Introduction

This is a complete guide to all the steps I have collected for the optimal use of a Logitech Harmony 650 remote with Coreelec / Kodi - in my case using them withj Ugoos AM6B+ and Odroid N2/+ hardware.

Once properly set up, a Harmony 650 (or similar) is an excellent Kodi companion, with just the right mix of hard buttons for essentials, plus a programmable screen for less often used things. I'm yet to find a better alternative.

Of course other Logitech remotes and Kodi boxes will likely be very similar.

General Setup in MyHarmony/Coreelec

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**** EDIT 2025 →

on my Ugoos AM6B+ machine, of the below, I have* only added hdmi_cec='0' to config.ini - the Harmony works fine without any of the others, including power off/resume.

You should also boot the Ugoos AM6B+ into Android and and in Device Settings → Power → Disable Auto Power On (stops the device auto booting when plugged in, so the power switch behaves a lot more like a real power switch…

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• In Coreelec config.ini , set/add these config items.

These disable CEC completely, and allow the Kodi box to wake up via the remote.

(n.b. to make changes to config.iniyou will first need to ssh in and mount -o remount,rw /flash to make the file write-able!)

hdmi_cec='0'
cec_func_config='0'
remotewakeup='0x800f040c'
remotewakeupmask='0xffff7fff'
decode_type='0x5'

• Also - make sure ALL CEC stuff is turned off/disabled in Kodi and CoreElec settings (needs to be off in all places to really be and stay off - otherwise you may see weird behaviours with things switching on/off or changing channels unexpectedly!).
• In MyHarmony, add a new device for Kodi and set the device type to be: Microsoft Media Centre Extender
• In MyHarmony, set device settings for this device → repeats and inter-device delays both to 0
• Add the remote-repeat.rules file (linked below), to .config/udev.rules.d/ - this improves the general responsiveness to the remote (usie this with Odroid N2/+ but not the Ugoos AM6B+)