Firstly, I have to say the Vero 4k+ is an amazing little device. I received mine a week ago and am blown away. There’s nothing is won’t play. Auto resolution switching is fantastic.
Personally I wanted to use my Harmony Elite remote. It’s easy to setup for IR using the Harmony Vero 4k profile, but the response was pretty bad. Seemed about 0.5s lag which can get annoying.
I’ve now got my Harmony working perfectly using bluetooth, which is so much more responsive. It feels as good as the original OSMC remote.
Here’s a step by step guide on how to do it:
Log into MyHarmony on your PC. If not installed you can download from the Harmony website (Harmony Software)
Under Devices chose ‘Add Device’
In the Add A Device screen, under Manufacturer type ‘Microsoft’, under Device Model Number type ‘Kodi’. Click the add button
You will receive a message saying ‘This Harmony Remote is unable to control this device’. Ignore this message. Under ‘Does this match the model number on your device?’ select Yes
You may receive a message to sync your remote. Simply click close
You will see a new device called Microsoft Media Player [Microsoft Kodi] which is your Vero 4k+
Now open the Harmony App on your mobile device
Open the menu (top left icon) > Harmony setup > Sync > Sync Now
Under devices you’ll now see a new device called ‘Microsoft Media Player’
Now you need to pair your Harmony Hub to your Vero 4k+…
Staying on the Harmony mobile app, open the Microsoft Media Player device
The first screen will be the number pad. Swipe to the right to see the direction and back buttons
Click on any direction button. The bluetooth pairing screen will appear. Keep the app open at this point. Do not close or change devices
Now using your original Vero 4k+ remote, open ‘My OSMC’ in Kodi. Under some skins this may be within Add-ons >Programs
In the My OSMC screen, move to the right and select ‘Network’
Within the Network screen, move down to ‘Bluetooth’ and make sure Bluetooth is enabled (white box), and enable Start/Stop Discovery
Sit tight and eventually ‘Harmony Keyboard’ should appear
Click on Harmony Keyboard and select ‘Connect Without Pin’. Harmony Keyboard should now appear under paired devices. At this point disable Start/Stop Discovery as it’s no longer needed
(You may need a few attempts to pair the devices but keep at it, it will work eventually)
Go back to your mobile app, where you should now be able to control your Vero 4k+. Click the back button a few times to confirm. It should be very responsive
At this point you can sync your hand held remote also (although this often happens automatically when you sync the app)
Now the device is working well you can assign the KODI functions to which ever buttons on the hand held remote works best for you (although most are already in the right place), and set up your activities as you wish.
Some people (included myself) wished to turn off (suspend) the Vero4k+ using the remote, or automatically when changing activities etc. Here’s how to do that also.
Here we will assign the ‘G’ command as the Power toggle.
(Yes the ‘Power Toggle’ command would make more sense but it doesn’t send any Bluetooth commands. ’G’ seems the only letter completely unassigned in Kodi so will not cause any unexpected actions elsewhere)
Firstly, install the Keymap editor add on in Kodi
Using the Harmony mobile app, or the Harmony remote itself, select the ‘device’ Microsoft Media Player (your Vero 4k+).
Open Keymap editor (normally in Add ons > Programs) and select: Edit > Global > System > Suspend > Edit Key. Now press the ‘G’ command on your remote (screen button), or Mobile App (7th screen to the right). You should find the Bluetooth code 61511 has been assigned. Click back several times and remember to save.
In the My Harmony desktop app choose the Microsoft Media Player [Microsoft Kodi] device and select Change Device Settings > Power Settings > I want to turn off this device when not in use > I press the same button for on and for off > Add command > chose ‘G’ from the drop down list > finish
Sync your remote as normal
Your Harmony will now turn your Vero 4k+ on and off (Suspend) with the remote on/off or as you change activities. Check the red light to confirm
Enjoy your Vero 4k+ using bluetooth on your Harmony Elite remote
The Vero remote is perfectly set up to control Kodi in every menu and submenu. Finding the right commands in Keymap Editor is a pain in the behind and we are all reinventing the wheel there. For example I cant find the up down command in the file choice menu in the TV section of kodi up and down is wrong there. We all need exactly those commands on the companion or whatever Harmony.
What would be great if there was a command map of the Vero remote to the Keymap Editor. Like command “i” is command xyz/submenu xyz in the Keymap Editor.
I also read that you cant make it work for everyone. To me looking at the Vero remote and at the companion the corresponding keys are more than self explaining so I don’t get the problem there to have a Harmony work fine out of the box.
i to info
menu to menu
back to back and exit
home to guide
arrows working in all submenus
We still need the map if someone found the corresponding commands of the Vero remote to the Keymap editor please.
To summ it up. I cant find the right commands in the keymap editor and I am sure I am not alone with this. And of course thanks for the Tutorial!
Excellent Guide, thanks! Finally get to ditch the horrible IR system with my (new) Harmony Elite.
Some issues:
• I got thru step 17 OK. Had already paired Harmony Keyboard with another virtual remote device, so had to unpair that first. But Step 18: no control. I had to add an activity containing this new device and then in iOS app > Harmony Setup > Edit Devices & Activities > Kodi activity > Keyboard Setup. Then it worked for the rest.
• already once the bluetooth seems to have disconnected and I had to open the mobile app and then go to myOSMC and re-connect bluetooth. Hope that’s not a frequent thing!
Some tips:
• rename device to Vero. Prettier.
• the PowerToggle command does seem to work without modification? Rebooted system
• the “menu” hard button is assigned to “top of list”. re-assign to “Contextual Menu” (at least for short press?).
• long press on page up / down is good for +/- 10 minutes
Questions:
• is there a list of bluetooth codes somewhere for manual configuring keyboard.xml ? better yet useful examples?
The path of least resistance here is normally to install the keymap editor add-on and use that for most tweaking you want to do. If you want to manipulate anything not supported by that add-on such as longpress then it is probably best to use the codes found there and then make a second keymap file for those extra functions using key names found in that add-on. You can just edit the gen.xml file that keymap editor makes but the next time you run it your unsupported mapping will be removed.
AFAIK there is no need for that, the Harmony will just “unplug” the device on demand, which is not the same as unpairing. A bluetooth device can be paired with multiple targets, of course it can only be active with one target at a time. For instance I have two devices in my activities where the Harmony Elite is paired via bluetooth: the Vero 4K+ and a Philips OLED TV. When I use the Vero the bluetooth keyboard is “removed” from the Philips TV and I can control the Vero via bluetooth. When I turn off the Vero it automatically connects back to the TV which actually then displays a “USB keyboard connected” message.
Just followed the tutorial and all is working well, thanks.
I wonder if anyone has had any success with this and Google home. I’m able to start activities but that’s about it. Is there no further kodi integration?
I just got to this thread while looking for an answer why my bluetooth connection keeps “disconnecting”. Im using the hub with the normal remote and (as someone mentioned here before) it works perfectly… for a couple of hours… then theres no response at all. If I go to MyOSMC/Network (with an usb keyboard) I notice that the Harmony keyboard is red, not blue as it should be. Dont really know what the red color means but its not working. A reconnect heps of course but the whole thing is useless if it looses connection in an hour. Any ideas? hub reset?
One thing I found that may be useful, to use the “Audio Language” touch button to cycle the audio streams, one needs to install the Key Mapper and then edit
FYI the keymap editor does not need to be installed in order for keymap files to be loaded and you can actually make an xml file with any name in that folder and it will load any that are there.
