Official URC R40 Thread - Page 3

There is no lag on my R40 - it sends the command instantly when i press a key.

One caveat though - to send a command that is placed on one of the 6 keys surrounding the OLED screen, you have to press the key once to "wake up" and illuminate the screen, then press the key again to actually send the command. Any key on the remote will wake up the screen but for one of those 6 keys to work, the screen must be illuminated so i only use those 6 keys for secondary commands (like settings menu or input changed etc). You can set the duration that the screen stays illuminated (choices are 5 seconds, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, or 60 seconds).

All the other keys on the remote respond with the first press and work normally.

I auditioned an MX-780 once but ultimately bought an R40 and it feels identical to the 780.

I briefly had an R50 but didn't like the feel, so i replaced it with the R40 and it's a big improvement. I think i commented about this in post #1.

I think you have a lemon. Aside from the "relearn" quirk, my R40 has otherwise never forgotten or lost a command like you're describing on your unit. And i currently have 11 devices programmed into mine. All function perfectly with 100% reliability. I can't recall any other R40 (or R50) owners posting the issue that you're having with yours.

I don't know if this matters or not, but i don't use the pre-programmed device codes at all. I create all my own icons and teach it directly from the original remote.

If it had a Clone feature i'd actually buy a 2nd one to keep across the room.

I would get yours exchanged.

URC doesn't have the R40's Quick Start Guide available online, but they do have it for the older R50 which functions almost exactly the same except for a few different features so you can use it for the R40 as well.......

www.universalremote.com/resources/pdfs/R50_quick_start.pdf




It's just asking you if you want to create that Macro on one of the keys surrounding the Main Screen, or while the remote is in one of your device modes (like when you're watching satellite).

There really aren't any step-by-step instructions; it's more of a "learn by doing" method. It's advisable to "write a script" of all the commands you want to use to accomplish your macro. Since there are so many different ways you can "write the script" when creating a particular macro it would be difficult to tell you exactly which keys to press - we'd have to have the remote in our hands. Basically you just follow the prompts as you pluck your various commands from your various devices, then at the end of the macro you either leave the R40 in Main Screen mode or in a Device Mode.

When i set one up for a buddy he wanted his to be in Main Screen mode where he could see all his devices on page 1 of the Main screen. But i set mine up so it's always in Tivo mode as my "home device", then i created various Macros to switch from one device to another. When i first step into my man-room, i press my SYSTEM key and it's macro turns on my Plasma TV, turns on my Onkyo A/V Receiver, forces the TV to HDMI Input #2, forces the Onkyo into TV Sound mode, then puts the R40 into Tivo device mode. Pressing the SYSTEM key also turns the TV and Onkyo off.

If i want to switch from Tivo to DVD, i created a press-and-hold macro on the Red FAVORITES key that turns on the DVD player, switches the Onkyo to DVD sound mode, switches the TV to input #3 HDMI, then leaves the R40 in DVD watching mode. When i'm done watching DVD, i have a macro on the Yellow FAVORITES key to switch the TV back to the Tivo's input, turns the DVD Player off, and leaves the R40 in Tivo watching mode.

It takes some practice so just play around with it and get familiar with the steps involved in creating your macro. If you screw up you can go back and edit the macro (add or delete commands) or just delete the whole screwed up macro and start over. It's actually fairly intuitive, just remember that to switch from one device to another during the macro creation, you have to go the Main Screen to access your other devices as you build your macro.

As an example, here is my key pressing script for the macro that switches my R40 from Tivo watching mode to DVD watching mode.
I chose "Inside a Device" since this macro will be performed while i'm in Tivo watching mode.

1. Go to my Main Screen and Press the Tivo Icon key (because i want to place this macro inside my Tivo device)

2. Red FAVORITE Key (to store this Macro on this key) (you could also place this macro on a Main Screen key)

3. Pause key (to add a press-and-hold pause for this macro)

4. MAIN key (to return to my Device Icons on the Main Screen)

5. DVD Icon key (so that i can import the DVD player's POWER button's command into the macro)

6. Power key (to turn the DVD Player On)

7. Main key (to take me back to the Main Screen so that i can now see and select my TV Icon next)

8. Plasma TV Icon key (so i can get at the TV's input menu command)

9. TV's input key (to bring up my on-screen list of TV inputs)

10. #4 number key (selects my DVD Player's input which is on TV HDMI Input #4)

11. TV's Exit key (to clear the TV's input list menu from the TV's screen so it doesn't linger)

12. MAIN key (so i can now see and select my Onkyo device icon next)

13. Onkyo Icon key (to access my Onkyo's command next)

14. Onkyo's discrete DVD sound mode key (to change my Onkyo from the Tivo sound mode to the DVD sound mode)

15. MAIN key (brings up my Device Icons on the Main Screen again)

16. DVD Icon key (to leave the R40 in DVD watching mode)

17. Press DONE (to finalize and save this macro)

Then i just exit out of the setup screen. I have a similar macro on my Yellow FAVORITES key to switch back from DVD watching mode to Tivo watching mode. I have about 11 devices programmed into my R40 and so many macros that i can't remember where they all are!

I just took mine to my dining room 16 feet away from my TV and with the battery power level indicator indicating 64%, it's still controlling my Tivo and TV just fine. I can't move any farther away so i can't test it beyond 16ft.

Wow, i just tried it from 10 feet away from the TV & Tivo and yes it does work when i point it at the ceiling and even when pointed backwards. It works at most angles as i wave it around in various directions, but there are some dead spots. Until now i had no idea it would do that since mine is either sitting on my desk (next to my mouse) in the corner of the man room pointing at the TV, or i hold it in my hand when we're watching from the couch. Beyond 10 feet though it has to be pointed more towards the TV & Tivo. Battery level is at 64% so maybe it would have more distance with fresher batteries.

Wow, thanks


Presuming you're talking about the issue from Post #49, i tried deleting a device and starting over but that didn't prevent the relearn quirk from happening again, so i would have been better off to just re-learn the few dropped commands instead of having to spend a ton of time re-creating the device i'd deleted. If, after i discover that a command that i just taught it caused another command to stop working, i just re-teach that lost command and it usually sticks. I think the most times i've had to re-teach a lost command is 3 then after that everything sticks. It's a minor annoyance, but i definitely wouldn't bother with deleting a whole device since for me that didn't stop the quirk.


I don't use favorites at all and i have no experience with the function. Dunno how many icons are in that function.

Edit - i just ordered a used/new condition R40 from Amazon to replace the wife's MX-500 in her den. I can make the R40 more idiot-proof, not that she's an idiot. She can oversee and operate all the life support equipment in a Pediatric ICU, but she just can't figure out how to work a universal remote control

I can't remember the "relearn" quirk ever losing a command on another device, just the device i was currently programming.

And URC's recommendation to delete the whole device and start over is not sound advice - i tried it and that did not prevent the "relearn" quirk from happening. Re-teaching the few lost commands eventually sticks with the first (or 2nd or 3rd) attempts, and is only a few extra key strokes which is a lot less work then deleting then re-creating a device - which doesn't work anyway.

But expounding on your question about me having any rules to get around this, i tried something new after it happened a few times while programming my new/used 2nd R40 that i just got yesterday. I noticed a pattern on this unit as well as my original unit wherein the command(s) that got lost seemed to be in the same "group" of keys that i was currently programming. I remember seeing specific "groups" of keys in the Copy/Paste advanced menu so i tried something new - i wrote down the list of keys in each of those groups, then i programmed all the Volume keys listed in the first group then exited and tested each one and they all worked. So then i programmed all the Channel keys in the 2nd group and exited, and they also all worked. Same went for the Play group and Menu group.

This is just a theory but either doing each group fully and in succession prevents this from happening, or it was just a coincidence. But even if it doesn't work, re-learning the relative few lost commands is a minor annoyance as you chase and relearn the lost commands - they eventually stick.

Here are the four Copy/Paste Key Groupings from the menu:

VOL: Vol+, Vol-, Mute

CH: Ch+, Ch-, Prev Ch, and numbers 0 through 9

PLAY: Play, Stop, Pause, Rew, FF, Record, Skip+, Skip-

MENU: Menu, Guide, Info, Exit, Select, Up, Down, Left, Right


Cloning would be handy, but in the grand scheme of things i would have still had to create and name the icons anyway (like you had to name cloned keys on the MX-500) and that takes more time than teaching the keys so i'm not missing the clone feature much anymore.

Programming this R40 is actually kinda fun, it's like a sort of customizable puzzle. I'm trying different creative ways to make the wife's new/used R40 foolproof so that if she gets her den's TV / Cable DVR / DVD Player inputs all out of whack - she often gets lost while switching inputs and powering up the DVD player etc and ends up with a black screen or ends up in the wrong device mode and can't figure out how to get things working again, so i'm devising some "Def Con" key method that she can press on master key that will take her back to "Watch Cable DVR" mode regardless of what device mode she ends up getting lost in, so that she doesn't have to get me to come straighten it out. And trying to explain it to her over the phone when i'm not there is maddening LOL.