User

06.09.2013 17:54:57

Has anyone gotten the Harmony Hub to play with Remote Buddy?

I've tried tricking remote buddy to think the Harmony Hub is a PS3 BD Remote or a Wiimote, but haven't had any luck so far.

My Mac can see the BD Remote trying to pair, but RB doesn't even try to initiate pairing. The Mac doesn't see the Wiimote at all.

I would use the IR blasters, but the Hub is positioned too far away from my computer, so bluetooth is way more convenient for me. 

User

06.09.2013 18:05:28

As I was switching between trying to pair the Wiimote and PS3 BD remote modes on the Hub, I somehow managed to get RB to recognize the Hub. However, it incorrectly recognized it as a Wiimote when the Hub was in PS3 mode.

Still trying to figure things out. 

User

06.09.2013 18:37:27

Through a series of archaic tricks and finagling, I got RB to recognize the Hub in Wiimote mode.

To reproduce:

1) Start the remote buddy setup wizard and bluetooth "add new device" dialog, leave these running. 
2) Create a Wii device in the harmony app, and initiate pairing: neither OSX nor RB detect the device. 
3) Delete the Wii and add PS3, then attempt to initiate pairing: if you're lucky, the hub will flash as a Nintendo Wiimote, then switch to BD remote. 
4) For some reason, RB will recognize the Wiimote but not the BD remote. It'll attempt to pair. 
5) Pairing should be successful, and the Hub is added as a Wiimote 
6) Remove the PS3 using MyHarmony.com or the app, and add a Nintendo Wii. 
7) Sending Wii commands should now work.

I hope that we'll get a more elegant solution in the future. 

User

12.09.2013 13:34:01

Thanks for your contributions!

Please note that Remote Buddy only supports devices listed on the Hardware page. Devices emulating these devices may - or may not - work, depending on how close they are to the original. Officially, these are not supported.

For Bluetooth remotes, Remote Buddy uses several clues to search for and identify devices you want to add. One of the primary clues is the name the device advertises as. This name, once retrieved, is cached by OS X - and there’s usually no need to query the device for its name again, if it has already been retrieved, since - for the devices supported by Remote Buddy - it never changes.

If you are switching between PS3 BD Remote and Wii Remote emulation on your Harmony, it’s bound to advertise with different names. Problem here: OS X may still report the respectively other device’s name from the cache (f.ex. the Wii Remote’s name), while the hardware is now emulating a different device (f.ex. a PS3 BD Remote). If this happens, the device will behave differently than what it was recognized as - and pairing and/or usage is bound to fail.

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz 

User

12.09.2013 15:46:40

Thanks for the response, Felix.

Since OS X does detect and pair with the Hub when it's in PS3 mode, is it possible to add the bluetooth ID it broadcasts as a recognized name for the BD Remote Control? If remote buddy connects to it, it should behave exactly like a PS3 remote.

The reason I'm asking is because the PS3 remote interface allows us to map way more buttons than the Wiimote, which would be handy. 

User

23.09.2013 10:36:02

The problem is this:

1) The Hub identifies as „Wii Remote“. 
2) OS X saves that. 
3) You change the Hub to identify as „Sony BD Remote“, but the Bluetooth device ID (which is unique for every unit) stays the same. 
4) When Remote Buddy now asks for the name of the Hub, OS X will return „Wii Remote“ from its cache. 
5) Remote Buddy will try to pair with the device as if it was a Wii Remote. 
6) The Hub, however, emulates a very different piece of hardware, the "Sony BD Remote“. 
7) Remote Buddy will not receive the responses it seeks - and the Hub will not get the requests it expects.

Real Wii and BD Remotes - of course - stick with their names and don’t change it, which is why the case of a device suddenly changing its identity is not a case Remote Buddy is currently prepared for.

I’m currently under high time pressure to finish other tasks, but hope to check out a Harmony Hub after that.

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz 

User

24.09.2013 16:22:50

I also use a Harmony Hub and experience the same issues. 

User

10.11.2013 19:09:38

The Harmony Hub reports itself as "BD Remote Control" when emulating the PS3 remote.

I tried editing the cached name in /Library/Preferences/com.apple.Bluetooth.plist to "Sony BD Remote" using XCode or defaults, but it would just get reset while the device tries to pair. It would be really nice if remote buddy could support this case.

<plist version="1.0"> 
<dict> 
<key>ClassOfDevice</key> 
<string>9484</string> 
<key>Manufacturer</key> 
<string>10</string> 
<key>Name</key> 
<string>BD Remote Control</string> 
<key>SupportedFeatures</key> 
<data>h1v/2/6P//8=</data> 
</dict> 
</plist>

Last edited: 10.11.2013 19:16:25 

User

28.11.2013 20:12:25

 
 
I would really love remote buddy to add support for the Harmony Hub by recognising this device name if that's possible.

Right now I use the IR from the harmony but it's a bit laggy, and I feel like this would be a great solution. 

User

08.01.2014 13:58:30

Hi. Just found this thread. I asked the same question yesterday as a support inquiry. I found out, that my Harmony Smart Hub tells OS X that it is a "BD Remote Contol", that's "Contol" without an 'r'! Maybe this is the problem?

User

08.01.2014 17:00:07

I also found the "BD Remote Contol" in /Library/Preferences/com.apple.Bluetooth.plist 
First I thought OS X doesn't see the device, because it doesn't show up in the Bluetooth settings, but it sees it as I could find it in the .plist file. So maybe it really is the wrong name, that Remote Buddy doesn't recognize the Hub? 

User

08.01.2014 23:59:35

I renamed the wrong name in /Library/Preferences/com.apple.Bluetooth.plist to "BD Remote Control" and rebooted the mac and now Remote Buddy setup wizard correctly paired the Logitech Harmony Smart Control Hub. 

User

09.01.2014 22:55:55

Thank you!!!!!!

This worked for me. 

User

15.01.2014 02:12:57

Hi. I too am trying to use a Harmony Smart Control (aka hub) with Remote Buddy but the ideas on this thread haven't worked.

I can confirm that the Harmony is definitely identifying itself incorrectly as a "BD Remote Contol" and this does not match Remote Buddy's baked in signature "BD Remote Control"... 
$ strings "/Applications/Remote Buddy.app/Contents/MacOS/Remote Buddy" |grep "BD Remote Control"|wc -l 
yields 1. 
$ strings "/Applications/Remote Buddy.app/Contents/MacOS/Remote Buddy" |grep "BD Remote Contol"|wc -l 
yields 0. 
This is not configurable and is compiled into the binary so there's no way to change this.

The binary XML plist file people are mentioning here is ephemeral - it gets replaced by Mavericks constantly. 
/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Bluetooth.plist 
is a binary XML plist file so you can edit it with TextEdit but not in-situ. I have tried copying it, editing the copy to fix the name typo, then replacing. 
The second you do this Mavericks replaces the file so there's no possibility of editing it, rebooting or otherwise.

Thirdly, unlike others on the thread, I have been able to pair my remote with Mavericks 10.9.1 using standard the Bluetooth Preference pane without issue; you just remove the device and repairing will be initiated by the Harmony hub next time you try to use the "Device" - you don't need to delete it from MyHarmony.com or reboot the hub.

Unfortunately, at no stage have I been able to get Remote Buddy to see or pair this device - whether paired or unpaired with the operating system.

It seems to me that the fastest likely fix here would be for Remote Buddy to add the malformed name for this device to its compatibility list.

Any chance of a comment on this please IOSpirit? I bought Remote Buddy specifically to be able to do this? 
And, I'd love to be wrong here about editing that plist file. Can anybody on this thread post something more specific that worked for them?

Thanks! 
Marc 

User

25.01.2014 00:26:47

FYI somehow I was eventually able to make this pairing visible to RemoteBuddy - I tried so many combinations of rebooting, deleting the plist file and so on and so forth though that I can't remember the exact sequence. I think that the key was to unpair from builtin Bluetooth, disable Bluetooth altogether, correct the typo in the discovered Bluetooth plist, reboot, start RemoteBuddy before turning on Bluetooth, then reinitiate the RemoteBuddy wizard quickly. I realise this sounds ridiculous but somehow this worked even though the device class has a typo in it - I suspect that I was able to get the corrected plist file to be read before it was automatically refreshed, but this is just a hunch.

So the device is somehow now paired with it's unfortunate Logitech typo name of "BD Remote Contol" and the pairing survives reboots. 
And.... the best news is that it works beautifully and much faster than any IR solution.

However, when you start RemoteBuddy it fails to reconnect to the "BD Remote Contol" device even if "Search for paired remotes on startup" is checked in Preferences. You need to use builtin Bluetooth to reconnect to the device each time you restart RemoteBuddy (because RemoteBuddy *does* automatically deactivate and disconnect the device when you quit). Naturally this includes starting up after rebooting.

FYI I raised a support ticket with Felix. He said this is no on his "ToDo" list. 

User

30.01.2014 23:42:01

Sorry for being absent from this forum for a while. I’ve been (and continue to be) very busy meeting deadlines pretty much since Christmas. The good thing about deadlines, of course, is that they eventually arrive, so this is not a permanent situation and you’ll see me reply quicker and more often again, soon.

That said, I’m always reading everything you write here, and would like to thank everyone for sharing their findings, problems and solutions in this forum.

I got my hands on one of the latest Harmony remotes with Hub, and hope to take a closer look at some point in the coming week. I’ll keep you updated in this thread.

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz 

User

09.02.2014 14:21:02

As promised, I’ve taken a look at the Harmony Hub’s PS3 emulation and played around with it a little.

The most time consuming part was getting through all the menus on the iPhone. But then things went pretty straightforward and I now have a development version up and running that works with the Harmony Hub’s PS3 BD Remote emulation. There are a few oddities that relate to the Hub’s emulation, like f.ex. that the "Menu" button for Remote Buddy is the "Guide" button on the remote. And at least in the automated configuration of the Hub that I ended up with here, some buttons don't seem to send anything over Bluetooth. I'll need to spend more time with the Hub to figure out how to get the most out of it with regards to Remote Buddy.

Thanks for your patience! To reward it, here's a beta (= this is not an official, stable release!) with experimental support for the Hub:

http://catalog.iospirit.com/public/file/com.iospirit.RemoteBuddy/1.24.3.1/7/RemoteBuddy12431beta.zip

So far, I've only been able to test it on the Retina MacBook Pro 2012 running OS X 10.9.1 that I'm writing this on right now. If you're using a different machine or OS X version, or if you run into any problems, I'd very much appreciate your feedback!

Thanks in advance - and have a great Sunday, 
Felix Schwarz 

User

11.02.2014 12:58:21

Hi Felix,

Thanks for the beta. I am very interested in this version, as I'm running a macmini with Mountain Lion with similar problems to the above. For some reason, even when I unpair the "BD Remote Contol" with the macmini through the bluetooth preferences page, Remote Buddy does not find the hub when I attempt to re-pair it through the application. It asks for a pairing key (wasn't asked for with the previous version of RB - I used "0000"), then the macmini pairs with the hub and RB does not recognize the remote. Any guidance would be appreciated here.

Best regards, Adam 

User

12.02.2014 11:54:01

Hi Adam,

thanks for the feedback.

This problem is a bug of the OS X Bluetooth stack in Mountain Lion that's not specific to the Harmony Hub or Remote Buddy. As its a bug in the OS itself, Remote Buddy can neither trigger, avoid or work around it.

From my own limited testing with OS X 10.9, the problem seems _mostly_ fixed in 10.9 - so unless you don't want to upgrade to 10.9 - this may be something to try out.

For all information I have on the subject (including information from Apple), please see this FAQ on the matter:

http://www.iospirit.com/support/faqs/remotebuddy/category/14/Hardware-Sony-BD-Remote-Control/entry/246/Im-having-problems-with-the-Sony-PS3-BD-Remote-under-OS-X-10-810-9-/

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz 

User

24.02.2014 10:18:09

I'm trying to understand what you guys are doing.

Does this mean that in the future one can use the Harmony Ultimate and Hub to control a Mac through bluetooth?

Like, be able to launch and control XBMC with the Harmony Ultimate remote?

Last edited: 27.02.2014 10:00:01 

User

01.03.2014 22:13:16

 
 
Thanks, Felix. I just installed this beta on a Mac Mini (2010) running OSX 10.9.2, and it appears to be working fine -- Many thanks.

User

16.03.2014 17:59:03

Hi Felix,

I was able to finally pair my harmony hub after a few tries. Everything working great and now trying to purchase a license. Let us know when you are out of beta with this. Thanks for the support!

Best regards,

Adam 

User

23.05.2014 22:57:23

Hey Felix..

Thanks for the awesome workarounds the beta work like a charm, i only have one problem. Its not powering up my mac mini from sleep, any workaround for that? i assigned to power up with the PS key for 4 sec. nothing happens, when i push the PS key manually my mac starts up immediately?

besides that everything works like a charm!

Is the final released soon?

Last edited: 23.05.2014 22:58:52 

User

08.06.2014 13:22:02

Thanks for asking and proving feedback - and sorry I only noticed your post now.

Regarding waking from sleep, please check that this option is turned on:

System Preferences > Bluetooth > (Advanced… | More…) > Allow Bluetooth devices to wake up computer

I'm working hard to get version 1.25 out the door as soon as possible. It's my main focus right now.

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz 

User

20.06.2014 16:31:01

Remote Buddy 1.25 is available now. The How-To is now live, too:

http://www.iospirit.com/blog/article/184/HowTo-Set-up-the-Logitech-Harmony-Smart-Control-with-Remote-Buddy-and-control-100-Mac-apps-with-it/

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz 

User

21.06.2014 11:47:50

Nice Felix!!!

But now my Mac Mini cant go to into sleep mode directly from XBMC...

i even followed the power tweaking guide from the blog but doesnt work i need to press suspend in XBMC and then power off button.

But i can wake the Mac when activity starts.. Any ideas? 

User

21.06.2014 13:47:01

Thanks for the feedback!

It's usually possible to assign commands to the "Power on" and "Power off" events in the Harmony. I've tried this with the Harmony Smart Control and unfortunately so far it doesn't seem that these get sent by the Harmony for a "Sony PS3" device.

I assume that this is a bug in the Harmony Hub's software and will keep an eye on this as Logitech updates their firmware.

Until then, what you can do is dedicate a button to put the Mac to sleep. For this, what you'd do is to go to "RB Prefs > Mapping > Global mapping" and select the action "Miscellaneous > Put computer to sleep" for the button you want to dedicate to putting your Mac to sleep.

You can then use that button to put your Mac to sleep as long as the Remote Buddy activity is active.

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz 

User

03.07.2014 05:50:34

 
 
Hi Felix,

1. This is really cool!

2. Isn’t it time for a paid upgrade? My account page here says I bought Remote Buddy in 2006, and if I’ve paid you anything more since then, I’ve forgotten about it. Please, charge me for *something*! Seriously, because it’ll make me feel less bad about point 3…

3. With a Harmony Touch (when used with a Hub or Smart Control, as I do) or Harmony Ultimate one can control a Wii’s onscreen pointer using a virtual trackpad on the remote’s touchscreen. I had assumed that the Hub was emulating a Wiimote’s IR camera, but after having managed to pair the Hub to my Mac as a Wiimote Remote Buddy doesn’t seem to be receiving any images from the Hub. It would be *super* *mega* cool if you could figure out how the Hub *is* achieving this, so that I could control my Mac’s mouse pointer from my Harmony Touch!

Thanks, 
Sam 

User

04.07.2014 18:04:02

 
 
Thanks!

 
There were in fact only free updates to Remote Buddy so far. Thanks for noticing!

Of course, at some point, a paid upgrade will have to come as everything else is not sustainable in the long run. That moment isn't there, yet, however.

 
That sounds neat! I didn't know that and hope that I can check it out soon.

Best regards, 
Felix 

User

07.07.2014 07:47:41

Now that there is support for the Harmony Smart Control, is it possible to use the Harmony Ultimate as well? Since both use the Ultimate Hub?

I am after only basic functions to control XBMC. At the moment I use a Harmony remote paired with remote buddy as an Apple Remote, and I'd like to use the Ultimate Hub to take advantage of the bluetooth connection but use the Ultimate remote since it has more function for the rest of the devices, TV, sound system etc. than the remote bundled with Smart Control. 

User

07.07.2014 08:45:02

Thanks for asking.

It should work without problems if the Hub is the same. After all, the remote send a button press to the Hub, the Hub translates it for the current Harmony Activity (like "Watch TV") - and then the Hub sends the result of its translation to Remote Buddy via Bluetooth. The model of the remote therefore shouldn't really matter. In fact, if you use the Harmony iPhone app instead of a Smart Control, Remote Buddy won't notice - it receives the same data over Bluetooth in both cases.

I haven't had a chance to test it with the Harmony Ultimate, though, so I can't give you a guarantee of any kind. There's a very high likelyhood that the Ultimate will work with Remote Buddy as well, but if you purchase one, please make sure you can return it in case the included Hub hardware unexpectedly differs in an incompatible way.

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz 

User

07.07.2014 10:09:45

Thanks for the quick reply and you work Felix.

I saw now that the smart control remote has just 3 programmable buttons but each can have two different functions (short press/long press), which results in 6 different actions. Maybe it will be enough for my needs. Thanks again. 

User

09.07.2014 08:09:04

Hi Felix,

Thanks for all your great work. I have been using the Harmony 650 with Remote Buddy for years, and I'm thinking about upgrading to a Smart Hub. The biggest problem has always been ensuring that the activity selected on the 650 remains in sync with the active behaviour, since there is no feedback to the remote. Since the hub connects over Bluetooth and wireless, do you know whether it synchronises state between Remote Buddy behaviours and the remote or smart phone apps? If I could change behaviours on my Mac using AppleScript, and have the new context updated to my smartphone app or remote control via the Smart Hub, that would be pretty close to Nirvana.

Also, I second the notion that you should start thinking about a paid upgrade, given how much the application has advanced over the years. 

User

29.07.2014 21:33:47

Thanks for the update release! I'm looking forward to using this with my Harmony Smart Control.

My current setup was working fairly well with a Harmony 890 remote. Not all devices and activities work as well as before I switched to the Harmony Smart Control. In order to set up an older model (Harmony 880?) I followed a complex set of instructions to simulate multiple (imaginary) Apple Remotes. This setup is a bit complicated, and I'm happy to upgrade, but I don't want to break any functionality.

Q: Can you advise how I should proceed with setting up RB? I've read the How-To blog post and I have some questions.

1) Do I need to do anything to stash (save for future) my current setup using Apple Remote simulation?

Put another way, how can I hedge my bet that the setup with Harmony Smart Control will work well?

2) Should I reinstall Candelair and/or RB?

3) Beyond the how-to instructions, are there any tweaks for specific behaviors that I should be aware of?

* Plex, iTunes, DVD player, mouse / keyboard / trackpad on Mac Mini 
* Netflix and Amazon Video on Roku 3

4) Finally, do you have any suggestions on how to use RB and Harmony Hub for these behaviors / devices?

* Prezi player on Mac Mini 
* Chrome-casting from MacBook Pro 
* Yamaha RX-V673 AVR

Thanks in advance!

Keith

Setup details: https://www.dropbox.com/s/tilk4v10xzfvyvd/Screenshot%202014-07-29%2015.27.55.png 

User

29.07.2014 23:37:01

 
 
For peace of mind, here's how you can back up and restore your settings: 
https://secure.iospirit.com/support/faqs/remotebuddy/category/8/Configuration/entry/242/-/

If you follow the Smart Control Setup HowTo and pair your Harmony Smart Control's Hub with Remote Buddy via Bluetooth, the Smart Control will turn up in Remote Buddy as a completely independent device that has no relationship to your settings for other remotes (including real and simulated Apple Remotes) at all.

 
There's usually no need to do this.

Remote Buddy is designed from ground up to handle several remotes and keep mapping settings for each remote control separately.

 
Remote Buddy comes with very usable defaults. You can, of course, always make adjustments to fit your personal needs or preferences.

 
You'll probably want to add an Activity/Device for the Roku 3 in the Harmony software to control these.

 
Do you refer to the standalone application only available to subscribers? Or the web page inside a browser?

 
I've no experience with chrome casting, so I can't currently say anything about this. Thanks for bringing this onto my radar.

 
Like with the Roku, this is probably another Activity/Device you'd want to add in the Harmony software to control that.

However, for in-depth advice and help with setting up your Harmony, Logitech is best qualified to give you advice as they know their product best. I personally found their knowledge base and forum to be particularly great resources:

http://forums.logitech.com/t5/Harmony-Universal-Remotes/ct-p/harmony_remote_controls 
http://support.myharmony.com/en/index.htm

Hope that helps.

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz 

User

30.07.2014 00:09:02

Felix,

Thanks for the advice! I know how to proceed now. Just a few comments in 
reply.

 
Yes that's just what I was looking for.

 
Cool, that's a good design.

 
Fortunately, I haven't had to do much customization. Now I'm motivated 
to dive in.

 
Right. I use the Logitech app to configure the Harmaony Smart Control. I 
have (mostly working) devices and activities for the AVR, Roku, TV, and 
Plex on Mac. After I upgraded to Smart Control I found a few minor 
problems, mostly with key mappings in the Harmony setup. Oddly all the 
activities for Plex and Mac HTPC were not migrated, but I was able to 
recreate those.

The only problem related to RB is an intermittent failure to invoke or 
navigate the RB menus. Usually they work, but sometimes they don't 
respond. Similarly, I haven't been able to rely on control over the DVD 
player menus.

 
The former - standalone app in presentation mode - though I suppose one 
could do the same (maybe more) by controlling the Safari Web browser. 
Interesting idea, thanks.

 
Chromecast opens up a myriad of possibilities for home theater and 
business presentations. Not that it's a new concept, but it's a fairly 
simple and capable piece of hardware. With the browser integration, and 
increasing support from applications, I think it might do well with 
people who are less technical than the average Mac user or home theater 
enthusiast.

Let me know if I can assist you in the future with alpha releases or 
whatever.

Thanks again!

Keith 

User

13.11.2014 14:28:13

Hi-

Any chance of getting an updated version of this beta that works with Candelair 1.25? For some reason every time I try to start the app it gives me an error saying that it will only work with 1.24 but when I try to install that it just reboots and gives me the same error next time.

Also, any word on when Remote Buddy will officially support the Harmony Ultimate Home remote? I mean I assume the "hub" is the same for all of these.

Thanks! 

User

16.11.2014 13:37:01

Please don't use that beta release. Much better support for the Harmony Smart Remote can be found in the regular version now, which you can download at

https://www.iospirit.com/products/remotebuddy/download/

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz