Do Logitech Remote Controls Work Correctly With Media Center

[CyberSimian]

Currently I use an MX-850 universal remote control made by Universal Remote Control Inc of the USA. I have it set up so that the volume up/down and mute buttons control my Sony remote control amplifier, while the remaining buttons control Media Center. (Audio from Media Center is fed at full volume to the Sony amplifier, which controls the sound level through the loudspeakers.) The problem is that there is an irritating bug with this setup.

Initially, the response of the MX-850 seemed a bit erratic, but over the course of several weeks I noticed a pattern in its misbehaviour, and I have now devised a simple test that reproduces the problem every time. I have come to the conclusion that there are actually two bugs present:

(1) There is a bug in Windows' debounce processing that causes it to ignore button presses when it should not. I have tried altering the registry setting to disable debounce processing, and that does cure the debounce problem, but it introduces a bounce problem -- I press a button once, and the effect is as though I had pressed the button two or more times. So no solution there.

(2) The universal remote control is not correctly mimicing the action of two separate remote controls when the infra-red signal protocols use "toggle codes". (The RC6 protocol used by Windows uses toggle codes.) Now I happened to have available a One-For-All (Radio Shack in the USA) URC 7950 remote control, and that has a definition for Media Center, so I tried that. Sadly, it suffers from the same problem as the MX-850 -- it does not correctly mimic the action of two separate remote controls!

The nature of these bugs is such that if only one were present, there would be no problem -- the remote control would work as desired. It is only when both bugs are present that the remote control appears to misbehave.

So now we come to Logitech Harmony remote controls. Do they correctly mimic the action of two separate remote controls? If you have the appropriate equipment, please try the test that I describe below and post your results here. Thank you.

Equipment Required

(1) Windows Vista Media Center or Windows 7 Media Center. (I have tried both, and both have incorrect debounce processing.)

(2) A remote-control amplifier that controls the sound level from Media Center and which uses RC6 infra-red protocol. (My Sony amp does, and I also tried a Teac amp, which produced the same outcome; any amp is suitable for testing, provided that it uses RC6 protocol.)

(3) A current Logitech Harmony remote control (i.e. one that I might buy to replace my MX-850, namely: 600, 650, 700, One, 900).

Test Procedure to Demonstrate Bug

(1) Switch on your Media Center PC, TV, and amplifier.
(2) Adjust the volume level on the amplifier to a comfortable level.
(3) Start watching live TV or recorded TV.
(4) Press the "Guide" button on the remote control (the EPG appears on the screen).
(5) Press the "Volume Up" button (the volume increases slightly).
(6) Press the "Guide" button (ERROR: nothing happens!).
(7) Press the "Volume up" button (the volume increases slightly).
(8) Press the "Guide" button (ERROR: nothing happens!).
(9) Press the "Guide" button (the EPG disappears from the screen).

Steps (6) and (8) show incorrect behaviour -- step (6) should remove the EPG from the screen, while step (8) should re-display the EPG on the screen.

Thank you for taking the time to test this on your system.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

[tony_park]

Hi,

I have a Harmony 700, and using Media PC 2 it works fine - tried your test, no problems

Tony

[Scallica]

I strongly recommend the Logitech Harmony One remote. I can control my receiver's volume with the volume buttons, while every other remote button controls Windows Media Center.

[richard1980]

My Harmony 300 works just fine through that test. Guide comes and goes as expected while volume changes as well.

[newfiend]

+1 For the Harmony remotes.. I have a Harmony One and it's a great remote for MC and other AV gear.

[barnabas1969]

Very interesting! I have an Audiovox AR-RX18G (manufactured by URC). It does exactly what you describe. I've noticed in the past that I sometimes have to click a button (like Guide) more than once to get a response, but I never equated it to this scenario. This is very interesting, but not a big problem... I just press the Guide button again.

[tony_park]

Hi,

are you both using the volume to control your amp or the volume out from media center?

My remote controls the amp volume.

Do you use the media pc 2 settings? I had problems with the original version, but since changing to this option, its working fine

Tony

[CyberSimian]

Thank you to all who tried the test that I described previously.

I really like the MX-850 remote control that I use at the moment. It is not perfect, but it has a really nice feel, and truly excellent buttons. It is sad that it has this bug in its microcode, and ever sadder that its manufacturer (Universal Remote Control Inc) has a truly appalling customer support policy.

I have handled various Logitech remote controls on display in PC World and Best Buy (the latter have recently entered the UK market), but I was not immediately impressed with the feel of the buttons. But a purchase is a definite possibility!

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

[barnabas1969]

Hi,

are you both using the volume to control your amp or the volume out from media center?

My remote controls the amp volume.

Do you use the media pc 2 settings? I had problems with the original version, but since changing to this option, its working fine

Tony

My volume buttons control the AV receiver's volume.

[newfiend]

My Volume button is set to control the receiver's volume also.. MC is always maxed out at 50.. But I don't use that to control volume ..

[STC]

My volume controls the receiver as well with mute being Windows mute (it shows subs when you mute this way).

[mmatheny]

Wasn't there a registry patch for the double bounce issue?

[richard1980]

From http://blogs.msdn.com/b/astebner/archiv ... 86961.aspx

Enable Universal Remote Control - If you have a universal remote control you may need to enable it. A reboot is required for this setting to take effect.

•Registry key - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\HidIr\Remotes\745a17a0-74d3-11d0-b6fe-00a0c90f57da
•Registry value - EnableDebounce
•Registry value data type - REG_DWORD
•Registry value data - 1 = enable universal remote control; 0 = disable universal remote control

[tony_park]

I've never needed to do this with my Harmony remote... just works!

[richard1980]

I never have either, but I ran across a whole list of registry edits some time ago and this was one of them. I don't know why Aaron described this as a method for enabling a universal remote though...it's a regedit for the Debounce filter.

[barnabas1969]

The OP in this thread (CyberSimian) said that he tried the debounce setting in the registry and that it cured his problem, but caused another problem. The problem he described happens on my system too... but I don't find it that much of a problem.