jag - i would be shocked as hell if EVERY single code you need is not in the database.

oex,

You're probably right. As I have ben saying, it's finding them that's difficult. Just today, for example, I set about getting the macro set up for turnning everything on needed to watch a DVD. The first thing I noticed was it would not respond to the P-ON. This was a surprize since my Pioneer DV-525 was the ONLY component I have that was in the database under that very model number. P-ON and P-OFF are there, but do not work at all. I was tempted to just learn these from the MX-500 (which I had taught with my OFA using discrete codes gleaned from some online source 3 years ago). That worked for the Sony recevier/amp and would have been easy, but I decided to find it in the database instead. Since the USP port on my laptop is broken I can't just sit in front of the system and test with the MX-900 connected to the computer. Following a suggestion someone here made I then looked at every Pioneer 1, Pioneer 2, etc. and put all that showed P-ON and P-OFF onto the remote at once, using device names PNR-1, PNR-2 etc. Turned out that Pioneer 1 worked! Of course little else in that set worked because it appears to be for a disk changer, which the DV-525 is not. So, I renamed the PNR-1 device PDSCRT and jump to that in my DVD macro for P-ON and P-OFF. Then I deleted all the other PNR-2 etc. Works fine.

So, it was there and I did find it. However, given that I already had the OFA code it would have been faster to just learn it. I wonder how many of the pros in this business have an old OFA in their tool box :-)

Ed

Ed:

One thing you're suffering from is that you're programming a pro-level remote as an end user. As I mentioned before, being an end user doesn't mean you can't or won't have the skill to do a great programming job. However, because the product was designed for professional programming, the software and manual are designed with trained installers in mind. With the benefit of our online training or live training classes, pro installers learn the ins and outs of the software directly. The UI of MX-Editor isn't necessarily designed for the kind of easy discovery you'd program for an end-user product. It's designed to make it as fast as possible for a trained installer to use it.

Think of a formula 1 race car: nothing in that cockpit is intutive except the steering wheel. Sure, you know how to drive a regular car, but without some hands-on training, you basically can't drive the formula 1 even though it's technically a "better" car than the one in your driveway. But once you're trained, the controls of the formula 1 give you more control, faster, than you could ever get with the controls of a regular car. And for the formula 1, that's what's important.

So, take heart. You're learning something that wasn't meant to be the easiest path— it was meant to be the quickest. And if this was the 20th MX-900 you've programmed this month, trust me, you'd be very happy that it works this way and not the way that would make it easier for first-timers.

Best regards,
Dale

As an end user also (albeit one who has programmed numerous URC remotes) I must say that the way it is done is very logical and straightforward.

At once it was annoying that hex codes could not be imported directly. Now that you can do that, it's really pretty easy to get any code in easily and quickly.

For those who don't work with these tools, what I'm about to suggest may be as difficult as finding the code some other way. But if you ever have an OFA code and no OFA remote and no easy alternative, you can translate it to Pronto Hex:

There are several files and tools on the jp1 section of hifi-remote.com that let you translate from OFA setup code number and EFC number to generic reverse engineered protocol name, device number and function (OBC) number. Then you can use the MakeHex program to translate from that generic form to Pronto Hex, then you can import Pronto Hex to the programming system of other universal remotes including MX models.

For Sony, you can do better by starting at
[Link: hifi-remote.com]
which has almost all Sony codes already in that generic form (that can be used as input to MakeHex).


Often that isn't good enough. Any actual OFA remote supports only a subset of OFA codes. The JP1 software gives you access to a much wider set (of user discovered and posted discrete codes).

Thanks, Dale. I think I've got the unit under my control now, with
a lot of help from this list. But, I don't totally buy into your arguments.
What you seem to be saying is the software user's manual is written for people
who already know how to use the software. BTW, I've read some of the the reviews for the MX-900 at the Remote Central site and see that lots of people love the hardware but dislike the URC policy of not supporting end users. Also, these units come up on eBay all the time "brand new unit, used it one time." Each one of those people is going to tell their story to their friends and advise them to get a Harmony. Seems to me a lot more units could be sold by reaching out to those people, at least those that are so inclined, rahter than throwing logs in the road in front of them. I'm not saying you have to abandon your dealers, just give a modicum of support to the consumer. I'd suggest (a) get a pro software documentation person to rewrite the user's manual rather than a pro Home Theater installer, and (b) make it possible for any owner to upgrade the software, even if it was through a separate paid license. You could give your dealers an edge by having Pro version or something.

Enough said, though. I've gotten the help I needed and I'm happy with the unit now.

Ed

This is URC's pro series...there's no reason they need to write a manual for end users.

I'm an end user and have managed to learn it fine. Take a look at the MX-700 programming manual and the MX-700 tutorial from this site. Then take the concepts you learned from that and apply them to the MX-900.

Thanks, John. I've used that technique. Actually, you may have explained to me how to do it, or directed me toward the information.

What the method shows is that it is indeed possible to go from an OFA code to MX remotes purely with software. URC could integrate such software into the MX-Editor if they chose to do so, or so it seems to me. They could work a deal with the authors of existing tools, or develop their own.

Ed