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Harmony Elite and Sony KD-65X85K Television
This thread has 12 replies. Displaying all posts.
Post 1 made on Tuesday September 5, 2023 at 22:35
Herman Trivilino
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I have the Harmony Elite with hub and just bought a new Sony KD-65X85K television. I can't get the TV's Power On command to work consistently with the Harmony remote. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

A strange thing (at least to me it's strange) is that on the original TV remote the Power On/Off button sends a IR signal to the TV. But all the other buttons on the original TV remote appear to send RF signals.

Now, when setting up the Harmony remote to work with this TV I had a bit of trouble and had to do it several times. When setting up the Harmony remote to control this TV I'm prompted to enter a four-digit code that is supposed to appear on the TV screen, along with a warning that failure to enter the code will result in the Harmony remote being able to send IR signals only. During set up sometimes I got the code to appear and sometimes I didn't. If the code didn't appear I was of course unable to enter it and the result was that the Harmony wouldn't control the TV at all.

If during set up the code does appear and I enter it, then the Harmony remote controls the TV well with the exception of the problem I mentioned in the first paragraph.

The weird part is that the Power On command on the Harmony, the one that doesn't work reliably, appears to be sending a RF signal. Yet the power toggle button on the OEM remote sends a IR signal.

Does anybody know what I can do to sort this out or work around it?
Origin: Big Bang
OP | Post 2 made on Saturday September 9, 2023 at 13:14
Herman Trivilino
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I think I found the solution, by accident. Hold down the Power button on the OEM remote and the TV will Restart. I think that was the fix. Don't worry, this is not a hard reset so it leaves all of the TV settings unchanged.

I can't be sure, though, if this is what actually fixed the problem. I was on the phone with Sony support trying to get an app to work properly and the tech had me do a bunch of other stuff, too. One of them was to go to Settings, then System, then Initial setup, then Continue, then scroll down and tick the box Agree to all. I'm not sure if this is necessary to fix the problem with the Harmony remote, but it may be.

Last edited by Herman Trivilino on September 9, 2023 15:22.
Origin: Big Bang
OP | Post 3 made on Sunday September 24, 2023 at 14:17
Herman Trivilino
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Well, in case anyone is following or happens to stumble upon this thread during an internet search, it turns out that the restarting of the TV is a hit-or-miss solution at best, and even then it doesn't work for long and I have to restart it every few days. Another frustration is when I'm on the smart tv screen where there are buttons to all my apps and so forth, I often cannot navigate between buttons with the Harmony remote and have to use the OEM remote. Often just pressing one navigation button is enough to make the Harmony navigation start working again. So I have to keep the OEM remote handy for occasional use.

So I would say that the Logitech Harmony Elite remote is "somewhat" compatible with this TV, even though Logitech claims it is compatible.

Last edited by Herman Trivilino on September 30, 2023 12:41.
Origin: Big Bang
Post 4 made on Sunday September 24, 2023 at 16:22
buzz
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I’m not a Harmony user. Sometimes erratic IR commands are related to the number of repeats when a command is sent. Increasing or decreasing the number of repeats for the Power On command might help.
OP | Post 5 made on Saturday September 30, 2023 at 13:02
Herman Trivilino
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Unfortunately the Harmony sends a RF signal to power on the TV, and there is no way to add additional power-on commands when I customize an activity. I have added a "Fix It" command to every activity that includes an additional TV power-on command. I can send that command as many times as I want. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I have to use the OEM remote to turn on the TV.

This has happened only once, but my wife couldn't get an activity to work because the TV wouldn't get set to the HDMI 1 input. I even tried using the Device menu on the Harmony but that wouldn't work. I had to use the OEM remote and push the input button to cycle to the HDMI 1 input. If I hadn't been home she wouldn't have been able to watch TV. It would have been a real frustration.

I think I'm going to have to buy a new universal remote. I've got my eye on the SofaBaton X1 Universal Remote Control with Hub & APP.
Origin: Big Bang
Post 6 made on Saturday September 30, 2023 at 15:12
buzz
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Maybe you need to wait a little while after sending a power command before the TV will accept an input command. I've faced this with other control systems. Sometimes I can use an explicit 'wait' command, other times I can simply rearrange the command string, turning ON the TV first, then executing other commands, such as receiver, cable box, and input device commands. You may need to execute a few extraneous commands to devices that don't exist in your system.
OP | Post 7 made on Saturday September 30, 2023 at 15:36
Herman Trivilino
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I have a delay time set.
Origin: Big Bang
Post 8 made on Saturday September 30, 2023 at 18:42
buzz
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An older TV required about 15 seconds. It was ridiculous. In that control system I could start the TV power ON-input select command string running in the background and allow the user to move on to select a cable channel while the TV was still booting up. Eventually the TV would catch up. I don't know if Harmony supports this or if this will resolve your issue.

What inputs are available for the TV? You may be able to turn things inside out by starting another input device that will send a power command to the TV via CEC. If this is not the final device that you want to view, send an appropriate input command after the TV finally starts.
OP | Post 9 made on Wednesday October 4, 2023 at 08:20
Herman Trivilino
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A light flashes on the TV when it receives a command (either IR or RF). The problem is that the light doesn't always flash when the power on command is sent from the Harmony, meaning no power on command is received by the TV, presumably because the Harmony is not sending the RF power on command.

The OEM remote sends a IR power toggle command which always works. All the rest of the commands on the OEM remote are IR. Next time I buy any device I will go into the store and check to see if the OEM remote sends IR or RF signals. In my opinion the Harmony works better with IR commands (e.g. you can't teach it RF commands).

I have a firetv box from 2014 that receives RF commands from the Harmony with no problem.

By the way, the tech support person at Harmony (Logitech) told me that the firetv box receives blluetooth commands. Aren't bluetooth commands RF?
Origin: Big Bang
OP | Post 10 made on Wednesday October 25, 2023 at 21:42
Herman Trivilino
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I moved the hub closer to the entertainment center, and thought my problems were solved, but alas, no such luck. It did make an improvement but there's no way to get it any closer. It used to be further away and off center. Now it's centered and closer to the floor.

The weird thing is that the Smart Phone App works flawlessly with the hub, so it must be an issue with the interaction of the Elite remote itself with the new TV. No way to tell if it's a software or hardware issue, but I suspect the former.
Origin: Big Bang
OP | Post 11 made on Thursday August 1, 2024 at 23:52
Herman Trivilino
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The signals sent by the Harmony Hub are IP, not RF or IR. One of the problems is the navigation buttons don't work reliably when trying to navigate on the main screen of the Sony KD-65X85K television.

In case anyone is looking for the same solution, it turns out that Logitech has since updated the device file for the Sony KD-65X85K television. Now the navigation buttons work perfectly but the power on commands don't work reliably. Perhaps they'll eventually fix this, too.

Meanwhile Logitech support proposed this simple fix. Using MyHarmony, just add the device Sony XR-65A90J to your account. MyHarmony will search for the Sony XR-65A90J on your home network but won't be able to find it. Simply click on "Done" and you will have added the device. Then replace the KD-65X85K device in your activities with the Sony XR-65A90J device. You will now be able to control your TV with reliable IR signals.

I wish I would have done this a year ago, but at that time Logitech support was unable to help me. Now it's a year later and things have changed. It appears Logitech is trying really hard to support the Harmony remote, even though they stopped making it. I guess they are concerned with brand loyalty. I was ready to give up on Logitech and never buy another one of their products unless I had to. Now my attitude is reversed, and I commend them for their support.

Last edited by Herman Trivilino on August 2, 2024 14:40.
Origin: Big Bang
Post 12 made on Tuesday August 6, 2024 at 21:37
WhiteVan Lifestyle
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How long has this fix been working reliable for you?
I am not a Harmony fan but I have a client whoms wife insists on keeping their Harmony Elite and I’ve been fighting the exact intermittent working power command issue. As much as I just want to walk away I don’t want to throw away a long time repeating client. I’ve got way too much time invested in this so it’s also kind of personal at this point.
Safe 'n Sound Central Coast CA www.mysafensound.com [Link: facebook.com]
Post 13 made on Friday September 13, 2024 at 07:37
Grimloktt
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I registered for the forum just to say thank you. I was searching everywhere and this solution worked. Thank you!!!


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