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Logitech Harmony Activity Problem with Apple TV 4K (1 Viewer)

dpippel

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Hey everyone! I'm having an issue with my Harmony remote and the Activities I have it programmed for in my home theater. Here's my list of devices:

77" LG G3 OLED panel
Yamaha RX-A8A AVR
Apple TV 4K
Oppo UDP-203 4K disc player
Panasonic UB-9000 4K disc player
Logitech Harmony remote + Harmony Hub

I have four activities set up:

Watch Broadcast TV
Watch Apple TV
Watch a Movie
Watch Oppo

My problem? The Apple TV 4K "hijacks" all of the other Activities. For example, when I select the Watch a Movie activity, everything works as programmed - TV and AVR turn on, disc player turns on, AVR and TV switch to the correct inputs/outputs. HOWEVER, at the end of the Activity, the Apple TV 4K causes the AVR to switch to its input on the AVR. Every single time. I then have to manually switch the AVR back to the correct input for the Activity. No matter how I order Activity commands or how many pauses I inject, the ATV4K always grabs its input on the AVR.

I'm sure this is a CEC issue, but it seems that no matter how I configure CEC on these devices, the problem remains. It's driving me nuts. Does anyone have suggestions or insights? Opinions would be most appreciated. Thanks!
 

JohnRice

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Is this a new problem? It has to be CEC. I have the same activities set up on three systems, with all system control turned off with all devices, and it all works as it should.
 

JohnRice

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A thought. I also have the Apple TVs all set to never turn off. That could be it. In fact, that could be why I started doing that years ago, but it’s been so long, I can’t remember.
 

Robert Crawford

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Doug,

I've been having similar issues in my main HT ever since I upgraded to the LG G4. My issues haven't been as significant as yours though.
 
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JohnRice

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Doug,

I've been having similar issues in my main HT ever since I upgraded to the LG G4. My issues haven't been as significant as yours though.
G3 and G4, that would seem to be the first place to look. This is happening even though the ATVs are connected to the receiver?

Have either of you tried configuring the ATV to never turn off?
 

dpippel

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A thought. I also have the Apple TVs all set to never turn off. That could be it. In fact, that could be why I started doing that years ago, but it’s been so long, I can’t remember.
I think you may have hit on a solution here, John, thanks! It had never occurred to me. I'll give it a shot today and let you know if it solves the problem. This has been going on for months in my HT.
 

dpippel

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G3 and G4, that would seem to be the first place to look. This is happening even though the ATVs are connected to the receiver?

Have either of you tried configuring the ATV to never turn off?
Yes, all my devices are connected to the AVR, and HDMI out on the AVR is connected to the HDMI/ARC input on the LG. Will try the ATV4K always on configuration today.
 

Robert Crawford

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G3 and G4, that would seem to be the first place to look. This is happening even though the ATVs are connected to the receiver?

Have either of you tried configuring the ATV to never turn off?
Yes, everything is connected through my receiver then to the display. I'll try your suggestion.
 

dpippel

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Doug,

I've been having similar issues in my main HT ever since I upgraded to the LG G4. My issues haven't been as significant as yours though.
Robert, perhaps there's something about the way our panels talk to the AVR that's causing this to happen. I'll do some more testing today and post back here when I'm done.
 

Robert Crawford

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Robert, perhaps there's something about the way our panels talk to the AVR that's causing this to happen. I'll do some more testing today and post back here when I'm done.
I keep getting initial audio dropouts when I switch from one activity to another especially if the switch is coming to or from watching ATV to DirecTV. After I briefly turnoff my receiver, the audio is restored on the new activity I'm watching.
 

dpippel

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I keep getting audio dropouts when I switch from one activity to another especially if the switch is coming to or from watching ATV to DirecTV.
Do you mean actual intermittent dropouts while watching content or the delay that occurs while everything handshakes at the beginning of the activity change?
 

dpippel

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At the beginning of the activity change.
I think that's just par for the course these days. It happens in my system as well. I also see it when the AVR is switching audio decoder modes during 4K and Blu-ray disc playback. For example, when a studio intro is sending DD audio to the AVR. Then when the movie starts in with an Atmos track, there's a 3-5 second delay before the Atmos track is audible while the AVR figures everything out. Annoying. This audio sync delay is worse with my Oppo than with my Panny.
 

JohnRice

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FWIW, I haven't noticed the delays with audio you are both describing. The only delays I get are with the display, when the signal switches to/from HDR.

I might get a very brief muting when a disc changes from one codec, in the studio title, to the one for the actual movie, but it is very short. There are some soundtracks that start off right away with sound that is cut for probably a second or less. I don't recall it being 3-5 seconds.

My processors are Marantz AV7703, SR7012 and Cinema 60.
 

dpippel

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John, that's interesting. It may be something inherent to the HDMI chipset that Yamaha uses in their AVRs, as I've seen a few complaints from users of the RX-A*A line of products. Also, as I mentioned, the delays I experience between my two 4K players are different. It's annoying, but something I've learned to ignore and live with.

Back to my ATV4K problem. It turns out that my LG *did* have CEC enabled. I disabled it months ago, but since then there have been two firmware updates for this panel and I suspect that one of them toggled it back on for some reason. Anyway, I turned it off again and made sure it was still disabled on both players and the ATV4K. PROBLEM SOLVED! I also set the ATV4K to never sleep just in case. Now, everything is working as it should and I'm a happy camper.

Thanks for the input (no pun intended) on this! Robert, you too. You might want to make sure CEC is definitely disabled on your G4. Let me know how it goes.
 

Robert Crawford

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I had issues again today in which I couldn't get a picture on any of my devices with only audio. After some tinkering with cables and messing with my LG G4 inputs and settings, I find out that my Yamaha receiver was downloading a firmware update which was the cause of my issues. Talk about embarrassing! My only excuse is that it was early in the morning and my mind wasn't totally awake yet.
 

dpippel

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I had issues again today in which I couldn't get a picture on any of my devices with only audio. After some tinkering with cables and messing with my LG G4 inputs and settings, I find out that my Yamaha receiver was downloading a firmware update which was the cause of my issues. Talk about embarrassing! My only excuse is that it was early in the morning and my mind wasn't totally awake yet.
Hey, it's happened to all of us at some point! ;)
 

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