After countless nights of unsuccessfully trying to program my new MX-900 I'm ready to get on with other things in my life! It seems I'm on the cusp of nearly getting the remote set up to my liking but simple commands within the macro(s) are not responding and thus are thwarting me from a successful set up. I have made attempt after attemp trying different solutions including hit the light button (how ridiculous of a solution is that?), altering the order of the commands with in the macro, etc. I need some help. Can anyone provide me some advice?

Equipment: Pioneer Elite PRO-1130 Plasma, Yamaha RX V 1200, Sony NS3100ES DVD, DirectTV HR20-700.

Background: as far as I know all of the IR codes for the equipment have been successfully downloaded and tested. A few commands had to be learned. The remote works fine in a 'manual' mode, by that I mean I go to each device and select the desired commands (power on, eject, menu, etc.). However, when executing macros it is another [ugly] story.

Problems: (1) The Pioneer plasma will not switch to the designated Input for the appropriate device (i.e. Input 3 for TV, Input 1 for DVD, etc.). I have input time delays (max of 3 sec) in the macro following the Power On command for the plasma. I have tested macros with no time delay between the Input and the Power On command for the plasma. I have put the Input command a couple steps later in the macro all with no success (I have not tried putting the input command ahead of the power on command because to me that just isn't logical); whatever the last Input setting was when the plasma was powered down is the one that always come up.

(2) My macros typically contain three commands for the Yamaha: a. power on, b. go to correct device (i.e. TV, DVD, FM, V-Aux, etc.) and c. go to correct sound setting (i.e. Movie Theatre, Stereo, 6 Channel Input). Like the situation above for the plasma, the receiver will not switch to the proper sound setting (if the last setting was 6 channel it will come up the same). The reciever does respond to the desired device setting in the macro. I tried inserting the Effect Toggle IR command in the macro followed by the desired sound setting - no luck.

These issues seem like basic problems and not really the fault of the remote but probably more of a programming technique.

Lastly, I desire a simple method of powering down all the equipment. The Punch Through idea sounds simple but the programming instructions are not very clear. I tried this approach but it made things go haywire. For example, the hard On-Off buttons would no longer work and I had to navigate through each of device's pages to find the P-off button to turn off the equipment. Though I will say the Punch Through command did work on the volume and mute control on all of the device. Can some one simply but completely explain what is going on and what I should do?

I'm really looking forward to the day of enjoying my A/V equipment and not having spend so many of my evenings trying to figure out how to program a remote control. Thanks for responding.

Are you using an IR repeater system? You are using the punch thru in a manner that i wouldnt use. set up a all off macro on the WATCH page hard OFF button (put in TV input 3 , for TV as your first step in your off macro, or whatever you watch the most of, that way when you turn the tv back on it will already be on the right input)
after you add all the other off commands, test to make sure it works, also add GO TO PAGE , main page 1, to your off macro.
After you test and make sure it wrks like you want, double click the TV button to take you to the TV page 1, click on OFF hard button, select blue M on the right, press watch, press hard off button. Now you have just imported your main OFF command from the watch page to the TV hard off button. Repeat for all other components. Works great.

Your other problem, I have done several pio pro plasmas, have had no problems.
Did you test a two step macro? Tv power on, tv input 3? did it work, of so just add one step at a time until you find the problem, shouldnt need much of a delay if any
.03 maybe

DOES YOUR YAMAHA HAVE VIDEO SWITCHING? IF IT DOES, RUN YOUR VIDEO THROUGH THE YAMAHA AND 1 VIDEO OUT TO TV. MOST PIONEERS HAVE DISCREATE INPUTS, SO EITHER WAY IT SHOULD WORK FINE.....

Who'se got the link to proper and easy procedure for programing these things?

Brief explanation

Test all codes individually with ir only THIS IS ABSOLUTELY IMPERITIVE

Then then create and test macros MUST BE 100% reliable with ir before procediing

The setup the rf basestation

Tinker with proper placement of emitters

By this point you should only have errors in your macros logic which can be tweaked

Are you allowing enough time between steps for the device to power up and then source select?

Using the original remote, turn on the TV and then begin pressing the input button and see how long it takes the TV to accept the command. On some sets this may be as long as 10-15 seconds!

Just as cb1 one suggested, using the receiver to switch inputs is much easier.

you can email me the file and I'll look at it if you want

Brian

Eureka! Thank you all for your collective inputs. Though I did not find success in using your exact recommendations your comments led me to these solutions:

I solved the TV input switching issue simply by increasing the delay time in the macro after the Plasma power on command to enable the media box to go through its start up process. Specifically, I inserted two time delays of 3 sec & 1.5 sec after power on command then moved the input command further down the macro. The second time delay was inserted after the receiver power on and device commands.

The Yamaha sound setting issue was resolved by using the IR Data Navigator to drag the desired setting into the macro and INCREASING the REPEAT number to 6 from 3.

The system off command was also resolved by using the P-Off commands found within the pages of the respective devices and using those in the macro.

My short 'beta' test on the TV macro seems to be working fine; I will mirror these steps for the other devices. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Thanks again for the assist.

You can make one power off macro and then use the 'import macro" feature to paste that macro on other devices' off button. Don't forget to put a "jump to main" on each off command.

The P-on or P-off commands are discrete on/off codes that are more reliable than the green/red buttons

brian

I put at least .7 seconds between any command in a macro. It seams this makes it more reliable.

Mike

I'm back and I claimed success too soon. I now know what my problem is but need help finding the solution.

As described in my earlier posting, when I activate the "turn on the TV" macro the Yamaha receiver turns on and goes to the correct input (e.g. TV), as designed. I have selected a sound setting that resides with two other settings. In other words, button 5 is the Entertainment sound setting. Within this setting one can select by sequentially depressing the button: 6 channel stereo, Disco or Game. My desired setting is 6 channel stereo. The problem is when I power down the system then activate the "turn on the TV" macro again, the sound setting moves to the next setting (i.e. Disco). The next time I repeat the on-off sequence the setting comes up "Game". I'm sure you get the jist of the problem but I wanted to thoroughly describe the problem (because I'm desparate for a solution!).

I called Yamaha and they said the receiver is working as it should in this regard. I was advised that I needed the "extended" IR code for this button in order to make it stop toggling. Is an "extended" IR code the same as a "discrete" code? I was given the impression that they are different. The CS rep advised me to call a Yamaha dealer and they could give me the extended code. I called a dealer but they were not too helpful.

So, can anyone help me locate this extended code or come up with a work around solution (besides choosing a different sound setting)? I searched this web site - no joy.

This is last item I need to resolve before completing my programming. I've learned a lot but apparently I still somewhat ignorant. Help, please!

Two things for you:

I've not had trouble with Pio plasmas, and did one yesterday. However, I never have the input command that close in time to the power on. Typical for me is:

Select input on TV
Power on TV
Power on Audio
Play disc (if applicable)
3 sec delay
Select audio in
Select audio surround mode
3 sec min delay, up to 6 or more sec for some displays
Select input on TV
Go to device page

I like select TV input at top as well as the bottom when the monitor is already on. It quickly switches to the right input so there is no several second delay between the switching of the sound and pic.

Regarding your Yamaha surround problem: I solve that by first switching to a useless surround mode, 1 second delay, then back to the one I want.

Say you want all channel stereo. Like you say, push that button a few times and you are all messed up since they rotate from one to the next. If you are already in the all chan stereo mode, switch to hall or stereo or some other mode, delay, then back to the all channel button. Providing the client does not manually mess with the surr modes, you should be able to come back to it every time.

Tom:

Your technique for solving the Yamaha sound selection issue is pretty clever. I followed your advice and it works! Many thanks for taking the time to help me. This forum has been a great help to me (and saved me some bucks, too!). Gratze.

I hate to but into this CI thread but I do not know where else to turn. I am a DIY with a MX-900 (from an AD) and am looking for the IR codes for a Pany 9UK. The URC IR database does not have the codes (remote EUR 7636070R) and I would really not like to "teach" the codes to the remote. I noticed that codes for these commercial Pany's are listed for the Pronto but there is nothing for the MX-900. Can anyone help me with this before I sell my MX-900 and downgrade to a Harmony? //mjm

The 900 has ON/OFF Punch Thru's