sMoRTy71.com: Using Harmony 880 with XBOX 360

Wednesday, February 8, 2006

Using Harmony 880 with XBOX 360

Adding MCE command for XBOX 360 with Harmony 880 remote

I have had a couple of people ask questions recently about how to get the Harmony 880 remote to start the XBOX 360 then fire up Windows Media Center Edition 2005.

I hadn't programmed my Harmony to do that; however, tonight, I thought I would poke around and see what I could figure out.

1. I added a new General Activity by selecting "Utility" from the list of possible Activities
2. I added my TV, receiver and XBOX 360
3. I stepped through the wizard and designated the inputs for each device
4. When asked if the activity was setup, I selected the prompt that says "Yes, but I want to add more control of options and devices for this Activity."
5. I added two actions for the 360 when it started up -- one that delays 10 seconds, another that sends the "Media Center" command
6. I saved the Activity
7. I updated the remote

Now, the remote turns on the TV, the receiver and the XBOX 360. Then it pauses for 10 seconds before sending the Media Center command.

¶ 6:57 PM

Comments:

Thats a cool way of setting it up, but what about if you have a game in the box? Try that then. I leave Halo 2 in there and tried this, and well, it sorta works I guess. After I say yes to leaving and then it brings up Media Center.
Good job though! This helps.

posted by

Christopher : 12:56 AM

Ah, yes, I have that same problem all the time (with having a game in the console).

According to a recent podcast on MajorNelson.com, they are working on a way to let you select whether to start up to the game or to the dashboard. Hopefully that will fix this one.

posted by

sMoRTy71 : 8:26 AM

smorty71, sorry to "ressurect" an old post but I wonder if you might help me with something... When I use my 880 and the 360 Media Center, the X button on the 880 lcd wont work... For instance, when I want to add more video folders for 360´s Media Center, I would have to select "My Videos" and press X which would bring up a small menu, however, for some reason, the X button on the 880 lcd wont work... Does it work for you? Thanks in advance!

posted by

geraldo : 1:32 PM

geraldo:
I think the X button works for me. To be honest, I can't remember for sure, though. Often, I will use the 360 controller (if I've been playing a game previously) to control media center.

You could always go into the Harmony web app and create a new custom button and map it to the X button to see if that works.

posted by

sMoRTy71 : 1:38 PM

Just an FYI to those with the game in tray with boot problem. In the settings blade there is an option to "Boot to Dash", or "Boot to Game".

By default it is set to "Boot to Game", which drove me nuts. This was by far one of the better improvments to the dash with the spring dash update.

Just got the Harmony 880 and can't wait to try it out tonight!

posted by

Schnick1 : 5:47 PM