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User

25.03.2015 15:24:52

MAC MINI + LOGITECH HARMONY (ULTIMATE) + PLEX or XMBC setup

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This posting is older than 6 months and can contain outdated information.

Hi all,

I was impressed by a demonstration I watched of how the 3 aforementioned system serve as a seamless home media entertainment system.

I am not used to apple OS system and wondering if anyone here can kindly advice on how this (MAC MINI + LOGITECH HARMONY (ULTIMATE) will usually be set up to that effect please. Apparently I could use REMOTE BUDDY, XMBC or more alternatives, not sure how this is done.

System

Mac Mini (HDMI connection to amplifier) - OS X Yosemite - 3.06 GHZ intel core 2 duo
Logitech Harmony smart remote / iOS app
PLEX software ..XMBC

Thanks in advance and apologies if this question has been asked before.

Last edited: 25.03.2015 15:52:39

These entries from the FAQ may be relevant to this topic:

Hardware - Apple® Remote

After uninstalling/quitting Remote Buddy, my Mac® no longer reacts to the Apple® Remote. (FAQ015E0241)
To enable you to use all capabilities of the IR Receiver of your Mac®, Remote Buddy is using its own driver. In contrast, all other applications with integrated Apple® Remote support usually use the OS X Apple® Remote subsystem.

As long as you're running Remote Buddy, Remote Buddy and its driver are responsible for turning the received button presses into actions. As soon as you quit Remote Buddy, this task is again handled by the OS X Apple® Remote subsystem.

If other applications don't use the interface to the OS X Apple® Remote subsystem correctly, this can lead to the effect that nothing happens when you press a button on your Apple® Remote. For as long as you're running Remote Buddy, issues like this are covered by Remote Buddy and it's driver and are therefore not visible to you. However, as soon as you quit Remote Buddy, the OS X Apple® Remote subsystem is back in control and any issues caused in it by other applications become visible.

Therefore Remote Buddy is neither the cause of the issue nor is it responsible for it. Instead, the cause of the issue exists independently of Remote Buddy. It's located elsewhere and can also only be solved there.

Although our products can't cause any such issues, we're regularly contacted about such issues and asked for help. In order to make locating and fixing the cause of such issues as easy and efficient as possible, we've developed a free diagnostics tool: Remote Control Diagnostics. It can locate issues with a single click and will provide you with information about the issue as well as with instructions on how you can fix it.
After updating to OS X 10.6.2, my Apple® Remote is no longer available for selection in Remote Buddy. (FAQ015E0236)
Please update your copy of Remote Buddy to version 1.15 or later.

Hardware - Harmony® Smart Control

How do I set up the Harmony Smart Control and connect it to Remote Buddy on my Mac? (FAQ015E0264)
Please see the detailed HowTo on this topic in our blog.
Nothing happens when I press a button on the Smart Control. (FAQ015E0261)
This can be due to a number of many, very different reasons:
1. Wrong/No Activity: the Smart Control will only send your button presses to Remote Buddy if you've selected the "Remote Buddy" activity. Activities on the Harmony Smart Remote are chosen by pressing one of the buttons from the "Music, TV, Movie" row at the top of the remote. Please note: short and long presses of these buttons can select different activities.
2. Bluetooth turned off: please make sure that Bluetooth on your Mac is turned on.
3. Harmony Hub not paired: the Harmony Hub sometimes looses the Bluetooth pairing when making changes to its configuration. To initially establish - or re-establish - a Bluetooth pairing between the Harmony Hub and your Mac, follow this guide:
  
  Pairing instructionsShow
4. Soft keyboard pairing: make sure you only have paired your Harmony Hub to your Mac as a "Sony Playstation 3". If you also pair your Harmony Hub as a soft keyboard, Remote Buddy will no longer be able to capture input events coming from it. Why is this? In "Sony Playstation 3" mode, the Harmony Hub identifies as "Consumer Control" device to your Mac. For this class of devices, any app is allowed to exclusively capture all input. For keyboards, however, OS X only allows access to apps running with root/administrator priviledges, locking out Remote Buddy. To properly remove the pairing as a keyboard, first use the Harmony in that mode, then remove "Harmony Keyboard" from System Preferences > Bluetooth - and finally remove the respective device from your Harmony's configuration. Since OS X caches the identity of Bluetooth devices, it may take some time, several attempts and maybe even a system restart before OS X sees your Harmony Hub as a "Consumer Control" device again and again allows Remote Buddy access to it.
5. Empty batteries: if you can't control any devices with your Harmony Smart Remote at all, while using the "Harmony Control" app on your iOS device still works, chances are the battery of your remote needs to be replaced. Logitech provides instructions for this.

Which Harmony commands need to be assigned to the respective buttons on the Smart Control so that I can use all buttons with Remote Buddy? (FAQ015E0265)

When the Harmony Hub connects to my Mac, I'm asked for a PIN. (FAQ015E0262)
Please enter 0000.
If I haven't used the Harmony Smart Remote for a few minutes, Remote Buddy does not react to the first button press. (FAQ015E0263)
Please verify that no power saving options are enabled at "Remote Buddy > Preferences > Hardware > Bluetooth Receiver".

User

25.03.2015 20:53:02

Re: MAC MINI + LOGITECH HARMONY (ULTIMATE) + PLEX setup

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This posting is older than 6 months and can contain outdated information.

Thanks for asking.

You can find a complete How-To on setting up the Harmony Smart Control with Remote Buddy here:

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

I'm working on a version of the guide for the Harmony Ultimate. The necessary steps are pretty much identical, though.

Best regards,
Felix Schwarz

User

26.03.2015 11:02:09

Re: MAC MINI + LOGITECH HARMONY (ULTIMATE) + PLEX setup

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This posting is older than 6 months and can contain outdated information.

Hi Felix,

Thanks for the prompt reply.

Can I clarify these issues.

- Does remote buddy need to be set to start-up at login, likewise PLEX / XBMC
- The set up link you directed me to doesnt include how PLEX or XBMC can be incoporated..

My remote has bluetooth and infrared capabilities.

Crucially what I am after is

Press an ACTIVITY on my universal remote e.g (watch movies) which then opens PLEX or XBMC automatically.
Will my MAC MINI have to be on 24/7..as I was hoping my remote will power on MAC MINI and PLEX/XBMC only when needed.

Any idea please.

User

26.03.2015 14:28:01

Re: Re: MAC MINI + LOGITECH HARMONY (ULTIMATE) + PLEX setup

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This posting is older than 6 months and can contain outdated information.

I keep my Mini on, so I can't speak to powering up or down.

But I have been able to achieve both "Watch Plex" and "Watch iTunes" activities... The key is to map all the PS3 buttons, as shown in the walk through for Remote Buddy.

The breakthrough for me was selecting the corresponding PS3 controller buttons (the triangle, for instance) then mapping that to a button on the Harmony.. Then setting up that button as a global activity for starting Plex.

I know how you feel; I just went through this same experience. I'm not at home to check all of my settings, but I can offer more insight when I am.

Mapping an actual PS3 controller button to a Harmony button was the part that I was missing.

Sent from my iPhone

On Mar 26, 2015, at 5:02 AM, sunky <remotebuddy_forum.reply.11.46258.16961..9f4ca24182af66cb@forums.iospirit.net> wrote:

Hi Felix,

Thanks for the prompt reply.

Can I clarify these issues.

- Does remote buddy need to be set to start-up at login, likewise PLEX / XBMC
- The set up link you directed me to doesnt include how PLEX or XBMC can be incoporated..

My remote has bluetooth and infrared capabilities.

Crucially what I am after is

Any idea please.

[standard mail footer removed]

User

26.03.2015 18:07:48

Re: MAC MINI + LOGITECH HARMONY (ULTIMATE) + PLEX setup

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This posting is older than 6 months and can contain outdated information.

Thanks much DanG, I will really appreciate the instruction on the settings.

User

27.03.2015 02:57:02

Re: Re: MAC MINI + LOGITECH HARMONY (ULTIMATE) + PLEX setup

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This posting is older than 6 months and can contain outdated information.

I see that I mapped the PS3 Circle to the Record button and the PS3 Triangle to the DVR button on the Harmony.

Then I set "Activate iTunes Behaviour" to Record and "Activate Plex Home Theater Behavior" to DVR in the Remote Buddy app.

Sent from my iPhone

On Mar 26, 2015, at 12:07 PM, sunky <remotebuddy_forum.reply.11.46258.16964.992ebcf14cb7272f@forums.iospirit.net> wrote:

Thanks much DanG, I will really appreciate the instruction on the settings..

[standard mail footer removed]

User

27.03.2015 13:44:55

Re: MAC MINI + LOGITECH HARMONY (ULTIMATE) + PLEX setup

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This posting is older than 6 months and can contain outdated information.

DanG,

Sorry I have to take you backwards on the set up.

Remote buddy is now present as an activity in my Logitech remote following Felix set up instruction.

I have set "Activate Plex Home Theater Behavior" under global mapping to DVR in the Remote Buddy app

I mapped the short and long press on remote to TRIANGE and I can now see the PS3 functions like triangle etc.

Does that mean to view plex,

I need to launch REMOTE BUDDY as an activity

and

Press either DVR button or selecting TRIANGLE on the remote to launch Plex Home Theatre?

Regards

Last edited: 27.03.2015 13:45:49

User

27.07.2015 15:54:08

Removed on request by customer

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This posting is older than 6 months and can contain outdated information.

Removed on request by customer

User

29.07.2015 09:51:01

Re: MAC MINI + LOGITECH HARMONY (ULTIMATE) + PLEX setup

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This posting is older than 6 months and can contain outdated information.

Since it's a duplicate, I hope it's ok if I answer your question in https://www.iospirit.com/support/forums/remotebuddy/thread/17013/

Cheers,
Felix

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