             >>> David
>             >>>
>             >>> Ditto Bluetooth is miles better then IR with the
>             Harmony setup.
>             >>
>             >> Very interesting, which Harmony profile do you use for
>             the Bluetooth?
>             >>
>             >> My IR has always been a bit of a pain and I have a
>             couple of BT adaptors knocking around.
>             >
>             > As noted in another message in this thread, tell the
>             Harmony you're
>             > setting up a Windows Computer.
>
>             Thanks I spotted that on the way past, a little job for
>             the weekend.
>
>         Just a curious bystander, but could someone tell me *why* this
>         is so much better than IR which has worked for me well for so
>         many years.  In my opinion, I have had several issue with BT
>         on Linux in the past, and I cannot think of a single time IR
>         has failed me.
>
>         Is it just the response time?  So going from IR on the remote
>         directly to the IR receiver through USB on the host is that
>         much slower than going WiFi from the remote to the Hub, then
>         BT to the BT receiver through the same USB with keyboard
>         emulation is that much faster?
>
>         Any other pros to switching to BT?  I guess I could always run
>         them both since the remote does both and play with it, but it
>         just seems like I would not notice anything since I never type
>         with a remote and I have already mapped all the keys I would
>         ever use in my lirc config file..
>
>         Just trying to get the benefits all explained :)
>
>
>     Key Presses are much more responsive (makes the whole frontend
>     feel faster) and theres no messing around with lirc or ir-keytable
>
>     The only down side is trying to get "cheap" linux compatible BT
>     dongles, seems to be hit or miss which chipsets are floating about.
>
>     Cheers,
>
>     Anthony
>
> Long ago I bought a Tivo peanut remote just to have a small keyboard 
> to use when I needed to type in MythTV for whatever reason.  It came 
> with it's own BT receiver and works well for that.  I also have some 
> micro keyboards that have their own USB sticks (like a logitech 
> Unified Receiver) that are hand sized.  They needed recharging too 
> often to keep me happy, so now they are used for headless servers and 
> to watch MythTV from my laptop in hotel rooms when I need them.
>
> I guess I will just have to setup the harmony stuff to see if it is 
> noticeable.  I do not really like the Hub architecture - I can control 
> it from anywhere on the network with no authentication whatsoever.  
> Not very smart on their part.  I guess I will put it on the same 
> private network with my DirectTV receivers in the same boat..  All 
> this IoT stuff is quickly getting out of hand with security :)
>
> Thanks for the info.
>
> -Greg
>
>
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I've been using wireless keyboard/trackball combos for years with 
MythTV.  I tried the IR remote, but it was so slow and unresponsive that 
I just stick with the keyboard.  The keyboard also makes email, web 
browsing, and shell access simple.  I have had good results with the IO 
Gear wireless keyboards.  They are not IR, so no line of sight issues.  
The batteries last about as long as a regular remote would (more than 1 
year).
Jay
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