Sunday, April 30, 2017

Logitech K400r Works With Harmony Hub

For those interested in adding a keyboard to your Logitech Harmony setup, you'll be happy to know that there is a cheaper alternative to the $100+ Smart Keyboard Add-On.

I tried out two keyboards that I had laying around this weekend with mixed results.  The first was the keyboard that came with the Logitech Revue Google TV box.  While I've had no problems pairing it with other Logitech Unifying receivers, it refused to pair with my Harmony Hub.

Next up was the Logitech K400r keyboard that I've had for a few years now.  The first pairing attempt failed, but it picked it up on the second try.  There are a couple of things to pay attention to when looking for a k400r.  One is that my version has three media buttons across the top with a pc power button next to them.  The newer versions lack these buttons, or they have been replaced with shuttle controls.  I can't say for sure if these newer versions will work with the hub or not.  The second is that the symbols on some of the keys don't match exactly between the two.  They are close enough to not have caused a problem yet.

I have my hub paired with my Nvidia Shield TV (2015) over bluetooth.  When using the keyboard with that activity the keys work great for typing in search blocks or passwords into apps.  The shuttle controls, volume, and arrow keys all work as expected.  Activities and power off mirror the Harmony keyboard, but again the symbols are slightly different.  They do mirror the layout of the activities on my Harmony Companion remote though.  One thing I didn't expect to work was the trackpad and mouse buttons, but on the Shield TV they work just as if you had a bluetooth mouse paired with it.  You get a cursor on screen and can click on icons on the home screen and in most apps.  Two finger scroll does not seem to work though.

If you have already have a Harmony Hub and a wireless Logitech keyboard laying around, give it a try and see if you can get them to pair.  It's handy to have and might save you some cash!

14 comments:

  1. Can you confirm this still works with the latest Harmony Hub firmware (4.x)? I've got both a k400r and a k400+, and I've been unsuccessful in getting either one of them to pair with the hub. Any suggestions?

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  2. My Harmony hub just updated the other day to 4.13.100 and the keyboard has remained working. I took a few tries to get it working, but it was a pretty straight forward process.

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  3. What do you have the k400 receiver plugged into when pairing? It seems like that shouldn't have any impact on the setup, but I've been unable to get the hub to detect the keyboard after multiple attempts. I can't believe there's any difference in versions of the k400r and we're on the same hub firmware, so I'm really at a loss as to why it's not pairing for me. There really isn't much info on the internet about connecting these 2 devices, so I appreciate your help here.

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  4. I don't have the unifying receiver plugged into anything when pairing. Actually I still don't have it plugged into anything. I only really use the keyboard for my Nvidia Shield TV which I uses bluetooth for the keyboard, but I like having the flexibility to use it with other devices in the future.

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    1. That was they key! Seems like k400r can only pair with the hub when it's not actively paired with a receiver. I still haven't achieved my real goal, which is to be able to sleep/wake the htpc via hub activities, but hopefully this is one step closer. (I know, I know, I could just buy a flirc... )

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  5. Is this still working for you? I just got a k400r from walmart for $12. If I try to pair through the app, it fails. If I use the pair button on the back of the hub, the light goes from blinking red to green like it paired and the keyboard acts like it's paired to the hub (if you plug the unifying receiver into a pc it no longer communicates with that) but the keyboard doesn't seem to actually do anything.

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    1. It is still working for me. Make sure there aren't any other Unifying recievers nearby. They tend to cause issues even if you're not pairing with them. I wouldn't be surprised to see that there was a hardware revision that wasn't compatible anymore. I haven't tried the K400 Plus that's out now. Mine is more than a few years old at this point.

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    2. Thanks for the reply. I think there's a unifying receiver on my work laptop. I'll try again later. Do you think there could be issues if there are two Harmony hubs? I have one downstairs too.

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  6. Could be. I had to unplug the receiver in my computer upstairs and my hub was in the basement. It took a few attempts to get it to pair.

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  7. What steps did you follow to pair it with your hub? I'm having trouble finding an option to do so. Using the Windows Desktop App.

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    1. I paired it using the Harmony app on my phone. The windows desktop app will pair the keyboard to a unifying receiver but not the hub.

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    2. Its not working on mine K400r

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    3. "I paired it using the Harmony app on my phone. The windows desktop app will pair the keyboard to a unifying receiver but not the hub. "

      Yeah, but _how_? I cant find a option in the app to pair a device to the hub. Where is this option you found?

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  8. Hey sorry to resurrect a year-old thread, but we are attempting to pair a K400r to a hub, and i have gotten no joy. Continuous "Timeout" messages. Are you aware of a way to downgrade the firmware on the hub back to 4.13? I believe if this is possible, you can pair the K400r, and after upgrading again, i would bet that it still works. Any insights?

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