Universal Remote and related questions

Spooky · 2008-06-07, 20:24

I am currently looking for a universal remote to control our little home theatre more easily. Stuff to be controlled:

A/V Receiver
Beamer
PC

A rather simple setup. I was thinking of the Logitech Harmony 885 since it is a nice looking remote, full of features and it's available for 110€ here, which is not that expensive... at least not compared to the 895 or 1000. I already checked on http://myremotesetup.com/ if the Harmony will be able to control our Receiver and Beamer, so everything should be fine on this side.

However, I have a question regarding the PC setup. Will such a remote be able to turn on/wakeup the PC from any state? By any state I mean off, hibernation and standby. And I also hope, that using the Harmony with MP won't be a problem?

Feel free to offer any other Universal Remote suggestions

NeBlackCat · 2008-06-10, 21:11

I have no experience of any Logitech remotes, but it seems to me that your question is about the receiver that you choose, not the remote. The Logitech remotes that I know of are just IR remotes, they don't come with or imply a specific PC IR receiver.

Any IR remote needs an IR receiver on the PC, which are usually USB gizmos. Any USB device (subject to a modern motherboard/ BIOS) can wake the host up to S3, ie. from a "suspended but still alive" state. But past that, eg S4 (hibernation) you start to need better hardware support, like interfacing the remote (IR) via a PCI/PCIe card (such as the remotes which come with video/tuner cards and which interface directly with them) which can implement WoL (Wake-On-Lan) type of functionality.

Spooky · 2008-06-10, 21:41

You're right, that's my main question

. However, what would be a solution here? I don't know of any PCI type IR receiver, I only know of the USB ones, that come with MCE remote kits for example...

Aquarius · 2008-06-11, 09:03

Hi,
I have an Logi 785 together with an MCE Remote receiver and that works quite well.
There is a setup in the Logi Database for MP right available. Hiberbate and restart do work well.

But be prepared that programming the remote beyond the settings within the Logi database, you need to get used to it. It needs some time.

[OT]
Unsolved problems with the remote remain in the interaction between MP-PC and TV: MP starts on its own for a recording, you want to take over MP while the recording is running, MP is send to hibernate as the remote is not aware of the current ON-state of the MP-PC)
[/OT]

Regards
/Gerd

2008-06-07, 20:24	#1 (permalink)
Spooky Portal Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: void 4tl Age: 25 Posts: 303 Thanks: 20 Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts Country: My System	Universal Remote and related questions I am currently looking for a universal remote to control our little home theatre more easily. Stuff to be controlled: A/V Receiver Beamer PC A rather simple setup. I was thinking of the Logitech Harmony 885 since it is a nice looking remote, full of features and it's available for 110€ here, which is not that expensive... at least not compared to the 895 or 1000. I already checked on http://myremotesetup.com/ if the Harmony will be able to control our Receiver and Beamer, so everything should be fine on this side. However, I have a question regarding the PC setup. Will such a remote be able to turn on/wakeup the PC from any state? By any state I mean off, hibernation and standby. And I also hope, that using the Harmony with MP won't be a problem? Feel free to offer any other Universal Remote suggestions __________________ A64 3200+ // XPC SK83G // 1GB // Seagate DB35 200GB // Radeon HD 2400 Pro AGP (Catalyst 8.4) // FloppyDTV S2, Cryptoworks 2.0, ORF // LG 4120B // Logitech diNovo // Win XP Pro SP2 // MP+TvServer 1.0.0 RC1 // PowerDVD 8

2008-06-10, 21:41	#3 (permalink)
Spooky Portal Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: void 4tl Age: 25 Posts: 303 Thanks: 20 Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts Country: My System	You're right, that's my main question . However, what would be a solution here? I don't know of any PCI type IR receiver, I only know of the USB ones, that come with MCE remote kits for example... __________________ A64 3200+ // XPC SK83G // 1GB // Seagate DB35 200GB // Radeon HD 2400 Pro AGP (Catalyst 8.4) // FloppyDTV S2, Cryptoworks 2.0, ORF // LG 4120B // Logitech diNovo // Win XP Pro SP2 // MP+TvServer 1.0.0 RC1 // PowerDVD 8

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2008-06-10, 21:11	#2 (permalink)
NeBlackCat Portal User Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 3 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Country:	I have no experience of any Logitech remotes, but it seems to me that your question is about the receiver that you choose, not the remote. The Logitech remotes that I know of are just IR remotes, they don't come with or imply a specific PC IR receiver. Any IR remote needs an IR receiver on the PC, which are usually USB gizmos. Any USB device (subject to a modern motherboard/ BIOS) can wake the host up to S3, ie. from a "suspended but still alive" state. But past that, eg S4 (hibernation) you start to need better hardware support, like interfacing the remote (IR) via a PCI/PCIe card (such as the remotes which come with video/tuner cards and which interface directly with them) which can implement WoL (Wake-On-Lan) type of functionality.

2008-06-11, 09:03	#4 (permalink)
Aquarius MP Donator Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: NRW Posts: 230 Thanks: 1 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Country: My System	Hi, I have an Logi 785 together with an MCE Remote receiver and that works quite well. There is a setup in the Logi Database for MP right available. Hiberbate and restart do work well. But be prepared that programming the remote beyond the settings within the Logi database, you need to get used to it. It needs some time. [OT] Unsolved problems with the remote remain in the interaction between MP-PC and TV: MP starts on its own for a recording, you want to take over MP while the recording is running, MP is send to hibernate as the remote is not aware of the current ON-state of the MP-PC) [/OT] Regards /Gerd