Remote 3 - Help With Basic Setup / Nothing Fancy

General
1

Everybody seems to have super complicated and in-depth setups. I know it built for huge smart home instances, but I just want to replace my old TV Harmony remote. Is there a “dummies” guide to doing this? Keep in mind, that this is not my wheelhouse.

I only have 3 things that I want to use/control. I have all of the Entities, Integrations, and Activities, but this remote only turns on the TV and nothing else. None of the other buttons I programmed are working and I get a red error at the top of the remote window that says “The request timed out. Please try again”

Here are my activities and the view of them on the remote preview:

UFC3 - All Activities
UFC3 - All Activities876×264 15.1 KB

UFC3 - Remote View
UFC3 - Remote View237×877 38.3 KB

  1. LG TV

This one is obvious - turn on/off and change channels for OTA tv.
I have the user interface and button mapping done.
The sequence I setup is:

UFC3 - Sequences - Live TV
UFC3 - Sequences - Live TV1483×384 23.9 KB

\* I included a delay and input source change, in case the TV was set to another input source when it was turned off the last time.
  1. Roku

This one I just need to turn on the TV, go to HDMI 1, and navigate the Roku
I have the user interface and button mapping done.
The sequence I setup is:

UFC3 - Sequences - Roku
UFC3 - Sequences - Roku1483×447 28.5 KB

\* I included a delay and input source change, in case the TV was set to another input source when it was turned off the last time.
\* The Roku does not have an on/off function, but I only included it in the sequence because there were power options for the Roku in the sequence set up
  1. Chromecast

This one I just need to turn on the TV and go to HDMI 3 - nothing else (I will control video playback with my phone) - also I skipped HDMI 2 so I can add a Bluray player later.
I have the user interface and button mapping done - basic TV controls like volume etc.
The sequence I setup is:

UFC3 - Sequences - Chromecast
UFC3 - Sequences - Chromecast1483×391 24.8 KB

\* I included a delay and input source change, in case the TV was set to another input source when it was turned off the last time.
\* The Chromecast does not have an on/off function, so I did not include it in the sequence.
  1. Sonos

I don’t have this in any sequence because it doesn’t have an on/off function and I only use it for TV audio (plugged in via optical cable so it is automatic and there should be no programming needed on the remote).
I do have the Entity and Integration set up just in case I need it, but it is not part of any Activity.

The only other thing I need to consider is how to switch TV input during the same viewing session - for instance watching live TV and then I want to switch to Roku. Do I have to turn off the live TV using the sequence I have and then start a whole new session for Roku, or is there an easier way to just select Roku and then have everything switch over?

Sorry for the lengthy post - I just wanted to make sure that everything is on the table.

Thank you in advance.

1 Like
2

Hi,

make sure that you have for all entities different options to switch on/off. If you need IR entities with only a toggle copy it to POWER_ON and POWER_OFF.

If all your activities are in the same room read here about activity groups.

https://support.unfoldedcircle.com/hc/en-us/articles/13215168236188-Activity-groups

If everything is configured properly the R3 behaves to 99% like the Harmony when you switch from one activity to another. In the configuration of the groups there are some more options.

On a quick view your start/end sequences look quite OK.

For my streaming devices I always put home and or stop into the end sequence in case it was streaming it should stop.

Ralf

3

I checked and it looks like I already set up an Activity Group and all activities are in there

4

And what is not working as you want?

Ralf

5

I have a question about this.

I turn on the projector as follows: first the cinema lighting, then the projector, and finally HDMI 4. Kodi is running via HDMI 4. Why does the remote only respond after a restart? What am I doing wrong?

Do I need to add pauses? Should I add delays, especially to the startup sequence?

Can someone give me a tip?

6

What do you mean with only respond after restart?

One question did you map anything to the power button? Don’t do it.

If your remote is laying silly on the table and pick it up it takes several seconds before integrations are connected.

Ralf

7

When I remove the remote from the charging dock and select the start command to execute the sequence, the remote only responds after I restart it.

No new command has been assigned to the power botton.

8

As I said wait a couple of seconds before you start an activity. How much depends in the devices you have. Normally you should see an animation on top of the screen which shows that the remote is still connecting to devices.

Ralf

9

figured out what the problem was; I had to create a macro and add the power-on commands. My mistake was that I had created a power-on activity, but it should have been a macro. Now everything works perfectly.

1 Like